Bowie: Sound and Vision at Picturehouse at FACT

Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor

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Bowie: Sound and Vision

FACT, City Centre
23 September-13 October 2022

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Moonage Daydream
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From Elvis to Lady Gaga to Harry Styles, countless pop stars have made the jump to the big screen with varying degrees of success. Some trade on their star power, or play lightly fictionalised versions of themselves. Others showcase their musical talents on screen, while some try to confound expectations by taking on roles counter to their public persona.

David Bowie did all of the above. The chameleonic pop icon used his ethereal charm and larger than life character to play aliens, vampires and fantasy figures. Self-aware enough to lampoon himself in comedies, he also lent his talent to musicals, as well as submitting to the visions of great film artists such as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese or Nicolas Roeg.

This year, a new film celebrates Bowie’s magnetic screen presence. Showing at FACT from Friday 23 September, Moonage Daydream is billed as an audio-visual space odyssey, a “genre-defying cinematic experience based on one of the most iconic and global rock stars of all time”. From Oscar-nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen, director of Cobain: Montage of Heck, the film promises never before seen concert footage and an immersive cinematic experience.

The Man Who Fell to Earth

To celebrate the release, Picturehouse at FACT have also lined up three of Bowie’s most distinctive screen performances, starting with his role as a humanoid extraterrestrial in Nicolas Roeg’s visionary sci-fi, The Man Who Fell To Earth on Monday 26 September.

That film is followed by Tony Scott’s cooler-than-cool, existential vampire flick The Hunger (Thu 6 Sept), in which Bowie stars alongside Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon as a bloodsucker, caught up in a high stakes love triangle in New York City, who discovers that he is not as ageless as he previously believed.

Lastly, FACT showcase Japanese director Nagisa Ōshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence on Thursday 13 October. Set in a Japanese prison of war camp during World War II, Bowie plays a detained soldier whose presence and demeanour manages to confound and arrest his captors. In addition to perhaps Bowie’s most fascinating performance, the film also benefits from a celebrated score by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Where to go near Bowie: Sound and Vision at Picturehouse at FACT

City Centre
Café or Coffee Shop
Garden Cafe FACT

FACT Liverpool gets back to its coffee-with-creativity roots thanks to a foliage-full new café.

Liverpool
Restaurant
Next to Nowhere Café

Food From Nowhere is a weekly vegan cafe held in the basement space of much-loved radical bookshop News From Nowhere. It’s open every Saturday from midday to 5pm.

library
City Centre
Shop
News from Nowhere

News from Nowhere is a radical community bookshop selling texts on important current issues as well as leading social justice initiatives.

food and drink
City Centre
Restaurant
BAM BOO

BAM BOO delivers a slice of paradise right in Liverpool city centre, with indulgent meals and delicious cocktails.

City Centre
Café or Coffee Shop
Bold Street Coffee

A super cool cafe at the top of Bold Street, Bold Street Coffee in Liverpool serves a range of specialist coffee, cakes and sandwiches.

Liverpool
Restaurant
Maray

Much-loved Liverpool restaurant, specialising in forward-thinking small plate dishes.

City Centre
Café or Coffee Shop
LEAF on Bold Street

Keeping Bold Street a hub of creativity, LEAF is more than a tearoom, it’s also a bar and thriving event space with a packed schedule of upcoming happenings.

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Music venue
Arts Club Liverpool

Based in Liverpool’s old Royal Institute of Arts and Science building, Liverpool Arts Club is a great spot to catch small touring acts.

food and drink
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Cafe Tabac

Cafe Tabac is the longest running café bar in Liverpool, serving food and drinks to arty locals and curious newcomers.

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