Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1983: David Bowie in The Hunger

David Bowie did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying John Blaylock in The Hunger.

The Hunger stands as the directorial debut of Tony Scott but also an outlier in his career. This as the film seems more akin to one of his brother's films, though the sort of extremes of the style are definitely that of the younger Scott, than the director who largely became known for his action pictures.

The film itself is a stylish vampire picture, even if lacking a bit in the screenplay particularly the ending which throws character motivation out the window in order for a bit of phony irony. This style though is almost purposefully trying to make it a particularly erotic, and you might say even glamorous approach to the vampire film. I suppose then who better to cast as one of the vampires than David Bowie, a man whose personal style seemed to so often defy convention, yet always seemed to capture one's imagination with such ease. Bowie is ideal for the almost sort "celebrity" vampire of the film, this as we see the couple, this being John and his wife Miriam (Catherine Deneuve), in two extremes immediately the film. The first the nightclub of a leather bar, where both actors not only have extremely idiosyncratic presences, but also are so powerful in this. Each as their eyes piercing as the two decide on their prey, perhaps you'd assume sexually, however we quickly learn this to be a different sort of lust, blood lust. Each really thriving within Scott's extreme aesthetic, as they just glow and amplify it in they do make the standard "vampire murder scene" something rather unique by the mere virtue of their fascinating performances. We see an alternative side though quickly enough outside of the "night life", this as the two teach music with John as a cellist. These two delivering a different kind of glamor, more traditionally so, and as effectively so. I will say the casting did half the job alone in making a uniquely fascinating vampire pair, by the fact that there just isn't anyone quite like Bowie or Deneuve for that matter, so the combination of the two is rather special in itself.

This "high life" though is short lived within the film though as John starts to aging, despite Miriam's earlier insistence that they would be together forever. Bowie and Deneuve, as briefly as we see them interact, do have that striking chemistry particularly in the brief scene of John turning a century ago. This is important though I find in that their performances though grant that sharply lustful qualities, though there is a more striking genuine emotional sentiment than I had expected coming into the film. This then Bowie portrays well initially an internalized concern, at the beginning of his degradation, as he speaks of how long does he have. Bowie instantly throwing any genre expectations out the window by portraying a man, even an un-dead one, in general need of help. This as he seeks help from an apparent aging expert Sarah (Susan Sarandon), who ignores his request. Bowie's whole performance is rather remarkable in portraying the physical decay, that he does not just leave to the makeup. This movement become more labored, and his eyes slowly grant a more haunted quality of a man seeing the death before him. This as he is particularly notable as we see him phases of this aging so quickly, yet so vividly in Bowie's performance. This right down to his voice becoming coarser towards that of an old man about to push out his final breath. Bowie finding the right horror of this within his expression that goes beyond just the rather impressive makeup effects along with his performance. His delivering becoming more desperate in each phase of a man in an agony and gripped within fear of his state. This in Bowie most remarkable scene where he goes about murdering Miriam's replacement for him in a vain attempt to save himself. Bowie's performance manages to convey the act in this state of exhaustion and despair. This failure only then followed by Bowie's near nothing of a voice as he speaks his final words towards Miriam, these as basically a walking corpse, that Bowie grants a surprising weight to as his performance grants the sheer agony of John in closer to a more literal living death. I will say well I wish the film had spent more time with the couple and developed them beyond the confines of the simplistic plot, what the performers do with the characters even within this confine is captivating. Bowie delivering his expected charisma to the role of the immortal, but then a surprisingly honest tragedy to what that truly means in the end.