The Image (1969) User Reviews

If you're a Bowie-fan...

[CaligulaAzrael · 7/10 · 27 November 2011]

This black & white British short film is interesting for one reason. One of the characters, boy from a picture, is played by young David Bowie. It was a time when he was not yet known to the audiences around the world, long time before he became the alien messiah, Ziggy Stardust. The plot here is very simple, but I must admit that Michael Armstrong's movie is quite climatic and still watchable. An artist paints in his house a portrait of a young boy. In the next moment boy appears behind the window and then - in the house, in front of a painter. An artist starts to panic and the kills the one he created. And that's all. Or maybe I should say: almost all... If you're a Bowie-fan like me, this one is a must-see, otherwise - don't bother yourself with seeking for a copy.

Worth watching

[JoshsDad · 7/10 · 10 January 2006]

This is a very good little short which I watched this earlier this evening (it was on a Bowie compilation DVD and my mate wanted me to tell him about 'the other actor' in it) and it really creeped me out. The plot is simple, the image being painted by an artist comes to life to terrify the life out of him (and us). The imagery is stark and disturbing, the sound effects oppressive (especially the constant driving rain) and the performances first rate. If you can catch this it is definitely worth watching. Oh yes, 'the other actor' was in the 3rd 'Indiana Jones' movie among many others. Bowie is visually impressive and thank goodness he does not open his mouth and ruin the effect. Recommended.

Weird, interesting..

[filmfreak-5 · 13 October 2004]

Just saw this little 13 minutes thing, well, better late than never, huh? It's 37 years old, but so far I only heard rumours and word of mouth about it, but never managed to find it anywhere else..

The plot is, an artist is making a picture and suddenly the picture (David Bowie at around the age of 20) comes to life and the artist stabs it repeatedly with a knife, but the picture refuse to die.

There can be put a lot of different understandings behind this piece of work, but personally it reminded me of the Andalusian Dog, don't ask why cause I cannot tell, it doesn't contain the same vivid images and insane cinematography, but there is something I cannot quite put my finger on, and this is why I won't rate this film - I don't know if I like it or hate it, but it definitely stirred something inside me.

Mediocre film, not too interesting, not too scary

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 21 January 2016]

"The Image" is a Bristish 13-minute short film from almost 50 years ago written and directed by Michael Armstrong. The real star in here, however, is the 20-year-old David Bowie. It is a black-and-white movie, which was already an artistic choice at this point and there is a touch of Dorian Gray attached to it. Anyway, I did not enjoy the watch too much. It is listed as a horror film, but I was not really scared watching it. Not at all. Good thing for non-English speakers that there is no dialogue in here, so they will understand the action without words too. But why would they want to see it? Bowie has done better many times in his career and I'm sure same applies to Armstrong as well. Not a memorable film. Thumbs down.

interesting short film

[ebone84 · 5 May 2002]

One of the first screen performances by David Bowie. This black and white short art film has David Bowie as an image that comes to life to torment his artist. No matter what the artist does to get rid of his image, the image keeps coming back. An interesting short film that is hard to find. But a must for hard-core Bowie fans.