---
name: "Nicolas Roeg"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/nicolas-roeg"
fi1m_id: "nicolas-roeg"
imdb_id: "nm0001676"
tmdb_id: 14132
wikidata_id: "Q51541"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "15 August 1928"
died: "23 November 2018"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 84
average_as: "director"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-04T21:27:54.870485+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Nicolas Roeg

## Identity

Nicolas Roeg

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/nicolas-roeg
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** nicolas-roeg
- **IMDb ID:** nm0001676
- **TMDB ID:** 14132
- **Wikidata ID:** Q51541
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Roeg, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51541, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001676/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14132

Director. Born 15 August 1928 in London, England, UK. Died 23 November 2018.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 15 August 1928, London, England, UK
- **Died:** 23 November 2018
- **Active:** 1960–1990
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 9: 5 directing, 4 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Allan Scott](https://film.one/person/allan-scott.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 84, as director, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 74 (4), 1970s 84 (4), 1990s 82 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 84 to 81 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 5 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Fantasy 2, Horror 2, Adventure 1, Crime 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $15m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Roeg, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51541, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001676/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14132

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Walkabout*](https://film.one/film/walkabout.md) (85)
- **Apple TV:** [*The Masque of the Red Death*](https://film.one/film/the-masque-of-the-red-death.md) (83)
- **Peacock:** [*The Witches*](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md) (82)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Man Who Fell to Earth*](https://film.one/film/the-man-who-fell-to-earth.md) (82)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Nicolas Roeg

> Nicolas Roeg makes memory interrupt the present, often before we understand what we have seen. We rate him highly: in *Don't Look Now*, the fractured storytelling makes a grieving marriage painfully immediate.

In *Don't Look Now* (1973), a fragment catches the eye before its place in the story becomes clear. Roeg and editor Graeme Clifford keep a remembered image close to what is happening now, denying us the comfort of leaving it in the past. We were shaken by the opening drowning because the cutting makes a family tragedy horribly difficult to take in. The shifts in time ask us to pay attention, but the parents' grief is never hard to recognise.

He came to directing after working as a cinematographer on films including *Fahrenheit 451* (1966) and *Petulia* (1968). *Performance* (1970), co-directed with Donald Cammell, began his exploration of identity and fractured storytelling; *Walkabout* (1971), his first solo feature, took his interest in people out of place into the Australian outback. With David Bowie in *The Man Who Fell to Earth* (1976), the outsider became a science-fiction figure, and the leaps through time continued. *Bad Timing* (1980) applied non-linear storytelling to a destructive relationship, though its difficulty also became a point of criticism.

In *Don't Look Now*, Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie make John and Laura Baxter's marriage convincing enough that we want time with them, not just answers about what is happening. They are in Venice after their young daughter's death, and the possibility of contact with her disturbs an already grieving couple. Roeg allows their sorrow time without hurrying it into the next supernatural incident. Clifford's cutting suggests how little control they have over which images enter their thoughts. The fear hurts because these are people whose loss would matter even without a mystery attached.

His later films, including *Eureka* (1983) and *Insignificance* (1985), drew more mixed responses, and we would not defend every complication as necessary. Even *Don't Look Now* occasionally labours its warnings, drawing attention to signs when we are already alert to them. At those moments, Roeg risks distracting us from the performances that make the danger matter. Yet this is the film we would recommend first, with enough quiet to follow its sudden shifts. Leave time to talk afterwards.

## Biography

Nicolas Roeg was an English film director and cinematographer. Born in London on 15 August 1928, he died on 23 November 2018.

He entered the film industry in 1947 as an editing apprentice and later worked as a cinematographer on films including *Fahrenheit 451* (1966) and *Far from the Madding Crowd* (1967). His directorial debut was the co-directed *Performance* (1970). Roeg directed *Walkabout* (1971), *Don't Look Now* (1973), *The Man Who Fell to Earth* (1976), *Bad Timing* (1980) and *The Witches* (1990), among others. He frequently used fragmented editing and non-linear narratives.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, theguardian.com.*

## On Fi1m (9)

### Directed (5) — the average rests on these

- *The Witches* (1990), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md)
- *The Man Who Fell to Earth* (1976), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-who-fell-to-earth.md)
- *Don't Look Now* (1973), Fi1m 90, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/dont-look-now.md)
- *Walkabout* (1971), Fi1m 85, Story, Director of Photography, Director, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/walkabout.md)
- *Performance.* (1970), Fi1m 81, Cinematography, Director, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/performance.md)

### Crew (4)

- *Casino Royale* (1967), Fi1m 50, Additional Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/casino-royale-1967.md)
- *The Masque of the Red Death* (1964), Fi1m 83, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-masque-of-the-red-death.md)
- *Lawrence of Arabia* (1962), Fi1m 90, Second Unit Cinematographer — [page](https://film.one/film/lawrence-of-arabia.md)
- *The Sundowners* (1960), Fi1m 74, Camera Operator — [page](https://film.one/film/the-sundowners.md)

## Complete filmography (71)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Crowhurst* (2018), Executive Producer
- *The Film That Buys the Cinema* (2014), Director
- *The Mapmaker* (2012), Executive Producer
- *Zero* (2011), Producer
- *Away We Stay* (2010), as Restaurant Guest
- *Puffball* (2007), Director
- *Michael Powell* (2005), Actor
- *The Sound of Claudia Schiffer* (2000), Director
- *The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Demons of Deception* (1999), Director
- *Full Body Massage* (1999), Director
- *Samson and Delilah* (1996), series, Director
- *Two Deaths* (1996), Director
- *Hotel Paradise* (1995), Director
- *Heart of Darkness* (1994), Director
- *Cold Heaven* (1992), Director
- *The Witches* (1990), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md)
- *Without You I'm Nothing* (1990), Executive Producer
- *Sweet Bird of Youth* (1989), Director
- *Track 29* (1988), Director
- *Aria* (1987), Director, Writer
- *Iceberg* (1987), Director
- *Monolith* (1987), Director
- *Castaway* (1986), Director
- *Insignificance* (1985), Director
- *Eureka* (1983), Director
- *Bad Timing* (1980), Director
- *The Man Who Fell to Earth* (1976), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-who-fell-to-earth.md)
- *Don't Look Now* (1973), Director — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/dont-look-now.md)
- *Glastonbury Fayre* (1972), Director, Director of Photography
- *Walkabout* (1971), Director, Story, Director of Photography — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/walkabout.md)
- *Performance.* (1970), Director, Director of Photography — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/performance.md)
- *Petulia* (1968), Director of Photography
- *Far from the Madding Crowd* (1967), Director of Photography
- *Casino Royale* (1967), Additional Photography — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/casino-royale-1967.md)
- *A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum* (1966), Director of Photography
- *Fahrenheit 451* (1966), Director of Photography
- *Judith* (1966), Second Unit Director, Additional Photography
- *Every Day's a Holiday* (1965), Director of Photography
- *The Masque of the Red Death* (1964), Director of Photography — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/the-masque-of-the-red-death.md)
- *Code 7, Victim 5* (1964), Director of Photography
- *The System* (1964), Director of Photography
- *Nothing But the Best* (1964), Director of Photography
- *The Caretaker* (1964), Director of Photography
- *Death Drums Along the River* (1963), Writer
- *Dr. Crippen* (1963), Director of Photography
- *Just for Fun* (1963), Director of Photography, Lighting Camera
- *Lawrence of Arabia* (1962), Second Unit Cinematographer — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/lawrence-of-arabia.md)
- *A Prize of Arms* (1962), Story
- *Band of Thieves* (1962), Director of Photography
- *Information Received* (1961), Director of Photography
- *Doctor Blood's Coffin* (1961), Camera Operator
- *The Sundowners* (1960), Camera Operator — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-sundowners.md)
- *The Trials of Oscar Wilde* (1960), Camera Operator
- *Jazz Boat* (1960), Camera Operator
- *Tarzan's Greatest Adventure* (1959), Camera Operator
- *Innocent Meeting* (1959), Camera Operator
- *The Bandit Of Zhobe* (1959), Camera Operator
- *The Child and the Killer* (1959), Camera Operator
- *The Great Van Robbery* (1959), Camera Operator
- *Passport to Shame* (1958), Camera Operator
- *Links of Justice* (1958), Camera Operator
- *A Woman Possessed* (1958), Camera Operator
- *The Man Inside* (1958), Camera Operator
- *Moment of Indiscretion* (1958), Camera Operator
- *Bhowani Junction* (1956), Assistant Camera
- *Pacific Destiny* (1956), as Focus Puller
- *John Wesley* (1954), Assistant Camera
- *All Hallowe'en* (1953), as Clapper Loader
- *Cosh Boy* (1953), as Focus Puller
- *Circumstantial Evidence* (1952), as Focus Puller
- *Calling Bulldog Drummond* (1951), Assistant Camera

## Gallery

- ![Nicolas Roeg](https://film.one/media/person/171/gallery-e63d086b3496.jpg) Nicolas Roeg — che (Please credit as "Petr Novák, Wikipedia" in case you use this outside Wikimedia projects.), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Nicolas_Roeg.jpg/1280px-Nicolas_Roeg.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Nicolas Roeg at 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/171/gallery-336022f943fc.jpg) Nicolas Roeg at 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival — che (Please credit as "Petr Novák, Wikipedia" in case you use this outside Wikimedia projects.), CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Nicolas_Roeg_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Nicolas_Roeg_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Nicolas Roeg](https://film.one/media/person/171/gallery-1b1857d830e0.jpg) Nicolas Roeg — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Other awards — 2 won

- Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1996: Commander of the Order of the British Empire (won)
- British Film Institute Fellowship 1994: British Film Institute Fellowship (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/nicolas-roeg