So, Once The Tools That Will Satisfy His Ambitions Are Taken Away, The Drunk

So, once the tools that will satisfy his ambitions are taken away, the drunk and permanently 'human' Tommy becomes as half-hearted in his existence as Jack McCann does once he's struck gold. Again, Roeg reminds us that ambition is healthy, enriching of the spirit, but not if exhausted and not if you get too close to that unattainable goal when others desire it too.
In discussing Roeg's treatment of dread and desire, it would be foolish not to mention one of his most celebrated cinematic achievements; Don't Look Now. 'A story of physical and psychic ruin and restoration', this fragmented and frightening 1970's film documents the downfall of John Baxter. Similarly to The Man Who fell to Earth, Roeg's main method of dealing with dread in this film is through the fear of otherness. Throughout the film, John is constantly occupied with halting progression; he is a restorer, trying to fight the 'peril' that threatens Venice whilst also denying the fact that he has not recovered from the death of his daughter Christine. Constant images of clocks, of John checking and checking his watch, show him to be a man for whom the notion of change (and his inability to halt change) holds a sense of extreme dread.
Like Tommy Newton, John Baxter can also be said to be partly responsible for his downfall as he succumbs to fear and constantly denies the possibility that he has second sight. He views the blind sister, Heather, with suspicion especially when Laura consults her and finds relief in Heather's assurance that Christine is happy. The ensuing confusion; with John's paranoia inflamed, him going to the police, Heather being arrested, is a result of his inability to accept anything other than what he knows. John finds solace in his extensive knowledge of restoration, in the sureness of chronological time, and is instantly plunged into a state of dread when time starts to disrupt as his visions, namely that of Laura and the sisters on his own funeral boat days in the future, become more convincing.
This rigid denial of otherness and otherworldliness is similarly treated in Walkabout, when we see the comparison between the uncompromising conservatism of western 'civilisation' (as represented by Jenny Agutter's character) and the accepting simplicity and spirituality of aboriginal society. In many of Roeg's pre-1990's films he explores 'the displacement of the protagonist[s] into an unfamiliar environment, and trying to survive' and the sense of being an alien, or being in an alien place, accentuates the sense of dread and discomfort that makes Don't Look Now such a tense filmic experience.
Many of Roeg's films are characterised as 'fractured, shattered, collapsed, labyrinthine', and John Baxter's fear of losing control reflects all of these critical appraisals.