Post by Her 69 Eyes on Feb 26, 2011 0:22:33 GMT -5
I saw Laura in a film class two years ago and have been anxious to revisit it. Gene Tierney is wonderful! I'd suggest you check her out in Leave Her to Heaven if you haven't already.
1 ACADEMY AWARD (1979):
Best Effects, Visual Effects
I revisited Alien within the context of a science fiction film class that is currently focusing on the "technophobia" inherent within the genre. Ash, the android, exemplifies the anxieties of the threat of rapidly developing technologies and the fear that, unlike obedient, Asimovian robots, this sort of creation is intensely focused on completing it's mission without considering the morale implications and the potential harm that can be caused to humanity.
The film is most noteworthy for it's protagonist, who is a female in what was otherwise a largely male dominated genre. In fact, the whole of the franchise could be considered rather feminist by nature - the voice of the ship itself is feminine (as opposed to the male computer voices of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Demon Seed, or Colossus: The Forbin Project), and obviously the second film introduces us to the all powerful mother.
Sigourney Weaver's casting is a decision that holds up well and seems particularly unique when compared to the heroines present in today's film climate. Not only is she a woman, but she's a woman in her thirties. And her actions aren't done for or to appease a man. The legend has it that the character, as well as everyone else aboard the ship, was written without gender specificity, which is almost unthinkable in contemporary Hollywood. When Weaver strips down at the end of the picture, it's not simply the horror standard of a half-naked woman being terrorized by an oppressive, masculine force. It seems to celebrate and reaffirm her womanhood and, in that way, is an empowering moment in which the sexualized woman uses her intelligence to overcome her foe.
What also stands out today is how little dialogue there is for a Hollywood blockbuster. There's hardly any exposition and the characters aren't developed much beyond superficialities (which I would argue is the film's only significant flaw). The sound design, however, is excellent. Near the beginning, as the Nostromo is landing on the planet, there are a few wonderful moments that revel in playing with the dynamic range of the sound. We cut from the exterior of the planet - the incredible force of the wind, the grinding of the ship's gears as it lands - to Ash looking onward from the interior in an almost vacuous serenity.
I avoided talking about the alien long enough. There's not much to say that will be of any significant revelation. It's one of the most memorable, lasting creature designs of the past forty years. Ridley Scott brilliant withholds it for so much of the film, knowing full well that it will deliver on our every expectation. The film lives on as a beatifically calibrated suspense picture, and as a memorable blend of the horror and science fiction genres.
My MMC History:
02/25: Alien (Scott, 1979): 4.5/5
02/22: Manhattan Melodrama (Van Dyke, 1934): 4/5
02/11: The Matrix (Andy & Lana Wachowski, 1999): 3/5
01/12: My Dog Tulip (Paul & Sandra Fierlinger, 2009): 4.5/5
12/31: Easy Rider (Hopper, 1969): 2.5/5
12/31: Head (Rafelson, 1968): 3.5/5
12/31: Le bonheur (Varda, 1965): 5/5
12/31: Au Hasard Balthazar (Bresson, 1966): 4.5/5
12/31: Alphaville (Godard, 1965): 2.5/5
12/16: Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Aldrich, 1963): 3/5
12/14: The Birds (Hitchcock, 1963): 3.5/5
10/30: Blood for Dracula (Morrissey & Margheriti, 1974): 4/5
10/30: Flesh for Frankenstein (Morrissey & Margheriti, 1973): 3/5
10/30: Eyes Without a Face (Franju, 1960): 3.5/5
10/30: Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960): 5/5
10/29: Onibaba (Shindô, 1964): 4/5
10/14: Near Dark (Bigelow, 1987): 3.5/5[/url]
10/13: Vampyr (Dreyer, 1932): 5/5[/url]
10/06: Daughters of Darkness (Kümel, 1971): 3.5/5[/url] [/size]
MVZ MMC: February 2011
Alien (dir. Ridley Scott, 1979)
Alien (dir. Ridley Scott, 1979)
"In space, no one can hear you scream." A close encounter of the third kind becomes a Jaws-style nightmare when an alien invades a spacecraft in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic. On the way home from a mission for the Company, the Nostromo's crew is woken up from hibernation by the ship's Mother computer to answer a distress signal from a nearby planet. Capt. Dallas's (Tom Skerritt) rescue team discovers a bizarre pod field, but things get even stranger when a face-hugging creature bursts out of a pod and attaches itself to Kane (John Hurt). Over the objections of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), science officer Ash (Ian Holm) lets Kane back on the ship. The acid-blooded incubus detaches itself from an apparently recovered Kane, but an alien erupts from Kane's stomach and escapes. The alien starts stalking the humans, pitting Dallas and his crew (and cat) against a malevolent killing machine that also has a protector in the nefarious Company.
1 ACADEMY AWARD (1979):
Best Effects, Visual Effects
I revisited Alien within the context of a science fiction film class that is currently focusing on the "technophobia" inherent within the genre. Ash, the android, exemplifies the anxieties of the threat of rapidly developing technologies and the fear that, unlike obedient, Asimovian robots, this sort of creation is intensely focused on completing it's mission without considering the morale implications and the potential harm that can be caused to humanity.
The film is most noteworthy for it's protagonist, who is a female in what was otherwise a largely male dominated genre. In fact, the whole of the franchise could be considered rather feminist by nature - the voice of the ship itself is feminine (as opposed to the male computer voices of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Demon Seed, or Colossus: The Forbin Project), and obviously the second film introduces us to the all powerful mother.
Sigourney Weaver's casting is a decision that holds up well and seems particularly unique when compared to the heroines present in today's film climate. Not only is she a woman, but she's a woman in her thirties. And her actions aren't done for or to appease a man. The legend has it that the character, as well as everyone else aboard the ship, was written without gender specificity, which is almost unthinkable in contemporary Hollywood. When Weaver strips down at the end of the picture, it's not simply the horror standard of a half-naked woman being terrorized by an oppressive, masculine force. It seems to celebrate and reaffirm her womanhood and, in that way, is an empowering moment in which the sexualized woman uses her intelligence to overcome her foe.
What also stands out today is how little dialogue there is for a Hollywood blockbuster. There's hardly any exposition and the characters aren't developed much beyond superficialities (which I would argue is the film's only significant flaw). The sound design, however, is excellent. Near the beginning, as the Nostromo is landing on the planet, there are a few wonderful moments that revel in playing with the dynamic range of the sound. We cut from the exterior of the planet - the incredible force of the wind, the grinding of the ship's gears as it lands - to Ash looking onward from the interior in an almost vacuous serenity.
I avoided talking about the alien long enough. There's not much to say that will be of any significant revelation. It's one of the most memorable, lasting creature designs of the past forty years. Ridley Scott brilliant withholds it for so much of the film, knowing full well that it will deliver on our every expectation. The film lives on as a beatifically calibrated suspense picture, and as a memorable blend of the horror and science fiction genres.
My MMC History:
02/25: Alien (Scott, 1979): 4.5/5
02/22: Manhattan Melodrama (Van Dyke, 1934): 4/5
02/11: The Matrix (Andy & Lana Wachowski, 1999): 3/5
01/12: My Dog Tulip (Paul & Sandra Fierlinger, 2009): 4.5/5
12/31: Easy Rider (Hopper, 1969): 2.5/5
12/31: Head (Rafelson, 1968): 3.5/5
12/31: Le bonheur (Varda, 1965): 5/5
12/31: Au Hasard Balthazar (Bresson, 1966): 4.5/5
12/31: Alphaville (Godard, 1965): 2.5/5
12/16: Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Aldrich, 1963): 3/5
12/14: The Birds (Hitchcock, 1963): 3.5/5
10/30: Blood for Dracula (Morrissey & Margheriti, 1974): 4/5
10/30: Flesh for Frankenstein (Morrissey & Margheriti, 1973): 3/5
10/30: Eyes Without a Face (Franju, 1960): 3.5/5
10/30: Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960): 5/5
10/29: Onibaba (Shindô, 1964): 4/5
10/14: Near Dark (Bigelow, 1987): 3.5/5[/url]
10/13: Vampyr (Dreyer, 1932): 5/5[/url]
10/06: Daughters of Darkness (Kümel, 1971): 3.5/5[/url] [/size]