Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by orejones (D) on November 08, 2003 at 04:57:45

In Reply to: Saw Alien yesterday. Frankly, what's all the fuss about? posted by clarkjohnsen on November 07, 2003 at 07:05:00:

""Only one or two scary moments. A pack of incompetent sailors, including an hysterical woman, save for the Captain and Ripley. A scientist who turned out to be a robot -- that was actually quite believable (reference to audio...).""

Well, there´s more, much more in it than just that..., like an allegory (I shouldn´t call that a metaphore, for good reasons..., while a parable could define it well) of the way our world works. There´s more than a whiff of Conrad´s spirit in it: not just the name of the ship "Nostromo", taken from Conrad´s novel of the same title..., but a lot about the big frame, with power messing everywhere (that android wassn´t there by chance, the Company put it there) and corruption marring the possibilities of that crew to survive, as the Company gives that "perfect weapon" priority over the crew themselves...

Scott´s first film, if memory serves me well, just a couple of years earlier than "Alien", was "The Duelists", based on Conrad´s novel, so he was pretty familiar with Conrad´s universe, when he decided to make this film. So, maybe reading some of Conrad´s books (he´s been brought to the big screen several times: "The Duelists", "Lord Jim", "The Heart of Darkness", "The Foreign Agent", "Nostromo"...) would give you some hints to understand, and appreciate what this film is actually about.

What Scott was able to conjure up was much more than what you seem to have been able to find. And he was working with really competent people, at various levels, what allowed him to make a film that will stay fresh and alive for quite a long time. The sequels are forgettable, the original is excellent.

Regards

BF