Memory - Über die Entstehung von Alien

So. This is a documentary about the origins and making of the first Alien movie. I am a fan of the the movie and the movies that followed not counting the last two stupid ones that Sigourny Weaver was in. Overall it was a good little documentary BUT... It starts getting in the weeds when they start getting into a gender studies class and a whole lot of other nonsense. At that point it reminds me of some of the art history classes I have taken . I once had an Art History Professor that was kind enough to impart some actual knowledge upon us. I was reminded of this knowledge while watching this documentary. This professor basically told us that in the art world an artist can sit down and tell people all day what their piece art is, what it means, what inspired it, etc etc, but the truth in the art world is whatever art critics think it is, represents, and what inspired it. Those two things can be widely different. I feel that is the case with this documentary. They take a really good horror/sci fi movie, after it is 40 years old, and describe it as some giant philosophical humanities project. I don't buy it all, but whatever!

Please be skeptical of reviewers who can't spell, or who appear to be "triggered" by any political discussion in film theory.

As a lifelong fan of Alien, who has seen every single documentary ever made, and read every single book about this film, "Memory: The Origins of Alien" is a truly excellent retrospective of this classic piece of history.

It is packed with fresh information about the film, it's creators, and it's underlying themes.

For context: 95% of the documentary focuses specifically on the journey of the films creation. So if that's your motivation, I think there's plenty here for you to enjoy. And to that end, a generous selection of the creative talent behind it's inception are interviewed here - from Ron Shusett, to Roger Christian to Veronica Cartwright and several more.

The remaining portion is devoted to speculation around the film's "window into the collective subconscious" of society in 1979 - why it both appealed to, and shocked, the audiences of the day. What it said about us as a society - and continues to say. Credit is given to it's use of a female heroine, in an era when the film industry greatly objectified women. While a similar portion looks at the potential meaning behind how shots are staged and framed. As well as the dynamics of how a group of blue collar working class "space truckers" are depicted, and how they deal with their "expendability".

This documentary therefore serves as both a fresh "making of" (even dispelling several myths about the production perpetuated by previous documentaries - and adding several facts even I had never heard about before!). And an intelligent speculative discussion about why Alien continues to resonate, over 40 years after its release.

I cannot imagine why a true fan of the film, who appreciates cinema and science fiction for more than mere gore and thrills, wouldn't find this essential viewing and a valuable addition to their Alien collection.

I went into it with low expectations based on some of the inasane rantings here on IMDB. And I was pleasantly surprised.

8/10.

It was quite a moment when the feminist explicitly implied that the aliens are payback for patriarchy, almost like a chest-bursting moment, except in this instance a massive Andrea Dworkin exploding out of her own rectum. I'm sure Francis Bacon would have been able to render that, and Giger too now that I think about it. How this is possible when the lead is played by a female, and one of the victims is female...? Oh well, it was nonesense, like most post-structural argumentation and pontification. But having said that there was a lot to enjoy if you are an admirer of the work. Lots of out-takes and interviews with actual people who were involved with the making of the film. You just need to be able to ignore the "teachers", you know, those who can't do, whom tower over all the poor toilers who created this masterpiece, and dispense their putrid self satisfied BS from their ivory towers - film studies professors and the like. It was easy enough to imagine the smell that the crew needed to tolerate during the chest burster scene, it being strewn about with offal under filming lights for a day, thanks to the presence in the documentary of these harpies.

So this doc spends quite a bit of time discussing the origins and possible inspiration for Alien and the infamous chest buster scene, but not a lot else.

Only tiny amount of archive Ridley interviews and next to zero mention of Ripley/Sigourney.

Frankly I would get the deluxe DVDs released some time back and watch the docs that are part of the extras. Far superior.

There is some nice observations from O'Bannon's wife and scene set-up, but the garbage talked by the critics who you have never heard of are laughable. Once again it's all about man repressing women WTF!!! It's about male rape, what are these people watching? Quite frankly you have to wonder if these people are sane or have serious issues of their own to see such things or simply have they watched the movie. The strongest female character that has ever been on screen is somehow repressed, good grief. The critics just want sound bites that will hopefully give them airtime and validity that they know what they are talking about. If you can get past people talking twaddle and looking for allegorical examples etc give it a go, if you are realistic in your thought process though you have been warned.