On the occasion of the release of Alien: Covenant, new opus of the saga this Wednesday, May 10, back on the two films directed by Ridley Scott and essential for the understanding of this new episode: Alien the eighth passenger released in 1979 (first part of the saga) and Prometheus released in 2012, prequel to Alien.
Alien the eighth passenger:
In 1979, Ridley Scott was a relatively unknown filmmaker. Coming from the advertising scene, he has to his credit the magnificent Les Duellistes. A period film in the tradition of Kubrick's Barry Lindon, this feature film directed by Harvey Keitel, already demonstrated Scott's talent for photography, distilling absolutely sublime shots. Scott announced himself as a dazzling filmmaker with aesthetics. In 1979 comes the consecration with Alien the eighth passenger. Instantly cult, Alien, worn by Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and the late John Hurt, is a staggering work of mastery.
Introducing a mythology that now has eight films (and which seems to have a prolific future), Alien first of the name is a horror work of great caliber. Ridley Scott portrays a hostile, cold and desert planet, home to an ancient unknown civilization. Like the soaring and slow credits, a monster will enter the protagonists' ship and decimate its inhabitants. From its opening the film looks towards a heavy, slow, cold and uncertain atmosphere, full of mystery, where fascination and fear mix. In a calm always heavy and a crescendo tension, Ridley Scott emits fascinating universal questions: existence of extraterrestrial life, place of artificial intelligence in the future of humanity, hostile presence, kind of evolved advantage, etc …
But what makes the great strength of Alien remains its mythical creature, its xenomorph with ambiguous, sexually implicit, dangerous, impressive and fascinating aesthetics. Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett have created a deformed humanoid creature, straight out of the worst childhood nightmares. Destructive, ultra-resistant and incredibly dangerous, the xenomorph has become over the years the most cult creature in the history of cinema. An emblematic monster of a science fiction horror saga, (certainly the best), emblematic of the confrontation between Man and his fears, facing his mistakes and his hauntings. A hormone-boosted and terribly aggressive version of evolution.
Prometheus:
In 2012, after three more Alien films and two crossovers with the Predators, Ridley Scott , who had left his baby in the hands more or less informed of other filmmakers tries to return to the sources of the saga, what made him famous with Prometheus. The filmmaker tries to go back to basics by recreating the atmosphere of the first film, calm and heavy, almost contemplative. However, he also decided to insert many more characters, subplots and issues. This time they are colossal: responding to the creation of humanity. Ridley Scott is ambitious and not afraid with such a vast existential question. It tells the story before Alien, how they appeared and especially why. By incorporating the idea of designer, creator, humanity and xenomorph, Ridley Scott further extends the Alien mythology.
Prometheus did not achieve consensus, many inveterate fans of the first hour were disappointed and felt betrayed by Ridley Scott.This is due to empty characters, several unwelcome situations, ridiculous deaths and abysmal failures in the treatment of the action. Similarly, the dialogues and the sequence of the story suffer from a nauseating simplification. We think of this idiotic sandstorm, the return of the infected zombie movie or the death of Charlize Theron under the ship. And yes Ridley Scott has screwed some facets of his work.
However, Prometheus reserves some feats. The aesthetics remain absolutely stunning, the filmmaker manages to arouse the curiosity and fascination of the viewer with these fundamental questions and especially the stretching of the Alien mythology. Prometheus had to provide answers, but eventually it raises even more questions, and maybe it's not worse.
Alien: Covenant arrives this Wednesday in our theaters. Ridley Scott does not seem to want to stop here since the rumor is that six other films would be planned with a digital rejuvenation of Sigourney Weaver. As for Neil Blomkamp's Alien 5 project, it is dead and buried…
