During these depressingly rainy days I have re-watched one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. It is also one of the greatest horror movies. Indeed it has been described as ‘jaws in outer space’. Except that in outer space no-one can hear you!
I am, of course, talking about ‘Alien’ which not only made Sigourney Weaver into a big star but also produced three sequels and two prequels. The first of these was ‘Prometheus’ whose events take place thirty years before’ Alien’. If you haven’t seen the film I’ll try to give the plot without too many spoilers.
Scientists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway discover a star map among the remnants of an ancient Earth culture. They journey aboard the spaceship ‘Prometheus’ hoping to discover the origins of humanity and arrive on the distant planet LV-223 which is in the same region of space where the ‘Alien’s’ spaceship, the ‘Nostromo’ lands. There they discover the remains of an advanced civilization which is the same race as the dead pilot from the derelict ship in ‘Alien’ who were developing biological weapons in the form of a pathogenic mutagen which could have driven the human race into extinction.
Sounds a familiar story? For some it is. Our planet is indeed being invaded by a virus which is constantly evolving new mutants to resist developing vaccines. Our world today is rather like a dam which for ever creates new leaks so that the rest of the valley is always in danger of being flooded anew. In the middle of all this scenario the boastful Prime Minister of the newly founded kingdom of Brexitania now easing a lockdown in a very disconcerting manner. Will these pathogenic mutants catch up with us again? I wonder…
Let us lighten this somewhat pessimistic post with those touching moments when Jones, the lovely ginger feline in the spaceship ‘Nostromo’, wakes up from his fifty-seven-year long hyper-sleep in the same–cubicle as the lovely Sigourney. He must be one of the longest lived cats ever. Brought on board as both a rodent catcher (any space mice out there?) and as a diversion for any crew members who are feeling stressed out Jones is the only other living being who manages to escape with Sigourney from the main spaceship on the shuttle craft called ‘Narcissus’.
I think it is a delightful tribute to the inner goodness of so many members of the human race that in the midst of being pursued by a mindless monster with terrifyingly perfect weapons of death and lost in an endless dark cosmos Sigourney, alias’ Ellen Ripley’, manages to save a cat and place him securely in his basket.
It is also wonderful that my wife Alexandra played a significant part in the development of this ‘Alien’ when she, as a translator, was involved with dealing with the Italian delegation that had come to view the making of the film. Alexandra told me what an engaging person Sigourney Weaver (whose non-stage name is also Alexandra…) is and how behind the commanding exterior of the heroine she acts on board the spaceship she is still able to show the fragility of mankind’s emotions in such an inexorable situation. My wife escorted her Italian delegation through the film set in which three main levels are all connected by corridors without any source of natural light so that the atmosphere of claustrophobia is even more accentuated. Alexandra also told me that the main model of three used to depict the Nostromo’ was really on a very small scale indeed and apparently constructed also using miscellaneous parts of those plastic kits where one can build Second World War models of flying fortresses and other vintage planes.
There are so many stories to tell about ‘Alien’, the first and still the finest in the whole series of these films. The one episode that most affects me is that all the actors involved in that classic horror scene of the alien bursting through John Hurt’s chest had absolutely no idea what they were about to witness and that they would be showered in blood. Indeed their expressions here are stunningly captured by Ridley Scott’s mastery.
A less horrific but still unexpected event in the film is that Sigourney Weaver when handling Jones thought she found herself allergic to cats whereas it was the glycerine she was forced to spread over her skin in order to produce a ‘sweaty’ effect. When the glycerine was removed Weaver found herself back at ease with Jones who in fact had four avatars (out of nine lives?) in ‘Alien’ including one for chasing, one for hissing, one for walking on tables and one for being cuddled.
