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Computer:
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Nicholas cull: Every film
is a product of its time.
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And every successful
film tells you something
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about the time it was made.
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It's successful
because it resonates
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with stories and images
that people need to see
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at that particular point.
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Henry Jenkins: "Alien"
is a radical break
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with science fiction.
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This is not the
notion of the alien
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that we were building
toward in something
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like "close encounters."
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Clarke wolfe: "Star
wars" comes out,
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we have a fun space adventure.
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And then "alien" comes
out, and people embrace it.
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And then just a couple
of years later, "e.T."
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And John carpenter's
"the thing" come out,
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and audiences resoundingly
are like, no, thank you.
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We want our aliens to
be nice and squishy
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and cool and eat candy.
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I think there's a special
status that comes to some films
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that lodge in the audience's
collective imagination,
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and I think "alien" is
certainly one of those films.
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William linn: Tolkien talked
about the cauldron of stories,
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and certainly,
"alien" is an example
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of a story drawing from a
real global set of myths.
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If you look at a somatics
experiment, what you're going
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to see is sand that
vibrates in a shape,
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and the shape changes based
on the different vibrations.
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A myth is like something
that vibrated from something
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deeper that you can't see.
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You see a major
curse in the form
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of the alien, who
is very much a fury,
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responding to an imbalance.
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We're looking at a
story where there
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is a piece of material
prop that is now completely
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alive in our imaginations.
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It lives in our dreams.
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It lives in our
cultural conversation.
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It's one of the biggest
cultural dreams we've ever had.
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Diane o'bannon:
I met Dan at usc.
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He was a real standout.
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You couldn't miss him.
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He was a wild man, unbounded
by conventional reality.
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You couldn't call him an
iconoclast, because he
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didn't have icons to break.
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He could be very offensive,
and was frequently
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offensive on purpose.
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He was hot, you know,
emotionally hot, emotionally
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responsive, very angry.
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He was born and raised in rural
Missouri and had no television.
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They didn't even have a
telephone till he was 10.
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They lived in the middle
of nowhere on 24 acres.
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And yet he knew
all these things.
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They didn't even have
a library in the town.
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His mother used to send
off for boxes of books,
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and they would come,
and he would read them,
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and then they'd send them back.
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Dan was always sneaking
science fiction.
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His mother always wanted
him to read good literature.
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And his mother would
always say, you
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haven't got any of that science
fiction in your backpack,
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have you?
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You're not taking that
science fiction to school.
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His father owned a curio
shop, it was called odd acres.
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There was a sort of screwy
Louie room, you know,
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where things were
sort of off kilter,
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and everything looks
like it's leaning.
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That was growing
up in odd acres.
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One time his father
faked a ufo landing.
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And Dan helped him, and then
he had the press out there,
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you know?
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By direction of the
President of the United States,
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stay in your homes.
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I repeat, stay in your homes.
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Reporter: Because in one moment
of history-making violence,
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nature, mad, rampant, roared
its most awesome creation.
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Diane o'bannon: There's
a lot of bugs there.
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And he was always very
frightened, in a way,
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by the sudden
appearance of bugs,
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like a stick insect and
cicadas, massive invasions
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in Southern Missouri, they
would have hundreds of thousands
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of them come out of the ground
and swarm over everything
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and then vanish and die.
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So these things really
gave him the creeps.
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And he wanted to creep
everybody else out too.
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But he was quite an artist.
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And when he was thinking
of his monsters,
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he would sketch them out.
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Before "alien," Dan had
written a screenplay called
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"they bite."
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It was "alien" before "alien."
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And it involved a
cicada-like creature,
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but instead of being
13 years underground,
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it was several million
years underground,
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and gradually picks off the
people in the encampment one
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by one.
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It's a version of
an alien creature
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evolving, needing an
evolution, and being
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destructive in that evolution.
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O'bannon has this
great line, says,
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"I didn't steal from anybody.
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I stole from everybody."
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And one of the places
that he happily
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admitted that he stole
from was a 1951 ec comic
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called "seeds of Jupiter."
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There's just eight pages.
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It starts on an
aircraft carrier,
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and this orb crashes onto the
aircraft carrier, breaks apart,
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small orb, and it's
got like, 50 seeds.
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And there are three
Navy guys on the ship,
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and they're
wondering what it is.
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One of them's called peach pit,
and he likes to put peach pits
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in his mouth, and
the other two guys
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sort of trick him into
putting one of these seeds
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into his mouth.
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And then they slap the guy on
the back, it's all good fun
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and he swallows.
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He gets terribly sick.
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He's dehydrated.
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It's emergency surgery.
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He's going die.
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The Navy surgeon
takes a scalpel,
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cuts open his chest,
everybody shocked,
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and out pops this hideous,
scaly, disgusting mini octopus.
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And then it literally
scamper across the deck
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and plunges into the sea.
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And they go, well, we're
never going to see that again.
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Guaranteeing that they'll
be seeing that again.
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Tim boxell: The origin
of "death rattle" was
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in a farmhouse in Minnesota.
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The story itself is
some sort of astronaut
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coming across an object.
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It's the kind of statuary
that you might see in a temple
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in some ancient civilization.
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In the process of sending
it back, he drops it,
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he breaks it, and he
releases something
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that's about to change his
life in a very horrible way.
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He is attacked by this thing
that gets into his body.
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He is effectively raped.
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His eyes are gouged out and
something goes into his head.
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And from that point
on, he becomes
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a receptacle for something
that's taking him over.
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Something is
transforming a person
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into something very,
very different,
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very unfortunate, shall we say.
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As a healthy young kid growing
up in the midwest in the 1950s
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and '60s, there were things
going on in the world
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that didn't quite make sense.
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Television was very
safe and cleaned up,
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so I clamored for
things that I wasn't
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getting from my civilization,
from my culture.
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Dan o'bannon drew
upon his experiences
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as a person from the midwest,
reading comic books at the drug
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store, like I did, and brought
that kind of sensibility
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and that outlook on the
world to this major science
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fiction horror epic.
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The midwest may seem tranquil
and civilized and so forth,
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but the fact is, you never
know who's next door.
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You never know who's going
to roll into town, you know,
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it's like we're all, you
know, one cough, one kiss,
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one scratch away
from global disaster.
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Diane o'bannon: The
influence of lovecraft on Dan
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was considerable.
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The eggs lying dormant
on the planetoid
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is comparable to
the cicada's million
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year life cycle, isn't it?
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Creatures coming out of
the ground after being
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dormant for millions
of years is superbly
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lovecraftian, completely.
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I think that's a pretty
straight line between the two.
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St joshi: Lovecraft,
in his own day,
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was a pioneer of
science fiction.
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More specifically, his brand
of horror fiction, which he
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called weird fiction.
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He felt that the essence
of horror is the unknown,
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and what is most
unknown, it is what
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is out there in the
depths of space,
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and what has happened
in the far distant past.
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Many of the features
of "alien" have a lot
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to do with lovecraft's
short novel,
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"at the mountains of madness."
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This is a novel
he wrote in 1931.
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And it's something
that he'd wanted
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to write for a long
time, because he
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had been fascinated with the
antarctic since he was a boy.
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An expedition from
Massachusetts goes down there,
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and come upon fossilized
remains of alien entities, which
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this expedition
labels the old ones.
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Dallas: It's been
dead a long time.
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Fossilized.
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St joshi: In the
course of this novel,
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they become unfrozen
and come to life.
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They cannot be defined by normal
human or terrestrial biology.
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I have confirmed that
he's got an outer layer
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of protein polysaccharides.
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Has funny habit of
shedding his cells
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and replacing them
with polarized silicon.
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St joshi: In fact, the
explorers find this immense city
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that the old ones built
hundreds of millions
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of years ago in
the antarctic, full
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of very bizarre architecture.
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00:14:25,699 --> 00:14:27,860
There are these
alien creatures that
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are virtually indestructible.
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They simply cannot die.
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Ripley: How do we kill it, ash?
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00:14:34,541 --> 00:14:35,935
There's gotta be a
way of killing it.
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00:14:35,959 --> 00:14:36,539
How?
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00:14:36,668 --> 00:14:38,533
How do we do it?
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You can't.
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Classical science
is based on the idea
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that matter is dead and inert.
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And this is true throughout
western consciousness,
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from prometheus and
pandora to Adam and Eve.
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Space is empty and quiet.
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Is it?
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00:14:52,393 --> 00:14:54,099
That's a perspective
that we have.
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And I think "alien" is
very much the nightmare
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00:14:56,355 --> 00:14:57,936
to that perspective.
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And you see this in the
coptic jars where they move.
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And you see this when you get
out into the depths of space
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where it's supposed
to be quiet and dead,
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00:15:05,447 --> 00:15:07,733
and instead, you
find the boogeyman.
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St joshi: I cannot think of
a film out there that comes
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anywhere close to "alien"
capturing that overall
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lovecraftian atmosphere.
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00:15:13,747 --> 00:15:16,284
That planetoid
where the ship lands
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is a prototypical
instance of what lovecraft
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called the fear of the unknown.
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It is a place completely
uncharted by human expeditions.
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No big budget studio wanted
to put a lot of money
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into making a pure
lovecraft film,
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00:15:30,264 --> 00:15:33,472
and so people like o'bannon
and John carpenter and others
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00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:35,431
had to sort of use
lovecraftian elements
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00:15:35,561 --> 00:15:38,644
covertly to infuse
lovecraftian themes
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into works that
were not explicitly
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based on any of the stories.
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00:15:44,736 --> 00:15:47,603
Nicholas cull: "Alien" didn't
come out of a creative vacuum.
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00:15:47,739 --> 00:15:52,859
It drew on a whole heritage
of American science fiction.
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00:15:52,995 --> 00:15:54,576
You could make the
argument that "alien"
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00:15:54,705 --> 00:15:57,822
certainly borrows from "it,
the terror from beyond space"
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00:15:57,958 --> 00:16:00,324
from 1958.
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00:16:00,461 --> 00:16:04,830
A crew of 10 goes to Mars
to recover the lone survivor
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00:16:04,965 --> 00:16:06,830
of a previous expedition.
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00:16:06,967 --> 00:16:09,003
The rest of his crew
has been wiped out.
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00:16:09,136 --> 00:16:11,593
Edward carothers:
Today, of all my crew,
247
00:16:11,722 --> 00:16:14,338
I, colonel Edward carothers
of the United States space
248
00:16:14,475 --> 00:16:17,717
command, am the only one alive.
249
00:16:17,853 --> 00:16:19,372
Ben mankiewicz: They
obviously think he did it.
250
00:16:19,396 --> 00:16:20,932
He says, no, an alien did it.
251
00:16:21,064 --> 00:16:22,804
What are you thinking about?
252
00:16:22,941 --> 00:16:25,102
Those nine bodies
you left down there?
253
00:16:25,235 --> 00:16:27,396
Yes.
254
00:16:27,529 --> 00:16:30,111
But I didn't kill them.
255
00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:32,526
Spoiler, it was an alien.
256
00:16:32,659 --> 00:16:38,120
The alien stows away on
the ship and starts picking
257
00:16:38,248 --> 00:16:41,490
the crew off one by one.
258
00:16:41,627 --> 00:16:44,084
It's hiding in the air ducts.
259
00:16:44,213 --> 00:16:46,295
Bullets, grenades,
nothing stops it.
260
00:16:46,423 --> 00:16:48,129
What do we do now?
261
00:16:48,258 --> 00:16:50,098
Ben mankiewicz: And it's
killed by an air lock.
262
00:16:52,971 --> 00:16:55,428
Nicholas cull: "The
thing" from 1951
263
00:16:55,557 --> 00:16:57,843
is very present with the
idea of this creature
264
00:16:57,976 --> 00:17:00,558
that kind of
hatches, that mimics,
265
00:17:00,687 --> 00:17:04,805
thatisin a working environment.
266
00:17:04,942 --> 00:17:08,105
You can go to the 60s and look
at "planet of the vampires,"
267
00:17:08,237 --> 00:17:11,604
where they find this
giant alien corpse.
268
00:17:11,740 --> 00:17:13,605
Doesn't look like any
ship I've ever seen.
269
00:17:13,742 --> 00:17:15,824
Do you think it
belongs to the orients?
270
00:17:15,953 --> 00:17:17,318
I doubt it.
271
00:17:17,454 --> 00:17:18,473
I doubt if the orients
ever built any spaceships.
272
00:17:18,497 --> 00:17:19,577
If they... -
273
00:17:19,706 --> 00:17:20,986
- we would have...
- Look, Mark.
274
00:17:24,628 --> 00:17:27,210
One of the films that "alien"
draws quite heavily from
275
00:17:27,339 --> 00:17:32,254
is a 1966 film produced by Roger
corman called "queen of blood."
276
00:17:32,386 --> 00:17:33,386
Listen.
277
00:17:38,141 --> 00:17:40,723
We've been picking up these
signals now for three days.
278
00:17:40,852 --> 00:17:44,219
Nicholas cull: An alien distress
signal is received by earth.
279
00:17:44,356 --> 00:17:47,598
Astronauts go out to find
the source of the signal.
280
00:17:47,734 --> 00:17:49,599
They land on a planetoid.
281
00:17:49,736 --> 00:17:52,068
There's this strange sandstorm.
282
00:17:52,197 --> 00:17:54,188
They go into an alien vessel.
283
00:17:54,324 --> 00:17:57,566
They find a dead alien
sitting in a chair,
284
00:17:57,703 --> 00:18:00,911
encounter an alien who they're
bringing back to earth,
285
00:18:01,039 --> 00:18:03,200
and the alien
begins individually
286
00:18:03,333 --> 00:18:06,825
attacking members of the crew.
287
00:18:06,962 --> 00:18:11,046
And at the end of the film, the
humans are left quite literally
288
00:18:11,174 --> 00:18:14,132
holding a tray of her eggs.
289
00:18:14,261 --> 00:18:18,220
Is this the beginning
of the end for humanity?
290
00:18:22,102 --> 00:18:24,093
Ian Nathan: John carpenter
roped in Dan o'bannon
291
00:18:24,229 --> 00:18:26,436
to helping him make the
student science fiction
292
00:18:26,565 --> 00:18:27,975
film called "dark star."
293
00:18:28,108 --> 00:18:30,474
And it was about the
crew of a spaceship...
294
00:18:30,611 --> 00:18:31,851
This might sound familiar...
295
00:18:31,987 --> 00:18:33,727
Who then is assailed
by an alien who
296
00:18:33,864 --> 00:18:35,650
sort of stows away on the ship.
297
00:18:35,782 --> 00:18:37,238
Diane o'bannon:
"Dark star," that's
298
00:18:37,367 --> 00:18:40,404
the comic version of "alien."
299
00:18:40,537 --> 00:18:42,056
One makes you laugh,
and the other one's
300
00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,162
going to eat you alive.
301
00:18:44,291 --> 00:18:46,291
Ian Nathan: Carpenter wanted
sole directing credit,
302
00:18:46,335 --> 00:18:49,452
and o'bannon felt he'd done
enough to get cowriting credit.
303
00:18:49,588 --> 00:18:51,624
So they had this kind
of big falling out.
304
00:18:51,757 --> 00:18:53,873
And o'bannon's first
thought is that, well,
305
00:18:54,009 --> 00:18:55,624
I can go and do this on my own.
306
00:18:55,761 --> 00:19:00,300
I will write a story,
a science fiction story
307
00:19:00,432 --> 00:19:01,797
that will beat "dark star."
308
00:19:01,933 --> 00:19:03,661
Wouldn't you consider
another course of action?
309
00:19:03,685 --> 00:19:06,518
For example, just waiting around
a while so we can disarm you?
310
00:19:06,647 --> 00:19:07,762
Bomb ♪20: No.
311
00:19:07,898 --> 00:19:09,125
Because I'm not
going to do a comedy,
312
00:19:09,149 --> 00:19:10,543
I'm going to do it
as a horror movie.
313
00:19:10,567 --> 00:19:12,979
Computer: The ship will
automatically destruct
314
00:19:13,111 --> 00:19:18,231
in t-minus five minutes.
315
00:19:18,367 --> 00:19:21,575
You bitch!
316
00:19:21,703 --> 00:19:24,194
A lot of things bother
me about "dark star."
317
00:19:24,331 --> 00:19:28,415
We had an alien in it,
which was a beach ball.
318
00:19:28,543 --> 00:19:30,875
It was our second
try on that alien.
319
00:19:31,004 --> 00:19:34,838
I went away from "dark
star" really wanting to do
320
00:19:34,966 --> 00:19:36,831
an alien that looked real.
321
00:19:41,598 --> 00:19:44,715
Diane o'bannon: Jodorowsky saw
"dark star," which is how he
322
00:19:44,851 --> 00:19:47,263
found out about Dan o'bannon.
323
00:19:47,396 --> 00:19:51,309
Nobody in Hollywood was
impressed with jodorowsky.
324
00:19:51,441 --> 00:19:53,147
So he said, well,
to hell with you.
325
00:19:53,276 --> 00:19:58,441
So he found Dan and said,
come work on "dune" with me.
326
00:20:02,911 --> 00:20:07,826
I think you have to
go back to jodorowsky.
327
00:20:07,958 --> 00:20:09,494
Jodorowsky was his guru.
328
00:20:09,626 --> 00:20:10,957
He adored him.
329
00:20:11,086 --> 00:20:13,077
I've never met him
and I adore him.
330
00:20:13,213 --> 00:20:16,000
Not only is there a
synchronicity that connects
331
00:20:16,133 --> 00:20:19,671
"dune" and "alien," there's
almost an archetypal
332
00:20:19,803 --> 00:20:22,385
counterbalance between the two.
333
00:20:22,514 --> 00:20:25,927
If "dune" is the tower of
babel, "alien" is exactly what
334
00:20:26,059 --> 00:20:27,640
brings down that tower.
335
00:20:27,769 --> 00:20:30,135
In the same way that "alien"
is the response to prometheus
336
00:20:30,272 --> 00:20:32,228
trying to steal fire
from the heavens,
337
00:20:32,357 --> 00:20:35,269
the movie "alien" is also
a response, energetically,
338
00:20:35,402 --> 00:20:40,192
archetypally, to the tower of
babel project that was "dune."
339
00:20:40,323 --> 00:20:43,030
Diane o'bannon: When
"dune" collapsed in Paris,
340
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,869
Dan came back and actually
crashed on the couch
341
00:20:46,997 --> 00:20:50,080
in the house I was living
in with a bunch of people
342
00:20:50,208 --> 00:20:51,602
because he didn't
have anywhere to go.
343
00:20:51,626 --> 00:20:53,287
And it... he...
344
00:20:53,420 --> 00:20:55,331
He was completely at a loss.
345
00:20:55,464 --> 00:20:59,377
Eventually, he... we
said, you got to go.
346
00:20:59,509 --> 00:21:03,218
So somehow, he wound up
on Ron shusett's couch.
347
00:21:03,346 --> 00:21:07,180
I went back to storage, got
my typewriter out, took it over
348
00:21:07,309 --> 00:21:10,722
to Ronnie shusett's living room,
and over the days and nights
349
00:21:10,854 --> 00:21:14,221
of the next three
months, Ron keeping me
350
00:21:14,357 --> 00:21:16,268
alive by feeding me hot dogs.
351
00:21:16,401 --> 00:21:17,561
We were both starving.
352
00:21:17,694 --> 00:21:20,026
My wife was supporting us.
353
00:21:20,155 --> 00:21:22,567
We had two rooms,
that's all we had.
354
00:21:22,699 --> 00:21:24,177
Diane o'bannon: He
made up a board game
355
00:21:24,201 --> 00:21:27,693
called poverty, sort of
the opposite of monopoly.
356
00:21:27,829 --> 00:21:30,787
You've got to land on enough
spaces to pay the rent.
357
00:21:30,916 --> 00:21:33,874
You're out on the street if
you can't afford to stay.
358
00:21:34,002 --> 00:21:36,869
It's absolutely a scream.
359
00:21:37,005 --> 00:21:42,045
In 1971, Dan was working on
a story he called "memory."
360
00:21:42,177 --> 00:21:46,136
It's basically the first
30 pages of "alien."
361
00:21:46,264 --> 00:21:47,533
Dan o'bannon: I
had this opening.
362
00:21:47,557 --> 00:21:49,172
I didn't know where
it was gonna go.
363
00:21:49,309 --> 00:21:52,176
I wanted to do a scary movie on
a spaceship with a small number
364
00:21:52,312 --> 00:21:53,677
of astronauts.
365
00:21:53,814 --> 00:21:56,055
They're receiving a signal
in an alien language.
366
00:21:56,191 --> 00:21:57,522
They go down to investigate.
367
00:21:57,651 --> 00:22:00,188
Their ship breaks down.
368
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:01,631
Diane o'bannon: Dan
called it "memory,"
369
00:22:01,655 --> 00:22:03,987
because some influence
in the planet
370
00:22:04,115 --> 00:22:07,607
gradually made them
lose their memory.
371
00:22:07,744 --> 00:22:09,024
But that's where
this story ends.
372
00:22:12,624 --> 00:22:14,205
Ron shusett: He
says, ok, I'm going
373
00:22:14,334 --> 00:22:16,996
to give you the first act I've
got to this original horror
374
00:22:17,128 --> 00:22:18,459
movie I wrote.
375
00:22:18,588 --> 00:22:20,749
I can't get past page 29.
376
00:22:20,882 --> 00:22:22,247
Maybe you can help me do that.
377
00:22:22,384 --> 00:22:23,999
So I read it.
378
00:22:24,135 --> 00:22:27,002
29 pages was almost exactly like
you saw in the final finished
379
00:22:27,138 --> 00:22:28,628
product of the "alien" movie.
380
00:22:28,765 --> 00:22:30,847
It was fantastic.
381
00:22:30,976 --> 00:22:33,968
Dan said, there's a
key to everything.
382
00:22:34,104 --> 00:22:37,392
The key is how does
the alien get on board?
383
00:22:37,524 --> 00:22:42,018
His concept was always it
would come out of your stomach.
384
00:22:42,153 --> 00:22:44,394
Dan had a very
bad case of crohn's
385
00:22:44,531 --> 00:22:47,443
disease, which basically
appeared while he
386
00:22:47,576 --> 00:22:49,532
was filming "dark star."
387
00:22:49,661 --> 00:22:52,323
So he was, what, 24, 257?
388
00:22:52,455 --> 00:22:55,071
And it eventually killed him.
389
00:22:55,208 --> 00:22:58,496
But it was an
intestinal disorder
390
00:22:58,628 --> 00:23:01,495
that sometimes felt like it
was devouring him, I think.
391
00:23:01,631 --> 00:23:03,150
Linda and I would
sometimes have to take him
392
00:23:03,174 --> 00:23:06,007
to the emergency center
in the middle of the night
393
00:23:06,136 --> 00:23:07,672
when the pain was so great.
394
00:23:07,804 --> 00:23:10,045
And at the same time, he'd
been having conversations
395
00:23:10,181 --> 00:23:14,470
with Ron shusett about wasps
that procreate by planting
396
00:23:14,603 --> 00:23:17,140
that eggs into other insects.
397
00:23:17,272 --> 00:23:19,542
It was kind of all these things
sort of come together and were
398
00:23:19,566 --> 00:23:21,147
being sown into the script.
399
00:23:21,276 --> 00:23:23,437
Ron in a way was
really fascinated
400
00:23:23,570 --> 00:23:29,816
with the idea of human
beings being a host for...
401
00:23:29,951 --> 00:23:33,443
For an embryo, that
human beings were
402
00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:34,945
the nutrition for an embryo.
403
00:23:37,709 --> 00:23:39,562
Ron shusett: He didn't have
it in the script at all
404
00:23:39,586 --> 00:23:41,355
that it would implant
something in his stomach
405
00:23:41,379 --> 00:23:42,414
and it would grow there.
406
00:23:42,547 --> 00:23:44,162
So I went to sleep.
407
00:23:44,299 --> 00:23:46,665
And I'm aware... it
wasn't dreaming.
408
00:23:46,801 --> 00:23:48,086
It was something else.
409
00:23:48,219 --> 00:23:51,302
It was when your mind
is in the subconscious.
410
00:23:51,431 --> 00:23:54,093
I was wrestling with a
property in my sleep.
411
00:23:54,225 --> 00:23:56,037
I woke him up, I went right
into his studio and I said,
412
00:23:56,061 --> 00:23:56,641
I have it.
413
00:23:56,770 --> 00:23:57,350
I have it.
414
00:23:57,479 --> 00:23:58,184
He said, what?
415
00:23:58,313 --> 00:23:59,143
You have the answer?
416
00:23:59,272 --> 00:23:59,852
I said, I have the answer.
417
00:23:59,981 --> 00:24:00,561
The alien fucks.
418
00:24:00,690 --> 00:24:01,896
He said, what?
419
00:24:02,025 --> 00:24:03,561
What are you talking about?
420
00:24:03,693 --> 00:24:07,356
I said, jumps on his face,
it's a little creature then,
421
00:24:07,489 --> 00:24:11,402
little baby squid-like,
sticks a tube down his throat,
422
00:24:11,534 --> 00:24:14,697
starts feeding him air, but
he's implanting his seed.
423
00:24:14,829 --> 00:24:16,319
And it's going to
grow inside him
424
00:24:16,456 --> 00:24:18,576
and burst out of his chest
in the middle of the movie.
425
00:24:31,304 --> 00:24:32,744
Carl zimmer: There
are over a million
426
00:24:32,806 --> 00:24:35,468
species of parasitic wasps.
427
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:39,639
That means that of all the
animals in the animal kingdom,
428
00:24:39,771 --> 00:24:44,561
the number one form of
animal is a parasitic wasp.
429
00:24:44,693 --> 00:24:51,280
There are wasps that like to
make caterpillars their host.
430
00:24:51,408 --> 00:24:54,616
They can also release
chemicals that control
431
00:24:54,744 --> 00:24:56,575
the behavior of their host.
432
00:24:56,705 --> 00:24:59,321
And everything it
eats is going to feed
433
00:24:59,457 --> 00:25:04,121
these larvae that are growing
inside of its body cavity.
434
00:25:04,254 --> 00:25:06,586
On the outside, they
look completely normal.
435
00:25:06,715 --> 00:25:11,459
So John hurt having breakfast,
that's a caterpillar with
436
00:25:11,594 --> 00:25:13,300
wasps inside of it.
437
00:25:13,430 --> 00:25:16,547
And then once those
wasps are ready,
438
00:25:16,683 --> 00:25:19,049
they just blast their
way out of their host.
439
00:25:19,185 --> 00:25:21,676
And if that's lethal
to the host, fine.
440
00:25:21,813 --> 00:25:23,974
It doesn't matter.
441
00:25:24,107 --> 00:25:28,851
Ridley Scott liked to show film
footage of one species of wasp
442
00:25:28,987 --> 00:25:32,525
in particular to his crew,
and this is something
443
00:25:32,657 --> 00:25:34,147
known as the wood wasp.
444
00:25:34,284 --> 00:25:37,071
These wasps have to
basically find a way
445
00:25:37,203 --> 00:25:40,991
to stick their wasp bags
inside of beetle larvae that
446
00:25:41,124 --> 00:25:44,412
can be deep inside of wood.
447
00:25:44,544 --> 00:25:47,126
So there are all
these alien things
448
00:25:47,255 --> 00:25:49,086
that parasites are
doing all around us,
449
00:25:49,215 --> 00:25:52,127
and scientists are trying to
make sense of that in the way
450
00:25:52,260 --> 00:25:55,297
that the crew nostromo was
trying to make sense of it
451
00:25:55,430 --> 00:25:57,216
with the alien.
452
00:25:57,348 --> 00:25:58,463
Ripley: That's amazing.
453
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,262
What is it?
454
00:26:01,394 --> 00:26:02,634
Why, yes, it is.
455
00:26:02,771 --> 00:26:07,231
Um, I don't know yet.
456
00:26:07,358 --> 00:26:10,145
Carl zimmer: Getting
inside something else
457
00:26:10,278 --> 00:26:15,818
and feeding on it from
within is a really great way
458
00:26:15,950 --> 00:26:19,408
to survive and evolve.
459
00:26:19,537 --> 00:26:24,907
The alien is just fitting into
this fundamental basic pattern
460
00:26:25,043 --> 00:26:28,786
that you find on life, probably
the most successful way
461
00:26:28,922 --> 00:26:29,922
to be alive on earth.
462
00:26:53,446 --> 00:26:56,153
Giger really came
from Dan o'bannon.
463
00:26:56,282 --> 00:26:59,069
Dan suggested him on
a stroke of genius.
464
00:26:59,202 --> 00:27:01,318
Giger consolidates every monster
465
00:27:01,454 --> 00:27:04,867
from every mythology around the
world into a single creature.
466
00:27:04,999 --> 00:27:06,535
He embodies the mythic other.
467
00:27:06,668 --> 00:27:08,158
Diane o'bannon:
Jodorowsky rescue
468
00:27:08,294 --> 00:27:10,910
went to an opening of some
of giger's artwork in Paris
469
00:27:11,047 --> 00:27:13,413
and brought the book back.
470
00:27:13,550 --> 00:27:18,419
Dan looked at it and was just
knocked dead by the artwork.
471
00:27:18,555 --> 00:27:21,672
They were fantastic,
sexual, mechanical,
472
00:27:21,808 --> 00:27:26,552
biological amalgamation
that was completely new.
473
00:27:26,688 --> 00:27:29,054
Ron shusett: It does express
giger's own admiration
474
00:27:29,190 --> 00:27:34,355
for lovecraft as a pioneer
in envisioning creatures
475
00:27:34,487 --> 00:27:37,103
far beyond human conception.
476
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,698
Diane o'bannon: I think Dan
and giger met at the lovecraft
477
00:27:40,827 --> 00:27:46,072
level, that sort of creeping
horror and unnamed horror
478
00:27:46,207 --> 00:27:50,541
that you are free
yourself to define.
479
00:27:50,670 --> 00:27:53,662
Dan and giger both
had similar interests
480
00:27:53,798 --> 00:27:55,538
in the "necronomicon."
481
00:27:55,675 --> 00:27:58,382
While giger was doing
paintings on that theme,
482
00:27:58,511 --> 00:28:01,423
Dan was also writing his
version of the "necronomicon,"
483
00:28:01,556 --> 00:28:02,420
which I still have.
484
00:28:02,557 --> 00:28:03,296
Its unpublished.
485
00:28:03,433 --> 00:28:06,596
It's a... a printed work.
486
00:28:06,728 --> 00:28:08,639
Bijan aalam: Giger was a mystic.
487
00:28:08,771 --> 00:28:12,605
He had his own mythology,
his own cosmology.
488
00:28:12,734 --> 00:28:15,976
He took like a bee
from different flowers
489
00:28:16,112 --> 00:28:22,608
to feed his own imagination
and make his own honey with it.
490
00:28:22,744 --> 00:28:26,077
He's the mythology
of the future.
491
00:28:26,206 --> 00:28:31,621
Of course, there is an
Egyptian touch to "alien."
492
00:28:31,753 --> 00:28:35,211
Hans, his favorite
culture was Egypt.
493
00:28:35,340 --> 00:28:38,082
When he was five years old,
he went with his sister
494
00:28:38,218 --> 00:28:39,799
to the museum.
495
00:28:39,928 --> 00:28:41,714
In the cellar, there
was this mummy,
496
00:28:41,846 --> 00:28:46,431
an Egyptian mummy, and hans,
he was quite afraid of it.
497
00:28:46,559 --> 00:28:48,800
He was so deeply impressed
by the black bones
498
00:28:48,937 --> 00:28:50,393
and the black skin.
499
00:28:50,521 --> 00:28:53,684
From then on, he went
almost every Sunday.
500
00:28:53,816 --> 00:28:58,355
He was absolutely
fascinated by the pyramids.
501
00:28:58,488 --> 00:28:59,978
William linn: In
early storyboards,
502
00:29:00,114 --> 00:29:03,606
you can actually see that
the derelict was a pyramid.
503
00:29:03,743 --> 00:29:07,076
And then later, Ridley
Scott envisions this kind
504
00:29:07,205 --> 00:29:11,073
of ritual area of ruins.
505
00:29:11,209 --> 00:29:13,746
This ship is an
emblem, is a remnant
506
00:29:13,878 --> 00:29:16,961
of a formerly great culture,
an ancient civilization
507
00:29:17,090 --> 00:29:19,627
that's been long lost to time.
508
00:29:19,759 --> 00:29:21,799
That tells us that we should
think of the spaceship,
509
00:29:21,886 --> 00:29:24,218
the derelict, as a temple.
510
00:29:24,347 --> 00:29:26,588
I think the derelict is a
Crescent moon, and ultimately,
511
00:29:26,724 --> 00:29:29,261
a symbol of death.
512
00:29:29,394 --> 00:29:31,074
You see crescents all
throughout the story.
513
00:29:34,399 --> 00:29:37,106
In the original
screenplay, the pods
514
00:29:37,235 --> 00:29:41,319
were in a kind of pyramid
structure called the temple.
515
00:29:41,447 --> 00:29:45,907
That was removed because
of budget considerations
516
00:29:46,035 --> 00:29:48,777
in the production.
517
00:29:48,913 --> 00:29:51,404
Carmen giger: Three stages
of the alien, you know,
518
00:29:51,541 --> 00:29:56,080
where the hole was put into a
pyramid, and on top of it all,
519
00:29:56,212 --> 00:29:59,454
is nut, the Egyptian
goddess of the night
520
00:29:59,590 --> 00:30:02,548
sky with stars in her belly.
521
00:30:02,677 --> 00:30:05,885
And I think that was
really beautiful.
522
00:30:06,014 --> 00:30:09,802
William linn: You see being
born from her the heavens.
523
00:30:09,934 --> 00:30:12,471
And in many ways,
this becomes an image
524
00:30:12,603 --> 00:30:15,185
of the alien giving
birth to this species
525
00:30:15,315 --> 00:30:17,681
that could devour the heavens.
526
00:30:17,817 --> 00:30:22,902
Nut represents the duad
itself, the realm of the dead,
527
00:30:23,031 --> 00:30:25,613
the realm of night,
the realm of the stars.
528
00:30:25,742 --> 00:30:27,357
This is where the
sun goes every night.
529
00:30:27,493 --> 00:30:30,360
This is where the soul goes
between life and death.
530
00:30:30,496 --> 00:30:33,033
We are in the aliens
domain in this whole story.
531
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:42,084
The first I saw of the "alien"
script was an early version.
532
00:30:42,216 --> 00:30:44,423
Dan o'bannon brought it to me.
533
00:30:44,552 --> 00:30:49,216
And as I recall, the original
title was "star beast."
534
00:30:49,349 --> 00:30:54,719
I liked the script, and I wanted
to make it, but I said to Dan,
535
00:30:54,854 --> 00:30:57,891
this really requires
a bigger budget
536
00:30:58,024 --> 00:31:00,265
than what I'm able to spend.
537
00:31:00,401 --> 00:31:02,983
Why don't you shop
it around and see
538
00:31:03,112 --> 00:31:05,353
if you can get a big budget.
539
00:31:05,490 --> 00:31:09,278
If you can't get the big
budget, come back to me
540
00:31:09,410 --> 00:31:12,902
and I will buy the script
and make the picture.
541
00:31:13,039 --> 00:31:14,654
Ian Nathan: And
a guy called Mark
542
00:31:14,791 --> 00:31:18,204
hager got this script into the
pile at Walter hill's office.
543
00:31:21,756 --> 00:31:23,917
He happened upon "star beast."
544
00:31:24,050 --> 00:31:25,652
Now, he thought "star
beast" was one of the worst
545
00:31:25,676 --> 00:31:27,416
scripts he'd ever read.
546
00:31:27,553 --> 00:31:29,168
He just thought it was awful.
547
00:31:29,305 --> 00:31:35,972
But he stopped, page whatever,
30, whatever it was, and went,
548
00:31:36,104 --> 00:31:37,560
what the hell?
549
00:31:37,688 --> 00:31:42,557
When brandywine showed
interest and optioned "alien,"
550
00:31:42,693 --> 00:31:46,561
Dan was, of course, being a
pest and insistent that they
551
00:31:46,697 --> 00:31:49,689
use giger for the creature.
552
00:31:49,826 --> 00:31:57,449
This is the letter to geiger
from Dan dated July 1, 1977.
553
00:31:57,583 --> 00:32:00,791
"Dear giger, this week
I've moved into offices
554
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:02,831
of brandywine
productions where we
555
00:32:02,964 --> 00:32:05,671
are beginning to make the
design decisions for our film.
556
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,166
The producers, Gordon
carroll and David giler,
557
00:32:08,302 --> 00:32:10,213
and the director,
Walter hill, are
558
00:32:10,346 --> 00:32:12,211
as excited as I am
about the possibilities
559
00:32:12,348 --> 00:32:15,715
of your lending your unique
talents to our picture.
560
00:32:15,852 --> 00:32:18,138
Look over the enclosed
description of the designs we
561
00:32:18,271 --> 00:32:20,432
need, then let us know
how much you would
562
00:32:20,565 --> 00:32:22,647
ask for the paintings involved.
563
00:32:22,775 --> 00:32:26,484
When we agree, we send you a
check for $1,000 as an advance
564
00:32:26,612 --> 00:32:28,978
against future payments.
565
00:32:29,115 --> 00:32:33,108
Yeah, well, brandywine didn't
want to pay the $1,000,
566
00:32:33,244 --> 00:32:38,079
so Dan sent him a
personal check for $1,000.
567
00:32:38,207 --> 00:32:40,914
The face hugger,
that was my first thing
568
00:32:41,043 --> 00:32:43,625
I did for Dan o'bannon.
569
00:32:43,754 --> 00:32:47,497
He gave me explanation
and drawings,
570
00:32:47,633 --> 00:32:50,921
and he said that he's
jumping on a big egg,
571
00:32:51,053 --> 00:32:53,715
this egg is about that, so.
572
00:32:53,848 --> 00:32:56,806
And I thought that must be
quite a big monster, so I
573
00:32:56,934 --> 00:33:00,722
did an enormous facehugger.
574
00:33:00,855 --> 00:33:03,847
And then he was
jumping, I thought
575
00:33:03,983 --> 00:33:08,727
he could jump when his tail is
like, it's curved like a spring
576
00:33:08,863 --> 00:33:12,776
of the Jack in the box.
577
00:33:12,909 --> 00:33:14,303
Diane o'bannon: And
from those sketches,
578
00:33:14,327 --> 00:33:16,443
he went ahead and
did the paintings.
579
00:33:16,579 --> 00:33:20,447
And that's why the paintings
say Dan o'bannon's alien,
580
00:33:20,583 --> 00:33:22,790
because Dan paid for them.
581
00:33:22,919 --> 00:33:26,002
Fox hierarchy come in to
see some of the designs,
582
00:33:26,130 --> 00:33:27,540
and they fired him.
583
00:33:27,673 --> 00:33:29,755
Gordon carroll finally
said, this guy is just sick.
584
00:33:29,884 --> 00:33:30,884
Get him off our lot.
585
00:33:31,010 --> 00:33:32,170
Send him back to Switzerland.
586
00:33:32,261 --> 00:33:33,842
We're having none of it.
587
00:33:33,971 --> 00:33:35,882
So giger was gone.
588
00:33:36,015 --> 00:33:38,882
Fox is full speed
ahead with brandywine.
589
00:33:39,018 --> 00:33:40,996
They're in preproduction
Walter hill is going to direct
590
00:33:41,020 --> 00:33:42,635
the film, and all of
a sudden, the studio
591
00:33:42,772 --> 00:33:45,388
gets a call from Walter hill,
basically, where he says, yeah,
592
00:33:45,525 --> 00:33:46,525
I'm not going to...
593
00:33:46,609 --> 00:33:48,440
I'm not going to
make this movie.
594
00:33:48,569 --> 00:33:50,105
I never really believed in it.
595
00:33:50,238 --> 00:33:52,090
I don't think it's that great,
and I got another picture
596
00:33:52,114 --> 00:33:53,194
I'm going to do here.
597
00:33:53,324 --> 00:33:55,110
So good luck.
598
00:33:55,243 --> 00:33:56,528
I'm out.
599
00:33:56,661 --> 00:33:59,528
And that other picture
was "Southern comfort."
600
00:33:59,664 --> 00:34:01,074
Not a bad movie.
601
00:34:01,207 --> 00:34:02,492
Not "alien."
602
00:34:02,625 --> 00:34:04,991
I read the script, and
I thought, well, this is
603
00:34:05,127 --> 00:34:08,415
very solid, very interesting.
604
00:34:08,548 --> 00:34:10,960
It's not really
an actor's script.
605
00:34:11,092 --> 00:34:13,174
There was no one else
attached, and they're
606
00:34:13,302 --> 00:34:17,762
asking me to get
involved in what was then
607
00:34:17,890 --> 00:34:21,348
a budgeted film for $2 million.
608
00:34:21,477 --> 00:34:25,561
$2 million sounds
like an ed wood movie.
609
00:34:25,690 --> 00:34:28,523
So I turned it down.
610
00:34:28,651 --> 00:34:32,769
Ridley and I had just
finished off the do list.
611
00:34:32,905 --> 00:34:34,395
There was this
thing between Ridley
612
00:34:34,532 --> 00:34:37,319
and I about Sci-Fi, and that
I was the Sci-Fi fanatic.
613
00:34:37,451 --> 00:34:39,658
And all the films that
I used to show him,
614
00:34:39,787 --> 00:34:43,496
he would completely
disparage and say,
615
00:34:43,624 --> 00:34:45,580
no, that's a pile of shit.
616
00:34:45,710 --> 00:34:47,996
He had the script through
the door called the "alien,"
617
00:34:48,129 --> 00:34:50,495
and I tried to say, well,
let me read it, et cetera,
618
00:34:50,631 --> 00:34:52,997
and for some reason
or other, this time,
619
00:34:53,134 --> 00:34:56,092
he said, no, no, no,
no, I'll read it first.
620
00:34:56,220 --> 00:34:57,676
And so he was in
the next door office
621
00:34:57,805 --> 00:35:01,423
where we made commercials,
and I remember him
622
00:35:01,559 --> 00:35:04,847
sitting there going, fuck me.
623
00:35:04,979 --> 00:35:06,810
Tom skerritt: I got a
call a few weeks later,
624
00:35:06,939 --> 00:35:10,102
and they said, well, the
budget's up to $10 million,
625
00:35:10,234 --> 00:35:14,022
and a director named Ridley
Scott is going to direct it.
626
00:35:14,155 --> 00:35:16,191
I said, sold.
627
00:35:16,324 --> 00:35:18,906
I got a phone call
from Ridley saying,
628
00:35:19,035 --> 00:35:21,993
get your backside down
to shepperton now.
629
00:35:22,121 --> 00:35:25,158
So I drove straight down there.
630
00:35:25,291 --> 00:35:29,409
Diane o'bannon: When brandywine
brought Ridley on was when Dan
631
00:35:29,545 --> 00:35:32,082
really got an ally
in a lot of what
632
00:35:32,214 --> 00:35:35,672
he wanted for "alien" to be.
633
00:35:35,801 --> 00:35:38,759
Very, very rare occurrence
when the writer can
634
00:35:38,888 --> 00:35:40,799
have that amount of influence.
635
00:35:40,931 --> 00:35:42,159
Ron shusett: We
thought he was gonna
636
00:35:42,183 --> 00:35:43,535
be the wrong director
for it, and he
637
00:35:43,559 --> 00:35:45,641
turned out to be the
greatest visual stylist
638
00:35:45,770 --> 00:35:47,306
since kubrick's prime.
639
00:35:47,438 --> 00:35:48,974
Ian Nathan: And he's
such a visual guy
640
00:35:49,106 --> 00:35:51,251
that the first thing he did
was kind of to break it down
641
00:35:51,275 --> 00:35:53,891
into storyboards, draws his
own storyboard, extraordinary
642
00:35:54,028 --> 00:35:56,189
artist, these fantastic images.
643
00:35:56,322 --> 00:35:59,530
But what it doesn't really have
is a clear idea of the alien.
644
00:35:59,659 --> 00:36:01,274
It's not quite there.
645
00:36:01,410 --> 00:36:03,776
O'bannon says look,
I've got this book.
646
00:36:03,913 --> 00:36:05,349
Diane o'bannon: When
Dan showed Ridley
647
00:36:05,373 --> 00:36:08,410
the "necronomicon,"
Ridley instantly said,
648
00:36:08,542 --> 00:36:10,407
yes, this is it.
649
00:36:10,544 --> 00:36:14,082
I was shown the book, necro...
650
00:36:14,215 --> 00:36:15,796
Woman: Nomicom.
651
00:36:15,925 --> 00:36:19,588
"Necronomicon," ok, in los
Angeles, in fact, by o'bannon.
652
00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:20,720
He brought it in.
653
00:36:20,846 --> 00:36:22,552
And I nearly fell off the desk.
654
00:36:22,682 --> 00:36:24,593
Said, that's it.
655
00:36:24,725 --> 00:36:26,431
And why look further?
656
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:27,970
And so that's how I saw it.
657
00:36:28,104 --> 00:36:29,594
It was as simple as that.
658
00:36:29,730 --> 00:36:32,813
I've never been so certain
about anything in my life.
659
00:36:32,942 --> 00:36:35,479
There were many
arguments at that stage.
660
00:36:35,611 --> 00:36:37,567
Fox were really quite troubled.
661
00:36:37,697 --> 00:36:42,236
But it was an early sign of how
strong Scott was on that film
662
00:36:42,368 --> 00:36:44,825
that he won so many battles.
663
00:36:44,954 --> 00:36:47,161
And the most fundamental
and important one
664
00:36:47,289 --> 00:36:50,156
was he got giger back on.
665
00:36:50,292 --> 00:36:51,748
And I just thought
it was stunning,
666
00:36:51,877 --> 00:36:54,914
and I just stuck to
my guns saying, no.
667
00:36:55,047 --> 00:36:56,503
No, that's it.
668
00:36:56,632 --> 00:36:58,793
They said, let's bring him
in and talk some concepts.
669
00:36:58,926 --> 00:37:00,041
I said, no.
670
00:37:00,177 --> 00:37:00,916
You can't do that.
671
00:37:01,053 --> 00:37:02,168
That's it.
672
00:37:02,304 --> 00:37:03,704
We want to be
shooting by so and so.
673
00:37:03,764 --> 00:37:05,300
That's it.
674
00:37:05,433 --> 00:37:07,799
Just to get this right is
gonna be incredibly difficult.
675
00:37:07,935 --> 00:37:10,472
This is beautiful,
not just threatening.
676
00:37:10,604 --> 00:37:13,016
And also has very
sexual connotations.
677
00:37:13,149 --> 00:37:16,266
So in everything, it's
like a rather beautiful
678
00:37:16,402 --> 00:37:20,395
humanoid biomechanoid insect.
679
00:37:20,531 --> 00:37:23,068
Giger talks about
intentionally drawing imagery
680
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:25,065
from his own dreams,
that means coming
681
00:37:25,202 --> 00:37:26,738
from a place where
he didn't have
682
00:37:26,871 --> 00:37:29,237
agency over what came to him.
683
00:37:29,373 --> 00:37:34,743
When he painted, he was
in this sort of trance.
684
00:37:34,879 --> 00:37:39,748
He was possessed, like
a seer, a blind seer.
685
00:37:43,679 --> 00:37:48,139
Would go like that,
and like in a polaroid,
686
00:37:48,267 --> 00:37:53,011
an image would appear
and take shape.
687
00:37:53,147 --> 00:37:56,105
Diane o'bannon: Giger's
images existed in a universe
688
00:37:56,233 --> 00:37:58,474
of their own in Switzerland.
689
00:37:58,611 --> 00:38:02,854
And they really found their
place in space, the xenomorph
690
00:38:02,990 --> 00:38:05,902
and the space jockey.
691
00:38:06,035 --> 00:38:09,493
Giger's images really
found a home in "alien."
692
00:38:09,622 --> 00:38:11,683
Part of what you're seeing
with the character of "alien"
693
00:38:11,707 --> 00:38:15,541
is this gorgeous synchrony,
this incredible synthesis
694
00:38:15,669 --> 00:38:17,876
of multiple
mythological characters,
695
00:38:18,005 --> 00:38:21,088
sekhmet, pazuzu, Kali.
696
00:38:21,217 --> 00:38:23,708
Ian Nathan: You can see
the medieval dragon,
697
00:38:23,844 --> 00:38:29,259
the renaissance demons, the
work of heironymous bosch.
698
00:38:29,391 --> 00:38:31,848
And it's a synthesis that
wasn't done consciously.
699
00:38:31,977 --> 00:38:34,434
It was a synthesis that happened
in the cauldron of stories
700
00:38:34,563 --> 00:38:37,020
that was giger's imagination.
701
00:38:37,149 --> 00:38:39,606
This is a character with which
all three of these artists
702
00:38:39,735 --> 00:38:41,100
identified.
703
00:38:41,237 --> 00:38:42,839
And because they all
resonated with this pattern,
704
00:38:42,863 --> 00:38:44,819
they were drawn
together, this coming
705
00:38:44,949 --> 00:38:47,691
from a much deeper place.
706
00:38:47,827 --> 00:38:51,661
Ian Nathan: Such a brilliant
choice that in the end,
707
00:38:51,789 --> 00:38:55,031
you could say separates "alien"
from anything else was you've
708
00:38:55,167 --> 00:38:57,874
got this extraordinary
artist with this sort
709
00:38:58,003 --> 00:39:00,961
of mind-blowing imagery,
and you inject it
710
00:39:01,090 --> 00:39:02,090
straight into the film.
711
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:10,422
Nicholas cull: In the hands
of perhaps an aficionados who
712
00:39:10,558 --> 00:39:13,425
loved horror movies
and science fiction,
713
00:39:13,561 --> 00:39:16,928
it might have turned out to be
a completely different movie.
714
00:39:17,064 --> 00:39:18,600
Diane o'bannon:
The triptych of Dan
715
00:39:18,732 --> 00:39:21,769
o'bannon, Ridley Scott,
and hans rudi giger
716
00:39:21,902 --> 00:39:25,235
was the gift from the gods.
717
00:39:25,364 --> 00:39:26,591
They were on the
same wavelength.
718
00:39:26,615 --> 00:39:28,151
And they were all
thinking about this
719
00:39:28,284 --> 00:39:33,119
is more than a science fiction
adventure into the future.
720
00:39:33,247 --> 00:39:35,488
This was just as
much an exploration
721
00:39:35,624 --> 00:39:38,240
of the ancient past,
of the repressed
722
00:39:38,377 --> 00:39:41,665
and forgotten that
the alien represents.
723
00:39:41,797 --> 00:39:43,958
When a story comes
from multiple people,
724
00:39:44,091 --> 00:39:46,673
and beyond the agency
of multiple people,
725
00:39:46,802 --> 00:39:49,714
it has a special existence.
726
00:39:49,847 --> 00:39:51,074
Roger Christian:
It is a symbiosis.
727
00:39:51,098 --> 00:39:54,340
"Alien" is a symbiosis
of a few people
728
00:39:54,476 --> 00:39:56,307
who had that sensibility.
729
00:39:56,437 --> 00:39:58,519
If Dan had gone off
and been in charge,
730
00:39:58,647 --> 00:40:00,041
it would have been
a different film.
731
00:40:00,065 --> 00:40:02,351
It would have had more
of the "dark star."
732
00:40:02,484 --> 00:40:05,567
Ron Cobb would have been pure
Sci-Fi, all perfectly done,
733
00:40:05,696 --> 00:40:09,735
more star trekky in
a way, or "2001."
734
00:40:09,867 --> 00:40:14,611
I came on board and made
everything look grungy and real
735
00:40:14,747 --> 00:40:17,329
and like a space
truck, you know?
736
00:40:17,458 --> 00:40:20,165
"Alien", I would say
we got the sets right.
737
00:40:20,294 --> 00:40:22,501
The audience didn't
ever question
738
00:40:22,630 --> 00:40:25,337
that we just found
some old space craft
739
00:40:25,466 --> 00:40:28,003
and gone in and filmed in it.
740
00:40:28,135 --> 00:40:30,547
That was different to the
world that had gone before.
741
00:40:30,679 --> 00:40:34,137
There was "robby the robot,"
there was "barbarella."
742
00:40:34,266 --> 00:40:37,303
It's both very tangible, and
a completely different world
743
00:40:37,436 --> 00:40:38,721
at the same time.
744
00:40:38,854 --> 00:40:40,970
There's something almost
perennial about the way
745
00:40:41,106 --> 00:40:43,438
that yes, those ships are
a completely different
746
00:40:43,567 --> 00:40:45,683
environment from what
we're used to now
747
00:40:45,819 --> 00:40:48,561
and what we would have
seen 1,000 years ago,
748
00:40:48,697 --> 00:40:49,977
but human beings
haven't changed,
749
00:40:50,074 --> 00:40:52,406
and they still behave
in the same way.
750
00:40:52,534 --> 00:40:55,401
I place the hub of
the wheel at Ridley,
751
00:40:55,537 --> 00:40:59,246
because he's a visionary, and he
knew what to do with this film
752
00:40:59,375 --> 00:41:01,616
and how to marshal all
these different elements
753
00:41:01,752 --> 00:41:03,538
into "alien."
754
00:41:03,671 --> 00:41:05,878
Tom skerritt: He was
running the camera,
755
00:41:06,006 --> 00:41:08,372
during a lot of the
lighting, everything
756
00:41:08,509 --> 00:41:10,295
was going on at
once, and he was just
757
00:41:10,427 --> 00:41:13,590
conducting it so splendidly.
758
00:41:13,722 --> 00:41:16,384
Ridley shot, yeah, a
good 80% of the film,
759
00:41:16,517 --> 00:41:17,882
and it was a panel
vision camera.
760
00:41:18,018 --> 00:41:19,303
I mean, these aren't light.
761
00:41:19,436 --> 00:41:23,429
He wanted... he wanted
anamorphic on purpose.
762
00:41:23,565 --> 00:41:26,932
We were contained in a space,
and that wide-angle lens
763
00:41:27,069 --> 00:41:30,152
made it seem much
more claustrophobic.
764
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,191
The costume designer
who worked with Ridley
765
00:41:32,324 --> 00:41:33,635
said to me once,
you know, Ridley's
766
00:41:33,659 --> 00:41:36,116
got a camera for a head.
767
00:41:36,245 --> 00:41:41,831
He knows where to put
the camera automatically.
768
00:41:41,959 --> 00:41:44,666
When your hand-held, your
breathing with the actors,
769
00:41:44,795 --> 00:41:48,162
you're just part of
what you're filming.
770
00:41:48,298 --> 00:41:51,085
You're not distanced.
771
00:41:51,218 --> 00:41:55,712
I think that's one of the
best operated films ever seen.
772
00:41:55,848 --> 00:41:57,429
It's not wobbly cam.
773
00:41:57,558 --> 00:41:59,514
It was very beautifully
photographed.
774
00:42:05,357 --> 00:42:07,043
Ian Nathan: There's a great
opening sequences where
775
00:42:07,067 --> 00:42:09,479
the camera drifts through
the empty nostromo,
776
00:42:09,611 --> 00:42:14,105
and he had this wonderful
sense of movement in the frame.
777
00:42:14,241 --> 00:42:16,106
Even though they're all
in their cryo chambers,
778
00:42:16,243 --> 00:42:18,734
there's a strange sense
of life about the vessel.
779
00:42:18,871 --> 00:42:21,738
It's all kind of
presaging what's coming.
780
00:42:21,874 --> 00:42:25,207
But it's a haunted quality
that flutter in the frame.
781
00:42:25,335 --> 00:42:26,615
And he talks a
lot about the fact
782
00:42:26,670 --> 00:42:28,535
that he never let
the camera sit still,
783
00:42:28,672 --> 00:42:33,166
that it has to keep moving,
because you want the audience
784
00:42:33,302 --> 00:42:34,667
on edge the whole time.
785
00:42:34,803 --> 00:42:37,385
You never let the
film settle down.
786
00:42:37,514 --> 00:42:39,800
And even around the scenes
where they're kind of just
787
00:42:39,933 --> 00:42:42,133
having these kind of rather
sort of squabbling sequences
788
00:42:42,227 --> 00:42:46,015
between the crew, just
normal ship stuff,
789
00:42:46,148 --> 00:42:48,810
this there's slight air of
agitation about how he frames
790
00:42:48,942 --> 00:42:50,557
and how he moves the camera.
791
00:42:50,694 --> 00:42:52,174
He's getting the heartbeat
792
00:42:52,279 --> 00:42:56,443
of the film, this kind of
growing throb that it has.
793
00:42:56,575 --> 00:43:00,318
Roger Christian: The reason
he wanted the ship in one path
794
00:43:00,454 --> 00:43:04,197
was he wanted to film like the
Mary Celeste at the opening.
795
00:43:04,333 --> 00:43:06,949
He was tracking around
the ship, and there
796
00:43:07,086 --> 00:43:08,872
were eerie little
things going on,
797
00:43:09,004 --> 00:43:11,245
the pecking birds that I
put in there for Ridley,
798
00:43:11,381 --> 00:43:13,292
and everyone said,
you can't do that.
799
00:43:13,425 --> 00:43:15,006
I thought it's a great idea.
800
00:43:15,135 --> 00:43:17,547
The annoying thing, yeah,
that was a Ridley realism,
801
00:43:17,679 --> 00:43:19,449
the little nodding... the
little nodding things.
802
00:43:19,473 --> 00:43:21,304
He had a thing about
that for whatever reason
803
00:43:21,433 --> 00:43:22,092
back from childhood.
804
00:43:22,226 --> 00:43:23,716
I loved it.
805
00:43:23,852 --> 00:43:25,455
Roger Christian: They were
in all the cars in england.
806
00:43:25,479 --> 00:43:27,082
Everyone had these blooming
things that were nodding.
807
00:43:27,106 --> 00:43:28,437
And they always was a joke.
808
00:43:28,565 --> 00:43:30,772
You know, America had
dice hanging and stuff,
809
00:43:30,901 --> 00:43:33,734
but england had
these nodding birds.
810
00:43:33,862 --> 00:43:35,648
It's perpetual motion.
811
00:43:35,781 --> 00:43:40,400
How do you illustrate that
this thing is just carrying on,
812
00:43:40,536 --> 00:43:43,528
and there's no
human beings on it?
813
00:43:43,664 --> 00:43:44,949
It just worked to me.
814
00:43:45,082 --> 00:43:47,994
And that quite kind of
going around the ship
815
00:43:48,127 --> 00:43:52,040
and the eeriness of
it, to me, said a lot.
816
00:43:52,172 --> 00:43:54,458
The little papers rustling.
817
00:43:54,591 --> 00:43:55,956
Terry rawlings:
It's all illogical.
818
00:43:56,093 --> 00:43:58,425
What would make these
pages flit around?
819
00:43:58,554 --> 00:43:59,614
Where's the wind coming from?
820
00:43:59,638 --> 00:44:00,502
All that stuff.
821
00:44:00,639 --> 00:44:01,674
Ivor Powell: Yeah.
822
00:44:01,807 --> 00:44:03,968
It didn't make
sense, but it did.
823
00:44:04,101 --> 00:44:05,307
Yeah.
824
00:44:05,435 --> 00:44:06,915
You know, it was
like Ridley's vision.
825
00:44:07,020 --> 00:44:09,432
His eye prevails over...
826
00:44:09,565 --> 00:44:12,557
Perhaps he'll forgive me
saying... the scientific logic
827
00:44:12,693 --> 00:44:15,810
of something, which is hence
why we had rain pissing
828
00:44:15,946 --> 00:44:18,653
down when Brett gets killed
in that sort of chain
829
00:44:18,782 --> 00:44:19,782
hanging room.
830
00:44:19,825 --> 00:44:21,440
And I had several discussions.
831
00:44:21,577 --> 00:44:23,784
Having worked on
"2001," where everything
832
00:44:23,912 --> 00:44:28,497
was meticulous and
real, but rain in space?
833
00:44:28,625 --> 00:44:30,616
You know, where...
Where's it coming from?
834
00:44:30,752 --> 00:44:31,366
He said, I don't care.
835
00:44:31,503 --> 00:44:32,242
It looks great.
836
00:44:32,379 --> 00:44:33,209
Terry rawlings: It does.
837
00:44:33,338 --> 00:44:34,623
Ivor Powell: That was it.
838
00:44:34,756 --> 00:44:36,872
A thing that we
got from Ben burtt,
839
00:44:37,009 --> 00:44:40,877
we got this sort of that
840
00:44:41,013 --> 00:44:42,878
kept going throughout the film.
841
00:44:48,437 --> 00:44:49,998
Ivor Powell: It was
almost like a breathing,
842
00:44:50,022 --> 00:44:52,013
a sort of an alien
breath, breathing
843
00:44:52,149 --> 00:44:54,105
in, exhaling and inhaling.
844
00:44:54,234 --> 00:44:56,225
And I think it gave a
kind of, just a kind
845
00:44:56,361 --> 00:44:58,773
of feeling that something
was breathing down your neck
846
00:44:58,906 --> 00:45:00,237
all the time.
847
00:45:00,365 --> 00:45:02,321
Kind of gave you an
organic feel to the ship.
848
00:45:05,037 --> 00:45:06,573
Roger Christian: And
then the computer
849
00:45:06,705 --> 00:45:11,950
chatter that comes on in the
helmet, it makes you think,
850
00:45:12,085 --> 00:45:14,667
what's going on here?
851
00:45:14,796 --> 00:45:17,333
Everything that
Ridley built up was
852
00:45:17,466 --> 00:45:20,208
building on this
fear of the unknown,
853
00:45:20,344 --> 00:45:21,629
of something happening.
854
00:45:21,762 --> 00:45:24,253
Everybody's now waiting
for something to happen,
855
00:45:24,389 --> 00:45:25,469
but it doesn't.
856
00:45:25,599 --> 00:45:26,964
When I started
working on the film,
857
00:45:27,100 --> 00:45:28,681
I just realized that this...
858
00:45:28,810 --> 00:45:33,645
This film was going to be
virtually in slow motion.
859
00:45:33,774 --> 00:45:37,232
Everything was slow, except
for these stabs that you've
860
00:45:37,361 --> 00:45:39,602
got at various points.
861
00:45:39,738 --> 00:45:42,400
And you thought, how can
I sort of push someone
862
00:45:42,532 --> 00:45:45,399
into a corner from the
editing point of view,
863
00:45:45,535 --> 00:45:49,119
and how far do you go before the
audience says enough's enough?
864
00:45:56,296 --> 00:45:57,649
[Vor Powell: There
was a lot of, I think,
865
00:45:57,673 --> 00:46:00,289
studio concern about
the fact that it
866
00:46:00,425 --> 00:46:04,259
was 45 minutes before anything,
in their opinion, happened.
867
00:46:04,388 --> 00:46:07,130
Before the facehugger
jumps out of the egg and...
868
00:46:07,266 --> 00:46:10,929
And hits John hurt on
the... on the old visage.
869
00:46:11,061 --> 00:46:12,267
But that was its strength.
870
00:46:12,396 --> 00:46:13,476
Indeed.
871
00:46:13,605 --> 00:46:15,095
That really was
its strength, to be
872
00:46:15,232 --> 00:46:17,814
able to hold it back
that long before you
873
00:46:17,943 --> 00:46:19,979
really gave it to the audience.
874
00:46:20,112 --> 00:46:23,275
They all found it very
hard to cope with that.
875
00:46:23,407 --> 00:46:25,468
Ian Nathan: Dan o'bannon had
conceptualized very early
876
00:46:25,492 --> 00:46:28,825
on in his script that they
wouldn't find the eggs
877
00:46:28,954 --> 00:46:30,910
in the derelict spacecraft.
878
00:46:31,039 --> 00:46:32,745
They would find
the space jockey.
879
00:46:38,046 --> 00:46:39,732
Extraordinary vision,
and it came from giger.
880
00:46:39,756 --> 00:46:42,543
It was a giger picture.
881
00:46:42,676 --> 00:46:44,356
And it did something
brilliant in the sense
882
00:46:44,386 --> 00:46:47,878
that it showed you that the
universe was extraordinary.
883
00:46:48,015 --> 00:46:49,380
It was haunting.
884
00:46:49,516 --> 00:46:50,801
It was almost certainly benign.
885
00:46:50,934 --> 00:46:53,391
You felt almost sort of
a loss when you saw it.
886
00:46:53,520 --> 00:46:56,057
It was a kind of creature
ossified to a chair.
887
00:46:56,189 --> 00:46:58,549
You never quite understood what
was creature what was chair,
888
00:46:58,608 --> 00:47:00,439
and it was just brilliant.
889
00:47:00,569 --> 00:47:03,606
It's another thing that
Scott had to fight for.
890
00:47:03,739 --> 00:47:06,606
Because fox just went, well, it
doesn't have any plot function,
891
00:47:06,742 --> 00:47:08,027
you know?
892
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:10,242
They just go through the
floor and find the eggs.
893
00:47:10,370 --> 00:47:12,490
Ridley said, you can't just
have a hole in the ground.
894
00:47:12,622 --> 00:47:15,785
You've got to suggest something.
895
00:47:15,917 --> 00:47:17,657
In the chest of what
was then the space
896
00:47:17,794 --> 00:47:20,410
jockey, which we now know to be
the engineer, there's a hole.
897
00:47:20,547 --> 00:47:25,507
Dallas: Bones are bent outward,
like he exploded from inside.
898
00:47:25,635 --> 00:47:28,342
So you get an instance
of what is a hint,
899
00:47:28,472 --> 00:47:33,592
a tiny little drop of maybe
what these... these things do.
900
00:47:33,727 --> 00:47:36,560
And they lower Kane
in on like, a wench.
901
00:47:36,688 --> 00:47:38,224
Dallas: Can you see anything?
902
00:47:38,357 --> 00:47:40,689
Kane: I don't... a cave.
903
00:47:40,817 --> 00:47:42,978
A cave of some sort, but I...
904
00:47:46,281 --> 00:47:48,481
I don't know, but it's like
the goddamn tropics in here.
905
00:47:50,911 --> 00:47:53,698
Ian Nathan: And he sees in
there this great sort of tableau
906
00:47:53,830 --> 00:47:56,162
that giger had actually painted.
907
00:47:56,291 --> 00:48:00,910
When we got that onto that
set and saw what they had done,
908
00:48:01,046 --> 00:48:03,332
I mean, it was just...
It was mind-boggling.
909
00:48:03,465 --> 00:48:05,626
Everything was actual size.
910
00:48:05,759 --> 00:48:07,624
There was no cgi.
911
00:48:07,761 --> 00:48:11,379
So you were inside of
these big huge caverns
912
00:48:11,515 --> 00:48:13,506
that look like big
vaginas, you know?
913
00:48:13,642 --> 00:48:17,976
I mean, everything had a sort
of a very sexual orientation.
914
00:48:18,105 --> 00:48:19,811
Ian Nathan: So you've
landed on the planet,
915
00:48:19,940 --> 00:48:22,226
and you've had this
ethereal sequence.
916
00:48:22,359 --> 00:48:25,271
Kane is almost guided
via the signal,
917
00:48:25,404 --> 00:48:27,360
some voice is
calling him onwards.
918
00:48:27,489 --> 00:48:29,050
And it's kind of wonderful
to think that there's
919
00:48:29,074 --> 00:48:31,440
something there, you know,
that the alien spacecraft
920
00:48:31,576 --> 00:48:33,282
is calling him.
921
00:48:33,412 --> 00:48:35,903
We get finally to the
belly of the derelict,
922
00:48:36,039 --> 00:48:38,325
and we get the egg chamber.
923
00:48:38,458 --> 00:48:40,289
That's the wake-up moment.
924
00:48:44,214 --> 00:48:47,081
That whole tactic of the
beginning, the openness,
925
00:48:47,217 --> 00:48:49,378
and the kind of
hauntingness, suddenly, it
926
00:48:49,511 --> 00:48:51,752
gets sucked inward.
927
00:48:51,888 --> 00:48:53,298
Up until that
point, the film has
928
00:48:53,432 --> 00:48:56,765
been a kind of strange
hybrid between a kubrickian
929
00:48:56,893 --> 00:48:59,805
serious science fiction
and this almost kind
930
00:48:59,938 --> 00:49:01,599
of fairy tale-like atmosphere.
931
00:49:01,731 --> 00:49:05,394
It's kind of strange
sort of hauntingness.
932
00:49:05,527 --> 00:49:08,735
It's not, strictly
speaking, entirely realistic
933
00:49:08,864 --> 00:49:11,401
up until the point
they have dinner.
934
00:49:11,533 --> 00:49:13,148
The chestburster
changes the complexion
935
00:49:13,285 --> 00:49:17,995
of the film from a kind of
epic to a kind of horribly,
936
00:49:18,123 --> 00:49:21,957
horribly intimate and sort
of claustrophobic and inward.
937
00:49:22,085 --> 00:49:23,938
It's kind of an inward movement,
even though the creature
938
00:49:23,962 --> 00:49:25,122
comes out of him.
939
00:49:25,255 --> 00:49:26,836
Suddenly, everybody's trapped.
940
00:49:26,965 --> 00:49:29,707
Suddenly, the spaceship is small
and confined, where before,
941
00:49:29,843 --> 00:49:32,175
it being this kind
of fast vessel.
942
00:49:32,304 --> 00:49:34,670
And what the film does is
make that hyper leap jump
943
00:49:34,806 --> 00:49:38,298
into a primal survival
story about many more things
944
00:49:38,435 --> 00:49:40,016
than we realize.
945
00:49:40,145 --> 00:49:43,353
Ridley always says
that this... this
946
00:49:43,482 --> 00:49:45,347
was the scene that
stood out that
947
00:49:45,484 --> 00:49:47,349
would make or break the film.
948
00:49:47,486 --> 00:49:52,196
It was just some craziness
that came out of Ron shusett
949
00:49:52,324 --> 00:49:55,031
and Dan o'bannon"s mind.
950
00:49:55,160 --> 00:49:57,651
When you read it in the script,
there's so many different ways
951
00:49:57,787 --> 00:50:00,153
to approach it.
952
00:50:00,290 --> 00:50:04,704
And Ridley was so
constrained with the scene.
953
00:50:04,836 --> 00:50:07,373
It's a very significant
moment in film history.
954
00:50:11,760 --> 00:50:16,003
The idea came from a
painting from Francis bacon.
955
00:50:16,139 --> 00:50:20,428
Ridley Scott told me that
this painting, it's just
956
00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:24,974
a crucification, and
one of the member
957
00:50:25,106 --> 00:50:32,603
has just teeth and red
flesh, and he liked to have
958
00:50:32,739 --> 00:50:34,104
the chestburster like that.
959
00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:39,025
Francis bacon: I've
always been very moved
960
00:50:39,162 --> 00:50:42,074
by the movements of
the mouth and the shape
961
00:50:42,207 --> 00:50:43,913
of the mouth and the teeth.
962
00:50:44,042 --> 00:50:47,955
And I like the, you may
say, the glitter and color
963
00:50:48,088 --> 00:50:49,953
that comes from the mouth.
964
00:50:50,090 --> 00:50:54,629
When I was first went to Paris,
I found in an old bookshop
965
00:50:54,761 --> 00:50:56,717
a book on diseases of mouth.
966
00:50:56,846 --> 00:50:59,838
The plates were
hand-colored, and that it
967
00:50:59,975 --> 00:51:03,138
had a tremendous effect on me.
968
00:51:03,270 --> 00:51:04,580
Michael peppiatt:
The three studies
969
00:51:04,604 --> 00:51:07,391
for figures at the
base of the crucifixion
970
00:51:07,524 --> 00:51:11,893
is the real point of
departure for bacon.
971
00:51:12,028 --> 00:51:17,523
He thought of that picture
as his first picture.
972
00:51:17,659 --> 00:51:20,492
He was 35, and that's late,
of course, for an artist
973
00:51:20,620 --> 00:51:23,783
to have a first work.
974
00:51:23,915 --> 00:51:25,655
This is his breakthrough work.
975
00:51:25,792 --> 00:51:30,081
And it's full of contradictions,
full of paradoxes.
976
00:51:30,213 --> 00:51:33,751
How did suddenly this
enormously challenging,
977
00:51:33,883 --> 00:51:39,719
unbelievably horrific
and ugly imagery arise?
978
00:51:39,848 --> 00:51:42,590
The imagery is Christian.
979
00:51:42,726 --> 00:51:49,939
And bacon, even by then,
was a very violent atheist.
980
00:51:50,066 --> 00:51:52,432
You get the crucifixion
in the title,
981
00:51:52,569 --> 00:51:58,565
but it is a mixture of Greek
myths and christianity.
982
00:51:58,700 --> 00:52:02,238
The Greek influence
was very deep,
983
00:52:02,370 --> 00:52:04,531
and I think he
thought of himself
984
00:52:04,664 --> 00:52:07,531
as somebody hounded by furies.
985
00:52:07,667 --> 00:52:11,501
And I think he felt their
talons in his flesh.
986
00:52:11,630 --> 00:52:14,872
He said, oh, yes, the
furies visit me very often.
987
00:52:28,355 --> 00:52:30,562
Denise demetriou: The
temple of Apollo at delphi
988
00:52:30,690 --> 00:52:34,683
was one of the major
sanctuaries of the Greek world.
989
00:52:34,819 --> 00:52:39,233
It is really important in
the story of the furies.
990
00:52:39,366 --> 00:52:42,108
The furies in
Greek mythology are
991
00:52:42,243 --> 00:52:46,782
avengers of crimes, usually
committed by children
992
00:52:46,915 --> 00:52:48,906
against their parents.
993
00:52:49,042 --> 00:52:52,205
And they first appear
in aeschylus' trilogy
994
00:52:52,337 --> 00:52:55,500
when orestes murders his
mother, clytemnestra,
995
00:52:55,632 --> 00:52:58,214
and her lover, aegisthus.
996
00:52:58,343 --> 00:53:02,052
When orestes finds refuge at
the temple of Apollo at delphi,
997
00:53:02,180 --> 00:53:05,422
the ghost of clytemnestra tries
to wake them up and rouse them
998
00:53:05,558 --> 00:53:08,049
so that they can fulfill
their purpose, which
999
00:53:08,186 --> 00:53:12,896
is to hound down
orestes and take revenge
1000
00:53:13,024 --> 00:53:14,810
for clytemnestra's murder.
1001
00:53:14,943 --> 00:53:18,481
The violence of the
brings up the...
1002
00:53:18,613 --> 00:53:20,820
The... the images.
1003
00:53:20,949 --> 00:53:23,031
I mean, if you remember
that wonderful translation
1004
00:53:23,159 --> 00:53:25,650
of one of his lines,
"the reek of human blood
1005
00:53:25,787 --> 00:53:27,152
smiles out at me."
1006
00:53:27,288 --> 00:53:29,244
Well, what could be
more amazing than that?
1007
00:53:29,374 --> 00:53:33,959
That immediately brings up
the most astonishing images.
1008
00:53:34,087 --> 00:53:36,829
William linn: The furies are
a common torment to a creator,
1009
00:53:36,965 --> 00:53:38,421
and here's why.
1010
00:53:38,550 --> 00:53:43,010
To create is inherently a
rebellion against creation.
1011
00:53:43,138 --> 00:53:45,629
Michael peppiatt: The fact
that his father kicked him out
1012
00:53:45,765 --> 00:53:49,678
of the house when he discovered
he was homosexual was
1013
00:53:53,773 --> 00:53:56,014
I think the furies,
to some extent,
1014
00:53:56,151 --> 00:53:59,018
are actually his
father, his father
1015
00:53:59,154 --> 00:54:03,193
pursuing him, chasing him
out of the family home
1016
00:54:03,324 --> 00:54:07,033
and branding him as an outsider.
1017
00:54:07,162 --> 00:54:12,782
This image came fully formed
out of bacon's imagination.
1018
00:54:12,917 --> 00:54:18,833
It's like Athena springing fully
formed from the head of Zeus.
1019
00:54:18,965 --> 00:54:20,876
I see it as the monster
coming out of bacon,
1020
00:54:21,009 --> 00:54:23,125
and the monster coming
out of the world.
1021
00:54:26,973 --> 00:54:29,715
Myths are thought to be
messages from the divine.
1022
00:54:29,851 --> 00:54:32,934
When Ridley Scott puts
this image of bacon
1023
00:54:33,062 --> 00:54:36,475
into giger's hands, that's
an odd synchronicity.
1024
00:54:36,608 --> 00:54:39,350
And when you see the
importance of the story,
1025
00:54:39,486 --> 00:54:42,398
and you're looking back on it
with the power and magnitude
1026
00:54:42,530 --> 00:54:45,442
with which that story landed,
all the synchronicities
1027
00:54:45,575 --> 00:54:47,315
that brought it to
that point seem all the
1028
00:54:47,452 --> 00:54:48,572
more important and stunning.
1029
00:55:01,466 --> 00:55:05,050
It's crazy that these scenes
that are... a word I hate using,
1030
00:55:05,178 --> 00:55:06,884
but they are so iconic.
1031
00:55:07,013 --> 00:55:09,504
It seems like that
page should be...
1032
00:55:09,641 --> 00:55:10,951
You know, obviously,
there should be
1033
00:55:10,975 --> 00:55:12,966
like the constitution, right?
1034
00:55:13,102 --> 00:55:15,462
I mean, at some point at the
end of "citizen Kane," it says,
1035
00:55:15,522 --> 00:55:17,763
and the camera turns
and focuses and the...
1036
00:55:17,899 --> 00:55:19,059
It's a sled, rosebud.
1037
00:55:19,192 --> 00:55:20,728
Fade to black.
1038
00:55:20,860 --> 00:55:23,060
It's not like, you know, you
know, you think and you go,
1039
00:55:23,154 --> 00:55:23,859
ta-da!
1040
00:55:23,988 --> 00:55:25,569
Right?
1041
00:55:25,698 --> 00:55:30,988
But the chest buster scene is
just a one-page description.
1042
00:55:31,120 --> 00:55:34,612
Broussard's face is screwed
up into a mask of agony,
1043
00:55:34,749 --> 00:55:37,912
and he's trembling
violently from head to foot.
1044
00:55:38,044 --> 00:55:42,629
There's an incoherent shriek
from broussard, ch my god!
1045
00:55:42,757 --> 00:55:46,670
A red smear of blood blossoms on
the chest of broussard's tunic.
1046
00:55:46,803 --> 00:55:49,260
Their eyes are all riveted
to broussard's chest
1047
00:55:49,389 --> 00:55:51,596
as the fabric of his
tunic is ripped open,
1048
00:55:51,724 --> 00:55:55,763
and a horrible, nasty little
head the size of a man's fist
1049
00:55:55,895 --> 00:55:57,260
pushes out.
1050
00:55:57,397 --> 00:55:59,763
Everybody screams and
leaps back from the table.
1051
00:55:59,899 --> 00:56:02,140
The cat spits and bolts.
1052
00:56:02,277 --> 00:56:05,394
The disgusting little head
lunges, comes spurting out
1053
00:56:05,530 --> 00:56:08,693
of broussard's chest, trailing
a thick worm-like tail,
1054
00:56:08,825 --> 00:56:10,941
splattering fluids and blood.
1055
00:56:11,077 --> 00:56:12,738
Lands in the middle
of the dishes
1056
00:56:12,871 --> 00:56:15,203
and food on the table and
screws away while the men
1057
00:56:15,331 --> 00:56:17,697
are stampeding for safe ground.
1058
00:56:17,834 --> 00:56:21,497
When they finally regain control
of themselves, it has escaped.
1059
00:56:21,629 --> 00:56:24,746
Broussard lies slumped
in his chair, a huge hole
1060
00:56:24,883 --> 00:56:27,215
in his chest spouting blood.
1061
00:56:27,343 --> 00:56:29,334
The dishes are scattered
and the food is
1062
00:56:29,470 --> 00:56:31,426
covered with blood and slime.
1063
00:56:34,559 --> 00:56:36,015
I'd make that movie.
1064
00:56:36,144 --> 00:56:37,554
Yeah.
1065
00:56:37,687 --> 00:56:39,164
The chestburster made
everything possible for us.
1066
00:56:39,188 --> 00:56:40,974
It wouldn't have
been the magic it was
1067
00:56:41,107 --> 00:56:42,938
without the chestburster scene.
1068
00:56:43,067 --> 00:56:45,433
Everything rested on that
scene from beginning to end,
1069
00:56:45,570 --> 00:56:47,982
from getting the film made,
to how the audience responds,
1070
00:56:48,114 --> 00:56:50,901
to whether those
monsters continue to live
1071
00:56:51,034 --> 00:56:52,695
in our imagination today.
1072
00:56:52,827 --> 00:56:54,533
It's that moment
we finally assert
1073
00:56:54,662 --> 00:56:56,698
that science fiction
isn't only about minds,
1074
00:56:56,831 --> 00:56:58,196
it's about our bodies.
1075
00:56:58,333 --> 00:56:59,914
It's continuous
with the directions
1076
00:57:00,043 --> 00:57:03,080
horror was taking over the
preceding decade, right?
1077
00:57:03,212 --> 00:57:05,077
Horror is moving
toward body horror,
1078
00:57:05,214 --> 00:57:08,377
through David cronenberg
in particular.
1079
00:57:08,509 --> 00:57:10,591
It's part of the
texture of a film
1080
00:57:10,720 --> 00:57:14,212
that to me, is one of the
most tactile movies ever made.
1081
00:57:14,349 --> 00:57:17,182
The sense of goo
and grime, of things
1082
00:57:17,310 --> 00:57:21,974
spurting at us, the sense
of heat and steam and sweat.
1083
00:57:24,943 --> 00:57:28,686
There is a tendency to think
about the chestburster sequence
1084
00:57:28,821 --> 00:57:31,437
as a scene or even a moment.
1085
00:57:31,574 --> 00:57:34,281
But it really takes a
while to build up to it.
1086
00:57:40,500 --> 00:57:43,583
The nostromo moving in.
1087
00:57:43,711 --> 00:57:46,794
It's funny, isn't it,
how all these, you know,
1088
00:57:46,923 --> 00:57:49,960
outer space shots now have a
certain sort of like, you know,
1089
00:57:50,093 --> 00:57:51,708
generalization about them.
1090
00:57:51,844 --> 00:57:55,007
You know, when you think about
"2001," how gob-smacking that
1091
00:57:55,139 --> 00:57:58,222
was at the time, and now we just
take it completely for granted.
1092
00:58:01,771 --> 00:58:04,057
Michael peppiatt: Why is
it called the nostromo?
1093
00:58:04,190 --> 00:58:06,897
The shuttle craft is
called the narcissus.
1094
00:58:07,026 --> 00:58:10,610
Narcissus and nostromo
are both words
1095
00:58:10,738 --> 00:58:15,402
that are used in book titles
by Joseph Conrad, who wrote
1096
00:58:15,535 --> 00:58:18,743
about the evils of imperialism.
1097
00:58:18,871 --> 00:58:21,362
By allusion to the
works of Conrad,
1098
00:58:21,499 --> 00:58:24,741
there's a strand within "alien"
which is about a concern
1099
00:58:24,877 --> 00:58:27,493
as to what humanity
might find as it
1100
00:58:27,630 --> 00:58:31,248
ventures into the dark places.
1101
00:58:31,384 --> 00:58:33,170
In the case of
Conrad, he's thinking
1102
00:58:33,302 --> 00:58:39,138
about the heart of darkness,
the dark places of empire.
1103
00:58:39,267 --> 00:58:42,555
At the same moment that Ridley
Scott is making "alien,"
1104
00:58:42,687 --> 00:58:46,305
you have Francis Ford coppola
adapting "heart of darkness"
1105
00:58:46,441 --> 00:58:50,434
to be "apocalypse now,"
and explicitly commenting
1106
00:58:50,570 --> 00:58:53,437
on parallels between
the Vietnam war
1107
00:58:53,573 --> 00:58:58,488
and the encounter with evil in
the British and Belgian empire.
1108
00:58:58,619 --> 00:59:01,827
"Alien" directs our
attention or reminds us
1109
00:59:01,956 --> 00:59:06,450
of the dangers of
imperialism and conquest
1110
00:59:06,586 --> 00:59:09,043
of other places,
what we might find
1111
00:59:09,172 --> 00:59:12,335
in these uncharted regions,
especially if we attempt
1112
00:59:12,467 --> 00:59:14,082
to exploit those regions.
1113
00:59:14,218 --> 00:59:17,676
I hate to bring this up, but
this is a commercial ship, not
1114
00:59:17,805 --> 00:59:18,840
a rescue ship.
1115
00:59:18,973 --> 00:59:20,258
Right.
1116
00:59:20,391 --> 00:59:22,757
It's not in my contract
to do this kind of duty.
1117
00:59:22,894 --> 00:59:26,807
Michael peppiatt: The 1970s was
a time of economic downturn,
1118
00:59:26,939 --> 00:59:30,227
of threat, threat
coming from new places.
1119
00:59:30,359 --> 00:59:32,725
Ash, can you see this?
1120
00:59:32,862 --> 00:59:33,862
Yes, I can.
1121
00:59:37,033 --> 00:59:38,443
I've never seen
anything like it.
1122
00:59:38,576 --> 00:59:39,678
Michael peppiatt:
Particularly the
1123
00:59:39,702 --> 00:59:42,114
first stirrings of terrorism.
1124
00:59:42,246 --> 00:59:43,736
There were enemies within.
1125
00:59:43,873 --> 00:59:46,706
There was political corruption.
1126
00:59:46,834 --> 00:59:49,371
People had doubts,
were feeling isolated,
1127
00:59:49,504 --> 00:59:51,369
were feeling disillusioned.
1128
00:59:51,506 --> 00:59:53,997
I say that we abandon this ship.
1129
00:59:54,133 --> 00:59:56,340
We get the shuttle and just
get the hell out of here.
1130
00:59:56,469 --> 00:59:59,256
We take our chances and
just hope that somebody...
1131
00:59:59,388 --> 01:00:00,127
Lambert.
1132
01:00:00,264 --> 01:00:01,754
Lambert: Picks us up.
1133
01:00:01,891 --> 01:00:03,410
Michael peppiatt: This is
a consequence of Watergate.
1134
01:00:03,434 --> 01:00:05,550
This is a consequence
of the Vietnam war.
1135
01:00:05,686 --> 01:00:09,178
This is a consequence of the
political corruption in Europe.
1136
01:00:09,315 --> 01:00:12,478
And I think that
that uncertainty
1137
01:00:12,610 --> 01:00:15,852
plays out in all kinds of
movies from that period.
1138
01:00:18,699 --> 01:00:22,692
Drew Morton: If you look at '78,
you get Ted Bundy's captured,
1139
01:00:22,829 --> 01:00:25,866
John Wayne gacy's captured, the
hillside strangler's out there.
1140
01:00:25,998 --> 01:00:27,579
So there's this kind
of new phenomenon
1141
01:00:27,708 --> 01:00:29,118
out there, right,
the serial killer,
1142
01:00:29,252 --> 01:00:30,788
and what does that mean?
1143
01:00:30,920 --> 01:00:32,314
There's this kind
of idea that there's
1144
01:00:32,338 --> 01:00:34,454
something out there that
can be completely evil
1145
01:00:34,590 --> 01:00:36,501
and illogical and horrible.
1146
01:00:36,634 --> 01:00:37,965
And there's no
reasoning with it,
1147
01:00:38,094 --> 01:00:40,836
and there's nothing you
can do to really stop it.
1148
01:00:40,972 --> 01:00:42,758
At no point in
the "alien" movies,
1149
01:00:42,890 --> 01:00:44,201
and definitely not
in the first one,
1150
01:00:44,225 --> 01:00:46,932
do you feel like
what makes us human
1151
01:00:47,061 --> 01:00:49,347
is the thing that allows
us to beat this creature.
1152
01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:57,480
I admire its purity, a survivor,
1153
01:00:59,782 --> 01:01:05,903
unclouded by
conscience, remorse,
1154
01:01:06,038 --> 01:01:08,029
or delusions of morality.
1155
01:01:08,166 --> 01:01:10,748
There is a commentary in there
about the way that things are
1156
01:01:10,877 --> 01:01:13,869
going right now, and about what
we're doing as human beings,
1157
01:01:14,005 --> 01:01:15,461
and how we're taking
those strengths,
1158
01:01:15,590 --> 01:01:18,081
and those emotions, those
things that make us human,
1159
01:01:18,217 --> 01:01:21,004
and we're turning
our backs on them.
1160
01:01:21,137 --> 01:01:23,549
Michael peppiatt: You have
in these, in the 1970s,
1161
01:01:23,681 --> 01:01:26,343
tremendous fear over
what's happening
1162
01:01:26,475 --> 01:01:28,466
to the American family.
1163
01:01:28,603 --> 01:01:30,013
And I don't love you anymore.
1164
01:01:32,773 --> 01:01:33,307
Where you going?
1165
01:01:33,441 --> 01:01:35,557
I don't know.
1166
01:01:35,693 --> 01:01:38,059
Michael peppiatt:
Panic about divorce,
1167
01:01:38,196 --> 01:01:41,313
panic about family breakdowns.
1168
01:01:41,449 --> 01:01:42,859
Here's what I don't understand,
1169
01:01:42,992 --> 01:01:44,469
all the time... where are
you... where are you running?
1170
01:01:44,493 --> 01:01:46,013
All the times I come over
here, I can't understand
1171
01:01:46,037 --> 01:01:47,277
how you can prefer her to me.
1172
01:01:47,413 --> 01:01:48,243
You can't understand that?
1173
01:01:48,372 --> 01:01:49,703
No. It's a mystery.
1174
01:01:49,832 --> 01:01:50,934
Well, you knew my history
when you married me.
1175
01:01:50,958 --> 01:01:51,993
Yeah.
1176
01:01:52,126 --> 01:01:53,353
Michael peppiatt:
I think you can
1177
01:01:53,377 --> 01:01:55,663
see that the crew
of the space ship
1178
01:01:55,796 --> 01:01:58,629
operate like a kind
of family, and there
1179
01:01:58,758 --> 01:02:02,797
are sort of family-type
tensions between them.
1180
01:02:02,929 --> 01:02:05,045
Before we dock,
I think we oughta
1181
01:02:05,181 --> 01:02:06,512
discuss the bonus situation.
1182
01:02:06,641 --> 01:02:08,118
Right, right.
Parker: We think we ought...
1183
01:02:08,142 --> 01:02:09,453
One of the things
that that strikes me
1184
01:02:09,477 --> 01:02:11,593
about this movie in
general is the way
1185
01:02:11,729 --> 01:02:15,096
that it's connecting what's
gonna happen with 80s movies
1186
01:02:15,233 --> 01:02:17,724
and what has happened
in 70s movies.
1187
01:02:17,860 --> 01:02:21,899
Because sonically, it feels
like a Robert Altman movie.
1188
01:02:22,031 --> 01:02:23,759
You have this scene of
all of these characters
1189
01:02:23,783 --> 01:02:27,275
sitting around talking before
they find out that Kane is ok.
1190
01:02:27,411 --> 01:02:29,411
How about a little something
to lower your spirits?
1191
01:02:29,455 --> 01:02:30,865
Thrill me, will you, please?
1192
01:02:30,998 --> 01:02:32,684
Adam Mortimer: The way that
it's blocked and staged,
1193
01:02:32,708 --> 01:02:35,666
five or six people in the frame
who are all doing something.
1194
01:02:35,795 --> 01:02:37,581
Just give me the short version.
1195
01:02:37,713 --> 01:02:39,749
Adam Mortimer: People
talking on top of each other
1196
01:02:39,882 --> 01:02:43,875
at once at equal volumes, where
you have to sort of decide
1197
01:02:44,011 --> 01:02:45,967
who you want to
listen to, and they're
1198
01:02:46,097 --> 01:02:49,009
all mumbling and talking
extremely naturalistically.
1199
01:02:54,480 --> 01:02:56,516
It's doing the thing
that cinema in America
1200
01:02:56,649 --> 01:02:58,731
was doing in the 70s,
which was to try to point
1201
01:02:58,859 --> 01:03:02,852
the lens at a more
naturalistic working class
1202
01:03:02,989 --> 01:03:05,526
reality of America.
1203
01:03:05,658 --> 01:03:09,276
The future of blue
collar workers
1204
01:03:09,412 --> 01:03:13,280
is something that's
wholly revolutionary.
1205
01:03:13,416 --> 01:03:15,907
And the movie, in a
way, is about that.
1206
01:03:16,043 --> 01:03:19,206
It's about the exploitation
of these blue collar workers
1207
01:03:19,338 --> 01:03:21,249
by the corporation.
1208
01:03:21,382 --> 01:03:23,043
Hey, Ripley, I wanna
ask you a question.
1209
01:03:26,012 --> 01:03:27,614
If they find what they're
looking for out there,
1210
01:03:27,638 --> 01:03:29,048
does that mean we
get full shares?
1211
01:03:29,181 --> 01:03:30,387
Don't worry, Parker.
1212
01:03:30,516 --> 01:03:33,474
Yeah, you'll get
whatever's coming to you.
1213
01:03:33,602 --> 01:03:35,809
Look, I'm not gonna
do any more work till we
1214
01:03:35,938 --> 01:03:37,018
get this straightened out.
1215
01:03:38,733 --> 01:03:40,973
"Alien," to me, makes more
sense if it were made in 1974,
1216
01:03:41,068 --> 01:03:43,480
'75, '76 than after "star wars."
1217
01:03:43,612 --> 01:03:45,148
"Alien" is a smaller movie.
1218
01:03:45,281 --> 01:03:47,112
"Alien"... I can't
believe I'm saying this...
1219
01:03:47,241 --> 01:03:49,402
Is a realistic movie.
1220
01:03:49,535 --> 01:03:50,945
Henry Jenkins:
Part of it was just
1221
01:03:51,078 --> 01:03:54,536
getting away from that
sanitized view of space that
1222
01:03:54,665 --> 01:03:58,078
had dominated science
fiction from the 60s and much
1223
01:03:58,210 --> 01:04:01,077
of the 70s, and
coming to something
1224
01:04:01,213 --> 01:04:04,296
that felt like a real
lived-in environment.
1225
01:04:04,425 --> 01:04:06,040
It was continuous
with the world we
1226
01:04:06,177 --> 01:04:08,634
knew outside the movie theater.
1227
01:04:08,763 --> 01:04:09,823
Adam Mortimer:
Harry Dean Stanton
1228
01:04:09,847 --> 01:04:11,587
and yaphet kotto
are the two most
1229
01:04:11,724 --> 01:04:13,385
working class guys on the ship.
1230
01:04:13,517 --> 01:04:17,226
And they, unwittingly maybe,
but maybe intuitively,
1231
01:04:17,355 --> 01:04:19,971
know that if they
just freeze Kane,
1232
01:04:20,107 --> 01:04:22,849
everything's going to be ok.
1233
01:04:22,985 --> 01:04:25,977
How come they don't freeze him?
1234
01:04:26,113 --> 01:04:28,479
How come you guys
don't freeze him?
1235
01:04:28,616 --> 01:04:30,218
What I think we should
do is just freeze him.
1236
01:04:30,242 --> 01:04:31,322
I mean, he's got a disease.
1237
01:04:31,410 --> 01:04:32,866
Why don't we stop
it where it is?
1238
01:04:32,995 --> 01:04:34,389
He can always get to a
doctor when we get back home.
1239
01:04:34,413 --> 01:04:35,823
Right.
1240
01:04:35,956 --> 01:04:38,823
They're speaking the
truth in this kind of almost
1241
01:04:38,959 --> 01:04:40,995
Greek chorus kind
of prophet way,
1242
01:04:41,128 --> 01:04:42,522
but nobody really wants
to listen to them,
1243
01:04:42,546 --> 01:04:44,537
and they're just
making fun of them.
1244
01:04:44,673 --> 01:04:46,459
Whenever he says
anything, you say
1245
01:04:46,592 --> 01:04:48,423
right, Brett, you know that?
1246
01:04:48,552 --> 01:04:49,632
Right.
1247
01:04:49,762 --> 01:04:51,343
What they're making
fun of them for
1248
01:04:51,472 --> 01:04:54,885
is that Harry Dean Stanton keeps
saying right, right, right,
1249
01:04:55,017 --> 01:04:56,848
but it's because they are right.
1250
01:04:56,977 --> 01:04:59,434
And in the staging
of this scene,
1251
01:04:59,563 --> 01:05:02,396
Dallas, the ship captain,
is sitting closest to us,
1252
01:05:02,525 --> 01:05:06,268
and there's this wall of the two
working class guys between him
1253
01:05:06,404 --> 01:05:09,896
and the two women, who are
scientists and flight officers.
1254
01:05:10,032 --> 01:05:11,943
And when he gets
frustrated with this sense
1255
01:05:12,076 --> 01:05:15,989
that, even jokingly, his
authority is being undermined
1256
01:05:16,122 --> 01:05:18,659
by these two guys,
who are his employees,
1257
01:05:18,791 --> 01:05:21,123
he crosses to the
far depth of the shot
1258
01:05:21,252 --> 01:05:23,834
to talk to lambert,
who immediately
1259
01:05:23,963 --> 01:05:26,329
starts talking this sort
of elevated, educated way.
1260
01:05:26,465 --> 01:05:28,831
Well, according to my
calculations, based on time
1261
01:05:28,968 --> 01:05:30,549
spent getting to and
from the planet...
1262
01:05:30,678 --> 01:05:31,918
Just give me the short version.
1263
01:05:32,054 --> 01:05:33,169
How far to earth?
1264
01:05:33,305 --> 01:05:34,590
10 months.
1265
01:05:34,723 --> 01:05:36,201
Adam Mortimer: And you
can really see visually
1266
01:05:36,225 --> 01:05:38,557
in this incredibly subtle
way that there really
1267
01:05:38,686 --> 01:05:43,476
is this war about the movement
between the classes on the ship
1268
01:05:43,607 --> 01:05:46,849
and who has the
right to be heard.
1269
01:05:46,986 --> 01:05:48,851
Right.
1270
01:05:48,988 --> 01:05:52,446
Michael peppiatt: We now know
that Hollywood in the 1970s
1271
01:05:52,575 --> 01:05:55,567
was a very oppressive
place for women.
1272
01:05:55,703 --> 01:05:57,193
Do you find, in
fact, that this, what
1273
01:05:57,329 --> 01:05:59,945
could be best described as
your equipment, in fact,
1274
01:06:00,082 --> 01:06:01,367
hinders you perhaps?
1275
01:06:01,500 --> 01:06:03,145
Michael peppiatt: You
think about the sexism,
1276
01:06:03,169 --> 01:06:07,082
the misogyny that was implicit
within the industry that
1277
01:06:07,214 --> 01:06:08,044
made this film.
1278
01:06:08,174 --> 01:06:09,254
You mean my fingers?
1279
01:06:10,885 --> 01:06:12,216
No, I meant your...
1280
01:06:14,763 --> 01:06:15,593
Come on, spit it out.
1281
01:06:15,723 --> 01:06:16,508
I meant your...
1282
01:06:16,640 --> 01:06:17,640
Your figure.
1283
01:06:17,766 --> 01:06:19,347
My figure?
1284
01:06:19,477 --> 01:06:21,371
Michael peppiatt: And there's
no way of looking at "alien"
1285
01:06:21,395 --> 01:06:26,389
without seeing it as a
male fantasy of the kind
1286
01:06:26,525 --> 01:06:29,562
of oppression that have been
being handed out to women
1287
01:06:29,695 --> 01:06:36,191
over the centuries, a guilt
that was part of masculinity
1288
01:06:36,327 --> 01:06:42,163
in the 1970s, and should
be part of masculinity now.
1289
01:06:42,291 --> 01:06:46,284
"Alien" has within it fantasies
of male pregnancy, fantasies
1290
01:06:46,420 --> 01:06:52,461
of male rape, fantasies
of male penetration.
1291
01:06:52,593 --> 01:06:56,927
And it's all tied up with that
amazing chest buster scene.
1292
01:06:57,056 --> 01:06:58,762
I don't know how explicitly they
1293
01:06:58,891 --> 01:07:00,552
realized what they were doing.
1294
01:07:00,684 --> 01:07:02,454
I can't imagine that any
studio would be like,
1295
01:07:02,478 --> 01:07:04,719
yes, you're making a
male rape movie in space.
1296
01:07:04,855 --> 01:07:06,595
For sure, let's go for it.
1297
01:07:06,732 --> 01:07:08,347
It's wonderful that
the unconscious works
1298
01:07:08,484 --> 01:07:11,442
in so many mysterious ways.
1299
01:07:14,281 --> 01:07:17,694
An accidental awakening
of some repressed spirit.
1300
01:07:17,826 --> 01:07:22,616
The furies certainly speak
for the repressed feminine.
1301
01:07:22,748 --> 01:07:26,536
And "alien" certainly
represents the repressed
1302
01:07:26,669 --> 01:07:29,706
feminine's retribution.
1303
01:07:29,838 --> 01:07:33,296
"Alien" touched a nerve
with a lot of people
1304
01:07:33,425 --> 01:07:37,293
because it was talking
about something,
1305
01:07:37,429 --> 01:07:44,016
that even in 2019, we're still
not comfortable addressing.
1306
01:07:44,144 --> 01:07:50,231
The idea that
"alien" is addressing
1307
01:07:50,359 --> 01:07:55,774
the guilt that a
patriarchal society feels
1308
01:07:55,906 --> 01:07:57,817
makes perfect sense to me.
1309
01:07:57,950 --> 01:07:59,531
We'll move in pairs.
1310
01:07:59,660 --> 01:08:02,652
We'll go step by step and cut
off every bulkhead and every
1311
01:08:02,788 --> 01:08:05,200
vent until we have it cornered,
and then we'll blow it
1312
01:08:05,332 --> 01:08:06,913
the fuck out into space.
1313
01:08:07,042 --> 01:08:09,624
Is that acceptable to you?
1314
01:08:09,753 --> 01:08:11,960
Ripley was created
in 1979, and it's
1315
01:08:12,089 --> 01:08:14,796
insane that we don't have that
many great female characters
1316
01:08:14,925 --> 01:08:16,085
since.
1317
01:08:16,218 --> 01:08:18,254
And especially in a
genre like horror,
1318
01:08:18,387 --> 01:08:22,551
that's given so many female
characters throughout time,
1319
01:08:22,683 --> 01:08:24,298
and yet, there's not
one that strikes us
1320
01:08:24,435 --> 01:08:28,178
as being as developed and as
complex and as interesting
1321
01:08:28,314 --> 01:08:29,429
as Ripley was.
1322
01:08:29,565 --> 01:08:31,726
And isn't it ironic
that she ends up
1323
01:08:31,859 --> 01:08:35,272
being that way because she
was written to be a man?
1324
01:08:35,404 --> 01:08:38,487
Ripley is the only
maternal character
1325
01:08:38,616 --> 01:08:40,698
within her promethean crew.
1326
01:08:40,826 --> 01:08:44,660
Her transformation
gives us direction
1327
01:08:44,788 --> 01:08:47,530
for the transformation that
we need to take as a culture
1328
01:08:47,666 --> 01:08:49,122
to avoid self-destruction.
1329
01:08:49,251 --> 01:08:50,251
She's a new example.
1330
01:08:52,838 --> 01:08:55,079
Adam Mortimer: When we start
off this sequence with Kane,
1331
01:08:55,215 --> 01:08:57,376
this very strange
shot that's low angle,
1332
01:08:57,509 --> 01:08:59,124
and he's all the
way to the side...
1333
01:08:59,261 --> 01:09:02,003
And maybe at that point,
for want of a better term,
1334
01:09:02,139 --> 01:09:03,992
there's kind of this something's
being buried inside you,
1335
01:09:04,016 --> 01:09:05,452
something's been
planted in your brain,
1336
01:09:05,476 --> 01:09:06,932
and you're not sure what.
1337
01:09:07,061 --> 01:09:08,061
Parker: How you doing?
1338
01:09:08,145 --> 01:09:08,884
Ian Nathan: Kane
seems all right.
1339
01:09:09,021 --> 01:09:10,557
He's even smiling a bit.
1340
01:09:10,689 --> 01:09:12,083
He's not at his best, but
he's... he's looking a bit peaky,
1341
01:09:12,107 --> 01:09:14,644
but he's starting
to kind of cough.
1342
01:09:14,777 --> 01:09:16,938
Before you realize
what really happens,
1343
01:09:17,071 --> 01:09:18,561
your brain is
already ahead of you.
1344
01:09:18,697 --> 01:09:22,360
Your brain is going, it's
in him, and it's coming out.
1345
01:09:22,493 --> 01:09:23,928
Adam Mortimer: One thing
that he's certainly
1346
01:09:23,952 --> 01:09:26,944
taking advantage of is
the incredible width
1347
01:09:27,081 --> 01:09:28,912
of the anamorphic frame.
1348
01:09:29,041 --> 01:09:32,283
The entire cast is in
this one wide shot.
1349
01:09:32,419 --> 01:09:35,035
What could be safer
than every single cast
1350
01:09:35,172 --> 01:09:39,506
member in a brightly lit
white room in a horror movie?
1351
01:09:39,635 --> 01:09:41,045
Everything in that
ship is so dark.
1352
01:09:41,178 --> 01:09:43,760
I mean, the light Ridley
Scott uses is literally
1353
01:09:43,889 --> 01:09:44,949
the light from the torches.
1354
01:09:44,973 --> 01:09:46,554
That's it, right?
1355
01:09:46,684 --> 01:09:49,004
But that scene, oh my god, you
could operate in that scene.
1356
01:09:49,061 --> 01:09:50,497
And you needed to
operate in that scene,
1357
01:09:50,521 --> 01:09:53,604
but they couldn't
save the patient.
1358
01:09:53,732 --> 01:09:55,643
Adam Mortimer: You
go to ash's reaction.
1359
01:09:55,776 --> 01:09:57,732
I think that really,
the key to the tension
1360
01:09:57,861 --> 01:10:00,352
here is tracking ash, because
he's always in opposition
1361
01:10:00,489 --> 01:10:02,605
to everybody else.
1362
01:10:02,741 --> 01:10:04,427
It's a very short shot,
and you wouldn't notice it
1363
01:10:04,451 --> 01:10:05,679
the first time, but
when you go back
1364
01:10:05,703 --> 01:10:07,568
and rewatch it you
realize, he knows
1365
01:10:07,705 --> 01:10:09,161
that this is going to happen.
1366
01:10:09,289 --> 01:10:12,156
There's so many more
single one shots of him
1367
01:10:12,292 --> 01:10:15,659
in this very strange off-kilter
framing that really gives him
1368
01:10:15,796 --> 01:10:18,879
this sinister
surveillance kind of vibe,
1369
01:10:19,007 --> 01:10:20,727
whereas most of the
other characters, you're
1370
01:10:20,759 --> 01:10:24,047
seeing them in groups, because
they're all on the same team.
1371
01:10:24,179 --> 01:10:26,591
You believe that this is because
he has a better intuition
1372
01:10:26,724 --> 01:10:28,827
than the rest of them about how
dangerous it is and he's trying
1373
01:10:28,851 --> 01:10:30,967
to protect them,
but in fact, he's
1374
01:10:31,103 --> 01:10:34,516
trying to protect this
baby monster that he's
1375
01:10:34,648 --> 01:10:35,888
allowed to come into the world.
1376
01:10:36,024 --> 01:10:38,265
This son of a bitch is huge.
1377
01:10:38,402 --> 01:10:39,642
I mean, it's like a man.
1378
01:10:39,778 --> 01:10:40,813
It's big.
1379
01:10:40,946 --> 01:10:43,562
Kane's son.
1380
01:10:43,699 --> 01:10:45,735
Ash is such a dick.
1381
01:10:45,868 --> 01:10:47,654
Dallas: Ash, you
hear or see anything?
1382
01:10:50,748 --> 01:10:54,286
When you think about it,
he's not an authentic being.
1383
01:10:54,418 --> 01:11:01,836
So someone, a human person had
to program him, educate him.
1384
01:11:01,967 --> 01:11:04,333
Not only is he supposed
to look like a person,
1385
01:11:04,470 --> 01:11:07,257
he's supposed to
pass as a person,
1386
01:11:07,389 --> 01:11:09,129
because the crew didn't know.
1387
01:11:09,266 --> 01:11:14,135
And that's what
makes him the worse.
1388
01:11:14,271 --> 01:11:17,104
That misogyny was built-in.
1389
01:11:17,232 --> 01:11:18,563
Could kill him.
1390
01:11:18,692 --> 01:11:20,307
Clarke wolfe: Ash
looks at Dallas,
1391
01:11:20,444 --> 01:11:21,650
like, what do you think?
1392
01:11:21,779 --> 01:11:22,881
I'm willing to take that chance.
1393
01:11:22,905 --> 01:11:24,020
Just cut it off of him.
1394
01:11:24,156 --> 01:11:25,236
You take responsibility?
1395
01:11:25,365 --> 01:11:26,593
Yes, yes, I'll
take responsibility.
1396
01:11:26,617 --> 01:11:28,073
Now get it off of him.
1397
01:11:28,202 --> 01:11:30,284
Clarke wolfe: Ripley, on
the other hand, is saying,
1398
01:11:31,663 --> 01:11:33,403
it's my job to make this call.
1399
01:11:33,540 --> 01:11:34,871
Dallas: Ripley,
this is an order.
1400
01:11:35,000 --> 01:11:35,830
You hear me?
1401
01:11:35,959 --> 01:11:36,959
Yes.
1402
01:11:37,002 --> 01:11:37,741
I read you.
1403
01:11:37,878 --> 01:11:41,666
The answer is negative.
1404
01:11:41,799 --> 01:11:43,130
Inner hatch opened.
1405
01:11:43,258 --> 01:11:45,590
And he says, nope,
that's not gonna happen.
1406
01:11:45,719 --> 01:11:47,334
I override you.
1407
01:11:47,471 --> 01:11:52,556
Where does he get the idea to
penetrate this woman forcibly?
1408
01:11:52,684 --> 01:11:54,265
You know, but it
doesn't logically
1409
01:11:54,394 --> 01:11:56,806
make sense for an artificial
life form to do that.
1410
01:11:56,939 --> 01:11:57,939
He would choke her.
1411
01:11:57,981 --> 01:11:59,892
He would suffocate her.
1412
01:12:00,025 --> 01:12:04,940
The final choice that
he makes is to just
1413
01:12:05,072 --> 01:12:07,063
put this woman in her place.
1414
01:12:07,199 --> 01:12:10,942
The programming... think,
if we think about that,
1415
01:12:11,078 --> 01:12:15,947
if we really unpack that,
it's so frustrating.
1416
01:12:16,083 --> 01:12:18,119
I hate him.
1417
01:12:21,797 --> 01:12:23,358
Adam Mortimer: Another
thing that I think
1418
01:12:23,382 --> 01:12:26,715
about is the tradition of
dramatizations that happen
1419
01:12:26,844 --> 01:12:29,631
over dinners, which
you can see in anything
1420
01:12:29,763 --> 01:12:33,096
from Chekov, to ibsen,
going back to Shakespeare.
1421
01:12:33,225 --> 01:12:35,932
And I can't help but think of
"guess who's coming to dinner."
1422
01:12:36,061 --> 01:12:38,473
And in this case, it's the
alien who's coming to dinner
1423
01:12:38,605 --> 01:12:42,974
and shreds the social
fabric of the dinner table.
1424
01:12:43,110 --> 01:12:46,318
But the text and the subtext
is totally about food, right?
1425
01:12:46,446 --> 01:12:48,983
The first thing that I'm
gonna do when I get back
1426
01:12:49,116 --> 01:12:50,947
is to get some decent food.
1427
01:12:51,076 --> 01:12:52,236
I can dig it, man.
1428
01:12:52,369 --> 01:12:53,638
I'm telling you I've
eaten worse food...
1429
01:12:53,662 --> 01:12:54,889
Adam Mortimer: Even
when it comes to...
1430
01:12:54,913 --> 01:12:56,494
There's this shot
across the table,
1431
01:12:56,623 --> 01:12:59,956
and you can see the cat in
the background, soft focus,
1432
01:13:00,085 --> 01:13:02,041
it's eating dinner too.
1433
01:13:02,170 --> 01:13:04,832
Kane: Usually you know
what it's made of.
1434
01:13:04,965 --> 01:13:07,707
No, man, I don't want to
talk about what it's made of.
1435
01:13:07,843 --> 01:13:08,673
I'm eating...
1436
01:13:08,802 --> 01:13:10,258
What's the food made of?
1437
01:13:10,387 --> 01:13:13,675
It's made out of your
fucking insides of your body.
1438
01:13:13,807 --> 01:13:15,843
And there's just this
cluster of noise.
1439
01:13:15,976 --> 01:13:18,934
And it's almost like you're
hearing it from the point
1440
01:13:19,062 --> 01:13:20,643
of view of the chestburster.
1441
01:13:20,772 --> 01:13:22,728
It's inside of Kane.
1442
01:13:22,858 --> 01:13:24,689
It's fully conscious.
1443
01:13:24,818 --> 01:13:26,558
It's about to come through him.
1444
01:13:26,695 --> 01:13:29,528
It's first impressions
of the universe
1445
01:13:29,656 --> 01:13:31,112
are hearing these
indistinct voices
1446
01:13:31,241 --> 01:13:32,572
of all of these human beings.
1447
01:13:32,701 --> 01:13:35,943
It's like you're in
this sort of Sonic womb.
1448
01:13:36,079 --> 01:13:40,322
Roger corman: Now, from the
laughter, comes of first sign
1449
01:13:40,459 --> 01:13:43,701
that something is wrong.
1450
01:13:43,837 --> 01:13:47,955
That is John brilliantly
portraying the beginning
1451
01:13:48,091 --> 01:13:50,673
of the pain within him.
1452
01:13:50,802 --> 01:13:56,013
The reaction of everybody
is so precise, so right.
1453
01:13:56,141 --> 01:13:57,619
Adam Mortimer: As soon
as this guy gets sick,
1454
01:13:57,643 --> 01:14:00,259
and he flips hand-held
behind his head,
1455
01:14:00,395 --> 01:14:02,761
you feel like you're in this
completely different world.
1456
01:14:02,898 --> 01:14:05,765
To me, Ridley's really
pulling a kubrick here.
1457
01:14:05,901 --> 01:14:07,562
You see this in
"clockwork orange,"
1458
01:14:07,694 --> 01:14:09,309
you see this in "Barry lyndon."
1459
01:14:09,446 --> 01:14:12,529
In all of these movies, you
have kubrick approaching
1460
01:14:12,658 --> 01:14:15,491
sets and characters
with a very squared
1461
01:14:15,619 --> 01:14:17,701
off and rigid formal style.
1462
01:14:17,829 --> 01:14:19,990
But when violence
happens, kubrick
1463
01:14:20,123 --> 01:14:23,115
will drastically change the
kind of visual vocabulary
1464
01:14:23,251 --> 01:14:24,661
of the scene.
1465
01:14:24,795 --> 01:14:26,064
Adam Mortimer: It's
this amazing choice
1466
01:14:26,088 --> 01:14:28,170
to not see Kane's face
at the very moment
1467
01:14:28,298 --> 01:14:30,209
that he's going
through the most agony.
1468
01:14:30,342 --> 01:14:32,424
It's incredibly
unnerving, and it's
1469
01:14:32,552 --> 01:14:35,259
sort of a taste of
what's about to happen
1470
01:14:35,389 --> 01:14:38,756
25 seconds later when it becomes
one of the messiest scenes
1471
01:14:38,892 --> 01:14:40,223
in film history.
1472
01:14:40,352 --> 01:14:42,684
Ridley Scott: Hello,
Roger, and cut, push out.
1473
01:14:42,813 --> 01:14:44,644
Roger Christian: It
was kind of looming
1474
01:14:44,773 --> 01:14:46,309
at us this scene, you know?
1475
01:14:46,441 --> 01:14:48,807
Everyone was a bit
worried about it for sure,
1476
01:14:48,944 --> 01:14:50,900
because a, it'd never
been done before,
1477
01:14:51,029 --> 01:14:54,567
and there was so much
preparation around it.
1478
01:14:54,700 --> 01:14:56,820
Ian Nathan: Like much of the
design work for the film,
1479
01:14:56,910 --> 01:14:59,401
it had taken a long while
to get to where they were.
1480
01:14:59,538 --> 01:15:02,029
And I don't know how fully
satisfied Ridley was.
1481
01:15:02,165 --> 01:15:03,996
I think the egg
and the facehugger
1482
01:15:04,126 --> 01:15:06,162
worked very clearly for him.
1483
01:15:06,294 --> 01:15:08,064
You'd have the kind of
witch's fingers element
1484
01:15:08,088 --> 01:15:09,816
of the facehugger, it's
slightly kind of sort
1485
01:15:09,840 --> 01:15:12,172
of insectile nature of it.
1486
01:15:12,300 --> 01:15:14,507
But the chestburster was
difficult, because it
1487
01:15:14,636 --> 01:15:15,716
had to appear childlike.
1488
01:15:15,846 --> 01:15:17,198
It had to at least
kind of function.
1489
01:15:17,222 --> 01:15:19,178
It had to be able to
come out of his chest,
1490
01:15:19,307 --> 01:15:21,798
it had to suggest
the creature to come.
1491
01:15:21,935 --> 01:15:24,677
So in a way, the design of the
chestburster was governed most,
1492
01:15:24,813 --> 01:15:27,304
I think, by function
and practicality,
1493
01:15:27,441 --> 01:15:32,185
the need the sequence as much by
the flamboyance of giger's work
1494
01:15:32,320 --> 01:15:36,984
and then Scott's desire to
create something extraordinary.
1495
01:15:37,117 --> 01:15:39,278
[Vor Powell: They couldn't
solve the look of it.
1496
01:15:39,411 --> 01:15:41,948
Giger had a go at
the chestburster,
1497
01:15:42,080 --> 01:15:43,661
and he says he
never got it right.
1498
01:15:43,790 --> 01:15:45,405
It wasn't working.
1499
01:15:45,542 --> 01:15:48,830
I did some design they looked
like chicken, something like...
1500
01:15:48,962 --> 01:15:51,578
Like chicken without feathers.
1501
01:15:51,715 --> 01:15:54,377
But I was not happy with.
1502
01:15:54,509 --> 01:15:58,127
And then build up
the thing, and it
1503
01:15:58,263 --> 01:16:01,255
looked like a small dinosaur.
1504
01:16:01,391 --> 01:16:03,369
Ian Nathan: It had versions that
kind of looked like a Turkey
1505
01:16:03,393 --> 01:16:05,475
that had been sort of plucked.
1506
01:16:05,604 --> 01:16:07,094
Just were laughable.
1507
01:16:07,230 --> 01:16:09,390
They couldn't come up with
something that was genuinely
1508
01:16:09,483 --> 01:16:11,565
terrifying in its own right.
1509
01:16:11,693 --> 01:16:13,308
Roger Christian:
Roger dicken went away
1510
01:16:13,445 --> 01:16:15,436
and developed it on his own.
1511
01:16:15,572 --> 01:16:18,564
He was able to make it work.
1512
01:16:18,700 --> 01:16:21,157
They had made
this little puppet.
1513
01:16:21,286 --> 01:16:24,278
Frankly, it looked
like a penis and...
1514
01:16:24,414 --> 01:16:25,620
With teeth.
1515
01:16:25,749 --> 01:16:28,832
And they had, like,
they said, and we're
1516
01:16:28,960 --> 01:16:32,077
going to have it so
that it'll just blow up,
1517
01:16:32,214 --> 01:16:33,441
and then these
teeth will come out.
1518
01:16:33,465 --> 01:16:35,831
They were like, describing this.
1519
01:16:35,967 --> 01:16:37,673
It's just a thing.
1520
01:16:37,803 --> 01:16:40,465
We were going, oh, ok.
1521
01:16:40,597 --> 01:16:43,930
I mean, they were so excited,
these puppeteer people.
1522
01:16:44,059 --> 01:16:46,801
They were... it was
just hysterical.
1523
01:16:46,937 --> 01:16:48,956
Ian Nathan: The fundamental math
of the chestburster sequence
1524
01:16:48,980 --> 01:16:50,811
is that the cast didn't know.
1525
01:16:50,941 --> 01:16:52,681
Course, this isn't quite true.
1526
01:16:52,818 --> 01:16:55,018
We knew that there was going
to be a chestburster scene,
1527
01:16:55,112 --> 01:16:57,728
we just didn't know how
it was going to be done.
1528
01:16:57,864 --> 01:16:59,504
Roger Christian: John
hurt obviously knew,
1529
01:16:59,616 --> 01:17:02,699
so they just kept him plied with
red wine and cigarettes all day
1530
01:17:02,828 --> 01:17:04,068
long.
1531
01:17:04,204 --> 01:17:07,617
They knew they were
relying on his Patience
1532
01:17:07,749 --> 01:17:11,958
to stay in that position
while everything was set up.
1533
01:17:12,087 --> 01:17:15,045
The atmosphere on the
set had a certain frisson,
1534
01:17:15,173 --> 01:17:17,539
you know, in the morning,
because everybody
1535
01:17:17,676 --> 01:17:20,383
knew that this was filmically,
a sort of major scene.
1536
01:17:20,512 --> 01:17:22,281
I don't think anybody had
any idea that it would
1537
01:17:22,305 --> 01:17:24,842
become a kind of film classic.
1538
01:17:24,975 --> 01:17:27,328
Ian Nathan: Roger dicken brought
the chestburster to the set
1539
01:17:27,352 --> 01:17:28,888
in a carrier bag.
1540
01:17:29,020 --> 01:17:30,635
Blood was being loaded.
1541
01:17:30,772 --> 01:17:33,309
All the crew was sort of donning
these rain jackets because they
1542
01:17:33,441 --> 01:17:35,056
kind of knew what was coming.
1543
01:17:35,193 --> 01:17:37,130
Roger Christian: In the
morning, Ridley said, let's put
1544
01:17:37,154 --> 01:17:39,145
some bits of gristle and stuff.
1545
01:17:39,281 --> 01:17:41,488
So I sent the buyer
down to the abattoir
1546
01:17:41,616 --> 01:17:46,952
to buy a load of offal,
which stank terrible.
1547
01:17:47,080 --> 01:17:50,868
And they put it in formaldehyde
for you, but it was worse.
1548
01:17:51,001 --> 01:17:52,081
But we packed it round.
1549
01:17:52,210 --> 01:17:53,666
And Ridley was doing
it himself too.
1550
01:17:53,795 --> 01:17:57,959
We were sticking it
all around underneath.
1551
01:17:58,091 --> 01:17:59,902
Veronica Cartwright: We're
all up in our dressing rooms
1552
01:17:59,926 --> 01:18:01,587
at shepperton studios.
1553
01:18:01,720 --> 01:18:03,802
Harry Dean Stanton is
sitting in the hall
1554
01:18:03,930 --> 01:18:05,670
singing and playing guitar.
1555
01:18:05,807 --> 01:18:07,388
We're up there for hours.
1556
01:18:07,517 --> 01:18:10,725
We kept wondering, what
the... what was going on?
1557
01:18:10,854 --> 01:18:12,415
Ian Nathan: But at a
certain point in time,
1558
01:18:12,439 --> 01:18:15,146
some assistant is sent
to bring them to set.
1559
01:18:15,275 --> 01:18:19,268
And what greets them isn't
a vision, it's a smell.
1560
01:18:19,404 --> 01:18:20,940
Because over these
hours, this kind
1561
01:18:21,072 --> 01:18:22,672
of offal and produce has just
1562
01:18:22,782 --> 01:18:24,568
been cooking under the lights.
1563
01:18:24,701 --> 01:18:28,364
Literally, you gagged when
you walked onto the set.
1564
01:18:28,496 --> 01:18:29,952
It was so disgusting.
1565
01:18:30,081 --> 01:18:32,572
Ridley wasn't certain how
that was going to happen,
1566
01:18:32,709 --> 01:18:35,496
how... how... how's
that gonna manifest?
1567
01:18:35,629 --> 01:18:39,372
All this... this innards
of a cow and the blood,
1568
01:18:39,507 --> 01:18:42,374
and thinking, my.
1569
01:18:42,510 --> 01:18:43,966
Dan o'bannon: What
they saw was John
1570
01:18:44,095 --> 01:18:47,087
hurt spread out on this table
with all of these hoses.
1571
01:18:47,224 --> 01:18:49,260
Everybody is
covered up in suits.
1572
01:18:49,392 --> 01:18:52,008
The actors walk in, and they
see that waiting for them.
1573
01:18:52,145 --> 01:18:54,352
And I saw them, their
faces all sort of dropped.
1574
01:18:54,481 --> 01:18:57,769
They all sort of went like
this, and their eyes got big
1575
01:18:57,901 --> 01:18:59,937
and roamed around
all over this stuff.
1576
01:19:00,070 --> 01:19:02,652
Veronica Cartwright: We
started to shoot the scene,
1577
01:19:02,781 --> 01:19:05,944
and I was told I'd get
a little blood on me.
1578
01:19:06,076 --> 01:19:08,488
So we start to roll.
1579
01:19:08,620 --> 01:19:11,987
Ian Nathan: And then what
happens is brilliant.
1580
01:19:12,123 --> 01:19:15,991
There's just this splat, almost
like a bullet has hit him.
1581
01:19:16,127 --> 01:19:19,415
He puts a pause in.
1582
01:19:19,547 --> 01:19:21,913
You've got to kind of
give the audience a chance
1583
01:19:22,050 --> 01:19:24,006
to realize what's happened.
1584
01:19:24,135 --> 01:19:26,547
John hurt: The whole thing
was really a trick in the cut.
1585
01:19:26,680 --> 01:19:28,295
And there was a cut
to the other side
1586
01:19:28,431 --> 01:19:31,548
of the table where by
which time I had been
1587
01:19:31,685 --> 01:19:33,346
replaced by a replica body.
1588
01:19:33,478 --> 01:19:36,311
His t-shirt pulled
you know, tightly on it,
1589
01:19:36,439 --> 01:19:42,355
and then there's gonna be blood
lines on high pressure pumps.
1590
01:19:42,487 --> 01:19:44,398
They're going to blow
blood everywhere.
1591
01:19:44,531 --> 01:19:47,318
So we start to roll,
and then all of a sudden,
1592
01:19:47,450 --> 01:19:48,450
Ridley shouts, cut.
1593
01:19:48,493 --> 01:19:49,528
Cut.
1594
01:19:49,661 --> 01:19:51,947
It didn't work
on the first take.
1595
01:19:52,080 --> 01:19:53,616
There wasn't much
of a chestburster.
1596
01:19:53,748 --> 01:19:55,864
It couldn't get through
the damn t-shirt.
1597
01:19:56,001 --> 01:19:58,333
Well, we found ourselves
leaning in to see
1598
01:19:58,461 --> 01:20:00,042
what the hell was going on.
1599
01:20:00,171 --> 01:20:03,413
Roger Christian: Second time,
it still didn't go through,
1600
01:20:03,550 --> 01:20:05,211
but it came up
like that, and then
1601
01:20:05,343 --> 01:20:06,958
went down and covered in blood.
1602
01:20:07,095 --> 01:20:10,053
And the actors were all kind of
looking like that and curious.
1603
01:20:10,181 --> 01:20:15,642
So it was a stroke of
genius that it went wrong.
1604
01:20:15,770 --> 01:20:19,479
They still didn't
know what was coming.
1605
01:20:19,607 --> 01:20:21,393
And it reset again.
1606
01:20:21,526 --> 01:20:24,893
Ridley just said to Nick
allder and to Roger dicken,
1607
01:20:25,030 --> 01:20:26,895
just get it through this time.
1608
01:20:27,032 --> 01:20:30,866
And they added more
blood, more pipelines.
1609
01:20:30,994 --> 01:20:33,235
Ian Nathan: And this thing
goes up through, splat.
1610
01:20:33,371 --> 01:20:34,907
They fire all the pumps.
1611
01:20:35,040 --> 01:20:36,350
Roger Christian:
When it went through,
1612
01:20:36,374 --> 01:20:40,162
I mean, that blood
just went everywhere.
1613
01:20:40,295 --> 01:20:42,536
It was just exactly
what Scott wanted.
1614
01:20:42,672 --> 01:20:46,460
It was just this absolutely
immediate visceral response.
1615
01:20:46,593 --> 01:20:51,053
When it happened, of
course, it stills you.
1616
01:20:51,181 --> 01:20:56,050
So that's how it manifests, huh?
1617
01:20:56,186 --> 01:20:57,050
Ridley Scott: God!
1618
01:20:57,187 --> 01:21:00,099
And again, Nick, and again!
1619
01:21:00,231 --> 01:21:03,815
Veronica Cartwright: I had
leaned into a blood jet.
1620
01:21:03,943 --> 01:21:07,356
That little blood shot
me square in the face.
1621
01:21:07,489 --> 01:21:11,778
And that's when I jumped
back and I went, oh my god.
1622
01:21:11,910 --> 01:21:16,153
And my knees hit the
back of those banquette
1623
01:21:16,289 --> 01:21:20,783
where we were all sitting,
and it flipped me upside down.
1624
01:21:20,919 --> 01:21:23,080
And I said, oh my gosh,
we're still shooting.
1625
01:21:23,213 --> 01:21:25,204
So I rolled over
and I got back up,
1626
01:21:25,340 --> 01:21:29,003
and I ran around and
got back into the scene.
1627
01:21:32,972 --> 01:21:35,884
So there were different... there
were different reactions to it.
1628
01:21:36,017 --> 01:21:37,382
Ridley Scott: And action.
1629
01:21:37,519 --> 01:21:39,134
Crew: Blood.
1630
01:21:39,270 --> 01:21:40,134
Ridley Scott: Blood.
1631
01:21:40,271 --> 01:21:41,101
Crew: Enough.
1632
01:21:41,231 --> 01:21:41,720
Ridley Scott: Push it out.
1633
01:21:41,856 --> 01:21:42,891
Pump it.
1634
01:21:43,024 --> 01:21:44,085
Roger Christian:
Roger dicken had
1635
01:21:44,109 --> 01:21:45,849
built little lungs in as well.
1636
01:21:45,985 --> 01:21:48,772
It was a lot of stuff
going on under the table
1637
01:21:48,905 --> 01:21:53,399
to make it look so real, hung
bits of stuff all over it so
1638
01:21:53,535 --> 01:21:55,400
that it looked like it
broke through the flesh
1639
01:21:55,537 --> 01:21:56,537
and heart and muscles.
1640
01:21:59,082 --> 01:22:04,327
That was part of Ridley wanting
this to be unquestionably real.
1641
01:22:05,713 --> 01:22:07,999
And I think that
scream, when it screams,
1642
01:22:08,133 --> 01:22:10,124
there's the bacon shot.
1643
01:22:10,260 --> 01:22:13,502
There's something really
strange in those paintings that
1644
01:22:13,638 --> 01:22:17,426
connects to the phobias that
we carry with us to this day,
1645
01:22:19,727 --> 01:22:22,013
so I think, you
know, particularly
1646
01:22:22,147 --> 01:22:25,639
the "incubus" is
one that was struck
1647
01:22:25,775 --> 01:22:28,016
me when I read the script.
1648
01:22:28,153 --> 01:22:30,769
Because that chestburster
it comes out and sits there
1649
01:22:30,905 --> 01:22:33,738
for a moment and screams,
and that's just as you
1650
01:22:33,867 --> 01:22:35,323
imagine an incubus would do.
1651
01:22:35,452 --> 01:22:38,034
It would come out,
sit, and scream at you.
1652
01:22:38,163 --> 01:22:40,495
I loved that image
so much, and what
1653
01:22:40,623 --> 01:22:43,205
I see in it is something
that's like a material
1654
01:22:43,334 --> 01:22:46,041
object trying to come to life.
1655
01:22:46,171 --> 01:22:48,127
And that's what "alien" is.
1656
01:22:48,256 --> 01:22:49,462
Ridley Scott: Slow.
1657
01:22:49,591 --> 01:22:50,797
Slow.
1658
01:22:50,925 --> 01:22:54,509
Ok, and the head back.
1659
01:22:54,637 --> 01:22:57,003
Slow, go!
1660
01:22:57,140 --> 01:22:57,799
Shit.
1661
01:22:57,932 --> 01:22:58,421
Great.
1662
01:22:58,558 --> 01:22:59,092
Cut it.
1663
01:22:59,225 --> 01:22:59,805
Crew: Cut it.
1664
01:22:59,934 --> 01:23:01,390
Save the blood.
1665
01:23:01,519 --> 01:23:03,581
Drew Morton: When I'm watching
the chestburster scene
1666
01:23:03,605 --> 01:23:07,143
on the nostromo, and I'm
thinking about how brilliantly
1667
01:23:07,275 --> 01:23:09,937
staged it is because it doesn't
take place in a dark corridor
1668
01:23:10,069 --> 01:23:11,650
with a guy all by himself.
1669
01:23:11,779 --> 01:23:15,647
And then decades
later, Ridley Scott
1670
01:23:15,783 --> 01:23:19,446
restages a chestburster scene
and does it exactly in that way
1671
01:23:19,579 --> 01:23:22,286
that's so much more tropey.
1672
01:23:22,415 --> 01:23:25,623
In the dark, a guy
alone being watched over
1673
01:23:25,752 --> 01:23:33,716
only by the malevolent David,
and with this smoke and lights
1674
01:23:33,843 --> 01:23:37,131
behind him, it's almost
like it's the first draft
1675
01:23:37,263 --> 01:23:38,878
of the original scene
that was rejected
1676
01:23:39,015 --> 01:23:42,382
and then for some
reason, revisited later.
1677
01:23:42,519 --> 01:23:46,387
But on the other hand,
there is something really
1678
01:23:46,523 --> 01:23:49,936
delightful if you give into it.
1679
01:23:50,068 --> 01:23:53,276
I feel like Ridley Scott
can't find a better way
1680
01:23:53,404 --> 01:23:57,568
to talk about his own
mortality than by going back
1681
01:23:57,700 --> 01:24:02,239
over and over to the origin
side of the height of his powers
1682
01:24:02,372 --> 01:24:05,489
and the height of
his creativity.
1683
01:24:05,625 --> 01:24:07,957
Ian Nathan: If you look at
where Ridley Scott is currently
1684
01:24:08,086 --> 01:24:10,873
taking the "alien"
cycle, he's using
1685
01:24:11,005 --> 01:24:13,246
it explicitly to
explore questions
1686
01:24:13,383 --> 01:24:15,590
of where did life come from?
1687
01:24:19,222 --> 01:24:23,841
He seems fascinated by the idea
that the child would destroy
1688
01:24:23,977 --> 01:24:30,189
the parent, that the created
would destroy the creator, that
1689
01:24:30,316 --> 01:24:34,104
things we make come back and
destroy us, which I suppose
1690
01:24:34,237 --> 01:24:36,603
are variations on the
Frankenstein story.
1691
01:24:36,739 --> 01:24:40,652
But the repeated recurrence
of this in his work
1692
01:24:40,785 --> 01:24:44,619
suggests, I think, a major
autistic obsession, actually.
1693
01:24:47,750 --> 01:24:51,117
People often talk of
Hollywood as the dream factory
1694
01:24:51,254 --> 01:24:53,620
but I think the dreams that
Hollywood puts on the screens
1695
01:24:53,756 --> 01:24:56,338
are not just the
dream of one person,
1696
01:24:56,467 --> 01:24:58,924
they're collective dreams.
1697
01:24:59,053 --> 01:25:03,387
Cinema is a window on our
collective unconscious.
1698
01:25:03,516 --> 01:25:06,007
And in that way, I
think that "alien"
1699
01:25:06,144 --> 01:25:08,886
is an incredibly
important window
1700
01:25:09,022 --> 01:25:14,938
on what people were thinking
about as of the late 1970s.
1701
01:25:15,069 --> 01:25:17,560
When you look back an
alien 40 years later,
1702
01:25:17,697 --> 01:25:19,733
it seems prophetic
of where we've gone.
1703
01:25:19,866 --> 01:25:21,386
We're still going
in the same direction
1704
01:25:21,451 --> 01:25:24,033
that it seemed to be indicating
at the time, which makes
1705
01:25:24,162 --> 01:25:27,780
the world of "alien," if not
probable, at least, you know,
1706
01:25:27,915 --> 01:25:29,621
looking like a
possibility in the way
1707
01:25:29,751 --> 01:25:31,457
that "star wars" could never be.
1708
01:25:35,673 --> 01:25:38,710
The last act of "alien" is
escaping self-destruction.
1709
01:25:38,843 --> 01:25:40,879
That's the myth of our times.
1710
01:25:41,012 --> 01:25:42,812
Part of what makes "alien"
so powerful is it's
1711
01:25:42,847 --> 01:25:44,303
so much more than an allegory.
1712
01:25:44,432 --> 01:25:49,051
It taps into a deep set
of patterns that can
1713
01:25:49,187 --> 01:25:50,973
mean many, many, many things.
1714
01:25:51,105 --> 01:25:53,642
I don't think we can get
to the bottom of "alien."
1715
01:25:53,775 --> 01:25:56,858
Like a piece of sand vibrating
in a somatic experiment,
1716
01:25:56,986 --> 01:25:59,693
in touch with something deeper,
Dan o'bannon must have been
1717
01:25:59,822 --> 01:26:01,687
on the frequency for this myth.
1718
01:26:01,824 --> 01:26:06,818
He seems to have been a
stenograph for a larger song.
1719
01:26:08,831 --> 01:26:12,449
Diane o'bannon: My husband
was out of time, in a way,
1720
01:26:12,585 --> 01:26:15,873
out of specific time.
1721
01:26:16,005 --> 01:26:17,495
But he lives on.
1722
01:26:17,632 --> 01:26:21,250
And when he was dying,
that's what I said to him.
1723
01:26:21,386 --> 01:26:23,297
He was not conscious.
1724
01:26:23,429 --> 01:26:25,670
I said, you moved the world.
1725
01:26:25,807 --> 01:26:26,512
You did it.
1726
01:26:26,641 --> 01:26:28,256
You moved the world.
1727
01:26:28,393 --> 01:26:30,349
And he did.
1728
01:26:30,478 --> 01:26:34,141
In a way, I don't think Dan
o'bannon is finished yet.
1729
01:26:34,273 --> 01:26:38,357
When he died, I had
a strange feeling
1730
01:26:38,486 --> 01:26:43,526
that he'd gone back to the
future from whence he'd come.
1731
01:26:43,658 --> 01:26:47,242
And there's still things there
that are emerging from him
1732
01:26:47,370 --> 01:26:50,703
and things that I
have that are just
1733
01:26:50,832 --> 01:26:52,413
now becoming relevant today.
1734
01:26:52,542 --> 01:26:55,375
And there's more there.
1735
01:26:55,503 --> 01:26:56,709
There's more there.
1736
01:26:56,838 --> 01:26:59,250
Don't ask me why he
had this connection
1737
01:26:59,382 --> 01:27:04,001
to the past and the
future, but he sure did.
1738
01:27:04,137 --> 01:27:07,629
He came from a place that had
no telephone or television
1739
01:27:07,765 --> 01:27:10,848
and went to the stars.
1740
01:27:10,977 --> 01:27:11,682
Went to the stars.
1741
01:27:11,811 --> 01:27:13,051
It's inexplicable.
138896
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