Alien: The Director's Cut - A
Now Playing: (1979, Ridley Scott) [seen in theatre]
Having seen this one about a dozen times thusfar, it doesn't really scare the snot out of me like it once did, but the film's ability to set an eerie mood is still awe-inspiring. I had never seen it on the big screen before, and when I was watching it I couldn't help but pay more attention to how Scott framed the images. Shot after shot is framed with the camera tilted subtly upwards, which makes us more conscious of the ceilings within the ship. It creates a kind of unease at first, setting newcomers in the audience a bit on the edge even before they know the significance of the ceilings. And once we've seen how often the alien attacks from above, we're left wondering when and where it'll attack next. Scott's almost clinical directorial style here owes a debt to 2001, with camera prowling the corridors of the ship- likewise, the way the characters in this film are little more than ciphers (the only one we really learn anything about is Ash) doesn't feel too far removed from Kubrick's astronauts Bowman and Poole. I once read that the original drafts of this script didn't specify genders for the characters, and that such classifications weren't put into the film until it was cast, which sounds about right, particularly in the men's treatment of Ripley (Lambert feels more girlish here, no doubt as a result of the casting, and is treated by the others as more feminine). One thing I put together in my mind this time that I didn't before is the significance of Ash's disobeying protocol to let in Kane and the alien, which makes him look like a humanitarian when he's actually anything but. Likewise, the main human conflict in the story is between its two most rational characters, Ripley (who is strictly by the book) and Ash (who singlemindedly attempts to carry out his secretly-assigned agenda), and that ultimately Ripley survives because she was the only one who really acted with the needs of the many in mind. Aside from the cocoon sequence, which is nicely-shot and designed but adds little besides prefiguring similar scenes in the sequels, I didn't notice any changes from the old version. Which is good, since the old version was such a benchmark of its type, and such an effective genre piece. Still awesome.