This is 'that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back', as Dr. Thompson put it. One of the last science-fiction films to be released before Star Wars changed the world. It is a low-budget Canadian production meant to cash in on UFO and abduction lore as it read in the mid-70's.
Coming before Whitley Streiber's Communion, absent is the lexicon established by that account. No anal probes, no black triangles, the tropes utilized here are of the 'Barney and Betty Hill' brand. Cheap though the production may be, there is an admirable economy to its sci-fi imagery.
There is an ambition present on screen in its scope both visually and story-wise. These guys did some homework and just threw it all in their movie hanging it all on the most preposterous plot. The look is cheap, but every dollar is on the screen. The ideas are there, but these guys lack the taste and talent to execute them cinematically.
It all plays like a strange mix of slap-dash TV from Britain and the States. Clearly Canadian. It possesses a strange magic that grabbed me as a child seeing it on CBS' Saturday morning Science Fiction Theatre. It terrified me. I missed the title and it remained a mystery until I saw a trailer for it at the Alamo Drafthouse. I found it on VHS at I Luv Video. Needless to say it did not disappoint. It's cast boasts both Robert Vaughn and Christopher Lee...
Exploring our enthusiasm for science fiction! Curated and hosted by Laser Diagnostix
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
ALIEN (1979)
This might be the most predictable entry into this series of exchanges, but sometimes the obvious start is also the most appropriate. What can be said about this film that hasn't already been said by other viewers better equipped or more educated than myself? I picked the most watched and honored SF film for this reason; it's obvious perfection presents as formidable a challenge to disseminate as it demands accolades.
I'll stick to personal reasons and observations. Let's talk about what the film does not do. It's a science fiction film without specialized artillery or action scenes; a monster film in which - after the creature's birth - gruesome death is implied but never shown; a submarine movie in which the so-called 'German Spy' character is not vying for the destruction of the ship. It does not portray space as an intergalactic playground teeming with colorful life and epic scenarios. To the contrary, the lifelessness of space is credibly established during the film's much-lauded opening credits sequence, followed by the clicks and whirs of interior spaceship technology as we're introduced to the crew: a doomed bunch of corporate truckers who awaken, coughing and grimacing, in what is essentially their tomb.
For my money, though, all eyes should stay on the Sigourney Weaver/Yaphet Kotto exchanges, as the two actors expertly portray the Herculean task of maintaining an alliance under impossible levels of stress. Weaver's "God dammit, Parker, shut up!" followed by her plain-spoken plan for survival: "Is that acceptable to you?... Obviously that means killing it!" rates as some of the most honestly funny lines delivered in a dramatic context. Their readings strike a humorous chord due only to our own familiarity of dealing with impossible personalities in cut-throat situations. And Kotto's performance throughout is sublime. A noted figure in dozens of the decade's B-list and exploitation pictures, his inclusion in this perfect cast was no accident. As he mumbles and insinuates during every scene, reminding the audience of both the insanity of the situation (he suggests freezing the facehugger between smacks of gum) and the latent, but ignored power of black men in society ("I want to talk about the bonus situation."). His Parker's demise announces not only the end of blaxploitation's influence on mainstream fare, but the pre-Hip-Hop arrival of the strong black genre film character: audiences, white and black, not only identify with Parker's sly humor and cheated position, but support his moral outrage. For the next ten years, we'll get worthy portrayals in genre flicks from Ernie Hudson, Keith David, Danny Glover and more. But all of these brothers live in the house that Yaphet built. They swing in his playground.
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