Alien: Covenant is the second installment in the Alien Prequel trilogy, and its functionality in the sequence far outweighs its value as a single film. Everything starts with the birth of "Alien"...
In 1979, "Alien" was released, and the most terrifying screen image in film history was born. At the climax of the film, when Ripley entered the escape cabin, removed all precautions and wore only her underwear, she encountered an alien hiding here... So, in the airtight cabin, the naked heroine terrified the ground Facing the murderous monster dripping with acid mucus, she has no way to escape...
Ripley's actor Sigourney Weaver later recalled, "At that time, the director had planned to make this scene even more... Fengyue..." This euphemism The expression does not prevent future generations from understanding the "gender meaning" in the film, because from that scene alone, Ripley is almost naked, and the mature body alien opens her iconic sharp teeth to her. The sexual innuendo of a passage is obvious.
Swiss surrealist artist HR Giger's work "The Necronomicon" (Part 4), the creature image, became the prototype of "Alien", he was later known as the "Father of Alien". The metal texture glows with dark skin, the bones are sharp and exposed, the head is as long and narrow as the spindle and shaped like a sun, the tip of the tongue is full of fangs and the body is full of strong acid. Bodily fluids, quick in action, two meters tall, elegant in gait but terrifying in appearance.
In "Alien", director Ridley Scott and art director HR Giger jointly designed four forms of alien evolution, namely: the self-feeding "alien egg" Xenomorph Egg - the active parasitic "face hugger" Facehugger - wearing The chest-breaking "chestburster" Chestburster, the adult alien "worker bee" Drone, has created a complete and rigorous biological mutation process, making this film known for its horror effects stand up to biological scrutiny, and every form The biological behavior of the film is full of sexual connotations, conveying a sense of grotesque horror while infiltrating sexy, making people have to ponder the biological evolution reflection it conveys while enjoying the sensory stimulation, thus opening up the infinite evolution space of the sequel and even the prequel. .
In 1979, after the film was released, director Ridley Scott publicly stated that he hoped to explore the alien homeworld in the following sequels, half-jokingly saying, "I'm surprised that no one has asked me about the man sitting in the cockpit of the mysterious spaceship. Who is the big guy...". The so-called "big guy" was also written by HR Giger, and was hailed as a "space jockey" by later generations. In the first episode of "Alien", he died in the cockpit of a mysterious spaceship. He was two meters tall and had a magnificent skeleton. , but his chest exploded and he died for many years. What is his relationship with the alien egg? Why did the croissant-like bio-shaped spaceship make an emergency landing on the LV-426 planet? All the secrets are waiting for Ridley Scott to uncover.
20th Century Fox did develop a sequel to "Alien", but instead of asking Ridley Scott to continue directing, it took a fancy to James Cameron, who was famous for "Terminator" at the time. Cameron can't hide his excitement. "Alien" is a sci-fi masterpiece that has influenced his creative concept. The desire to shoot a sequel has already overshadowed the desire to shoot "Terminator 2"! He created the stunning image of the "Alien Queen", and even added the theme of motherhood and the atmosphere of war to this film, making it the best-selling "Alien".
However, it is clear that a good movie is the director's art after all, Cameron's Alien is not Scott's Alien, and he did not answer the questions left by the Alien's first film. Since then, David Fincher's dark and depressing "Alien 3" with political metaphors, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien 4: Resurrection" full of visual creativity, are excellent works, but it seems that each of them has left the first director. Scott's original intentions are getting further and further. Until 2012, "Prometheus" Prometheus was released...
Under the market trend of "prequel selling feelings", Scott did not become vulgar, but started his ambition. He wanted to use the alien's journey to explore the origin of species , writing the "Genesis" of outer space. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, "Alien: Covenant" is a functional transitional film, that is to say, it assumes the function of inheriting the character clues of "Prometheus" and opens up another "Alien" universe view.
In Greek mythology, the Titan god Prometheus and his younger brother Epimetheus jointly created human beings. Prometheus sympathized with what he created and helped humans steal fire, thus angering Zeus and being bound in the Caucasus Mountains. , being eaten by eagles every day. In the prologue of the film "Prometheus", the engineer (space jockey) sacrificed himself to create human beings, and continued to enlighten human beings with wisdom. In the prelude of the film "Alien: Covenant", Weyland, the representative of human wisdom, created the android David and gave him personality and even artistic aesthetics.
Unlike the previous work, David in "Contract" questioned his creator Weyland in the prelude, "You (humans) will die, but I (inorganic) will not, but I have to serve you..." Point out the core proposition of the film - the dialectical relationship between creation and the creator.
In the first part of "Alien", it is full of alien attacks on men and women, and by attacking humans again and again, the aliens get the ultimate evolution. Its evolution is based on attacks similar to sexual assault, and it also constantly displays its own sense of racial superiority - it is the most perfect of all species, can survive almost all extreme conditions (except fire), can pass Any biological evolution has no natural enemies.
Scott, who created the first episode of "Alien", did not directly explain the origin of the alien organism in the prequel - it appeared in the form of black liquid as early as the 1st century AD in the dome-shaped pyramid of the LV-223 planet. , who actually made it? Whether in "Prometheus" or "Covenant", the director did not give an answer. There is only one thing we can be sure of - it is the most perfect organism in the universe. This point, the frescoes of the engineer family in "Prometheus" have already hinted at the danger of aliens, and later echoed in the form of air strikes in "Contract" - the engineer family was exterminated on the home planet.
So, has this achieved Scott's long-cherished wish?
Obviously not. The protagonist of "Contract" is not Daniels, but David. As early as in "Prometheus", David completed the advancement from "creator" to "creator". He used black liquid to multiply octopus-shaped aliens through Holloway and Shaw. Since then, David has gradually changed from a service-oriented android to the only one giving orders. By the time The Covenant, David appeared in a cape, already the savior, and even the master of the planet. He first slaughtered the entire family of engineers, and then used various organic substances and black liquids on the planet to do breeding experiments. Finally, he finally attracted ignorant and reckless humans, and successfully won the contract spacecraft and obtained more than 2,000 living hosts.
Some people may question the morality of David's series of actions. David, as the protagonist of the movie, is simply morally corrupt! However, you must know that in the vast space, everything is dark and dull, the ethics of human society no longer exist, and only reproduction is the only criterion!
David has come out of his personal identity predicament at the beginning, he is no longer tangled like Lawrence of Arabia, but enjoys the thrill of creation, once he starts "creating life", he is no longer indulged in "who am I" "In this low-level problem, he has the pride of the creator who reigns over the world, reciting Shelley's "Osmantis" describing the worship and destruction of pharaohs, and staring at the entire family of engineers under his feet, gazing at his hand. The more than 2,000 living hosts of his... creation, made David beyond his origin, he is no longer a bionic person, he surpassed his former creator (human), and even surpassed the engineer who created his former creator.
David, is the most perfect inorganic thing in the entire universe.
In The Covenant, there is a terrifying scene where the newly evolved heteromorphic mature bodies stand upright like humans, bowing their heads to David, who treats them as if he were his own naughty child. David is the only creature in the universe that can communicate with all species. In "Prometheus", he can communicate with engineers; in "Contract", he can communicate with aliens. He is above language. , he has now become Prometheus himself.
From "Prometheus" to "The Covenant", Scott gave a variety of life styles: dying old man - Weyland, infertile believer - Shaw, frivolous doubter - Holloway, loyal to human bionic Humans - Walter, engineers who look down on human beings...
Alien, as the most perfect organic matter in the universe, its form infinitely highlights two characteristics: reproduction and attack. The former is expressed through its various physical features and attack modes, while the latter Expressed through its absence of natural enemies, rapid movements, and clever minds, the Alien combines sex and violence, and is the epitome of survival of the fittest.
David, the most perfect inorganic thing in the universe, has all the characteristics of human beings: love of beauty, sensitivity, affection, knowledge, thinking, cunning, compassion... It seems that all the useless but beautiful qualities are in him, but he does not have soul.
Before the title of "Covenant", the film used another name-"Alien: Paradise Lost", which is enough to explain how director Scott views the chain of cosmic creatures-he created another cycle: engineers create people- Humans create androids - androids create aliens - aliens destroy engineers. Perhaps, in the eyes of director Scott, on the home planet of the engineer, David is the Adam who is hard to guard, and the arrival of the Covenant brings Daniels as Eve to David, the Adam, and the Covenant is their Paradise Lost. With the Covenant, ignorant humans and cruel alien embryos flew to a new beginning of life...
Then, where will the God who judges them appear?
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