X
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Legion M
- 1 h 35 m
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Legion M
- 1 h 35 m
Summary Take an in depth voyage into the sci-fi masterpiece ALIEN with the visionary filmmakers who created it. See how one of the most terrifying movies of all time burst to life 40 years ago, inspired by ancient mythology and our universal fears.
Directed By: Alexandre O. Philippe
Written By: Alexandre O. Philippe
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Legion M
- 1 h 35 m
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Legion M
- 1 h 35 m
Memory: The Origins of Alien
70
6.6
Where to Watch
Summary Take an in depth voyage into the sci-fi masterpiece ALIEN with the visionary filmmakers who created it. See how one of the most terrifying movies of all time burst to life 40 years ago, inspired by ancient mythology and our universal fears.
Directed By: Alexandre O. Philippe
Written By: Alexandre O. Philippe
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
70
61% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
39% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
70
61% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
39% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It weaves every detail — whether provided by an on-camera witness, a document, a drawing, a painting or a photograph — around that set of intertwined arguments, which are too complex to explain in this review, but come across powerfully by the time the credits roll.
Although MEMORY follows some templates of the format, trying to lock Alien into a cultural and political framework, the film itself transcends that obviousness.
What this solemn and enlivening documentary plunge into the history of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic reiterates is the idea of film as a collective art form – not just the wider circle of writers, performers and technicians beyond the director, but in the case of the truly great films, serendipitous access to a deeper collective unconscious to which we all have the keys – even if few know how to use them.
Saving some of the best for last, director Philippe makes outstanding use of footage of what in the trade is called the money shot, the startling payoff that everything has been building toward — in this case, of course, the scene featuring the “chestburster.”
An admirably full portrait of a film that reflects, with thrilling discomfort, the darker recesses of our minds.
Memory certainly makes a good go of it, weaving together industrial production history with its mythic, pulp and artistic inspirations. The disparate strands of Alien’s origins have never quite been connected like this in a popular documentary, but billing this as the “untold story” of Scott’s film is a bit of a stretch.
Essentially, Memory is too superficial a treatment of the chestburster sequence to validate making half of a movie about it, and it’s also too lengthy an exploration of it to give the other elements of the movie their proper due.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 User Ratings
6.6
38% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
63% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 User Ratings
6.6
38% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
63% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
Exhibit A Pictures,
Milkhaus,
Screen Division
Release Date Oct 4, 2019
Duration 1 h 35 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Tagline Before Alien, there was Starbeast. Before Starbeast, there was... Memory.
Awards
CPH:DOX
• 1 Nomination
Edinburgh International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
