Alien: Alexandre O Philippe's Memory- Origins of Alien: The xenomorph as a mythical beast part 2

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Alexandre O Philippe's Memory: Origins of Alien

Philippe believed it when Will Linn said that you can never get to the bottom of Alien.

With that, he believed that you could never get to the bottom of the making of Alien, and everything has to do with the unconscious with artists tapping into images and ideas that we've been carrying for millennia as human beings and these have a very profound resonance.

Philippe saw the Xenomorph as a completely new thing and didn't see something in another movie that resonated on the same level, but it existed before Ridley showed up.

It was in Giger's Necronomicon, generally as Necronom IV and V. This is what Dan showed to Ridley Scott who would then say "That's it"

He saw it as a creature very rooted in Giger's imagination, that was very rooted in Egyptian mythology , in the passion for Lovecraft and the fear of the unknown.

It was a creature that was essentially waiting for a story to attach itself to.

Dan O'Bannon would be the person who came along with the story, and the creature pounced on that in a way.

It sounded esoteric for him to say that, and he didn't mean that the creature was physically real.

But these were interesting thoughts for Philippe, with the idea that the alien beast existed in human thoughts and dreams.

He need was to have a conversation  about it.

It's no longer just in our unconscious, but in our conscious thoughts, it carries a certain energy and resonance.

Myth was an energy and this we could tap into to to learn certain things.

Alien is a cautionary tale.

1. Alexandre O Philippe: To quote Will Lynn again, he says you can never get to the bottom of Alien. I would add to that that you can never get to the bottom of the making of Alien. Everything has to do with the unconscious....artists tapping into images and ideas that we've been carrying for millennia as human beings and have a very profound resonance.  (https://nofilmschool.com/cinephile-sundance-doc-reveals-how-alien-penetrated-movie-history-and-our-collective-1)
2. Alexandre O Philippe: The Xenomorph was a completely new thing. And no, I can't think of another movie that has resonated at that level. It existed before Ridley showed up. It was in Giger's Necronomicon. He showed that image to Ridley, and Ridley would say, "That's it." And he would stick to his guns. Obviously, the executives were not very happy about this. This thought [the Xenomorph] was too grotesque, too outrageous, too sexual. That's why Dan and Giger absolutely needed Ridley to respond to that and to have the strength to say this is what it's going to be. (https://nofilmschool.com/cinephile-sundance-doc-reveals-how-alien-penetrated-movie-history-and-our-collective-1)
3. Alexandre O Philippe: I see it as a creature that came out of Giger's imagination, but that was very rooted in Egyptian mythology and in the passion for Lovecraft and the fear of the unknown. It was a creature that was essentially waiting for a story to attach itself to. Dan was the guy who came along with the story, and the creature pounced on that, in a way. It sounds a little bit esoteric to say that... and of course I'm not saying the creature physically exists, but those are really interesting ideas to think about, right? When a creature exists in our thoughts, in our dreams. We can have a conversation about it. It's no longer just in our unconscious, but in our conscious thought. It carries a certain energy. It has a certain resonance. That's what myth is. It is energy. And then we tap into that energy to learn certain things. Alien is very much a cautionary tale. (https://nofilmschool.com/cinephile-sundance-doc-reveals-how-alien-penetrated-movie-history-and-our-collective-1)