Alien: Alexandre O Philippe's Memory- Origins of Alien: The xenomorph as a mythical beast part 1

leading from 

Alexandre O Philippe's Memory: Origins of Alien

a) A mythological creature

Philippe thought of the alien creature as completely a mythological beast, but this thing didn't come out of the blue, it tapped into mankind's myths, other stories, other images that resonated with different cultures as well, and those were the creatures that came from the unconscious.

He didn't think that one could every put the creature, which he called the Xenomorph, into a box and say "that is what it is"

 

 

 

b) Discussion about the the Alien beast design's origin

Perhaps he had discussions about whether the alien beast came from Pazuzu and it came from Kali, or that it comes from Bosch painting. He was actually interested in interviewing William Friedkin who made The Exorcist about Alien when Friedkin talked to him about his Hitchcock documentary 78/52, but Friedkin didn't show any interest on that subject preferring to shift their conversation to the subject of his The Exorcist movie. 

 

 

 

 

c) Friedkin's point of view about Alien

He did however in the past reveal how Alien was a big surprise to him because a film that's set in the future usually did contain very much horror because one knew it was all fantasy, But he found that Ridley built the suspense so incredibly that when the viewer finally glimpsed the alien and realised how it came to be, it was shocking. It was a film that never let up and so the chest burster scene was one of the two most frightening moments in cinema with Janet Leigh's character in Psycho being the other

d) Pazuzu pursuit

Still, perhaps Friedkin's point of view on the matter of Pazuzu and the Alien beast would be of interest if he had one.

Alexandre O Philippe could see how one could see so many different mythological beings or creatures in it, Will Linn would briefly mention how one could see multiple mythological characters in the creature such as Sekhmet, Pazuzu, Kali, but he didn't mention exactly in what way, but he said that it was a synthesis that wasn't done consciously, but happened in the cauldron of stories

 

One could take a look at Giger's Alien and how it resembled a sort of Pazuzu. Note how the backpipes could represent its four wings which they were sometimes referred to as by Giger who seemed stuck for a name for them, and during production for scenes where the alien beast was hanging up in the landing leg room,  the long tail would be plugged into the groin as it if were a long male appendage,  and we could see how the Pazuzu statue's maile appendage stuck out in a noticebale way in the movie The Exorcist. It also has ferocious set of teeth. In the final design for the Alien beast, it's cheeks resemble Pazuzu's bifurcated cheeks.  

 

Nothing was said about the Sekhmet comparison although I worked out that Necronom IV had shoulders reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian images of lions. I didn't understand the comparison to Kali either but one could compare the Alien Queen from Aliens perhaps to that goddesss because of the multiple arms

In the documentary voice of an English man would point out could see the medieval dragon, the Renaissance demons, the work of Hieronymous Bosch,  but nothing was shown to point out any real comparison.

Philippe would state that one wouldn't necessarily see it and go "Oh, this is Pazuzu, this is a Renaissance demon," but still I can point out the obvious similarities to Pazuzu. I'll even refer to the alien beast as a Post-Modern Pazuzu. It's as if he briefly read my blog, thought that he was reading a common fan assumption, half liked the idea as an Exorcist fan, and half chucked it away, but didn't know that they were trampling all over my theory. Or have people been actually come up with the idea by themselves without my help or without reading any fragment of a link to something I had written about the matter through Google relating to what I had to say about it. I've had to be verbally kicked in the face by a personal friend of Giger's for sharing such an assumpting online and years later it comes up as a fragment of a thought in this documentary! I would enjoy the experience of any sort of firm discussion about it but I am someone too easily ignored and perhaps there aren't people who can have a firm discussion about this subject on Giger's work. My basic assumption that Giger was an Exorcist fan like many people and signs of that turn up in his painting.

See: HR Giger's Necronom IX (1976)

See: The Pazuzu in the Exorcist compared to the adult Alien. 

See: Development of Alien by way of small Pazuzu head relic from the Exorcist

 

 

 

e) Out of the cauldron

Then again the alien beast was also very much a creature of its own, it has become it's own myth, living in our collective imagination as a modern myth, 

 
With that, Philippe repeating words used by Will Linn felt that the beast was actually all these different things that could be recognised

It was a creature that comes from the cauldron of imagination or of stories that was Giger’s.

He thought of the designs as something that came from Giger's dreams and nightmares, his unconscious and unconscious, (Although of course I should add that the sort of sleeping dreams and nightmares that Giger was aware of having didn't really result in such things as his Alien beast design, but his daydreams would have been another matter)

1. Ridgetop for AVP Galaxy: As opposed to another strictly behind-the-scenes documentary, you really focused on the mythology and feelings surrounding Alien, as well as the perfect storm of collaborators who came together to produce something truly memorable. 40 years later, how do you feel that Alien has had the kind of staying power that it has?
   Alexandre O Philippe: I think Alien precisely has the kind of staying power that it has because it tapped into something deeper. I think that Alien is now a myth for our age. I think the Xenomorph is completely a mythological creature. It’s a mythological creature that doesn’t just come out of the blue. It tapped into other myths, other stories, other images that resonate with different cultures as well, and those are creatures that come from the unconscious.
   I don’t think you can ever put that Xenomorph into a box and say ‘this is what it is.’ It comes from Pazuzu or it comes from Kali, or it comes from the Bosch paintings or whatever the case may be. It’s all of that. It is a creature that comes from the cauldron of imagination that was Giger’s. In terms of its designs it comes from [his] dreams, it comes from [his] nightmares and it comes from his unconscious and resonates with our collective unconscious. You couple that with the story that is Alien and how great that is and how much of a myth it is as well, then you end up having a movie that is going to resonate forever. It was the right story at the right time, executed by the right people, and that’s why it will always be one of the greatest films ever made. (https://www.avpgalaxy.net/website/interviews/alexandre-phillipe/)
2. N.B. I haven't read anything before about the Alien and Pazuzu connection apart from what I first wrote back in Friday 6th September 2013 There probably have been lots of conversations about the idea which I've not been a part of, just because of the general associations that one can make. See for my personal exploration of Alien connection with Pazuzu see Alien:  Conjuring the Demon 
3. Alexandre O Philippe: You look at the Xenomorph itself, and you can see so many different mythological beings or creatures in it. You don't necessarily see it and go, "Oh, this is Pazuzu, this is a Renaissance demon," but it carries elements of it. And it is also very much a creature of its own. It has become its own myth. Alien lives in our collective imagination as a modern myth. (https://nofilmschool.com/cinephile-sundance-doc-reveals-how-alien-penetrated-movie-history-and-our-collective-1) 
4. John Vickers: A film we haven't talked about yet is a film in the making, and it's your film about The Exorcist
   
   Alexandre O Philippe: Yep
   John Vickers: And William Friedkin. It's not about either or, it's about both. You're building a reputation that I think for this film maker's film maker as we dubbed it
   
   
   Alexandre O Philippe:Right
   John Vickers: Can you share how you connected on the Exorcist project, and then we'll talk deeper about the film
   
   Alexandre O Philippe: Sure, I mean er, that project is another one actually, this is one that it was not not adult planned, it came to meon a silver platter should I say, I was actually at the Sitges film festival, that festival that I mentioned in Spain which is an amazing fantastic film festival, in their fiftieth anniversary, and we were showing 78/52 and I was having lunch on one of those old restaurants on the port with Gary Sherman actually did Dead and Buried, Deathline He tells me I've heard so much about your film , you know I'd love to see it please send me a link, so he gives me his email address and link, he e-mails me the next day, you know he absolutely loved it and he said er, when you're in LA, let me know, I want to buy you lunch. So
   John Vickers: Nice, 
   
   Alexandre O Philippe : Yuh right So we go and have lunch and the story shifts very quickly to the exorcist, and it's funny really I had actually, he rejected me or turned me down I should say, for an interview for 78/52, so at lunch of course the first opportunity I got, I was like, I'm making this film on Alien, I would really like to interview you and he didn't respond
   
   John Vickers: Okay, 
   
   Alexandre O Philippe : But then he Pivoted to the Exorcist, and he said, you know.... (Profiles, WFIU, January 13, 2019 https://indianapublicmedia.org/profiles/filmmaker-alexandre-philippe.php)
5. Will Linn: Part of what you're seeing with the character of "Alien" is this gorgeous synchrony, this incredible synthesis of multiple mythological characters, Sekhmet, Pazuzu, Kali. (Memory The Origin of Alien)
   
6. English person:  You can see the medieval dragon, the Renaissance demons, the work of Heironymous Bosch.  (Memory The Origin of Alien)
7. Will Linn: And it's a synthesis that wasn't done consciously. It was a synthesis that happened in the cauldron of stories that was Giger's imagination. This is a character with which all three of these artists identified. And because they all resonated with this pattern, they were drawn together, this coming from a much deeper place.  (Memory The Origin of Alien)
8. William Friedkin: Alien was a big surprise to me. Usually a film that's set in the future doesn't contain very much horror, 'cause you know it's all fantasy. But Ridley Scott built the suspense so incredibly that when you finally got glimpses of the alien, and realized how it came to be, it was shocking. It never let up. I would say the two most frightening moments in cinema are the murder of the Janet Leigh character in Psycho, and the chest-bursting scene in Alien. (Entertainment Weekly 19th October 2007(https://ew.com/gallery/william-friedkin-13-must-see-horror-movies/)