This document provides an in-depth summary and analysis of the 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien directed by Ridley Scott. It discusses the plot, characters, themes, and contexts of the film. Specifically, it analyzes a key scene involving the death of the character Brett at the hands of the Xenomorph. Through camerawork and focalization, the scene builds tension and suspense by showing the creature stalking Brett without his knowledge, mirroring the audience's limited perspective, before killing him violently. The document discusses how this scene represents humanity's loss of dominance to the perfect alien predator and the cycle of life it embodies through both destruction and creation. Overall, the summary examines how Alien uses its setting, characters,

1. A L I E N

2. Alien is a 1979 science-fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott, with a screenplay by Dan O’Bannon
(Who had the idea for the movie even before Ridley Scott’s name was attached) and starring Tom
Skerritt as Dallas (the captain of the Nostromo), Sigourney Weaver as Ripley (the warrant officer aboard
the Nostromo), Veronica Cartwright as Lambert (the Nostromo's navigator),Harry Dean Stanton as Brett
(the engineering technician), John Hurt as Kane (the executive officer), Ian Holm as Ash (the ship's
science officer), Yaphet Kotto as Parker (the chief engineer), Bolaji Badejo as (The Alien) and Helen
Horton as the voice of Mother (the Nostromo's computer).
On a first viewing you are never quite sure who the main character of the story is with a lot of people
understandably leaning more towards Dallas as the male lead and captain of the ship but that normality is
completely shattered when he is killed off and Ripley goes from seemingly being the commonplace damsel
in distress who has a romantic interest in the male lead to taking the reigns of main heroine for the rest of
the franchise. "Ripley is pretty revolutionary, All of a sudden you have a horror film that has a younger
female character who is a survivor and a heroine as opposed to a victim.” says David McIntee, author of
the Alien study ‘Beautiful Monsters’. She is widely considered the first female heroine in cinema, now
whilst that may not strictly be true, she is certainly the most impactful on the modern cinematic landscape
we have today where female leads are a lot more common. There isn’t much in terms of information on
what influenced the specific characters but the film as a whole has been cited by the screenwriter Dan
O’Bannon and Ridley Scott himself to have been inspired by classic films like Invasion of the Body
Snatchers (1956) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) with the latter leaving Scott completely taken
aback by the gruesome effects presented to him on screen, this led him to have the ambition to create
what would essentially be a “haunted house movie in space” and thus Alien was conceived. Star Wars and
2001: A Space Odyssey were also major influences on the world that Scott wanted to build within the film,
he was amazed at how realistic the sets were in 2001: ASO but found them too clean so admired the
dirtier Sci-Fi presented in Star Wars so incorporated a blend of both to create the industrialised version of
a Sci-Fi Universe which the Alien franchise is a part of.
The ship, called The Nostromo has a derelict factory aesthetic with it looking more like an oil rig than a
spaceship and covered in rusted metal, loose chains that dangle in dark rooms, abandoned pieces of
machinery that is no longer used for any conceivable purpose and water falling from the ceiling, the ship
isn’t an ideal perfect future, Scott has gone on to describe this aesthetic as “truckers in space,” its as if
humanity went to space with technology from the 1970’s rather than anything from the future. Even the
characters are like this, the whole first act revolves around the crew discussing the job they need to do –
the orders from the company and the pay/overtime associated with that, these are relatable topics to a lot
of people today and were almost certainly even more so back in 1979. Unemployment was rising all
throughout the US in the 70’s with the rate being 8% in 1975 then growing to almost 10% by 1982 , there
was real fear that you could lose your job at any time and not be able to support your family or even
yourself. This is reflected in the film with as mentioned before, the crew following the orders given to them
by the company and the policies they have to uphold which leads the crew to the most dangerous place in
the galaxy. Another major event in the 1970’s was the women’s movement which campaigned for political
and economic equality just as the movement does to this day but this is important to the film’s production
with the fact that though Ripley was initially written as a man, Ridley Scott specifically cast the character
as a female which at least in some way did have a political agenda behind it and as I mentioned before did
make her one of the most influential female heroines of all time and definitely paved the way to more
action orientated female leads in future films, more so in the sequel to Alien – Aliens directed by James
Cameron in 1986.
Context

3. Alien explores a multitude of themes below the initial surface and these become clearer the deeper you are willing to go into what is being
shown on screen. For example a more obvious theme is that of fear. More specifically the fear of the unknown as the tagline “In space no
one can hear you scream” suggests this, humanity's nature is to fear what they do not understand and space in its entirety encompasses
that. The setting for the majority of the film is a transport ship, alone in space which latches onto the human fear of being separated from
any normality or comfort — unknowing of what surrounds you, if anything. The crew is visibly scared of the creature but it could be
interpreted as the Alien being scared of them and the new environment it was birthed into. The creature isn’t necessarily evil, it just wants
to survive in a claustrophobic spaceship. Its only instinct is to hunt down any threats to its life and reproduce. In the grand scheme of the
movie the creature is simply a child without a mother to guide the way. This can be seen in the chestburster sequence as the Alien can be
seen attempting to what seems to be searching around the room for its mother or a motherly figure of some sorts before fleeing.
Motherhood is also a key theme throughout the movie, most noticeably with the ship’s computer being called Mother and the foundation of
the chestburster scene resembling a vicious form of the Caesarean method of birth with the child bursting through the chest of its ‘Mother’
instead of being professionally cut out by a doctor. There’s also the fact that Ash refers to the Xenomorph as “Kane’s Child” throughout
which in and of itself is a horrifying concept when in addition to how it was born and the deliberate genderless nature of the film’s
characters. Ripley herself is a mother (with a daughter she left on Earth) and whilst the canon may not have included her daughter at the
time of the film’s release, she does display some maternal instincts with her being adamant to protect the Nostromo’s cat, Jonesy. She
carries her like a child through the climax of the film for example before placing it into the status chamber with her to be metaphorically
birthed again when they are awoken from hyper sleep and this theme is further expanded upon in Aliens but is still rather present here
within Ripley’s actions.
The expendability of human life plays a key role in the plot of the film when Ash is revealed to be an android and ‘Special Order 937’ is
issued ”Priority one, Insure return of organism for analysis. All other considerations secondary. Crew expendable”. The fact that nobody on
the crew knew Ash wasn't human beforehand shows that they can all be replaced without a second thought and even be enhanced
because of the abilities of an android. The order issued by the company ties into the contextual nature of how common redundancy was at
the time of release as well as with how rapidly humanity improves what it can do, at this point in the future the androids are so lifelike that
the company doesn’t even need a crew, if anything they are just tools for them, merely useful for getting the creature back to earth.
Humans are expe ndable as long as the job is fulfilled. The ship’s computer having the name MU-TH-UR is almost a juxtaposition as a
mother is what gives birth to humanity and is a concept most distinctly recognisable as ‘human’, being warm and loving whilst MU-TH-UR
is situated in a cold white room with an emotionless voice — there’s no humanity there, only protocol. The most prevalent subtext is that
of the Xenomorph’s resemblance to the human reproductive systems in design, mainly the phallic imagery in the design of its head but It's
accompanying features like how it shares its point of conception in an Egg just like humans do with an almost dual sexuality in the way it
opens and ‘shoots out’ the impregnating life form is very much alluding to that of the human reproductive cycle. As mentioned before, the
way in which the Alien is birthed shares a resemblance to that of a human baby’s one — even further showing its connection to humanity.
The creature embodies a more violent representation of sex with how it takes life rather than gives it, the perverse nature of how the
facehugger forceable latches onto its host and the way the Xenomorph stalks its prey within the shadows before dragging them back into
the abyss to ‘penetrate’ their skin with its pharyngeal jaw is rather symbolic of rape when all taken into account. H.R. Giger’s artwork, the
designer of the Alien — is far more distinctive of the conceptually sexual look of the creature. The film can also be seen portraying the
birth cycle of the Xenomorph as a direct representation of the innate male fear of childbirth, it is common to be afraid of the unknown and
for a lot of people that involves the anxieties and risks of having a child. The Alien encapsulates this, the act of childbirth is considered
beautiful and one of the main goals in life but interestingly Ash describes the creature as the perfect organism in such a methodical way
it’s as if he himself considers the birth of the Alien to be on the same purity level as that of childbirth, representing the violent yet beautiful
nature of the natural world and the unknown.
Themes

4. Content
The scene I have chosen Is that of Brett’s death but specifically from the Director’s Cut of the film as it is far
more interesting to me with the scenes added. The scene begins as a high-angle Wide Shot with Brett walking
into the scene, this immediately gives the viewer a sense of isolation as the focal centre is on Brett but he is in
now way the focus of the shot, it establishes an atmosphere of eeriness with the complete absence of any sort of
score, only the diegetic sounds of the ship as water falls and chains rattle. There’s a limited amount of light
sources in the surrounding area with the most noticeable coming from behind Brett, he looks into the dark and
then the light as if tempted to turn back but doesn’t, possibly referencing some religious imagery of Heaven and
Hell. It then cuts to a medium shot which focuses on him entering the room, this makes the viewer feel as if they
too cannot escape whatever is to come because they have had the wider view they just had taken away and thus
lost an advantage – becoming as in the dark as Brett himself. This shot continues for around 24 seconds, never
changing the camera’s position but merely following him as he walks towards it. However, you can see the faint
blurred out chains swinging in front throughout which gives the impression that something is watching him and by
extension gives the audience a sense of being in the scene themselves, unable to help as Brett walks towards
his inevitable doom. The next sequence is a POV shot of him looking up to the light source in the middle of the
room as water falls onto his face and the audiences view from the camera, however we are never shown what is
emitting that light – it is up to the viewer’s imagination and almost acts as a way to distract them from even
thinking that the Alien may be somewhere in the area. This point of view change transports the audience into the
scene. This sequence can also be linked back to the religious imagery of heaven, the central light gives the
sense of an escape from the dark when really it far beyond the reach of humanity in this situation. It’s a
spaceship, there’s practically nowhere to run.
The next shot is a close up Brett taking a moment to wash his face, this doesn’t necessarily calm the tension but
it does give the audience a sense of relief before immediately taking it away in the next sequence. The Alien can
be seen curled up and swinging on one of the chains but at this point in the film the viewer has no idea what the
adult creature looks like so its motionless body is hardly recognisable against the dark machinery of the ship. It is
only on screen for a couple seconds at most so enough time for the audience to realise something was there but
not enough to fully process it. This continues to build the suspense as the focal character is completely oblivious
to the Alien’s presence but the audience knows its there. The adult Alien’s design is similar to that of the ship,
it’s dark in colour and shares elements that could easily be mistaken for parts of the ship. The camera then cuts
back to Brett’s face, who is still unaware of the creature and proceeds to open up to a high-angle wide-shot
which is almost as if the audience is seeing the isolated man through the eyes of a predator. Yet Brett remains
oblivious, continuing the feeling that the viewers have no way to warn the man of what’s stirring – only the ability
to watch on and wait.The feeling of the scene and Brett’s attitude changes when he sees Jonsey hiding in a
corner, He’s childish towards her – amplifying the ignorance to just how much danger he is in, Jonsey is hiding
but he simply assumes she’s playing a game when in reality she could sense that something wasn’t right in that
room. A shot-reverse shot from Jonesy’s perspective further implies that the camera is indeed the view of
something “hunting” Brett, the cat looks at him and he looks back at the Jonesy. Although as the tension is
building and how the audience knows something else in there, it creates a sense of ironic hope – Brett only came
down here to find Jonesy but he’s soon to meet the creature that will take that hope away from him. The next
shot shows he blurred Xenomorph’s tail enter the frame behind him, Brett doesn’t react to this either – The
realisation that the creature is setting the stage to kill can only be seen through the view of the audience and
Jonesy, who hides back behind a piece of the ship.

5. Content
Jonsey hisses (mirroring the sound the Xenomorph makes) as the camera moves slightly in another POV shot of Brett’s eyes, to this point
the camera movement has been mostly steady as the creature methodically stalked him. The Alien drops into the background of the shot
but is still kept hidden by Brett’s body blocking the view, meaning that even if the audience has a good idea of what’s about to happen they
are just as much in the dark as him. He is blissfully unaware that every step he takes brings him closer and closer to his eventual demise.
The next shot presents the audience with it’s first clear look at the creature, moving-up to the Xenomorph’s dripping mouth, a key factor in
the coming scene. The slow build up to the reveal of the adult creature throughout the entire sequence leaves the audience constantly trying
to figure out what it is and what it is capable of, this also presents the Alien as the top of the food chain – it can strike without you ever even
knowing it was there, you’d be dead by the time there’s a chance to scream. The Xenomorph’s hiss like growl prompts Brett to catch up with
what Jonsey and the audience have known for a while now, humanity is no longer the apex predator... The Xenomorph is. The scenes
focalization shifts back to Brett, seeing the creature through his eyes. The audience and him are now in the same playing field, neither know
what they are seeing in front of them – Humans look at the eyes to read emotion but the Xenomorph doesn’t have any, we have an innate
gift to find humanity in anything yet this creature born from a human does not seem to show any of it.
Another shot-reverse shot, mirroring the one used between Jonsey and him, The Alien is clearly positioned above him becoming a literal
image of how humanity has dropped to the bottom of the food chain. The next sequence is made up of quick shots that flash before the
viewers eyes which reveal that the second-mouth can propel out and shatters into a mess of blood and bone. The excessive cuts continue,
showing the audience the incredible speed of which the creature can distinguish someone’s life. There is a brief shot as the Alien brings
Brett’s body to the ground and then a shot of Jonsey’s as she watches the creature drag its prey up into darkest corners of the ship leaving
nothing but the water to be replaced by the blood of Brett. This sequence tells the audience that the crew is no match for the creature alone,
it is superior in every aspect when it comes to the hunt - Human stupidity created this thing but it doesn’t make mistakes – the perfect
lifeform. Brett is wearing a flowery t-shirt which acts as a juxtaposition to the dark environment surrounding him, it could also been seen as
him representing humanity and life – He is the first direct casualty of the creature and his death represents the start of another cycle, The
Alien’s sole purpose is to carry on its species using the humans as a host for this. Yet many aspects of the Xenomorph share some
similarities with plants which by extension represent life so it is possible to view this sequence as just an apex predator using the
environment to survive, the humans are just a casualty. The score doesn’t kick in till the Alien makes its appearance and the diegetic
sounds that were present throughout are made way for a mounting orchestral accompaniment with a sound that is eerily similar to that of a
drill or piece of machinery. The score stalks up on you just as the Xenomorph does, it comes and goes as if it was never there.

6. Bibliography
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