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Alien immigration >> French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet takes on the Alien Resurrection by ANNIE ILKOW
"I love the Alien films and when I was asked to do it I thought it won't kill me if I don't get it, but there are very few stories that I can imagine directing in Hollywood. Then I found out that Sigourney Weaver was a huge fan of my films, as was Winona Ryder--and so was the studio. It seems that Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children were really noticed by the industry here--much more respected than they were in France. Tom Rothman [head of 20th Century Fox] was fighting for a fourth Alien, for someone different to revive the franchise, after the last one. As for my crew, Fox was delighted to have them because they wanted the quality that we achieved in my other films." Among the select group of directors who have all made their reputations on the strength of Ellen Ripley and her alien nemesis, Jeunet feels at home. "Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) is definitely the bench mark for me; it was so masterfully done, and so I looked for continuity with his version. You're aware you have to follow the rules of the game, but there is a lot you can bring to it. I actually feel closest to David Fincher's Alien3 in terms of style. What I tried to do was to bring a dark sense of humour that was missing in that one. The other thing we worked out with Sigourney was that Ripley herself would be different. As part-alien, there's this whole new dimension to her--the monster within--which is really the heart of the film." From rape to war to AIDS, the alien has slobbered its way through three films as a stand-in for our culture's darkest fears. And now in the existential '90s, it seems the enemy is us. In Alien Resurrection, a clone of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is brought to life by deeply deluded biomilitary types in order to harvest and tame (they still don't get it) the alien life form that died with Ripley at the end of Alien3. The scientists are joined by a group of pirates, including Winona Ryder, who've stolen human cargo to be sold as hosts for the new nest of nasties. Nice world. Some audiences might find the gore and unrelenting chase scenes a bit grueling, since this movie is severely empathy challenged. While the art direction creates a visual feast, writer Joss Whedon--an obvious choice after Toy Story (!?)--serves up most of the characters as alienbait without much flavour. So much for dramatic tension. Jeunet's is a sinister view of the future and science in particular, and with even the heroine Ripley seething with alien DNA, no character is uncompromised or even very sympathetic. "It's true," Jeunet explains, "that in this weird way the characters that are the least human, technically, are in fact the most humane. But aren't we all interested in the dark forces within and around us? I think audiences are intrigued by that. These films are really about identity and coming to terms with what's inside us. I also think the reason the films are popular and respected by the critics is that they have a strong female lead, and we don't get that enough, especially in this kind of role." Working through a translator for the whole shoot ("although I learned to say, 'Fuck off, you're fired,' in English pretty quickly," he admits), Jeunet was embraced by Sigourney Weaver because his twisted sensibility was a match for her own. "The French are great," she wrote in Premiere recently. "You can't shock them." When Ripley's animal attraction to the aliens melts her Terminator-like resolve, she gets down with the beasties in a kind of oozing viper's den--a set-piece in a movie that is much less about shocks and suspense than the slow, deliberate display of unthinkable images. "We did make reference to [painter] Francis Bacon in that scene, but our main influence there was Geiger [artist and creator of the original alien]; even though he was not acknowledged in the credits, that original work influenced everyone a lot. Sigourney knew instinctively what was right for Ripley, and she has the strength and the fragility to do it. She really is the author of the Ripley character." With his studio bosses pleased, Jeunet might find himself back on planet Hollywood in the near future. "Right now I just want to go do something small in France, but I do have an idea to pitch to Fox." As for Ripley? "It's probably obvious that the next Alien could be about Ripley on Earth, but wouldn't it be fun for her to visit the alien planet sometime?" Opens Friday, Nov. 28. See film listings for showtimes
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Talk about science fiction: a young filmmaker with two cult French movies to his credit who speaks no English takes a French crew to Hollywood and directs an epic $80-million studio movie: and not just any movie. On the phone from L.A., Jean-Pierre Jeunet explains how a Parisian got the keys to a revered American institution.