Matt Shea
RubySoho
Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
Happy Birthday Sigourney; Best Wishes Ripley
October 22nd 2009 15:13
by Matt Shea
It’s hard to imagine, but Sigourney Weaver turned 60 earlier this month. Perhaps not something to celebrate, but there is a symmetry to the milestone given her alter ego, Ellen Ripley, notched up her 30th birthday in May. 20/20 Filmsight takes the opportunity to look back at the career of the actress who defined the modern action heroine.
Waiting in line for a film: that’s where the world first spotted Sigourney Weaver. It may have been a small role – playing Woody Allen’s girlfriend during the final scenes of “Annie Hall” – but it was a distinctly meta start nonetheless. Weaver would go on to star in one of the biggest film franchises of all time, establishing herself as a highly respected actress in the process.
Two years later it’s 1979, and the definition of Weaver’s career will be cast. Storming across the screen as Ellen Ripley, it’s easy to imagine the neurotic Alvy Singer’s head exploding when he spotted the girl with whom he shared a bucket of popcorn just 24 months earlier.
As a piece of cinema, “Alien” had plenty going for it: a lean, fully realised script, unmatched production design, a brilliant young director, and a quality cast of relative unknowns. It dealt out its tension like a carefully regulated drip and drove audiences round the bend with some inspired ‘freak out’ moments. There was plenty going on in the background too, the Nostromo being a microcosm of late 1970s economic hardship and class differences.
But “Alien”’s true stroke of genius was to cast Ripley as a woman, the decision being made – courtesy of producers Walter Hill and David Giler – with an eye to allowing the film to stand out from the sci-fi pack. But one suspects Hill and Giler didn’t know the genie they were about to unleash.
Weaver’s Ripley wasn’t a space adventurer, buxom and fleshy. She was a warrant officer on a mining ship, an intelligent woman who would be thrown into extraordinary circumstances. She was undoubtedly attractive, but a large part of the quiet allure was an intensity and confidence that intimidated her male associates.
Weaver herself said in an interview with the American Film Institute that, “What attracted me to Ellen Ripley was that she was written in a very straight forward way. This was a direct person who didn’t have scenes where she’s suddenly vulnerable. She didn’t throw her hands up and wait for someone else to save her.”
Not that Ripley was a lead-minted feminist, out to castrate the men and burn her space bra. She was human – best illustrated when recruiting to her plans the salty chief engineer, Parker (Yaphet Kotto) or, pre-evac, when the maternal instincts comes to the fore and she turns back for Jonesy, the Nostromo’s annoyingly reclusive cat.
Sigourney Weaver and Ripley thus became the cornerstone of one of the finest science fiction films in history – not that the world seemed to quite realise it at the time. It took James Cameron’s sequel, “Aliens”, to remind audiences of the power of Ellen Ripley before taking it to a whole other level.
Cameron is of course no stranger to writing strong female roles – witness Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in the two “Terminator” films or Lindsey Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) in “The Abyss” – but Ripley was his true playground, a chance to take what was established in “Alien” and push it to the outer boundaries of character development.
Once again Ripley is thrown in with a bunch of impudent men, this group a swaggering militaristic allegory for the Vietnam era, but Jonesy is upgraded for Newt (Carrie Henn), a young girl and the lone survivor of a human colony devastated by the aliens.
Thus – like he did with his entire film – Cameron stretched Ripley as far as he could. She’s tougher, having been humiliated by her former company and forced to become a blue-collar worker much like the engineers she grappled with in the first instalment, but she’s more maternal, the last act of the film following the heroine as she desperately plots to rescue Newt from the claws of the alien queen.
Cameron may have amped Ripley up, but he was also careful to illustrate her humanity, regardless of how pointed it had become. The writer/director shrewdly juxtaposed her against the muscular Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), a female private who deals with men by virtually becoming one herself.
Weaver responded to the change, equipping Ripley with a new found steeliness and almost pathological hate of the aliens. She’s darker than in the first film, but also more emotional. Thus her almost tender mid-film moment with Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), or the classic scene towards the end of the picture where she stands off against the alien queen before ferociously murdering her offspring.
If “Alien” defined Weaver’s early career, “Aliens” almost sealed its fate. She’d go on to star in the underrated “Alien 3” and the diabolical “Alien Resurrection”, but the actress was already moving to realign her work, getting away from Ripley and the accompanying cinematic baggage.
Shortly after “Aliens” she would move on to some vastly different material, starring as Dian Fossey in “Gorillas in the Mist” and mega bitch Katharine Parker in “Working Girl”. They were two very different characters and would prove a cogent entree for the way the actress would tackle her career in the 90s, which featured a pair of startling performances in “Copycat” and “The Ice Storm”.
While treading the boards for the vast majority of the past decade, Weaver has more recently been getting back into film, popping up in “Snow Cake”, “The Girl in the Park”, and “Be Kind Rewind”.
This body of work away from constrictions of the “Aliens” franchise has served to create a strange double career for the actor: she’s the queen of modern sci-fi but has also become increasingly known for her tireless work in the indie realm, taking on one low-paying role after another.
Still, Sigourney Weaver remains synonymous with Ellen Ripley, and it’s perhaps because there has never been a successor worthy to the throne. She blew the door down, but precious few have then stumbled through.
Trinity from “The Matrix” and Scully from “The X-Files” are strong woman characters, dubious of both male authority and the world within which they operate, but they still take the role of offsider to a male lead. Buffy is another strong female protagonist, but her impact is limited by the flights of fancy contained within Joss Whedon’s oddball milieu. Weaver herself commented on the modern lack of iconic female leads in a 2006 interview with The Guardian saying, “It's still something they don't do. It's as if they feel they have to turn the woman into some kind of weird science-fiction doll to make it interesting.”
So for a brief moment in modern history, western cinema had a female lead who could get things done without resorting to plunging necklines or cochlea-destroying screams. She shamed the men in her universe simply by taking the lead, keeping her head when everyone else was losing there’s. It may be some time yet before there’s another like her, but perhaps that just goes to underline the inimitable quality of Sigourney Weaver.
Happy birthday from 20/20 Filmsight.
*This image is taken from SciFi Scanner
It’s hard to imagine, but Sigourney Weaver turned 60 earlier this month. Perhaps not something to celebrate, but there is a symmetry to the milestone given her alter ego, Ellen Ripley, notched up her 30th birthday in May. 20/20 Filmsight takes the opportunity to look back at the career of the actress who defined the modern action heroine.
Waiting in line for a film: that’s where the world first spotted Sigourney Weaver. It may have been a small role – playing Woody Allen’s girlfriend during the final scenes of “Annie Hall” – but it was a distinctly meta start nonetheless. Weaver would go on to star in one of the biggest film franchises of all time, establishing herself as a highly respected actress in the process.
Two years later it’s 1979, and the definition of Weaver’s career will be cast. Storming across the screen as Ellen Ripley, it’s easy to imagine the neurotic Alvy Singer’s head exploding when he spotted the girl with whom he shared a bucket of popcorn just 24 months earlier.
As a piece of cinema, “Alien” had plenty going for it: a lean, fully realised script, unmatched production design, a brilliant young director, and a quality cast of relative unknowns. It dealt out its tension like a carefully regulated drip and drove audiences round the bend with some inspired ‘freak out’ moments. There was plenty going on in the background too, the Nostromo being a microcosm of late 1970s economic hardship and class differences.
But “Alien”’s true stroke of genius was to cast Ripley as a woman, the decision being made – courtesy of producers Walter Hill and David Giler – with an eye to allowing the film to stand out from the sci-fi pack. But one suspects Hill and Giler didn’t know the genie they were about to unleash.
Weaver’s Ripley wasn’t a space adventurer, buxom and fleshy. She was a warrant officer on a mining ship, an intelligent woman who would be thrown into extraordinary circumstances. She was undoubtedly attractive, but a large part of the quiet allure was an intensity and confidence that intimidated her male associates.
Weaver herself said in an interview with the American Film Institute that, “What attracted me to Ellen Ripley was that she was written in a very straight forward way. This was a direct person who didn’t have scenes where she’s suddenly vulnerable. She didn’t throw her hands up and wait for someone else to save her.”
Not that Ripley was a lead-minted feminist, out to castrate the men and burn her space bra. She was human – best illustrated when recruiting to her plans the salty chief engineer, Parker (Yaphet Kotto) or, pre-evac, when the maternal instincts comes to the fore and she turns back for Jonesy, the Nostromo’s annoyingly reclusive cat.
Sigourney Weaver and Ripley thus became the cornerstone of one of the finest science fiction films in history – not that the world seemed to quite realise it at the time. It took James Cameron’s sequel, “Aliens”, to remind audiences of the power of Ellen Ripley before taking it to a whole other level.
Cameron is of course no stranger to writing strong female roles – witness Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in the two “Terminator” films or Lindsey Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) in “The Abyss” – but Ripley was his true playground, a chance to take what was established in “Alien” and push it to the outer boundaries of character development.
Once again Ripley is thrown in with a bunch of impudent men, this group a swaggering militaristic allegory for the Vietnam era, but Jonesy is upgraded for Newt (Carrie Henn), a young girl and the lone survivor of a human colony devastated by the aliens.
Thus – like he did with his entire film – Cameron stretched Ripley as far as he could. She’s tougher, having been humiliated by her former company and forced to become a blue-collar worker much like the engineers she grappled with in the first instalment, but she’s more maternal, the last act of the film following the heroine as she desperately plots to rescue Newt from the claws of the alien queen.
Cameron may have amped Ripley up, but he was also careful to illustrate her humanity, regardless of how pointed it had become. The writer/director shrewdly juxtaposed her against the muscular Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), a female private who deals with men by virtually becoming one herself.
Weaver responded to the change, equipping Ripley with a new found steeliness and almost pathological hate of the aliens. She’s darker than in the first film, but also more emotional. Thus her almost tender mid-film moment with Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), or the classic scene towards the end of the picture where she stands off against the alien queen before ferociously murdering her offspring.
If “Alien” defined Weaver’s early career, “Aliens” almost sealed its fate. She’d go on to star in the underrated “Alien 3” and the diabolical “Alien Resurrection”, but the actress was already moving to realign her work, getting away from Ripley and the accompanying cinematic baggage.
Shortly after “Aliens” she would move on to some vastly different material, starring as Dian Fossey in “Gorillas in the Mist” and mega bitch Katharine Parker in “Working Girl”. They were two very different characters and would prove a cogent entree for the way the actress would tackle her career in the 90s, which featured a pair of startling performances in “Copycat” and “The Ice Storm”.
While treading the boards for the vast majority of the past decade, Weaver has more recently been getting back into film, popping up in “Snow Cake”, “The Girl in the Park”, and “Be Kind Rewind”.
This body of work away from constrictions of the “Aliens” franchise has served to create a strange double career for the actor: she’s the queen of modern sci-fi but has also become increasingly known for her tireless work in the indie realm, taking on one low-paying role after another.
Still, Sigourney Weaver remains synonymous with Ellen Ripley, and it’s perhaps because there has never been a successor worthy to the throne. She blew the door down, but precious few have then stumbled through.
Trinity from “The Matrix” and Scully from “The X-Files” are strong woman characters, dubious of both male authority and the world within which they operate, but they still take the role of offsider to a male lead. Buffy is another strong female protagonist, but her impact is limited by the flights of fancy contained within Joss Whedon’s oddball milieu. Weaver herself commented on the modern lack of iconic female leads in a 2006 interview with The Guardian saying, “It's still something they don't do. It's as if they feel they have to turn the woman into some kind of weird science-fiction doll to make it interesting.”
So for a brief moment in modern history, western cinema had a female lead who could get things done without resorting to plunging necklines or cochlea-destroying screams. She shamed the men in her universe simply by taking the lead, keeping her head when everyone else was losing there’s. It may be some time yet before there’s another like her, but perhaps that just goes to underline the inimitable quality of Sigourney Weaver.
Happy birthday from 20/20 Filmsight.
*This image is taken from SciFi Scanner
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
i just revisted Alien 4 last night for a Michael Wincott fix. Personally i enjoyed this last installment despite some of its conceits.
Noticed that Weaver's performance was imitated very well by Summer Glau as River in Firefly.
My favourite non Ripley role by Weaver is certainly Ang lee's The Ice Storm...
Her worst film for me is Copycat, though she does try to make the best of the lame script.
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Personally, I can't stand the fourth Alien film - it does my head in.
Great call on Firefly, actually - one that slipped my mind while I was tapping this out.
And you're absolutely right about her being best thing about Copycat - it does feature a wonky script, although I don't think I disliked it quite as much as you. Ice Storm is a ripper, though, whichever way you look at it.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Ouch. Very disappointing in an otherwise great article.
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Sorry if I offended - certainly wasn't my intention. Perhaps it's a poor attempt but I was just poking fun at the cliches.
Comment by Anonymous
Just had to say... I get it and I'm not dissappointed. Nice work.
Comment by Mountain Fog
and many more happies for Sigourney.
Alien, the wonderful happenstance and good fortune of aligning a great script/direction/design/DOP/S FX with a strong and believable actor.
I would like to see another one made; maybe based on Earth initially, which is bombarded by meteorites, pieces of an exploded moon or small planet, which contain some of our favourite beasties, cocooned within deep space's version of "thunder eggs" ( a hollow rock formation with crystals within, usually purple amethyst).
The rest whack into the Moon's surface, an assault team is sent up to destroy them, eventually their contact with Earth is lost.
Earth governments (UN) convince our heroine she must go up there as advisor for the second team. Upon reaching the Moon, Ripley soon discovers there is an underworld, a series of tunnels and natural catacombs, where she must find the Queen.....shudder!
Hmm...maybe I should send my concept to them...
I can see the opening scenes, the crashing into forests and buildings of meteorites, Ripley on a vacation on the Great Barrier Reef, and sees them streak across the sky, lovely shooting stars, then one comes too close, hits the water between mainland and reef, Ripley is on the ocean side of the reef snorkelling and sees it hit through the wall of the wave.
I should stop now.... getting carried away...
cheers
fog
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Foggy - ha - nice one. You may have been getting carried away but I enjoyed it nonetheless. There's always talk floating around of a fifth film and it's usually connected to Ridley Scott, so I guess there's a glimmer of hope for another strong entry in the series.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone