{"id":3556,"date":"2012-07-27T11:36:06","date_gmt":"2012-07-27T15:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/wpblog\/?p=3556"},"modified":"2012-08-13T10:47:35","modified_gmt":"2012-08-13T14:47:35","slug":"david-finchers-career-long-response-to-alien-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/david-finchers-career-long-response-to-alien-3\/","title":{"rendered":"David Fincher’s career long response to Alien 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the wake of Prometheus<\/em>, the Alien <\/em>franchise has once again come into the spotlight. Opinions on the four film series remain the same: Alien<\/em><\/a> <\/em>is great! Aliens<\/em><\/a> <\/em>is also great! Alien 3<\/em><\/a> <\/em>sucks! Alien Resurrection<\/em><\/a> <\/em>is really weird! Any discussion of the Alien <\/em>films is incomplete without the haranguing of Alien 3<\/em>, perennial whipping boy of the franchise.<\/p>\n

Much of the critical vitriol came from the film\u2019s decision to kill Newt and Corporal Hicks, as two characters survived the devestation of Aliens <\/em>only to be killed during the opening credits of Alien 3<\/em>. This criticism seems a touch unfair, especially considering that the only connections between Alien <\/em>and Aliens <\/em>were Lt. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the titular creature. Alien 3 <\/em>wasn\u2019t just a sequel to Aliens<\/em>; it was its own film in the Alien <\/em>series. But even when regarded as its own entity, Alien 3<\/em> received less than stellar reviews. After the war-movie scope of Aliens<\/em>, returning the series to its single-alien origins felt like a rehash, and many considered the prison planet setting offensive rather than inventive. The Washington Post <\/em>summed up popular opinion as it declared Alien 3<\/em> the \u201cmost oppressive, most redundant movie in the series<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But nobody seems more offended by Alien 3<\/em>\u2019s existence than its own director, David Fincher. “A lot of people hated Alien 3,” he told The Guardian<\/a>. “But no one hated it more than I did.\u201d Today, Fincher has two Academy Award nominations under his belt and critical acclaim as an auteur working within the Hollywood system. But back in the early 90s, Fincher was a kid in his late 20s trying to make his first feature film. And it was hard.<\/p>\n

An interview with Fincher from 1991<\/a> shows the director openly admitting his unhappiness with the film while in the midst of production:<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/strong> So you\u2019ve been depressed?
\nFincher:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s just\u2026 I don\u2019t get any sleep any more. At a certain point, I just start waking up. Wake up at two, three, four on the hour.
\nInterviewer:<\/strong> Thinking of things you could have done differently?
\nFincher:<\/strong> Why didn\u2019t I do this, why didn\u2019t I do that, how do I fucking leave the country without you knowing.
\nInterviewer: <\/strong>I can\u2019t imagine what it\u2019s like, having spent a year of your life\u2026
\nFincher:<\/strong> Two years, my friend, two years\u2026<\/p>\n

After Alien 3<\/em>, Fincher told Sight & Sound<\/em>: “I thought I’d rather die of colon cancer than do another movie.” Since making that statement, Fincher has directed eight feature films and appears to have remained cancer-free. Considering how awful his formative experience with Alien 3<\/em> was for Fincher \u2013 and how it nearly turned him off filmmaking forever \u2013 his career since can be viewed as a response to his first film.<\/p>\n

As a filmmaker, Fincher has arguably become best known for the Kubrickian level of control he wields over his films.\u00a0 \u201cEven in an industry full of control freaks,\u201d reads a recent Wired<\/em> profile<\/a>. \u201cFincher stands out as obsessive\u2014a guy who will scrutinize and engineer every element in the frame until the images on the screen fit the ones in his head. Sometimes that means repainting a few leaves; sometimes it means doing 50, 60, even 100 takes of a single scene.\u201d On Alien 3<\/em>, however, Fincher had no such power. This was the third film in a blockbuster series, and he was some kid making his first movie. Everyone, from studio heads to other producers, had their own version of the film, and Fincher had to figure out something to please everyone. But he didn\u2019t. He couldn\u2019t. His attempts to bring his exacting standards to Alien 3<\/em> were thwarted by a studio that needed to oversee every decision and eventually recut the film without him. The importance of control has been a running theme in every Fincher film since Alien 3<\/em>. Chaos is the ultimate threat to life, and losing control, his films seem to argue, is the worst thing that can befall a person.<\/p>\n

After a break spent directing commercials and music videos, Fincher returned to cinema with 1995\u2019s Se7en<\/em>. The film follows detectives Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Mills (Brad Pitt) as they attempt to track down a sadistic serial killer, John Doe.<\/p>\n

Like Fincher with the production of Alien 3<\/em>, the lead detectives work furiously despite little success. Both technically achieve their goals: Fincher finished his film, and the detectives capture their serial killer. But the work itself only furthers their personal misery. Doe murders Mills\u2019s wife to provoke the detective into murdering him. This, of course, was Doe\u2019s plan all along, and Mills is sent to jail. Despite the heroes\u2019 best efforts, evil prevails. Or in the case of Alien 3<\/em>, the \u201cevil\u201d studio prevailed.<\/p>\n