Movies

Ars Gratia Artis: The Visual (and Religious) References of ‘Alien: Covenant’

The franchise and art have always been intrinsically related.
By  · Published on August 15th, 2017

The franchise and art have always been intrinsically related.

From its inception, the Alien franchise has been linked to visual art. It’s well-known that while finishing up the final draft of his version of the script, original writer Dan O’Bannon worked closely with H.R. Giger on the aesthetic of the film and design of the titular creature. The sequels didn’t really expand upon this pairing with art, but as Ridley Scott has reclaimed the franchise starting with Prometheus, there’s been a definite uptick in the artistic references to be found in the films’ visual landscape.

In the latest chapter, Alien: Covenant, Scott has mimicked a dozen or more works of art, most all of them, like the film’s name, tied to religious iconography, specifically imagery having to do with the fall of Lucifer, Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden, and a journey through Hell.

In what is easily the coolest video I’ve seen all week, editor HERROZZY has collected all the imagery Scott mimicked and set it side-by-side with his interpretations from Covenant. Given that Covenant is supposed to – for the time being, at least – start a new trilogy, all rumored to have religious themes, such imagery as this sets up an epic tale indeed, one that parallels what many the world over consider The Greatest Story Ever Told; this, though, might be The Greatest Story Ever Screamed.

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