Dark Star: H. R. Giger's World

Belinda Sallin's 2014 Swiss documentary records the last years of the painter and designer H. R. Giger. The man who designed the creature in Alien lives in a house near Zurich among his own works, his cat and his archive; from outside the house is as full and as dark as a museum. The film does not present him as a genius but shows an aged and tired man. What it does best is trace the source of the biomechanical world to Giger's own nightmares and childhood: fear of death, a skull in his father's pharmacy, sleep paralysis. Giger died shortly after filming, which gives the record additional weight. What the people around him say shows both the love felt for him and the dependency. Who it's for: viewers interested in fantastic art, Giger's work and artist portraits. Who it's not for: anyone avoiding disturbing erotic and mortuary imagery, or wanting a structured biography.