OVID.tv Presents DARK STAR: H.R. GIGER’S WORLD Review — The Life and Mind of an Artist

We come towards a house surrounded by trees, where a cat lays on the front porch, luxuriating in the shadows. The doors open revealing walls covered with paintings of strange, alien landscapes and statues of naked, bionic humanoids that gaze downward. A man sits hunched over a sketchbook, drawing a phallic object entering an orifice. He gets up and walks to a bookshelf filled with art and memorabilia, including several human skulls. He picks up one of the human skulls and says:

‘This is the oldest skull I have. My father gave it to me. It was sent to us by Ciba-Geigy. I was around six years old at the time. It did scare me a little. To hold death in your hands like this . . . Well, it’s not very pleasant. So I pulled it along the street on a piece of string. I guess I wanted to prove that I wasn’t scared of death.”

This is H.R. Giger, the famous Swiss artist best known for his creation of the xenomorph in the science-fiction horror film Alien, for which he won an Oscar. His surrealist paintings and sculptures are a blending of the erotic and the macabre, the human and the mechanical, the living and the dead.

An Exploration of a Dark, Fear-Ridden Man

Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World delves into the life and mind of this prolific artist. A major subject of the film is Giger’s home, which Tom Gahiel Fischer, a metal musician and collaborator, described as “a separate universe, a microcosm, like nothing you’ve seen before.” The space is dark and labyrinthine, with piles of books filling every room. Each book covers a variety of topics that have interested and inspired Giger, including Egyptian art and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Sandra Beretta, a former partner and assistant, spoke on the state of disorder in which the Giger house was in, mentioning how “socks and underwear were in the oven,” an ibex skull in the bathtub, and “a lion skeleton in front of the door.” In every room artwork from through Giger’s career cover the walls.

Filmmaker Bellinda Sallin also focuses on the recollections, photos, and recordings of Giger’s past to construct a complete timeline for the viewer. Peppered within the film are moments where those who are close to Giger give their experience and interpretation of his art. Mrs. Giger expresses how her husband “has this ability to probe deeper into the human soul. You can see his pictures and feel like you’ve known them forever.” Others weigh in similarly, bringing out aspects of experiencing Giger’s art in various dimensions.

OVID.tv Gives a Portrait of one of the 20^th Century’s Greatest Artists

In this writer’s opinion, Dark Star is a must see for those who wish to gain a greater understanding of the life and mind of one of the 20^th century's most important artists. Sallin allows the viewer to enter Giger’s psyche through every aspect of his life, and develops, as accurately as possible, a psychological portrait of the man.  Those who anticipated being repelled by the often macabre or overtly sexual imagery that is Giger’s work should likely steer away.

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Director: Bellinda Sallin
Producer: Marcel Hoehen
Composer: Peter Scherer
Cinematographer: Eric Stitzel
Editor: Brigit Munsch

To watch the film, visit the OVID.tv page for DARK STAR: H.R. GIGER’S WORLD

Images courtesy of OVID.tv