Dark Star: H. R. Giger's World
Dark Star: H. R. Giger's World
| 23 October 2014 (USA)
Dark Star: H. R. Giger's World Trailers

An account of the life and work of Swiss painter, sculptor, architect and designer H. R. Giger (1940-2014), tormented father of creatures as fearsome as they are fascinating, inhabitants of nightmarish biomechanical worlds.

Reviews
Laikals

The greatest movie ever made..!

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SunnyHello

Nice effects though.

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Aubrey Hackett

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

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Benas Mcloughlin

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

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MrGKB

...of the surrealism of its subject's artistic output and the rather unassuming, almost prosaic, nature of the autumnal man he became. The brief glimpses we get of Swiss artiste H. R. "Alien" Giger's younger, active self are, indeed, almost a surreal contrast to the somehow fragile elder we see poking about his home throughout most of this somewhat melancholic bio-documentary. Giger proves to be a polar opposite to expectations: congenial and unassuming (though much subdued by failing health--he died shortly after filming wrapped), not at all moody or dark as we might imagine. It might have been nice if writer/director Belinda Salin had explored Giger's younger days in more depth (the loss of his first love, Swiss actress/model Li Tobler, was undoubtedly a major influence), but the tale she spins still fascinates, ably abetted by the precise editing of Birgit Munsch and evocative image-crafting of cinematographer Eric Stitzel, with Peter "More Than Honey" Scherer's music providing suitably somber counterpoint as needed. Very much worth a watch by Giger fans, despite its biographical sketchiness, as well as students of the documentary form. This one goes into the plus column of my local library system video buyer's reputation.

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gavin6942

He feels at home in places we would flee from and lives his life among the very things we fear. Throughout his life, H. R. Giger had inhabited the world of the uncanny, a dark universe on the brink of many an abyss.Most of us know Giger from "Alien" if we know him at all. His work is very recognizable and has been emulated by many artists over the last thirty years or so. But we may not know much about him beyond his aliens. What of his personal life or other work? This film digs into that and we see just what sort of person he is (or was). People may even be surprised to find that Giger was European. This was no secret, but perhaps not common knowledge. We also learn how he got his start, really relying on posters to get his work in font of audiences. Not your typical method.

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Hellmant

'DARK STAR: H.R. GIGER'S WORLD': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A documentary film exploring the life, and work, of the popular Swiss painter, sculptor and set designer (known as) H.R. Giger. The film focuses on Giger, at the age of 74, when his health was severely deteriorating. It was written and directed by Belinda Sallin, in her feature film debut, and it contains multiple interviews with Giger, as well as his friends and work associates. I found the movie to be extremely slow-paced, even boring (at times), but still, definitely, visually pleasing (like the majority of Giger's work). The movie takes place in the last days of Giger's life, shortly before he died (on May 12, 2014). The filmmaker interviews Giger, and follows him around, watching him slowly do day-to-day things. Sallin also interviews Giger's wife, and multiple co-workers, and friends of his, as well. A lot of the visuals are filled with Giger's beautiful art.The film, like I said, is really slow paced, to a somewhat painful extent; I found my thoughts drifting (a lot)! It is interesting, getting to know Giger, if only just a little, in his final days of life. It's also cool to see that he was a 'cat person', like me! I can never really get tired of looking at his fascinating art, too; but I wish there would have been more time spent on 'ALIEN', or 'SPECIES'. Although I was bored, I'm sure obsessive fans of his will be more than pleased.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/NdWU81GeyN4

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helloamazon

Great documentary which premiered a few months after HR Giger died. Unfortunately, it was started when HR Giger health was already clearly deteriorating. The interviews with him are quite short, many are with his personal and professional entourage.The storytelling is not very linear, some old footage from Giger's youth and the movie work are mixed in. You will see more interview clips with Giger himself in these segments.As an introduction and indicator if this movie is interesting to you, watch the short movie 'HR GIGER HOME MADE' (available on YouTube), it uses the same setting in Giger's house and garden.I would recommend this movie to all (surral) art lovers, especially those who might have a prejudice and only know his body of work but not the person and artist behind it.

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