Notice regarding "Memory: The Origins of Alien" purchases in 2019
Attention fans of Memory: The Origins of Alien!
Thank you for your overwhelming support of this fantastic documentary we acquired at Sundance last year. We are extremely proud of the film and enthusiastically continue to support its release through DVD, Blu-Ray, and VOD sales.
In the meantime, we wanted to flag and apologize for an issue we discovered on DVDs and Blu-Rays that were sold in North America prior to March 10, 2020. In the opening scenes of the film, subtitles which translated the “Furies’” ancient Greek dialogue into English were missing. The dialogue is meant to adequately contextualize the film and its message, and the filmmakers feel that the missing translation alters their artistic vision.
Legion M has a 100% satisfaction guarantee — both for our customers and for our filmmaking partners. To that end, as soon as the error was discovered, we halted disc sales on our website, paused online advertising, and began discussing a viable solution with the filmmakers and our distribution partners at Screen Media.
We are now pleased to announce that all DVDs and Blu-Rays have been corrected, and that any discs purchased from Legion M from March 10, 2020 and beyond are the correct versions. For customers who bought the old versions — from Legion M or any other retailer — we have instituted an exchange program. Please follow the button below to visit the Memory Movie Exchange page for instructions and the submission form to receive your corrected disc.
A NOTE AND GIFT FROM THE DIRECTOR
The director of Memory: The Origins of Alien, Alexandre O. Philippe, has been gracious enough to provide owners of the film with the first four pages of the script, which you can download and enjoy as you watch the opening of the film! This is his gift to you to thank you for your continued support!
The lines spoken in Ancient Greek in the opening sequence of Memory are from The Eumenides — the final part of a trilogy of plays by Aeschylus, The Oresteia. In the play, the ghost of Clytemnestra summons the Furies (chthonic deities of vengeance and retribution) to hunt down her son Orestes, who killed her for murdering his father, King Agamemnon.
The Furies were a central influence on the work of Francis Bacon — specifically the line “the reek of human blood smiles out at me” — and informed his triptych Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, which, in turn, had a direct influence on the final design of the Chestburster.
Memory explores the numerous poetic/subconscious connections existing between Alien, the works of Francis Bacon, and what the Furies represent; building the argument that, in 1979, they erupted on the silver screen to warn us about the excesses of patriarchal imbalance in our society.
The opening sequence is crucial in that it establishes a direct, visceral connection between the Furies and the Chestburster/Xenomorph, and between the ancient world and the distant future.
Alexandre O. Philippe, director of Memory: the Origins of Alien
We hope you enjoy the special gift! If you would still like to exchange your disc, follow the button below to complete your request and checkout for the disc.
If you have any questions or concerns at all, please feel free to email Legion M at orders@legionm.com.