H.R. Giger’s Sanctuary
All Region DVD
The
H.R. Sanctuary DVD is a glimpse into the strange world of dark artist H.R.
Giger. Celebrated since the 1970’s for such masterpieces as The Spell and his
work on The Alien, Giger is a unique artist producing arresting and compelling
works primarily using airbrush. His work
has graced the covers of records (including the infamous Dead Kennedy’s album
covers) to the bigscreen in Alien 1 and 3. His various prints, books and
products sell well around the world, yet in many ways he is a private and
enigmatic individual.
This
DVD gives us a short tour of his bar and museum which are located in his home
town of Gruyeres, Switzerland. While this is certainly a competent documentary
and I certainly enjoyed the art on show,
it is way too short to be considered comprehensive.
Considering
the reputation of Giger and the renown his work has achieved it should have
been a lot longer and offered background on his childhood, artistic career and
more comprehensive coverage of his work so forth.
At
times it is painfully tantalizing as it moves quickly past major works or just
makes a passing reference to major stage in his career without offering any
great detail. While it is certainly nice to see the “human” side of the great
artist as he discusses his work and reflects on his career, I do not believe
this is enough to carry the documentary.
There
are a further twenty minutes of extras included deleted scenes, a fascinating
analysis of one of his better known works “The Spell”, trailers, reactions from
museum visitors, a gallery and an evening with Giger. I cannot fault the extras, I especially found
the analysis of “The Spell” informative, but again I come away unsatisfied.
This
DVD as whole is a great appetizer but you are left feeling hungry for a more
complete work.