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Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Francious Truffaut, Melinda Dillon
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rated: PG
Score: 10/10 |
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In 1977 "Star Wars" took us into space. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was a science fiction that brought the aliens to us. Spielberg was truly at his best in his early films. Imaginative, down to earth, with characters which were the every day person we could all relate to. Richard Dreyfuss plays Roy Neary, who when out late one night for his job investigating a power outage, has the most unbelievable experience. A UFO hovers over his vehicle, burning the side of his face and he follows it across town behind a police pursuit of the objects. His wife is skeptical of what he saw, and soon of his sanity. Roy becomes obsessed with what he saw, and he begins to have an image in his mind of something that feels important. He shapes food, clay and anything he gets his hands on into this shape - it must mean something. |
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Dreyfuss plays with his food. |
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He meets a woman named Jillian, who along with her little boy has had her own close encounters. But one evening noises come, lights flash and Jillian realizes something is trying to get into her house. And that something steals her little boy. |
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Uknown to them or the rest of the public is that scientists and the government the world over have been investigating an increased volume of UFO sightings among other things. A very old large ship was found in the middle of a desert, and planes missing from early wartime era. They crack a code which leads them to a location they presume is going to be a spot to communicate, and they lie about an infectious disease in order to evacuate the public and keep anyone out. But there are some who are risking everything to get in, each having something in common. A vision. For some the vision may never make the connection, for others they realize what it is - Devil's Tower. Roy and Jillian meet up and make the journey together, for Roy it's a simple need to know, for Jillian - it's the hopes of getting back her son.
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is a unique brand of sci-fi where the aliens aren't evil, there are no heroes nor enemies but a simple curiosity. The special effects are superior for their time, the use of lights and holding off on really showing anything until perhaps the end. I loved watching the objects zipping around and the shocked and curious reactions of onlookers! The excitement of wonder, what do they want from us? Why are they here? Dreyfuss does a superb job at playing a family man whose growing obsession over his experience begins to tear his family apart. His relationship is like any married couple, stresses coupled with the children (who btw are great. I love movies that show kids who seem less like hollywood cutouts and more like real kids, that make you remember your childhood) The dialogue in most parts of the film comes across as real, none of that speechy muck (particularly in the family moments) and when an audience can really relate to the characters I think it benefits the film. Spielberg is a wonderful storyteller and I think here we get once again, gives the adults a chance to experience that childlike wonder.
The climax is a bit unusual as far as the twist but I think it may be better to leave questions answered than not sometimes. Whenever i see this movie it's hard not to get wrapped up in it. I love the excitement of even the scientists, and it never feels overly threatening like some movies do depicting aliens visiting earth. Probably one of the most memorable tunes in cinema, those 5 notes. Wonderfully done. |
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