Close Encounter of The Third Kind (1977)

If you have not seen this film, watchout! There may be spoiler in the following:

I must say that I am an agnostic, in terms of belief and a liberal as a lifeform. When it comes to paranormal, supernatural and UFO stuff, I fall into the 'skeptic' category. I suppose I am being realistic, when I am not supposed to, especially for a self-proclaimed movie buff. Suspension of belief is most useful when watching a sci-fi flick. Very much so when it involves aliens.

The most famous screen alien must be that dude from Alien, a film I loved so much. When they pitched (selling stories to studio or producer) the film, they summarised it as Jaws in space. And the movie fitted every bit of its description. Obviously, the filmmakers ignored the wonderful fictional revelation of alien in Spielberg's Close Encounter of Third Kind (CETK) which only came out a year before. Aliens are not hostile. That is what Spielberg believed in and stuck to till to date, if you consider those sleek things at the end of A.I. as aliens. Again, I need to borrow paragraph from my favourite critic James Berardinelli's wonderful review (he gave full four stars) to explain a bit of the backgrounder:

Close Encounters represented an opportunity for director Steven Spielberg to tell a story he had been wanting to tell for years - what might happen if benevolent aliens made contact with human beings. Spielberg had been working on the story since before he began filming Jaws and, even after Close Encounters was "in the can" in late 1977, the director wasn't done with it. Consequently, the version that was rushed into theaters in November 1977 did not represent Spielberg's final vision. Armed with $2 million, the director went back behind the camera to shoot additional scenes, then returned to the editing room. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition was released in 1980. It represented a re-working of the 1977 edition (which Spielberg referred to as a "work-in-progress"), with about 15 minutes of original footage deleted, and another 12 minutes of new scenes (including six minutes inside the ship at the end) added. Since then, there have been at least four other versions, all incorporating various combinations of the deleted scenes, and ranging in length from 132 minutes to nearly 2 1/2 hours. From a thematic and content perspective, they are all similar. The differences are minor, with no particular version standing out as obviously better than any of the others. For the record, this review is based on the latest "Collector's Edition" of the film, which is available on DVD. That motion picture cut is heavily based on the 1977 version, with a few of the 1980 scenes included. The selling gimmick of the Special Edition - the six minute epilogue with Richard Dreyfuss in the alien craft - is included as a deleted scene, but is not a part of the actual movie. (Spielberg is on record as calling that sequence a mistake - he now argues that the inside of the ship should never have been shown.)

In a way I (not only me) see a parralell between this movie and Jaws. Both had obsessive men going after the mystery. As audience, we are also intrigued with what's going on and we are never revealed terms of the physique of the subject in question until the end. Both film provided us and the protagonist a mission. Both had a journey. While Roy Scheider teamed up with Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfus (three R's, ey?) to hunt the great white, in CETK Dreyfus teams up with Melinda Dillon to go to the mountain to investigate the mysterious going ons. Both movies had oppositions in form of authority (mayor in Jaws and the military in CETK) and both had obsession with size (the shark in Jaws and the freakin' huge mother of a space ship in CETK). Probably I went a bit too far on the last comparison, but the fact remains that CETK is originally Spielberg's idea and he wrote it while making Jaws. It might have influenced him

I must mention something about Richard Dreyfuss's performance in this film. Its absolutely flawless. The worse part is, he never got any nomination from any of the prestigious awards for that year. That is definitely an injustice! I can definitely relate to his part, and I am sure rest of us do. When he starts to act a bit crazy, we, unlike his wife and children, understand him and sympathise him. We feel sad when his family leaves him, but want to cheer him on when he sets out on the journey to figure out what is going on. We are with him, every minute. This is a rare feat amongst actors. And I believe there is a lot of Spielberg in Dreyfuss' character too.

I must also mention Francois Truffaut in this piece. Movie buff will know him as a virtuoso French film director. Spielberg managed to persuade him to play the role of a scientist, and I must say it is quite a casting coupe. I still cannot understand what a French scientist is doing in USA, but Truffaut's performance was enough to make me forget that

Oh, I need to do more mentioning. I should. Looking at the movie now, I am amazed with the special effects. It still looks good. I recall watching some films with CG that looks dated even though it is only a few years old. The flying and gliding spaceships in CETK looks absolutely real, much more real than Lucas' spaceships in the recent installments of Star Wars prequels. It was a nod to this direction when Spielberg gave prominence to Douglass Trumbull, thespecial photographic effects supervisor, in the end title credits.

And, do you want me talk about music. What else I can say about John Williams. His music IS the heart of this film. Who can forget that five note communication sound between human and the alien? Ah, Williams!

Now, why did I mention of me being skeptic at the beginning of this commentary? To say, that this movie is absolutely believable. I believed every second of it, and it is very easy to live with the characters and get fascinated. I guess we owe it to Spielberg.


				*Rakesh's movie talk* *Close Encounter of The Third Kind (1977)*



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		Directed by Steven Spielberg Written by Steven Spielberg Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon and Francois Truffaut.



		If you have not seen this film, watchout! There may be spoiler in the following: I must say that I am an agnostic, in terms of belief and a liberal as a lifeform. When it comes to paranormal, supernatural and UFO stuff, I fall into the 'skeptic' category. I suppose I am being realistic, when I am not supposed to, especially for a self-proclaimed movie buff. Suspension of belief is most useful when watching a sci-fi flick. Very much so when it involves aliens. The most famous screen alien must be that dude from Alien, a film I loved so much. When they pitched (selling stories to studio or producer) the film, they summarised it as Jaws in space. And the movie fitted every bit of its description. Obviously, the filmmakers ignored the wonderful fictional revelation of alien in Spielberg's Close Encounter of Third Kind (CETK) which only came out a year before. Aliens are not hostile. That is what Spielberg believed in and stuck to till to date, if you consider those sleek things at the end of A.I. as aliens. Again, I need to borrow paragraph from my favourite critic James Berardinelli's wonderful review (he gave full four stars) to explain a bit of the backgrounder: Close Encounters represented an opportunity for director Steven Spielberg to tell a story he had been wanting to tell for years - what might happen if benevolent aliens made contact with human beings. Spielberg had been working on the story since before he began filming Jaws and, even after Close Encounters was "in the can" in late 1977, the director wasn't done with it. Consequently, the version that was rushed into theaters in November 1977 did not represent Spielberg's final vision. Armed with $2 million, the director went back behind the camera to shoot additional scenes, then returned to the editing room. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition was released in 1980. It represented a re-working of the 1977 edition (which Spielberg referred to as a "work-in-progress"), with about 15 minutes of original footage deleted, and another 12 minutes of new scenes (including six minutes inside the ship at the end) added. Since then, there have been at least four other versions, all incorporating various combinations of the deleted scenes, and ranging in length from 132 minutes to nearly 2 1/2 hours. From a thematic and content perspective, they are all similar. The differences are minor, with no particular version standing out as obviously better than any of the others. For the record, this review is based on the latest "Collector's Edition" of the film, which is available on DVD. That motion picture cut is heavily based on the 1977 version, with a few of the 1980 scenes included. The selling gimmick of the Special Edition - the six minute epilogue with Richard Dreyfuss in the alien craft - is included as a deleted scene, but is not a part of the actual movie. (Spielberg is on record as calling that sequence a mistake - he now argues that the inside of the ship should never have been shown.) In a way I (not only me) see a parralell between this movie and Jaws. Both had obsessive men going after the mystery. As audience, we are also intrigued with what's going on and we are never revealed terms of the physique of the subject in question until the end. Both film provided us and the protagonist a mission. Both had a journey. While Roy Scheider teamed up with Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfus (three R's, ey?) to hunt the great white, in CETK Dreyfus teams up with Melinda Dillon to go to the mountain to investigate the mysterious going ons. Both movies had oppositions in form of authority (mayor in Jaws and the military in CETK) and both had obsession with size (the shark in Jaws and the freakin' huge mother of a space ship in CETK). Probably I went a bit too far on the last comparison, but the fact remains that CETK is originally Spielberg's idea and he wrote it while making Jaws. It might have influenced him I must mention something about Richard Dreyfuss's performance in this film. Its absolutely flawless. The worse part is, he never got any nomination from any of the prestigious awards for that year. That is definitely an injustice! I can definitely relate to his part, and I am sure rest of us do. When he starts to act a bit crazy, we, unlike his wife and children, understand him and sympathise him. We feel sad when his family leaves him, but want to cheer him on when he sets out on the journey to figure out what is going on. We are with him, every minute. This is a rare feat amongst actors. And I believe there is a lot of Spielberg in Dreyfuss' character too. I must also mention Francois Truffaut in this piece. Movie buff will know him as a virtuoso French film director. Spielberg managed to persuade him to play the role of a scientist, and I must say it is quite a casting coupe. I still cannot understand what a French scientist is doing in USA, but Truffaut's performance was enough to make me forget that Oh, I need to do more mentioning. I should. Looking at the movie now, I am amazed with the special effects. It still looks good. I recall watching some films with CG that looks dated even though it is only a few years old. The flying and gliding spaceships in CETK looks absolutely real, much more real than Lucas' spaceships in the recent installments of Star Wars prequels. It was a nod to this direction when Spielberg gave prominence to Douglass Trumbull, thespecial photographic effects supervisor, in the end title credits. And, do you want me talk about music. What else I can say about John Williams. His music IS the heart of this film. Who can forget that five note communication sound between human and the alien? Ah, Williams! Now, why did I mention of me being skeptic at the beginning of this commentary? To say, that this movie is absolutely believable. I believed every second of it, and it is very easy to live with the characters and get fascinated. I guess we owe it to Spielberg.