The prospect of a UFO sighting is not an unfamiliar premise in Hollywood, it’s rich and fascinating, one that can be equally horrifying and stunning; the otherworldly gaze of an encroaching interplanetary outsider can be so terrifying and powerful because of their unknowability. Many of these stories are action films that involve fraught battles between ourselves and extraterrestrial rivals, but Steven Spielberg has a fascinating soft spot for these creatures. E.T. is one of Spielberg’s most famous examples, but the one I’m always most enraptured by is Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He engages with the pure eeriness of UFOs conceptually, without making the film fully a horror or action narrative. He explores the wondrous nature of extraterrestrials, the search as obsession, enlivening and reinvigorating the science-fiction genre and all the tropes commonly associated with it. The film is as influential to the genre as it is informed by its alien-invasion predecessors. It is a technical triumph that begs for the largest screen possible; it is breathtaking in every moment of eerie alienation.
The film follows Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), an electric utility repairman who is investigating the mysterious large-scale power outages occurring throughout his town. After experiencing a close encounter with a UFO, he becomes obsessed with researching and following the origin of the mysterious object. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is so wonderful and effective because it is imbued with curiosity and optimism; the film depicts extraterrestrial and otherworldly encounters as something fascinating, to be pursued rather than fought. It is not doomsday, but an opening towards an adventure, something Spielberg is widely known for.
Like nearly every go-to I write, I must mention the power of the theatrical experience, even more effective with a Spielberg work, particularly one with such brilliant sound and effects. Close Encounters may be slightly dated, but Spielberg’s direction can truly transcend time periods – his filmmaking skill doesn’t ever feel too dated, and the moments of fear and mystery are consistently effective.
Along with divorce and extraterrestrials, Spielberg deals frequently in the theme of the expanse of artistry – filmmaking as a vocation and an artistic obsession – this is what the UFO can be, what Close Encounters of the Third Kind really studies. It is an exploration in mankind’s inherent curiosity, an all-consuming kind of devotion that mystery provokes. Spielberg doesn’t condemn the power of the obsession, even as it takes over one’s life, but rather explores it further, into the magnitude of lengths that curiosity can take anyone, if they care enough to learn. It is the sheer will in the determination that makes the encounters so much more potent, and which makes the film so rewarding and enchanting to watch.
Spielberg is always reaching towards another world, another retelling, another story that is inseparable from his identity as a filmmaker and how drastically it has affected his worldview. His obsession with adventure in any form is an obsession with the creative pursuit; everything is filmmaking, life is artistry. His works, for better or worse, are inseparable from his own personal histories and artistic obsessions. They are widely loved because the personality in his direction and storytelling abilities makes his narratives universal, personal and world-spanning all at once. His obsession is rewarding, like a mysterious and burning flash of light, or a magical, unbelievable moment when a child’s toys come to life, that he offers to the world of film lovers and theatergoers. The mystery Roy is fascinated by is one Spielberg is enraptured with too; he’s worked on a multitude of projects about the beautiful mystery of UFOs, and his passion is beaming and evident in every effect, every stunning frame and moment of pure, otherworldly awe.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977
dir. Steven Spielberg
135 min.
Screening in 4K Tuesday, 12/17, 5:00 & 8:00 @ Brattle Theatre
Part of the repertory series: Unsilent Nights
