#Jillian Guiler

[pedroam-bang]

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

[world-cinema-research]

Short Essay: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

by Rachel Powers

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is one of Stephen Spielberg’s earlier films, released just two years after the success of Jaws. It was made with an estimated budget of $20 million and has grossed over $306 million worldwide, making it a huge financial success.

The film ultimately had three versions: the first original version in 1977, a special edition in 1980, and a director’s cut in 1998.

The plot remains the same in all three versions, with some small changes. Roy Neary, played by Richard Dreyfuss, becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about aliens after his first encounter with a UFO. This obsession engulfs his life and deteriorates his relationship with his family. Roy, Jillian Guiler played by Melinda Dillon, and other people who are having the same experiences are unexplainably drawn to Devils Tower in Wyoming in their search for truth. Scientist Claude Lacombe (played by filmmaker François Truffaut who founded French New Wave) had been studying extraterrestrial activity and communications. His assistant David Laughlin, played by Bob Balaban, discovered coordinates to Devils Tower in extraterrestrial communications. He and the U.S. military had already descended on Wyoming and evacuated the nearby town to further study what was happening. Roy and Jillian sneak into the zone, escape the guards, and reach the tower where they see UFOs flying over in a spectacular show. They walk down into the site as the aliens begin to appear out of the spaceship. Roy is ultimately selected by the aliens to go onto the spaceship and travel with them, which he happily accepts. This original version has Roy leaving his family, as he was still married with children. He also kisses Jillian at the site in this version. Stephen Spielberg later regretted this chain of events for the character Roy.

"I know that 'Close Encounters,' because I wrote the script, was about a man whose insatiable curiosity and a developing obsession and a kind of psychic implantation drew him away from his family and with only looking back once, walked onto the mother ship. Now, that was before I had kids. That was 1977. So I wrote that blithely. Today, I would never have the guy leaving his family and going on the mothership." – Stephen Spielberg

In 1980, a Special Edition was released. This version remedied Roy’s abandonment of his family by depicting him having a nervous breakdown ending with his wife leave him before he went to Wyoming. This version also included a scene from inside the mothership.

The Director’s Cut was released in 1998 and included scenes from both earlier versions – but notably left out the interior spaceship scene.

The film was received well overall by critics, but they did still offer a few disagreeable points.

“The first 100 minutes, however, are somewhat redundant in exposition and irritating in tone… but there’s no denying that the climax is an absolute stunner, literate in plotting, dazzling in execution and almost reverent in tone.” -A.D. Murphy for Variety, November 8, 1977

I do somewhat agree with A.D. Murphy. Earlier parts of the film seemed to drag a bit, between the more exciting scenes of UFO encounters, but the final scene does make up for it.

Roger Ebert had a much more glowing review, which describes the audience’s experience of leaving the theater and reentering their normal lives, which seem changed after seeing the film. “The film had reached out and touched us with violence and ecstasy, and then we were in the midst of the mundane again -- but in an everyday world touched with mystery.”- Roger Ebert, 1977

Close Encounters of the Third Kind was not the only event that touched on extraterrestrial activity in 1977. That year, NASA had launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 into space.

It was also the year that The Wow! Signal, a strong radio signal from space, was recorded from a telescope in Ohio. The origin of this signal is still unknown, as has been widely assumed to be extraterrestrial communication.

“Seeing the consecutive letters, the mark of something strange or even alien, Ehman circled them in red ink and wrote "Wow!" thus christening the most famous and tantalizing signal of SETI's short history: The "Wow!" signal.” -Ross Andersen for The Atlantic

Both historic events show interest and progress in space exploration at the time. The population was very interested in the extraterrestrial world, and audiences were ready for a sci-fi blockbuster.

The light cascading in through the keyhole, the camera shot dropping down the chimney, and the vent slowly and mysteriously unscrewing are small details that contribute to the overall mood and tone of the film.

Backlighting was used well in this scene. Rather than showing high detail of what an alien would look like, they are shown mostly in silhouette form with a soft haze slightly obscuring them. This maintains an air of mystery to the life form, while still letting the audience “have a peek.” It also helped this film maintain an almost timeless nature, as technology and special effects have advanced greatly since this movie was released and more detail in 1977 could have dated the film.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind was a conventional film with a large budget, recognizable names, and a plot that had gained increasing audience interest at the time. The story was easy to follow, with an ending that wowed the audience. It paved the way for other sci-fi blockbusters such as E.T., granting lifelong success to Stephen Spielberg and the future films he would make. Close Encounters is a notable classic blockbuster for the ages.

[kwebtv]

Melinda Ruth Dillon (October 13, 1939 – January 9, 2023) Stage, film and television actress. She received a 1963 Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles as Jillian Guiler in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Teresa Perrone in Absence of Malice (1981). She is well known for her role as Mother Parker in the holiday classic A Christmas Story (1983).

Her television credits include The Defenders, East Side/West Side, Bonanza, Storefront Lawyers, Sara, CHiPs, Insight, The Juggler of Notre Dame, The Mississippi, The Twilight Zone,  Space, The Jeffersons,  The Client, Picket Fences, Judging Amy, The Lyon's Den, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Heartland; plus other television movies.  (Wikipedia)

[webbergirl]

Oscar and Tony-nominated actor Melinda Dillon, who played Mother Parker in “A Christmas Story,” and appeared in “Magnolia” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” died Jan. 9. She was 83.

Dillon is celebrated for her role as Jillian Guiler in Steven Speilberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), for which she earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actress. She received a second supporting actress nomination in 1982 for her role as Teresa in Sydney Pollack’s “Absence of Malice” (1981). In 1977, she received a Golden Globe nomination for acting debut in a motion picture for Hal Ashby’s “Bound for Glory” (1976).

[scifi-women]

[austinhippie]

MELINDA DILLON (Born October 13, 1939) In 1963 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles as Jillian Guiler in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) and Teresa in "Absence of Malice" (1981). Her other film appearances include "Bound for Glory" (1976), "F.I.S.T." (1978), "A Christmas Story" (1983), "Harry and the Hendersons" (1987), "The Prince of Tides" (1991) and "Magnolia" (1999).

[mhuntington7]

SET JET: "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND" UFOS FROM THE CLOUDS SCENE - Back yard of the Guiler House from Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) in Fairhope, Alabama. It was this house from which the young Barry Guiler character was abducted by aliens. In this scene, a frightened Jillian Guiler observes glowing UFOs approaching her house (top photo - Columbia Pictures). Many of the home's architectural features that were seen in the film are still there. The trees and bushes are to be found as well, but they have grown quite a bit! Bottom photo by Michael Huntington - March, 2015. @Huntington_Strange_Travels #StrangeTravels #MichaelHuntington #HuntingtonFamily #HuntingtonAdventures #HuntingtonBoys #CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind #CE3KFilmIngLocations #GuilerHouse #SetJetting #FairhopeAlabama (at Fairhope, Alabama) https://www.instagram.com/p/BRgbpiRA8pv/?utm_medium=tumblr

[imkeepinit]

Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon) tells Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) about what happened after her son, Barry (Cary Guffey) was abducted by aliens.  The two are driving across country, through fields and down back roads, avoiding authorities, to try to find out why they are being drawn to a Wyoming landmark.

[rlimarjbr]

"#Contatos #Imediatos do #Terceiro #Grau" (#Close #Encounters of the #Third #Kind, 1977), dirigido por Steven #Spielberg. #Ano1977 #Anos70 #StevenSpielberg #ContatosImediatos #SINOPSE: Estranhos acontecimentos ao redor do #mundo são investigados pelo francês Claude Lacombe (François #Truffaut), e a vida de pessoas simples como o operário Roy Neary (Richard #Dreyfuss) e a mãe solteira Jillian Guiler (Melinda #Dillon) mudam radicalmente após terem contato com objetos voadores não-identificados. OPINIÃO: Clássico absoluto dos anos 70 e considerado uma das melhores #produções da #filmografia do diretor, recheado de cenas icônicas e ótimas performances do elenco (até François Truffaut com seu inglês arranhado se saiu bem). "Contatos Imediatos" foi indicado a 8 #Oscars, inclusive de melhor diretor, mas acabou ganhando apenas o de melhor fotografia e um #prêmio especial pela edição de efeitos sonoros. Obviamente isso não retira o mérito dessa experiência #cinematográfica única que todo cinéfilo deve assistir com #orgulho, tendo em mente aquela #sensação otimista de que não estamos sozinhos no universo. #Disponível no #Netflix !!! ... https://www.instagram.com/p/B7yFoaKHp8j/?igshid=yeshhzr7ezm

[jwood719]

Points West and Devils Tower: The Land - Devils Tower

Some time in June of 2017 I thought “I haven’t seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind in, like, years.”  Watching again was mixture of nostalgia trip, child-like fascination, and inspiration.  Much of the first half of the film is set in and around Muncie, Indiana, only a couple of hours from Lafayette and easy enough to visit; Devils Tower is rather farther away (to put it mildly), but I decided it was worth a journey.  In July, I made those trips.

I suppose I’m “just that kind of guy,” what-ever that kind is, because with the wonders of the world wide web not only can I watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I can compare my photographs to satellite images, look up things like filming locations, and - compare things on film to “reality.”  Yes, accepting that “reality” might well be more subjective than we’d prefer, and that film makers may not always get things “right” when they shoot, I watched the movie and thought “Hey!  I’ll bet I can look up those map co-ordinates on-line!”

Figuring prominently in the narrative are these numbers (above), repeating in a broadcast to Earth from somewhere very nearby in space (nearby cosmically speaking).  As explained by Bob Balaban’s character David Laughlin, they are likely map co-ordinates. The first number is less than 180 and ergo longitude followed by two numbers less than 60 et cetera.  The researchers grab a large globe and trace the latitude and longitude to Wyoming (below):

O.K.!  Larger maps are procured as seen a little later (below):

There it is: the place where the lines intersect, and what-ever is going to happen will occur near Devils Tower!

The monument as seen by satellite.

I’d say it’s reasonable that someone in props got an actual geological survey map and inked on the lines with the latitude and longitude as described in the script.  And comparing the filmed map with the satellite view, it’s a good representation.  But me being “that kind of guy” I had to “plug in” the co-ordinates to see what would happen.  A bit of noodling about on-line proved I could do just that.  LatLong.net among various pages has converters that allow co-ordinates to be mapped.  So I “plugged in” the numbers, and - got Asia (below):

Whoops!  Oh, yeah, it took me a minute to figure out that without designating "East” or “West” with the longitude, “104″ is just “East.”  It needs to be “-104″ in this kind of application to get North America.  Well, it does get North America, but these numbers are in Colorado (below):

Farmland a few miles east of Fort Collins, in fact.  Oy!  But, LatLong allows one to pick a point on the map, and reveal the co-ordinates!  Hooray!

The results (above): the longitude isn’t that far off, only by a couple of minutes of arc, but the latitude is off by nearly four degrees!  It’s 275 miles difference, with Devils Tower to the north. If these people had been sailing that kind of error might mean missing your destination completely or wrecking your ship on rocks!  Ah, well -

Anyway, I also endeavored to place the Devils Tower locations in some kind of order, though why I can’t just leave well enough alone is beyond me.

Comparing to the satellite image, the geological survey map shown briefly in the film does show the the visitors center (as an “administration building”), its access road, and the now-paved path about the base of the tower, the “Tower Trail.”  Of course, this is only really visible in the days since the advent of “pause” in home viewing, but it is there.

A bit of work with satellite images and Photoshop allowed me to get this:

In blue is the Tower Trail loop (more on that here), a path allowing the non-climbing visitor (like me) to approach pretty close to the tower; at its nearest, one can simply put out a hand and touch the standing rock.  It also passes fairly close to the approximate location of the film’s co-ordinates.  That location would be unfortunate for placing a landing area with trailers and research equipment.

The scene near the tower, kinda’ where the mapped co-ordinates land.  

Not only is it very forested, it’s just not that wide.  In the movie still (below) this area is atop the rise above the landing area, before the tower base.

The Dark Side of the Moon: “O.K. Watch the skies, please.”  

(Above) In purple: approximate path of Roy Neary, Jillian Guiler and "They’re just crop dusting” Larry.  Of course Larry got a 6 hour nap before anything happened, but it did spare him trying to cross the gulf between the tower and the basin.  

In yellow is the Red Beds Trail (more on that here), a three mile loop, which crosses the slopes where our film’s protagonists climbed up to the tower from the army’s camp; it also crosses the wide, sloping basin that would be the likely location of “The Dark Side of the Moon.”

Walking the Red Beds Trail I found myself standing in that sloping basin, and I thought, “Wow, this is the place!”  Wide, low angle of slope, fewer trees to clear - an Army Corps of Engineers battalion could make good work of this is a few days.

Looking down the sloping basin.

Turning, I looked back toward the tower, and was surprised to see how far I was from it, not only being lower vertically, but quite some distance away horizontally, as well.

Looking back toward the tower.

Yes, from the above vantage, one can imagine the landing area being bulldozed up to the base of the slope, but even there the distance to the rocky boulder field at the base of the exposed tower is around 900 feet (more-or-less, depending on where one measures from and to.)

But then I walked on, making the switch-back up the slope and marveling at the views, keeping in mind that IT’S A MOVIE !  I like the movie and I like the land, even if they don’t necessarily “jive.”

On a completely different note, remember Farrah Fawcett’s poster from 1976?

While I was tracking images for this in the movie, I noticed that poster on a trailer wall, behind Francois Truffaut’s Claude Lacombe:

How many times have I missed that detail?  I was busy watching Truffaut pound out those famous 5 musical notes.

“Roy!  Move your ass!”  The final climb?  Maybe -

Movie stills: Close Encounters of the Third Kind; directed by Steven Spielberg; Clark L. Paylow, associate producer; Julia Phillips, producer; Michael Phillips, producer; Coumbia Pictures, 1977 (all rights reserved, et cetera), as “captured” via the web.

Maps: Google satellite images, with illustrative overlay by the author.

LatLong.net with various pages where you can plug in information and retrieve things like GPS co-ordinates or the latitude and longitude of your house.

Photographs: R. Jake Wood, 2017.

[pedroam-bang]

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

[unosplaceresfugaces]

#Cartelera #Sevilla #Bormujos #AlAndalusCinema #Doblada #CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind #StevenSpielberg #1977 Una noche, cerca de su casa, en Indiana, Roy Neary observa en el cielo unos misteriosos objetos voladores. Desde entonces vive tan obsesionado por comprender lo que ha visto que se distancia de su esposa. Encuentra apoyo en Jillian Guiler, una mujer que también ha sido testigo de los mismos hechos. Juntos intentan encontrar una respuesta al misterio que ha alterado sus vidas. Al mismo tiempo, un nutrido grupo de científicos internacionales, bajo la dirección de Claude Lacombe, empieza a investigar las apariciones de ovnis y otros extraños fenómenos. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsac4LnlIYw/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=kjkfp5nsnnrx

[songedunenuitdete]

Des faits étranges se produisent un peu partout dans le monde : des avions qui avaient disparu durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale sont retrouvés au Mexique en parfait état de marche, un cargo est découvert échoué au beau milieu du désert de Gobi. Dans l’Indiana, pendant qu’une coupure d’électricité paralyse la banlieue, Roy Neary, un réparateur de câbles, voit une “soucoupe volante” passer au-dessus de sa voiture.

Rencontres du troisième type – Steelbook Edition 40ème anniversaire – [Blu-ray + Copie digitale – Édition boîtier SteelBook]

Acteurs : Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, François Truffaut, Bob Balaban Réalisateurs : Steven Spielberg Audio : Anglais (DTS-HD 5.1), Français (DTS-HD 5.1), Espagnol (Dolby Digital 5.1), Chinois, Thaï, Coréen, Arabe Sous-titres : Anglais, Arabe, Thaï, Turc, Roumain, Chinois, Mandarin, Coréen, Français, Grec, Néerlandais, Tchèque, Croate, Hongrois, Portugais, Espagnol, Islandais Sous-titres pour sourds et malentendants : Anglais Région : Toutes les régions Rapport de forme : 2.35:1 Nombre de disques : 2 Studio : Sony Pictures Date de sortie du DVD : 20 septembre 2017 Durée : 137 minutes

Synospsis

Des faits étranges se produisent un peu partout dans le monde : des avions qui avaient disparu durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale sont retrouvés au Mexique en parfait état de marche, un cargo est découvert échoué au beau milieu du désert de Gobi. Dans l’Indiana, pendant qu’une coupure d’électricité paralyse la banlieue, Roy Neary, un réparateur de câbles, voit une “soucoupe volante” passer au-dessus de sa voiture. D’autres personnes sont également témoins de ce type de phénomène : Barry Guiler, un petit garçon de quatre ans, est réveillé par le bruit de ses jouets qui se mettent en route. Cherchant à savoir d’où proviennent ces ovnis, Roy Neary se heurte aux rigoureuses consignes de silence imposées par le gouvernement fédéral. Obsédé par ce qu’il a vu et hanté par une image de montagne qu’il essaie désespérément de reconstituer, il est abandonné par sa femme Ronnie et ses enfants. Il n’y a que Jillian, la mère de Barry, qui le comprenne. Parallèlement à ces événements, une commission internationale conduite par le savant français Claude Lacombe s’efforce d’en percer le mystère. Une évidence s’impose bientôt à eux : une forme d’intelligence extraterrestre tente d’établir un contact avec les Terriens

Ce que contient le coffret Boîtier métal SteelBook avec artwork inédit Contient : – le Blu-ray du film avec les 3 versions restaurées 4K à partir du négatif original : . Montage original (1977 – 134′) . “Edition spéciale” (1980 – 132′) . “Director’s Cut” (1998 – 137′) – le Blu-ray des bonus – la copie digitale du film au format UltraViolet

La Bande Annonce

Mon avis

Rencontres du troisième type est une œuvre cinématographique phare du 20e siècle. Un monument que j’ai pris grand plaisir à revoir. À vrai dire, la dernière fois que j’ai vu ce film date… d’il y a très longtemps. J’en avais gardé peu de souvenirs (je me souvenais essentiellement de la fin avec la soucoupe et les gentils extraterrestres), c’est pourquoi j’avais grande hâte de me replonger dans cette histoire.

Sans doute les jeunes gens de maintenant y prendront-ils moins de plaisir que ceux qui ont vécu dans les années 80, mais il faut voir ce film au moins une fois dans sa vie !

Le scénario est bien ficelé et la première partie du film est assez flippante avec tous ces événements inexpliqués et la disparition d’un petit garçon de trois ans sous les yeux de sa mère impuissante. Même si les effets spéciaux ont assez mal vieillis, l’ambiance a su de nouveau me faire trembler. Les gens de cette petite ville de l’Indiana vont se retrouver confrontés à d’étranges phénomènes et bientôt ils devront quitter les alentours sous un faux prétexte pour laisser les militaires envahir les lieux.

…il faut voir ce film au moins une fois dans sa vie !

La qualité de l’image est plutôt bonne, même si l’on sent que les moyens étaient d’époque. Toutefois, je tiens à souligner toutes ces prouesses techniques faites alors. Je rappelle que le film date de 1977. Oui, quand même !

Le film est plutôt long, mais il se regarde vraiment bien. Il se découpe en deux parties avec les phénomènes inexpliqués puis la découverte de la vérité avec deux personnages principaux : la mère de l’enfant enlevé et un père de famille qui se retrouve totalement obnubilée par les soucoupes, à tel point qu’il en perdra sa femme et ses enfants qui, agacés par son comportement obsessionnel, finiront par le quitter pour de bon.

Je n’ai pas vu les plus de deux heures passer ! Je pensais m’ennuyer à certains passages, mais pas du tout. C’est vraiment très bien mené et ça tient en haleine du début jusqu’à la fin.

Beaucoup de souvenirs d’enfance sont remontés à la surface en visionnant Rencontres du troisième type et du coup je suis plus qu’heureuse de l’avoir revue.

Concernant les bonus, ils sont très sympathiques et sachez que vous avez le choix entre trois versions du film. Par contre, une petite remarque venant des puristes ; il n’y a pas le doublage français d’origine lors de la diffusion au cinéma sur aucune des trois versions proposées.

Je suis retombée en enfance l’espace de quelques heures.

Pour ce qui est du menu interactif, j’ai été surprise qu’il ne soit qu’en anglais, mais cela ne m’a pas empêché de passer un très chouette moment !

Un chef d’œuvre à ne pas louper, à voir et à revoir !

  [Chronique Blu-Ray - Artemissia] Mon avis sur Rencontres du troisième type - Steelbook Edition 40ème anniversaire. Je suis retombée en enfance l'espace de quelques heures :) Des faits étranges se produisent un peu partout dans le monde : des avions qui avaient disparu durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale sont retrouvés au Mexique en parfait état de marche, un cargo est découvert échoué au beau milieu du désert de Gobi.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #290

Top Ten Thoughts on Close Encounters

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is my favourite film ever. I’m a huge Spielberg fan at the best of times, but to have a melange of cute kids, government conspiracy, alien invasion, awesome special effects, a magical score, Richard Dreyfus, AND Bob Balaban with a beard – why, it’s the perfect storm.

I’m absolutely sure I can trace a lot of my interests and preoccupations to this film. I first watched it when I was probably about ten or so – around about the time I first saw films like Blade Runner. It opened my mind to darker, more confusing sci-fi: sci-fi that may proffer answers but still allows us to ask our own questions. Despite its family-friendly aura, Close Encounters is a resolutely grown-up experience. And I’m gonna talk about why.

I went to see the spruced-up 4K restoration this week, and I decided to Top Ten-orise my thoughts on Spielberg’s masterpiece. Do please read and enjoy. I have rather gone to town this week.

It’s surprisingly bleak: Roy Neary’s breakdown is convincingly and hauntingly portrayed by Dreyfuss, and the resulting toll it takes on his family is difficult to watch; Barry Guiler’s abduction is suitably terrifying; and the whole film centres on a government willing to commit crimes to cover up the truth. There is a stream of uncomfortable darkness running through this film which belies its optimistic reputation.

People act badly for good reasons: Roy neglects his family and ultimately abandons them, but is chosen by the aliens, essentially an ambassador for our species, and presumably opens a door to future cooperation and communication; the government imprison, belittle, confuse, and terrify the populace in order to keep the aliens a secret, but it’s all so they can safely communicate with them; and the aliens themselves disrupt and arguably ruin multiple lives with their behaviour. The film seems to be saying that although we will end up in a place of peaceful cooperation, the road there will by necessity be dark and dangerous, and we won’t all make it.

The Barry Guiler scenes are straight-up A-grade horror: most film fans know the story of Spielberg’s Night Skies, an unmade pseudo-sequel to Close Encounters, that was a mash-up of alien invasion and home invasion and essentially morphed into both E.T. and Poltergeist. But here, the scenes of the aliens toying with and ultimately abducting Barry Guiler remain terrifying, Melinda Dillon’s performance as anguished mother Jillian conveys the horror of the situation. A reminder that Spielberg is an absolute master at tension and set-piece.

The scale is, frankly, enormous: there are at least three plot strands which cover multiple characters and several countries; there are sandstorms in Mexico, multiple vehicles in China, and a huge army of extras in India; there are abandoned aircraft and a boat in the desert; scores of drugged livestock; and, of course, the epic conclusion at Devil’s Tower. And this is before we discuss the ground-breaking special effects. This is the work of a ferociously confident young man (Spielberg was barely thirty) who knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish and grasped with both hands the opportunity afforded him following the surprise success of Jaws. The film is only 130 minutes long, but make no mistake, this is an epic.

The Lacombe strand is a fantastic detective story: when I first saw the film as a boy, I don’t think I quite grasped exactly what Lacombe, Laughlin, and the others were attempting to accomplish. I knew, obviously, that old, missing vehicles had started randomly re-appearing, and this was the work of aliens; but watching it again it struck me how well-constructed this branch of the story is. It is a gradual unravelling of the aliens’ actions and motivations, their previous history with Earth, and the asynchronous nature of their timeline. By making one character French and the other a newcomer to the situation, it keeps the audience relatively in the dark, the nature of the government’s work uncovered piece by piece with each fresh development. It is, in fact, a masterfully told detective story which reveals its true nature in parallel to the humane stories of Roy and Jillian.

In order to speak to aliens, mankind has to speak to each other: obviously one of the big themes of the film is mankind coming together in this glorious communion with alien life. But witness the aforementioned detective story: Lacombe and his team journey across the world speaking through multiple interpreters all the time, gathering information from Mexicans, Indians, and more. This is perfectly illustrated in the dynamic between Lacombe and his interpreter Laughlin. And once mankind has pieced together as much of the picture as they can, they then have to translate it into this universal language of music, revealed in John Williams’ iconic theme. Do-da-do-daa-dooooo.

The pace is perfect: with so many balls up in the air, it’s amazing how expertly tuned this film is; so many moving parts but it’s graceful, swift, with no drag whatsoever. The opening is slow-build tension, but once Roy has his encounter, it all kicks off, incident adding onto incident like so much mashed potato on a plate, building to a crescendo as Roy and Jillian, fugitives, sprint through the foliage around Devil’s Tower. And then the film stops: once they’re at the camp, everything slows right down again. It allows us to breathe, allows us to relax into the aliens’ visitation. There’s no real tension, no sense of threat; it’s a majestic, serene, otherworldly experience. A beautiful, perfect ending to this perennially optimistic dark conspiracy thriller.

The finale is purer Spielbergian optimism: I’ve already spoken about the darkness in the film, about the bad decisions and bad actions undertaken by its protagonists. But let’s be real – this is a film about wonder and hope, a film that promises no matter how bad it is down here, up there, things are pretty much great. It’s almost religious in its optimistic vision of the future. Mankind comes together at the end, all animosity forgotten, to join hands across the galaxy. Roy is embraced as a sort of surrogate star-child; the missing Barry is reunited with his mum; and Lacombe gets to communicate directly with the adorably babyfaced alien. Then, even as the credits roll, we follow the mothership back up, safe in the knowledge that they’re out there, that life persists and it is good.

The effects still hold up: as with Jaws, many of the more impressive moments are subtler: the lights rising behind Roy; the huge shadow gliding across the landscape; the UFOs that appear just as pinpricks of light. By imbuing lens flares with character and life, Spielberg ensures that they remain convincing even in a world of wall-to-wall photorealistic CGI. When we do finally see detailed craft – they are beautiful and sumptuously detailed, especially the mothership. But my favourite effect in the movie remains the moment a UFO flies over Roy’s truck and makes the gravity go haywire. I know how they did it, but it just looks so cool.

This is totally Spielberg’s vision: I know first-hand that TV and film are collaborative artforms, but there’s definitely something to be said for auteur theory. Because this is, unquestionably, the vision of Steven Spielberg. How many of his preoccupations are referenced: aliens; everyday heroes; children; blue-collar American families; earnest men in suits; and even World War II, in the shape of the returned aircraft. He is credited as director and writer, one of only two times he’s taken on both roles in his filmmaking career (the other being A.I.). he is even credited as coming up with the visual effects concepts – clearly, he was deeply, personally, phenomenally invested in this movie. The success of Jaws opened so many doors for him, he could do more or less whatever he wanted, and this is what he chose to do. More than the themes, more than his stylistic traits (the use of god-lights and silhouettes, for instance), more than John Williams or Richard Dreyfus, what makes Close Encounters quintessential Spielberg is that, at the end of the day, across the whole universe, it’s a story of broken and divided people reuniting. It’s got the most optimistic, happy ending of his career (Roy’s neglected family notwithstanding). It’s beautiful, serene, fantastical, and majestic. Like Jaws, Raiders, and E.T., the film is more-or-less perfect, or at least as perfect as a film has any right to be. And I finally got to see it on the big screen. Yay for me.

[scifi-women]

[3s-movie-trailer]

379/CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KING   (1977)

Two parallel stories are told. In the first, a group of research scientists from a variety of backgrounds are investigating the strange appearance of items in remote locations, primarily desert regions. In continuing their investigation, one of the lead scientists, a Frenchman named Claude Lacombe, incorporates the Kodály method of music education as a means of communication in their work. The response, in turn, at first baffles the researchers, until American cartographer David Laughlin deciphers the meaning of the response. In the second, electric company lineman and family man Roy Neary and single mother Jillian Guiler are among some individuals in Muncie, Indiana who experience some paranormal activity before some flashes of bright lights in the sky, which they believe to be a UFO. Roy becomes obsessed with what he saw, unlike some others, especially in some form of authority, who refuse to acknowledge their belief that it was a UFO in not wanting to appear crazy. That obsession ...

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut.

The film received numerous awards and nominations at the 50th Academy Awards, 32nd British Academy Film Awards, the 35th Golden Globe Awards, the Saturn Awards and has been widely acclaimed by the American Film Institute. In December 2007, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. A Special Edition of the film, featuring additional scenes, was released theatrically in 1980. A third cut of the film was issued on VHS and LaserDisc in 1998 (and later DVD and Blu-ray). The film will be remastered in 4K and re-released in theatres on September 1, 2017 for its 40th anniversary.

IMdb * 7,7