Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Released in 1977, this was Spielberg's much anticipated follow-up to mega-hit and undisputed all time classic, Jaws (1975). At this time Spielberg was not Spielberg and everyone in the entire movie world was curious to see if this young prodigy just struck lightning in the bottle with his first big effort, or was he really the talent that people suspected he might be. Thus this film, upon its release, was closely watched and, for the most part, proved the latter to be true. 

The plot is an exploration of the effects a UFO sighting might have on very specific individuals which, at the time, was probably a quite revolutionary take. Things centre around Roy Neary - an average bloke living a fairly typical, blue collar existence as an electric lineman in suburban Indiana. That is until he encounters (ba dum - tiss) something very strange in the middle of the night. This event changes him forever, and not necessarily for the better. Haunted by a relentless vision, Roy quickly devolves into every stereotype of what makes similar victims of such incidents completely lose all credibility. His family becomes increasingly disillusioned with his erratic, obsessive behaviour and his world seems to be crumbling around him. 

Roy's only solace is his discovery that there are others who have seemingly had the same experience, including Melinda Dillon's character, Jillian, and her young son. These people have all shared not only the same episode, but the same precise vision as Roy. This vision none of them can either understand or make sense of, all of which leads to a pilgrimage of sorts find the answers they seek. Of course, the government is hot on the trail too and Francois Truffaut and Bob Balaban's crew are scouring the ends of the earth finding similar strange occurrences, trying to also make sense of what's going on. All of this rings expertly true and provides great ground to show the impact these events may have on the world at large.

Where this story succeeds, however, is boiling this massive subject down to a microscopic level: what impact would a UFO sighting have on a normal person and their family? As such, most of the film plays out like a chamber drama. Of course everyone would think you're a lunatic and you'd slowly decline into a social outcast. You'd become 'the alien guy' and, in the hands of any other director, this might be the sole-focus of the film. However, you don't become Steven Spielberg by having characters brooding in a room. You do it by shooting for the absolute moon and this film, for the first time in young Stevie's blooming career, feels absolutely massive. It is crying out to be seen in the cinemas (it's last release coming for the 40th anniversary run in 2017) and experienced in full technicolor glory. The special effects, by the hand of the legendary Douglas Trumbull, are - for their time - spectacular and quite honestly still hold up today. I'd personally take this over green-screen-attack-of-the-clones nonsense any day of the week. It truly is a spectacle to behold. The ending in particular, despite its flaws, is a moment where you can't help but marvel at the sheer ambition on display. 

Of course it is hard not to compare any sci-fi film, especially one featuring the work of Trumbull, to Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'. A self-confessed massive fan, Spielberg knows this. Therefore he decides to circumnavigate that comparison entirely by going in a completely opposite direction. Where '2001' offers more questions than answers, keeping things icy cool, strange and experiential, 'Close Encounters...' is all heart. It attempts to attack the far reaching consequences of what is being portrayed (if it actually ever happened) with love. The execution itself may be one of the few bum notes in the film for me personally as it reaches a little too far into the old believability box, but that's not to say there isn't much to be admired and anyone with balls enough to take this approach should be admired. To quote The Smiths: "It takes strength to be gentle and kind"

In retrospect, this film feels like Spielberg becoming Spielberg for the first time. He takes a massive swing for the fences, both aesthetically and professionally, wearing his heart wholeheartedly on his sleeve in what you would imagine is one of his most personal films. Not everything lands, and there are definitely some questionable moves on the part of its lead character, but there's enough here to make this film a classic. It is also, perhaps most importantly, the single most pivotal stepping stone in the career of a legendary filmmaker. To think that he made this and Jaws before the age of 30 is mindblowing to the point of making me wonder what on earth I've done with my life. Sigh. 

A must-watch on any film buff's retrospective list and I defy anyone to leave this experience not humming those 5 notes for days on end afterwards. All together now, doo do do dah do. 

★★★★☆

JB.