Review of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) by Rob S — 25 Jul 2015

I am not familiar with what Spielberg has written in his filmography, but in this film which he has written he captures the sense of wonder that frequently appear in his early work. It is also a sense of spectator-ship - in Sugarland Express we look at a car chase from the point of view of the media, we see the shark attacks in Jaws from the point of view of the town as a community, now we see UFOs through the eyes of those drawn to them, either by enthusiasm or by a mysterious controlling urge.

Sadly, this idea of spectator-ship throughout the script is sort of a fill-in for its lack of narrative. Yes, we like Roy, and we want him to find the answers he is looking for, but this obsession turns him into a bad husband and father, which the film ignores for reasons that are never explained. He tries to convince his family at times of what he has seen - this seems rational - but what is not rational is when he is trying to form Devil's Tower subconsciously with a bunch of dirt, and he is in such a trance that he barely tries to stop his family leaving him.

This is a great adventure, but there is almost too much of act 2 since this film has a giant build to its conclusion. That is really the main point of this film, and the struggles Roy is supposed to experience seem feeble to him even though he is an average American. In the scene where he attempts to confront the top man behind the operation, he demands answers, but it is more of an outburst than an argument as to why he needs answers. When they try to send him away, he is able to prove the air is not toxic and run off to the area around Devil's Tower because it is convenient for the plot that nobody is guarding him that well.

The best motivation in this film comes from the lead lady who desperately wants to be reunited with her son who has experienced the aliens on a few occasions. This gives power to the image of the single mother, and perhaps it suggests that women are better parents since Roy forgets about his family rather quickly?

This film is highly intriguing, but it falls short of Spielberg's best films, even for the era before Schindler's List.