Rencontres du troisième type

An amazing film, one of my favorites. I watch this regularly, especially at times when the reality of life is overwhelming, just to refocus and regain some sense of perspective.

Everything in this film works toward one end: to transform the adult sense of fear back into the childlike sense of wonder at the world. From the very opening moments of the film, designed to create confusion and startlement, this movie creates a sensation of dread and foreboding. The dissonance of the soundtrack, the juxtaposition of images, they all are working to build into the viewer a feeling that something just isn't right, that something out of the ordinary is taking place, and underscoring this all with a sense that this is something to resist, to pull away from, to not allow it to affect one's "ordinary life."

But as the movie progresses, the tone begins to shift, and the true intent of the film begins to peek through. This isn't about being afraid of the unknown, but rather embracing it. Paying attention to the "subliminal images" in life, allowing them to lead you into something unknown and perhaps dangerous, only then can one be open to wonder and experience the world through the magical eyes of a child.

Dreyfuss' character takes us on this journey, met with resistance all along the way. His wife, his neighbors, his job, his community, all are working against him, and it's only when he's reached his craziest that he truly gives in and begins to stop trying to understand and instead embraces the experiences in store for him. The scientific community is seeking to understand, but without having any personal calling to be involved. Only Barry is truly able to throw himself into the strangeness that is taking place, and his enthusiasm is greeted by both the characters and the audience as somehow alien and threatening.

The ending of this film, when all the fear is finally stripped away and the sense of amazed wonder overtakes everyone on the screen and in the audience, brings about an amazing catharsis. Discarding all the "adult" sensibilities and being able to approach life once again with a sense of innocent amazement for the Strange hidden amongst the Ordinary, one can begin again to approach life from a fresh vantage point.

Powerful, mystifying, and rejuvenating. I highly recommend this film for anyone jaded with life and seeking a sense of renewal.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind is a film about aliens landing on earth, but instead of descending into the usual laser-gun confrontations between humans and aliens, this one dares to remain "peaceful". It is a film about contact, not conflict. It is also a wonderfully thoughtful film and a prime example of compelling story-telling. If there is a weakness with Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, it is that the director Steven Spielberg occasionally allows sentimentality to enter into the proceedings, but in truth it is a very minor weakness and it doesn't significantly spoil this tremendous movie experience.

Several missing aircraft turn up over 30 years after they were reported lost. More baffling still is the fact that they vanished over Florida but have turned up, in pristine condition and without pilots, in the middle of Mexico. Other weird things happen: an aeroplane pilot reports a near collision with a brightly lit spacecraft; a Navy warship missing for decades is found in the desert; thousands of Indians report a light in the sky which "sang" to them; and across America there are scores of inexplicable UFO sightings. Electrician Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is a normal family man who sees one of the UFOs. Soon after, he is tormented by a vision apparently implanted in his mind by the aliens. His torment becomes obsession as he tries to figure out the meaning of a hill-like shape that has become embedded in his mind. As his marriage collapses, he desperately tries to find answers and is finally gratified when he discovers that the picture in his head is trying to tell him where to go in order to witness an extra terrestrial landing.

The fact that Roy Neary is just an everyday guy cast into the most incredible of circumstances gives this film a real human dimension. Roy could represent any one of us - you, me, your next door neighbour, your father, whoever. Spielberg tells his story very carefully, adding clues and more layers of mystery before actually revealing where the story is heading. It is probably the most controlled and skillfully paced of Spielberg's '70s films. The ending, featuring the alien arrival, is a technical tour-de-force, but it works well on an emotional level too because the viewer has grown to know Roy and has been drawn into his quest for answers. John Williams provides yet another legendary music score - including an iconic five-note tune which the aliens and humans use to communicate with each other. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind is a classic sci-fi film, as fresh and absorbing now as it was back in 1977.

Strange phenomena, have caught science attention, all the things that they believed now in suspension, certain craft are turning up, in places they should not be put, it defies all known belief and comprehension. Roy Neary, catches sight, of strange night flights, it overwhelms, engulfs and leaves his face in stripe, causes family concern, an obsession starts to churn, as creative conjurings, are set alight. It consumes him every minute, every hour, until he links the creations, to Devils Tower, then he makes a bee line for, along with others just in awe, summoned by an unknown source, with unknown power.

Original and innovative for its time, and not too shabby when revisited many years later.

In Spielberg's first step into sci-fi we find a truly unique film of psychological admiration and fascination. John Williams made one of the most famous soundtracks ever with the tension filled 2 notes in Jaws, this time he adds 3 more notes to create a spectacular sound that mimics the ringing of a door bell between the humans and aliens struggling to communicate.

'The Ten Commandments' plays on the TV early on, acknowledging the film's links to the Old Testament. The tower of Babel was formed to reach the heavens just as the Devil's Tower is marked as the place where humans and aliens can finally begin to understand each other. It is also the place where a struggle to understand each other takes place, it is a language unknown to us just like the creation of differing languages at the Tower of Babel. Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) almost displays a Moses like character of being a prophet, especially with his face burnt from the ship's lights just as Moses' face shined at the sight of God.

The climax is a wonderful spectacle of brilliance. It is one of Spielberg's most gripping scenes in his career but all it displays is a spaceship and some humans playing music to each other. Literally. It is beautiful work formed from the collaboration of Spielberg (Director/Writer), John Williams (Composer), Vilmos Zsigmond (cinematographer), and Douglas Trumbull (Visual Effects) among other talented individuals.

The use of family is very important in the first half of the movie. However, when Roy watches on as the aliens make contact in the film's mesmerising finale, I almost forget all about him and his family. All I want to see is this ship play music with these scientists. When we cut back a minute later to see Roy watching on it is just a reminder that this is still his story, but by now it almost feels like our story. We have been in just as much wonder as Roy as to what is going on in the sky and now all we want to do is find out. Spielberg understands this and allows us to do so whilst also wrapping up segments of the story without pulling us away from the beauty of the moment.

It is a film that stays very real and does not allow itself to fall into fantasy, which sounds strange to say about a sci-fi film about aliens forcing a man to become obsessed with a strangely shaped natural tower. It is a psychological sci-fi. People call this film odd because it is kept so real, we are so used to alien's being associated with fantastical universal wars and ridiculous special effects. However, Spielberg's most prominent effect in Close Encounters is the use of lights. A common Spielberg trait, beams of light are not alien to us. He holds our hand and gradually walks us through the experience of the film to help us understand this phenomenon. We slowly learn each aspect of these extra-terrestrials along with Roy (Richard Dreyfuss), so, by the time the gigantic mother ship rises above devil's tower we are in the same disbelief and awe as Roy and everyone else watching on. It is as though we are also witnessing aliens coming down to earth along with everyone else, it is our first view of a real spaceship. Even at the end we only see the aliens from afar through a stunning glimmer of light.

This is a film that must be watched in the cinema for the full effect! You will no doubt be in complete awe as the sound reverberates around the theatre and the lights beam through the screen. No, this is not my favourite of Spielberg's movies, but I believe that it is possibly his most genius motion picture. It is a story that grips you until the very end, not particularly because of its use of supporting characters but because of the way Spielberg presents the aliens as a genuine possibility of fact rather than fiction. In 5 years' time he'll eventually introduce us to a little extra-terrestrial but for now we live in wonder.

When I saw this movie for the first time I was barely six or seven years old in former Yugoslavia.

It has left a huge impact on my childhood world , I was so consumed and mesmerized. That much I wanted to become an astronaut for a long time afterwards .

Now , as a 50 year old I feel pretty much the same. And , I didn't become an astronaut unfortunately.

I don't know what more to say . It is as realistic, as magical and feel good movie about benevolent aliens as it could be.

I hope one day it will become true , so that we all know there is something beyond this world, but not something bad.

For everyone who wants to dive into beauty with depth , I can only recommend it.