Re-encountering Close Encounters

[poliphilo]

I remember Close Encounters as being huge. Seeing it on DVD it turns out to be a surprisingly intimate film about the break-up of a marriage.

There are three early Spielberg films that come straight from the heart.
Close Encounters, E.T. and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Since then he's seemed unsure of himself.

Close Encounters is a New Age movie. It thinks that humanity is on the brink of transformation. I guess the New Age is over now. E.T. has given way to the invading Martians of War of the Worlds.

By the way, I don't want to see War of the Worlds. I don't want to watch Spielberg pissing on his younger self. Also it's got Tom Cruise in it.

Close Encounters can be read as a religious allegory. It's about a man who sacrifices everything for the Kingdom of Heaven.

So what happens next? Does Richard Dreyfuss learn the wisdom of the ages, or does he get the anal probe?

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't see why Spielberg felt the need to remake this hoary, old sci-fi story.

I don't mind Tom Cruise in character roles. I think that's what he is- a character actor. But I hate it when he comes over all heroic. I just don't belive in him in those roles.

As for Scientology........