Classic 70s Movie: “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
September is Classic 70s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Camilla Castree.
Title: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Year: 1977
Screenwriter: Steven Spielberg
Main Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon
Director: Steven Spielberg
IMDb Plot Summary: After an encounter with U.F.O.s, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
Why I Think This Is A Classic 70s Movie: “If we can talk to aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” Spielberg said, “why not with the Reds in the Cold War?” Some of the themes within the film are of tolerance and communication.
For centuries we have been obsessed with outer space; novels by Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke (who co-wrote 2001 — A Space Odyssey with Stanley Kubrick) have fed our imaginations. The moon landing in 1969 might have fueled our fascination, but science fiction has been a constant genre in film and television since Metropolis (1927).
Television fueled our fertile minds with Space 1999, UFO, Lost in Space, and notably Star Trek and films such as Logan’s Run, Silent Running (thankfully Blade Runner came along in 1982 — there is a lot of running in space) and Star Wars, so it was no surprise that Close Encounters would also capture our collective imagination.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie: Roy’s first encounter with a UFO is visually and aurally memorable. At night, a set of car lights pulls up behind Roy’s truck. Roy signals for them to to go around him, which they do. Another set of lights pull up behind. He signals again, but instead of going around, they rise vertically. Roy does not notice.
The clip below is part of that scene and a reminder you of why you should re-watch this classic. Turn up the volume if you can.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: For Barry, a four year old soon-to-be abductee, the aliens pose no threat. His mother is unsurprisingly frantic during this particular encounter, yet Barry encourages them, ‘You can come and play now’, as the alien scrambles down the chimney.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Notice the choice of toys that come to life in Barry’s room. A police car, a tank, a monkey with cymbals. It’s chaos. A veritable circus is predicted, showing the audience what to expect later.
Listen to the Grammy-winning score by John Williams. He was nominated for two academy awards in 1978, one for Star Wars and one for Close Encounters. He won for Star Wars.
When Roy arrives in Wyoming and steps out of his car, the scale of the evacuation is apparent. As the shot moves up and over the train, the scene is breathtaking. The amount of moment and sheer number of people is a feast for the eyes. The same can be said of the scene in India.
Thanks, Camilla! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
You may follow Camilla on Twitter: @Cilly247.
We already have a set of 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 70s Movies.
Thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies we should all watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!
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