Arrival

Arrival is an alien encounter film like none before. It is a brilliant mix of science fiction, mystery and political allegory, all surrounded in glorious visual artwork. It uses a very dim but clear style of cinematography. It makes the film very gloomy and very realistic. It makes it easy to imagine something like this happening in the near future.

In Arrival, twelve alien spaceships mysteriously appear across Earth. They are massive, dark monolithic and silently hover just above the ground. Louise (Amy Adams), a linguistics professor, is brought in by the government to help interpret the alien’s language. Without time to settle into the camp set up in remote Montana, she and a small team are sent into the alien’s ship and meet with the aliens every few hours. Within a few sessions, they discover the alien’s written language. As the team tries to understand the new language and find out why the aliens have come to Earth, the world outside is frightened of the new arrivals and is edging closer and closer to war.

Throughout Arrival, there is a consistent theme of things not being linear, but rather a loop or palindrome. The aliens write complex sentences in a circle, resembling an enso. There is a child named Hannah. And ever present is the idea that time may not be linear either. As Louise delves deeper into understanding the alien language, she seems to unlock a greater understanding of this herself. It’s a bit of a head trip, but really beautiful.

I am disappointed that Amy Adams did not receive an Oscar nomination for her performance in Arrival. She is the central character grounding the strange events and translating them into an emotional, tangible response. When things are extremely stressful, like arriving at the alien ship and only minutes later going inside to meet the aliens, she portrays a kind of panicked serenity.  When others would be trembling in panic, she is breathing faster, but still able to keep her feet on the ground, no matter if gravity suddenly turns ninety degrees. She portrays Louise as curious, smart, charismatic and tenacious enough to lead the way learning to communicate with the aliens. Sadly, science fiction films are rarely recognized for their acting.

However, Arrival did receive eight other Oscar nominations. They include Best Picture, adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing, film editing and production design. Denis Villeneuve also received his first nomination for best director. Eight nominations is quite an honor for a predominantly science fiction film.

The most frightening moments within Arrival are not actions of the aliens, but of people. Human nature in a stressful, mysterious, global situation can bring out the worst in people. We hear news reports of riots and looting. We see the damage polarized radio shows can produce. As one camp makes worrisome progress with their pair of aliens, they assume the worst and cut off communications with the others. Attacking the alien ships and plunging into global war is a terrible threat that looms closer and closer. Isolation, refusing to communicate and rogue violence do not help.

Arrival is a brilliant film about the importance of effective communication and not jumping to conclusions about outsiders, no matter how alien. Language of any sort is a tool, a gift and sometimes a burden. We must be thankful for it and use it wisely.

“Now that’s a proper introduction.”

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I remember first seeing Close Encounters of the Third Kind at about ten years old.  I had stumbled upon it at the library, enticed by the mysterious space ship on the cover of the VHS tape and recognized the star, Richard Dreyfuss, as the young guy from Jaws.  Already, I was a Steven Spielberg fan and could not wait to see a movie of his that was new to me.  Though my young mind didn’t make all the plot connections, the idea of making peaceful contact with aliens and a psychic message sent to all that had seen them intrigued me.  Now, sixteen years later, I have found this movie on blu-ray and it is like rediscovering the film all over again.  Every image is clear, bright and crisp, so much better than a worn and borrowed tape.  And even though I know what will happen, Close Encounters is a movie that always keeps me curious, excited and fills me with wonder like I was a kid again.

The title can feel long and clunky if you do not know what it means.  Basically, there are three main kinds of alien encounters.  The first is a small fluke with no evidence left, like just seeing a saucer overhead.  The second is an encounter that does leave evidence, like a crop circle or the half sunburn Dreyfuss sports in the film.  The third is actual contact.  Knowing that ahead of time gives you a better understanding of what to expect.

In the film, these encounters are happening all over the world, with a government team not far behind them, investigating.  In India, planes that were deemed missing in 1945 are found in the desert.  The people witnessing this event say that the sun came out in the middle of the night and sang to them.  In Indiana, a power outage sends Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) out to fix the problem, but he has an amazing encounter.  Nearby, Jillian (Melinda Dillon) discovers her three year old son being drawn to something.  Soon, we are all dazzled by the bright lights of alien spaceships whizzing along the roads and off into the sky.

After the eventful night, Roy, Jillian and others who saw the lights begin obsessing over an image in their minds.  While Jillian draws, her son plays five notes on his toy xylophone and Roy sculpts the image.  The scene where Roy pulls up plants, steals his neighbor’s fence and throws dirt into his house to create this image is wonderfully hilarious, while bringing out the seriousness Roy sees in his vision.  Eventually, Roy, Jillian and many others figure out that they need to travel to Devil’s Peak in Wyoming, where the government officials are preparing for contact with the aliens.  But they are trying to keep the alien situation under wraps, and their plan to evacuate the area makes Roy’s journey there much more hazardous.

The more I see this film, the more I understand how Roy is a perfect candidate for alien contact.  He feels like a full grown Elliot from E.T., a real kid at heart.  I doubt that model train in his basement is for his kids, and after his initial contact, he drags his wife and kids out in the middle of the night in hopes of all of them seeing the alien ships.  They could not care less.  I always feel that Roy’s real personality is shown best when he is recklessly collecting dirt and plants for his giant sculpture.  And the wonder and joy on his face in the final scenes are uplifting and perfect.

One of the most memorable thing about Close Encounters of the Third Kind is the five note message.  It progresses from singing in the Indian desert to calculated tones, later with matching colored lights and hand gestures.  The film comes down to this simple, peaceful communication that brings closure to some mysteries and opens up more and more.

While this film was nominated for many Oscars, won for Cinematography and a special achievement award for Sound Effects editing, it was not nominated for Best Picture.  To me, it feels like such a crime that Julia got the nomination while Close Encounters of the Third Kind did not.  Part of me guesses that putting two science fiction films up for Best Picture would have been too much for the Academy and Star Wars was the more obvious contender.

Nonetheless, Close Encounters of the Third Kind has survived the test of time well.  The special effects used are even more beautiful on Blu-ray and do not have an obsolete feeling.  Best of all, the tale of a shared psychic communication and the drive to find its meaning feels full of hope and wonder, like only a Spielberg film can.  This is one of those films that I suggest everyone see at some point in their lives.  Turn the lights down, the volume up and just immerse yourself in it.

“If everything’s ready here on the Dark Side of the Moon… play the five tones.”

E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial

Steven Spielberg’s iconic masterpiece, E.T., is the heartfelt story of a little lost alien.  The scientific specifics about him and his people are kept a mystery, enticed with a quick view of misty mushrooms on his ship.  We are just shown that he and other aliens were exploring the forests and had to take off without E.T. when a group of men came upon them.  Alone and scared in a new world, he happens upon a family and forms a bond with a young boy.

The story is just as much about the boy, Elliot (Henry Thomas), who seems lost as the middle child of his changing family.  He is often counted out and the butt of the joke to his older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and his friends.  With his parents recent separation, he knows just how to push his mother’s buttons.  When no one believes him about the alien he just found in the back yard, Elliot retaliates, making sure everyone remembers that their father is gone with another woman.  Childish, but Elliot is just a kid.

He sneaks out that night to stay up and look for the alien, lures it into his room with Reese’s Pieces and then fakes a fever to stay home from school with his new friend, he names E.T.  When Michael and their little sister, Gertie (Drew Barrymore), get home, they make a pact to keep E.T. a secret, especially from grown-ups.  They soon figure out that E.T. is a very intelligent creature and wants to contact his family.  If it were not for Halloween coming up, these kids might not have had a good opportunity to be out so late helping their new extra terrestrial friend.  But they are not the only ones who know E.T. is here.

E.T. is one of those rare science-fiction films that puts the emotional response before the visual aspects, both of which are perfect and spellbinding.  During the iconic flying bike scene, we are swept up in the wonder and freedom Elliot feels and the beautiful score by John Williams only amplifies this.  Then the shot in front of the moon sends our hearts soaring, but it would not have done so on its own.  Later, when E.T. is in peril at the hands of adults, we see the tearful reactions of the kids.  The defibrillator scene seems especially traumatizing for little Gertie, and we can’t help but feel heartbroken for these kids.  And no matter how many times I see this movie, I always get so excited and happy when E.T.’s heart starts glowing while Elliot is saying goodbye.

One of the things I find most fascinating about this movie as I get older, is the culture the kids share, but the adults have no part of.  As we first see the family, Michael and his friends are playing Dungeons and Dragons, the mom does not understand the game and the kids don’t try to explain very well.  The division is understood.  Later, E.T. uses the stuffed animals in the closet as camouflage and starts to talk while watching Sesame Street with Gertie, the mom is present in each of these scenes, but either too busy to notice the alien she just opened the fridge door on or just doesn’t notice the odd face among the plush.

When Elliot tries to explain things like wars and the food chain to E.T. in his room, he uses his Star Wars action figures and other toys, “Fish eat the fish food, and the shark eats the fish.  Nobody eats the shark.”  Elliot starts using the toys as tools first, and E.T. builds his device from them later.  It’s like toys are a different medium that kids use to communicate.  And their main modes of freedom are on bikes, the best time to find escape is on Halloween.

The way I see it, every kid should see E.T. before age ten.  The movie was created to lift kids up through that culture they have that parents aren’t a part of anymore.  Getting lost and left behind by your family is really scary only up to a certain age.  Only as a kid do old toys have infinite possibilities.  And once you can drive a car well, that sense of freedom and escape you once found on a bike just isn’t the same.

“I’ve never driven forward before!”

District 9

District 9 is one of those rare science fiction films that can sneak into the Best Picture category.  It is here because the film is so much more than an alien flick, but evokes a powerful sense of drama about humanity and discrimination while using a wide variety of narrative techniques.

Two decades back, an alien spacecraft descended over Johannesburg, South Africa with a healthy population of aliens inside.  The spacecraft has not moved since and the aliens, referred to as Prawns because of their crustacean attributes, have been contained by the government into refugee camps that have deteriorated into slums called District 9.  When Multi-National United decides to launch an operation to evict all the aliens, the man leading the operation, Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley), comes in contact with a bio-chemical substance that slowly transforms him into an alien.  His service and loyalties to MNU are disregarded as he becomes hunted to become a test subject for his new alien powers, mostly being able to use their advanced weapons.  The only chance for escape and survival are within District 9, where one alien and his son have been preparing to leave Earth.

Many science fiction films require some sort of prologue so the viewer can understand the alien situation at hand.  By making District 9 look like a documentary film, it’s more acceptable for all of this setup to be thoroughly explained.  Between interviews, old news “footage” and a variety of surveillance cameras, the whole film, especially the beginning, is very quick and informative, but does not lose us for a moment.

All these different camera techniques evoke a great sense of realism that can be difficult to achieve well in a science fiction film.  Gritty news and documentary footage gives the viewer a false sense of authority about the situations shown, while the use of typical narrative techniques bring us closer to the characters and emotional story as well.  Never in the film did I feel an awkward jump from one media to the next.  Editing these multiple camera techniques together so that they flow seamlessly is quite a feat, I honestly wish District 9 had won that Oscar.

The way Wikus acts when he knows he is on camera makes us think that he is not an actor.  During interviews he’s nervous, fidgety and a little goofy knowing he is in a spotlight.  On location in District 9, he tries to keep this air of an informative performer for the camera until his contact with the alien substance.  It’s hard to fake a smile when your body has entered fight-or-flight mode and you’re puking a black liquid.  Soon, his documentary personality is gone and we believe we are really watching a man deal with the horrors of turning into an alien.  Between the way Wikus talks straight to us for the documentary and watching his painful descent into an alien body that pushes him out of society, we form a real connection to him and become one of the few who have sympathy for him

I’ve seen District 9 three times now, and each time has been a totally engrossing experience.  The realism, violence and camera-splattering gore still makes me gasp in the most wonderful ways.  There are very few films of the twenty-first century that I can enjoy as much as District 9.  Any documentary style or science-fiction film needs to look back at this film’s brilliant techniques and narrative style.

“He was an honest man, and he didn’t deserve any of what happened to him.”