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.”

Lost in Translation

Imagine Tokyo, blazing electronic signs all over, but so few get their messages across to someone who only speaks English.  To be bombarded with so many messages, images and people you don’t understand can be crazy, scary and isolating.  You feel lost.

That’s exactly what’s going on with Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) and Bob (Bill Murry).  Charlotte is a young newly wed traveling with her husband, John (Giovanni Ribisi), on business.  She’s just out of school with a philosophy degree and still searching for herself in many ways.  Bob is an actor and in Tokyo doing a whiskey commercial.  He’s been married for twenty-five years, but it seems that the longer he is away, the less he is needed.  Before these two meet, they seem lost, empty and searching for something to connect to.

It’s not that they’re completely alone.  Charlotte has John, all his acquaintances and a few Japanese friends.  But John is gone most of the time, the acquaintances are air-heads who don’t have anything of value to say to a young philosopher and there’s still that cultural barrier between Japanese and American with the friends.  Bob has his Japanese business associates who try to accommodate to him, but make very wrong assumptions, once again, due to the cultural barriers.  And both Charlotte’s and Bob’s phone conversations with loved ones back home seem stifled and cut short when they are most desperate for a familiar voice.

Through what I’ve seen and experienced, I believe that people who listen the most and have a high concentration to meaning in a minimum number of words have a real appreciation for connection through communication.  In contrast, motormouths who fly by the flapping of their lips usually have less of value to say and hardly listen to the world around them.  The stereotypical blond, Kelly (Anna Faris), is the perfect example of this needless noise.  It’s Charlotte and Bob who who put meaning into every word and gesture.  Every look on their face is a small revelation of their souls.  There are too few people like them in the world and far too many Kelly’s polluting the air.

There’s no real plot to the film, just as most conversations with strangers don’t have much of an arc.  What is important is Bob and Charlotte’s connection in a land of bombarding communication that is lost on them.  It’s the time in their lives where they need each other most, even if it will only last a few days.  Director and writer Sofia Coppola makes the perfect decision to let the relationship stay only platonic.  Any sort of sexual tension between Murry and Johansson would be odd and creepy.  The film doesn’t need that, it would just ruin the simplicity of the connection between the characters.

The film is a comedy too.  Holding all these deep thoughts together are perfect bits of laughter.  It’s not Murry’s typical style of comedy, Bob’s too tired of putting on a show.  Many of the jokes play off the language and cultural barriers in some way.  Of course we have a few jokes about the Japanese switching their R’s and L’s, it’s not in bad taste if it’s the truth.

The problem is, I believe the messages in Lost in Translation would be lost on many viewers.   I hear many people complain that “nothing happens.”  It’s a quiet and heavy film that holds value in the pauses of conversation just as much as the words.  It celebrates the need and importance of really connecting with people, but in a world of emoticons and LOL Facebook statuses it’s getting harder and harder to understand a real, non-digital human platonic bond.

I do recommend Lost in Translation for everyone, because we need to understand that level of connection again.  And though we usually celebrate Billy Murry as the coolest of the Ghostbusters, this is his finest work and from what I’ve researched, the film he is most proud of.

“-I just don’t know what I’m supposed to be.
–You’ll figure that out. The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.”

Babel

This story is connected across four countries and represents the vitality of communication.  It’s not told within its correct time line, but within one that builds each storyline’s drama together.

In Morocco, a rural family buys a rifle so they can kill jackals that try to eat their goats.  The two brothers, around the ages of fourteen and twelve, try to see how far they can shoot and hit an American woman on a tour bus.

The American couple (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) is trying to get away for a while after their baby dies.  Morocco doesn’t seem to be the best destination for a woman who doesn’t trust the ice, asks what foods don’t have fat and constantly reaches for the Purell.  When she’s shot, the culture shock escalates when a hospital is four hours away and she’s stitched up on a dirt floor with no drugs.

Back home in San Diego, the couple’s children are being taken care of by their Mexican housekeeper (Adriana Barraza).  When she can’t find anyone to take care of the children, she decides to take them to Mexico with her to her son’s wedding.  As we all know, it’s much easier to get into Mexico than it is to get out.

In Japan are a father and his deaf-mute teenage daughter (Rinko Kikuchi).  Their connection isn’t revealed until the end.  We see the daughter’s struggle for acceptance in a fast paced, colorful, sex driven culture built for the young.

At least five different languages (including sign language) are spoken throughout the film.  They create the barriers and isolation.  Translation is constantly needed, whether it’s a bilingual person or a pad of paper.  Some have found new ways to communicate despite the different languages.  The deaf girls use video phones to sign to each other.  The two children seem to understand most of the Spanish their housekeeper speaks to them.  Perhaps the next generation will have fewer barriers between them.

Like I said before, the whole film is about the importance of communication.  It’s needed to get the children back into America, to get the wounded wife into a hospital, to understand who shot her and where the rifle came from.  More important than the logistics that put this puzzle together are the less tangible things that can be understood in any language.  The expressions of fear, desire, pain, desperation and the need for acceptance are the universal languages that help each culture bind together and find solid ground within all the babble.

This is the artsy film for 2006.  We’re given images with the sounds of a guitar being plucked or some sort of ear buzzing noise.  Each culture is portrayed differently; Morocco is shown through dirt, rocks and mountains.  Mexico is a colorful, cheap party.  And Japan is full of bright lights and skyscrapers.  Besides a few minutes within their suburban home, America is shown through the children and their parents.

I’ll warn you, if you’re put off by subtitles, this will be a long film for you.  If you expect action through red-blooded explosions and fist fights, this may be too much drama.  This was my second viewing of Babel, my first being nearly three years ago, and everything became much clearer the second time, though it isn’t necessary.   It’s hard to pinpoint this film to any certain people, but I enjoyed it and believe it’s worth the time.

“They look at us like we’re monsters.”