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Magic. Hugging. Tears. In a word, emotions.
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These hypotheses are by now, of course, purely academic. E.T., Steven Spielberg's sixth theatrical project as a director, has not only managed to adroitly blend sentiment and aliens, but has evolved into a staggering financial and cultural phenomenon as well. "With the possible exception of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. is certainly closer to my heart than any other film I've ever done," Spielberg has said, and more than 80 million ticket buyers have shared that warmth. Returning an impressive $11.9 million in its first weekend of release, E.T. then reversed the common trend of newly opened hits by increasing its grosses over the next 21 days: $12.4 million the next week, $12.8 million the second, and $14 million the third. And in the months after its premiere, the E.T. experience still includes waiting in long lines outside the theater - an irritating, communal, supremely human institution that inevitably signals a mega-hit. |
| Yet this is definitely one unpretentious blockbuster. Graced with a simple, affecting script by Melissa Mathison, showcasing the cable-based wizardry of Carlo Rambaldi, and dotted with subtle special effects provided by George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, E.T. tells the humorous, moving story of a lonely young boy encountering a frightened alien botanist inadvertently stranded on an earth whose environment is hostile to its own biology. As the relationship between youngster and monster moves from fright to friendship - before deepening into love - the extraterrestrial is simultaneously tracked down by a squad of faceless, menacing authorities whose ticking, metronome-like pursuit gradually encroaches upon and threatens a unique interplanetary bond. Yet like director Frank Capra before him, Spielberg's apparent belief in the essential strength and nobility of the "common" person overcomes faceless bureaucracy and culminates in a touching, bittersweet rescue and separation. | |
| Obviously, a genre film banking on the hope that beneath today's highly cultivated cynicism beats still sensitive hearts was something of a gamble. For all that, Spielberg obviously went to the right casino. E.T. is a palatable blend of solid screenplay, carefully prepared atmosphere, and throwaway references to the director's own past projects. Spielberg even manages to get a laugh out of an Empire Strikes Back/Yoda homage. More importantly, E.T. also offers a message of peace and understanding, ideas not usually found in "first-encounter" films. E.T. is clearly Spielberg's affirmation that strangeness, or even ugliness, runs only skin deep. And that notion, like nearly all of Spielberg's prior projects, has been taken up by a national consciousness. Spielberg's films have grossed over $1 billion to date, and the 34-year old director currently has three movies (Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T.) among the all-time top ten. Ironically, a fourth, Close Encounters, was edged off the list by E.T. | |
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But despite his prior triumphs, E.T. was something special for Spielberg, as well as for his cast and crew. Already known for a firecracker-like ability to throw out idea after idea, Spielberg carefully guided E.T. from his own initial concepts to the final advertising and subsequent spin-off merchandising. In all aspects, E.T. was a purely personal film. "Actually, E.T. is an old idea of mine," Spielberg said. "It's a story I thought of years and years ago. At that time, I didn't really have a shape or form of the alien in mind. It was just the kernel of a notion combining a little kid and a space creature, one springing from my own nerdy beginnings as an outsider who needed friends and never had that many when he was growing up. I can remember as a boy thinking something like: 'Gee, if I could have a friend from anywhere on the face of the earth, I probably wouldn't pick anybody on the face of the earth. In fact, I'd probably look elsewhere and not even stay in this galaxy.' Of course, to a certain extent, my own Close Encounters inspired me to make E.T. I always thought it would have been easy for the little creature at Close Encounters' climax to not return to his ship but go the other way and walk off into the hills. Besides that scene with Puck was only four minutes long; I kept wondering what would happen if Puck had stayed and become friends with the Neary family and moved right in." |
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1983 Cinefex.