Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film)
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is a 1977 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg that explores the theme of human contact with extraterrestrial beings. The film’s title references the third category of alien contact as defined by physicist J. Allen Hynek, which involves direct interaction with aliens. The narrative centers on Roy Neary, portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss, an Indiana electrical repair engineer whose life spirals into obsession following his encounter with a UFO. This experience alienates him from his wife while drawing him closer to other individuals who have had similar encounters, particularly a single mother named Jillian and her young son.
The story culminates at Wyoming's Devil's Tower National Monument, where Neary and Jillian witness a climactic meeting with the aliens. Notably, the film features a cameo by J. Allen Hynek himself, illustrating the real-life context of UFO research. "Close Encounters" was praised for its groundbreaking special effects and won two Academy Awards, distinguishing itself in cinematic history. Unlike traditional alien invasion films, it presents the aliens as benevolent beings, suggesting that humanity's true antagonists are its own fears and suspicions. This empathetic portrayal of extraterrestrials contributed to a cultural shift in how aliens are represented in media, paving the way for more humanized narratives in later works, such as Spielberg's "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial."
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Subject Terms
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film)
Identification Science-fiction film
Close Encounters of the Third Kind diverged from typical science-fiction fare both by depicting aliens as benevolent creatures and by using state-of-the-art special effects.
Date Released in 1977
Director Steven Spielberg
Key Figures
Steven Spielberg (1946- ), film director
The title of Steven Spielberg’s third theatrical release of the decade refers to the third of physicistJ. Allen Hynek’s three categories of alien contact: sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO), sighting of a UFO with physical trace evidence, and contact with extraterrestrial beings. After rejecting Paul Scharder’s first draft of the proposed script, Spielberg opted for an auteur approach to the project, developing his film’s storyboard from two notable incidents in UFO lore: the harrowing night encounter of a Hopkinsville, Kentucky, farm family with a group of space creatures in August, 1955, and the rumored landing of a UFO at Holliman Air Force Base in 1962.
The film portrays the experiences of Everyman character Roy Neary (played by Richard Dreyfuss ), an Indiana electrical repair engineer who develops bizarre and obsessive behaviors following his encounter with a UFO. His wife (Teri Garr) becomes increasingly estranged from her husband while Roy is simultaneously drawn to other contacted individuals, particularly Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon), a single mother, and her five-year-old son, Barry (Cary Guffey).
Roy and Jillian’s visions eventually lead them to Wyoming, where they witness a climactic rendezvous with the aliens at Devil’s Tower National Monument. Spielberg cast acclaimed French film director François Truffaut in the role of the cooly enigmatic scientist Claude Lacombe, who provides an effective foil to the nervous intensity of Dreyfuss’s character. The late Hynek, who once debunked UFOs as swamp gas but later became an advocate for UFO research, also appears in a cameo during the finale, his trademark pipe in hand.
From a purely dramatic standpoint, the film is somewhat weak. The dramatic tension is undercut early on by anticlimactic scenes—for example, an air-traffic control sequence—and heavy-handed self-parody—for example, the Johnny Mathis song “Chances Are” playing during the abduction sequence. Dreyfuss succinctly characterized his experience of acting in the film as endless staring in mock amazement at empty space, since most of the optical effects were added later during the editing process.
Impact
Close Encountersof the Third Kind received two Academy Awards, for Cinematography and Sound Effects Editing, and critical response to the film emphasized its achievement as establishing a new benchmark in state-of-the-art special effects, in this case provided by Industrial Light and Magic.
The film’s finale reveals the aliens to be benevolent creatures whose actions have been misinterpreted as hostile. As such, Close Encountersof the Third Kind diverges from the usual “invasion from space” film by suggesting that the real adversaries are humankind’s own suspicions and aggressive nature. The empathic portrayal of alien-as-misunderstood-other emerged in the mid-1960’s, especially in such television series as the original Outer Limits. It is in this respect that Close Encountersof the Third Kind and Spielberg’s later film E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982) are cited as further humanizing the idea of extraterrestrial beings.
Bibliography
Halliwell, Leslie. Halliwell’s Who’s Who in the Movies. New York: HarperResource, 2003.
Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide. New York: Signet, 2004.
Sinyard, Neil. The Films of Steven Spielberg. London: Bison Books, 1986.