CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

I saw this when it first came out but have resisted a rewatch until now on the grounds that watching Richard Dreyfuss playing around with mashed potatoes didn't hold a whole lot of appeal.  But then again there must be more to this film than that sequence, even if it's the one that has stuck in my head the most.

In the hands of a lesser director than Spielberg the opening scene wouldn't be much, just the discovery of some old World War II planes in the middle of an African desert, but in the hands of the master it is a dramatically effective opening, immediately establishing that mysterious things are afoot.  And it looks gorgeous too - the colour of that sky!

We soon then get introduced to the three major characters.  

There's François Truffaut as Claude Lacombe, a French government scientist in charge of UFO-related activities in the US.  It's Truffaut's only acting performance in an English language film, and his presence makes the film a little less US-centric, which seem only right in a film about (spoiler alert) an encounter with aliens.  

There's Richard Dreyfuss as Roy Neary, an electrical lineman in Indiana who after an encounter with UFOs becomes obsessed with an image of a mountain, to the detriment of his marriage. Steve McQueen was the first choice for the part, and try as I might I can't see how this would have worked. Dreyfuss brings a childlike sense of wonder to the role which seems just right which I can't see McQueen delivering.

And there's Melinda Dillon as Jillian Guiler, a single mother whose son gets kidnapped by the aliens, and who suffers from the same obsession as Roy.

The most striking aspect of the film for me was how gorgeous some of it looks, especially the early night-time sequences.  And all of the special effects are very impressive, even after nearly fifty years.

The scenes I enjoyed most come early on, when Roy and Jillian encounter UFOs.  The scene in which Jillian's son is taken away shows that Spielberg could have been a dab hand at directing horror if he had wanted to go in that direction.

As the film goes on I don't exactly get bored but the disintegration of Roy's marriage is hard going in places.

I was surprised at how long the final section of the film is, when Roy and Gillian and Lacombe, plus loads of boffins (nearly all white men let it be said) finally meet up with the mothership.  After all the build-up to this moment I came away a little underwhelmed although it's hard to see how else the film could satisfactorily end.