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E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial
E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial isn’t about an extra-terrestrial at all. It is about the experience of being a child. If Wim Wender’s Wings of Desire concerns itself with understanding happiness, joy, innocence, wonder, excitement, sorrow, death, and fear all through the eyes of celestial beings, Steven Speilberg’s E.T. is about experiencing all of those things as a child. It has less in common with other alien movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Cocoon and more in common with coming-of-age films like Stand by Me and, more specifically, Where the Red Fern Grows. It also happens to be better than any of the above films in terms imagination, excitement, and capturing life through a child’s eyes. Not to say that our favorite benevolent alien is merely a plot device for the children in the story. Quite the opposite—he is a childlike just as much as his young human friend Elliott (Henry Thomas), experiencing life on this globe for the first time with the same wide eyes and curious spirit that his grade-school friend experiences him. This film is about such an experience; in this alien, Elliott is given an opportunity to act his age and to also learn valuable lessons about honesty, friendship, loss, and saying goodbye. I have likened the film to Where the Red Fern Grows, and this is an absolutely fair comparison; however, whereas WtRFG was about a boy and his two dogs, E.T. concerns a boy becoming friends with a lost safari member of intergalactic space explorers, left stranded on Earth when their scientific trip into the forest in interrupted by a group of scientists led by the good-intentioned Keys (Peter Coyote). I would argue that E.T. has an edge over Where the Red Ferns Grow because of the way that we connect to Elliott’s new friend and see equally into his own innocent, curious soul. The little alien himself is a created out of a brilliant combination of puppetry and little people in rubber suits. There is never a point in the film when he looks anything less than a real, breathing creature, and his face manages to convey just as many emotions as a human being. Elliott earns the visitor’s trust by feeding him candy, and soon the little alien has taken up inhabitance in the boy’s bedroom. Delighted by his new pet, Elliott names the alien E.T. What follows is a story that will remind adult audience members of the simple joys of childhood and will equally thrill children with characters who they will surely liken to themselves. When we watch the pleasure that Elliott experiences in keeping his friend a secret and hiding him from his mother (Dee Wallace), we experience joy as well because we are reminded of our own experiences of sneaking puppies or kittens into our houses at a young age, hoping that our parents wouldn’t find out (I did that as a kid, at least). Yet when E.T. finally must return to the stars and Elliott must say goodbye, we also weep, because we remember what it is like to fathom a “good bye” at a young age. Director Steven Spielberg creates a film about being young, but he never does it in a way that is manipulative or overwrought. This is an honest film filled with honest characters, and there is never any point when the people who we are watching on screen are anything less than 100% sincere. The key success to E.T. is Spielberg’s a natural gift for understanding children, a knack that he displayed in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and would continue to demonstrate in films such as The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, and Schindler’s List. Here in particular, Spielberg showcases the natural ingenuity and intelligence that children have. He understands that kids aren’t dumb. Indeed, they are resourceful, witty, observant (“I don’t like his feet,” Elliott’s little sister notes) and capable not only of smuggling three-foot tall aliens right under their mothers’ noses, but also helping them build a beacon that will contact the mothership. By making such intelligent kids the main characters of his movie, Spielberg treats childhood with the utmost respect. We also must consider Henry Thomas as Elliott. For my money, this is the single greatest child performance ever filmed, because it requires a depth that most adult actors would gulp at. The whole film hinges on Elliott as he experiences life through knowing E.T. Within this relationship, Thomas must display a wide range of emotions, from fear to happiness to sadness. He plays Elliott completely straight and with total honesty, and never do we question that this child is really looking at a real-life alien. In my review of Labyrinth, I complained that the main child actress never seems to overcome the fact in her own mind that she is working on a soundstage with puppets. On the other hand, when Thomas looks into E.T.’s eyes, he is looking at his best friend. There is a point later on in the film when Elliott believes that E.T. is dead, and he must say goodbye to his alien friend. If you do not weep with the child in this scene, I speculate that you need to be visited by your friendly neighborhood Christmas ghosts. This moment deals with childhood loss so poignantly and with so much sincerity that it is simply impossible not to be moved. Yet Thomas’ performance is even more complicated than simply believing in and loving this alien. Elliott’s mother is single, her husband having recently left her. Thus, E.T. comes to represent a mentor missing in the boy’s life. Elliott is also the youngest son in the family, constantly under the attack of his brother (Robert MacNaughton) and his friends. E.T. is therefore Elliott’s means to find acceptance from his brother and his clique, who he will eventually lead in aiding E.T.’s escape. That Thomas is able to juggle these complex characteristics into Elliott is a complete miracle. We watch with our jaws dropped, not because we notice his amazing acting, but because he is so seamless that we can’t tell that he is acting at all. The film’s final act is pure cornball fantasy, as Elliott leads the neighborhood children in a daring rescue mission to save E.T. from the government. Certainly the idea of kids outrunning professional secret servant agents on bicycles is outlandish, but the film has earned the right to display this silly escapism because it only further enhances the childhood experience that Spielberg is striving to replicate. In this case, Elliott is able to live out fantasies that all children have: Being a leader, outrunning authorities, becoming a hero, and saving the day. Watching these scenes remind us why we loved our childhood, and why we admire our children today. In fact, the whole movie reminds us. Cast: Universal Pictures presents
an Amblin Entertainment production. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Written by Melissa Mathison. Rated PG, for intense sequences and
brief language. Running time: 115 minutes. Original United States
theatrical release date: June 11, 1982. Questions? Comments? E-mail me: danel_the_tinman@hotmail.com |
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