Having
defined what we now know as a blockbuster in Jaws, Steven Spielberg was starting to establish himself as a
bankable and talented director; a money machine for the studios. From 1977 to 1984 he would cement this
reputation and in doing so make a series of unforgettable films which defined
many a childhood. He also made 1941 but for the purposes of this,
we’ll pretend that didn’t happen.
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind was
a favourite of mine when I was a kid, but having watched it again as a 35
year-old kid, something has occurred to me: this is the strangest blockbuster
I’ve ever seen! A Richard Dreyfuss’ Roy
Neary sees a UFO and this leads him to have an epiphany/mental breakdown,
alienate (pun intended) and drive away his family by sculpting large mountains
in and around his house, before turning his back on his planet by leaving with
the aliens. In terms of narrative, it’s
pretty far from a classical structure; there is no villain or obstacle per se,
save the obstructive military; the hero,
a compelling, driven, obsessed character, is kind of a dick to his family and
we forgive him for it.
That said,
it’s a wonderfully constructed film with a brilliant performance from the
underrated Richard Dreyfuss. There are
classic Spielberg moments: the lights that float over Neary’s car instead of
driving around; the mashed potato sculpting; the lost aeroplanes in the desert;
that John Williams riff; the
mothership. From the oppressive chaos that
marks every scene with Neary’s family to the terrifying abduction of Melinda
Dillon’s son, Spielberg captures the feelings many of us cling to from our
childhoods: wishing that you could see an alien, and they would come to Earth
just for you.
I decided to
omit 1941 from my little Spielberg
project, because 1941 kind of sucks
and I don’t own a copy. It’s silly,
slapstick and farcical, and not in a good way.
Much better suited to the manic energy of stars Dan Ackroyd and John
Belushi than the visual imagination of the director.
Luckily, he
moved on and gave the world the gift that keeps on giving in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The 1930s setting has helped ensure that this
film simply does not get old. The hero,
too rough hewn and road worn to be a James Bond type but just as indefatigable
and resourceful, is just flawed enough to be real and could not have been cast more
perfectly (although was nearly played by Tom Selleck). The set pieces are still timeless and classic
after classic: the temple and boulder roll; the Tibetan bar fight; the Cairo
market; the Well of Souls escape (snakes…); the aeroplane fistfight; the truck
chase (my personal favourite); and the climactic Nazi melt. These are peppered with charm and imagination
and drive a juggernaut plot, with by the ultimate MacGuffin. Aside from Indy, it’s filled with great
supporting characters (Karen Allen’s tough Marian is still his best companion)
and fiendish villains (anyone who says they don’t want to punch Ronald Lacey’s
SS officer Toht is lying). Indiana Jones
is not so much a classic and classical cinematic hero, he’s a legend and his
first outing still feels like it was made yesterday.
By now
established as Hollywood’s go-to guy for blockbusters, Spielberg decided to
make something aimed squarely at the kids.
Developing ideas from Close
Encounters but instead of obsession, themes of friendship, family and
coming of age are the order of the day. 1982’s
E.T. is still incredibly sweet,
despite the world hardening around it for the ensuing 34 years. Yes, there are parts of it that haven’t aged
terribly well, such as the flying bikes, and the 2002 digital augmentation that
blights my copy looks like absolute crap, but E.T. is still steeped in the amazement and awe that have become Spielberg’
hallmark.
The
trademark broken family unit is at the forefront here, essential to Elliot’s
(Henry Thomas) relationship with E.T., who fills a gap in his life left by an
absent father. Dee Wallace is
brilliantly ineffectual as the mother, demonstrating how unnecessary authority
figures are to a world where only Elliott and his bond to the alien
matter. It’s a simple story, full of
plot holes and silly moments, but as an uncynical film about the joys of being
a child and desperately wanting to cling to it even as it flies away, it is
absolutely peerless.
With such
mileage in the character and following the huge success of Raiders, Indiana Jones was resurrected in 1984 for Temple Of Doom. Unlike today, sequels were not a given at the
time and films like Jaws, Back To The Future, Ghostbusters and Indiana
Jones started the trend that now blights cinema: almost any successful film
will be given a sequel.
It’s still a
cracking film but watched so soon after Raiders,
you can tell it’s not quite in the same class.
The ‘Anything Goes’ opening is Spielberg’s homage to classic Hollywood
musicals. Jones’ introduction, white tuxedo
and lady on his arm (kind of…), is pure James Bond, mixed with Jones’ slapdash
chaos. Temple is driven by another Macguffin, although much like the rest
of the film it’s not quite up to the standard of the first; magic rocks don’t
quite carry the same cache as the Ark of the Covenant. Setting the film a year before Raiders is also a strange move; while
the setting is too brief and inconsequential to really impact the film, with
hindsight, it takes away some of the edge.
That said, Temple gives some great peril, to the
point that the film is actually quite dark.
The plane crash escape, the spike-trap room, the attempted sacrifice of
Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw, more scream than character), the conveyor belt fist
fight, and the rope bridge escape. All
hugely memorable and loads of fun. It
also offers some of cinema’s great skin crawl moments with the infamous meal
and bug cave scenes. The supporting
characters also aren’t as strong as in Raiders,
with Mola Ram (Amrish Puri) looking cool and evil but not really doing much;
from an audience point of view, I suppose Thuggee cultists aren’t as scary as
Nazis. Willie Scott isn’t fit to polish
Marian Ravenwood’s medallion and becomes very grating as the film goes on.
Compared to
about 90% of other films, Temple Of Doom
is more fun, more exciting and just better. The only disadvantage is that it had to
follow Raiders Of The Lost Ark, which
is an impossible feat. Top men would
struggle. Top men.
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