At the Spielberg seminar, we spent (of course) quite a bit of time on Close Encounters. Spielberg told the story of the meteor shower (in Part 1), and also said that it had always been his dream, or fantasy, or deepest hope – whatever – that whenever there was some kind of “close encounter” between the human race and another race – that it would be a benign meeting. That was the entire point of the film, really – and why I think it works so well – it taps into something primal, something deeply felt and is “the substance of things wished for”. I mean, sure Independence Day is fun and all (and hello, I cannot wait for War of the Worlds) – but there is a deeper and more childlike part of all of us, the part that stares up at the sky and wonders what is up there – that treats what is unknown as a curiosity, not as a threat. That’s one of the main impressions I get from the wondrous faces of all the scientists (led by Truffaut!) in that last scene. What is coming out of that ship might kill them, might vaporize them – it is completely unknown. And yet they deal with their fear not by blowing the unknown aliens away, but standing there, watching, agog. It’s very moving. This was what Spielberg set out to portray.
He talked about working with John Williams, the composer, and how he wanted the music in Close Encoutners to be another character. Equal to the lead actors. Not music that is added on, not mood music – but a CHARACTER. In only one other film (Jaws) does music in a Spielberg film take on such a life of its own.
Spielberg said that, for whatever reason, he wanted it to be 5 notes. (If you haven’t seen Close Encounters, then there is absolutely no hope for you. See snob post .) He kept saying that to Williams: “It needs to be 5 notes. It needs to be 5 notes.” (This is what I mean when I say that alongside the pragmatic moviemaking craftsman, is this childlike imagination. Why 5 notes? He didn’t question it or second-guess it. It WAS 5 notes.)
Williams said, “Couldn’t it be 7 notes? Something a bit longer?”
Spielberg said he just knew in his gut that it had to be 5 notes, and not 7. He said something like, “I just felt like 5 notes would be much more like a HELLO. And 7 notes would suddenly sound like a melody. I didn’t want a melody. I wanted a greeting.”
Williams came up with the 5 notes that we all can hum at any moment. Hum it right now! I know you can!!
Williams and Spielberg spent months in the recording studio (before they even started shooting – which is a reversal of the normal process) coming up with the musical communication between the mother-ship and the scientists. The growing complexity, the same underlying theme … They both knew that it needed to progress: from the equivalent of toddler’s blunt speech to a far more sophisticated level of language.
Spielberg’s vision, dream – was that the people most equipped to deal with such a close encounter – were the scientists, the dreamers, the ones who could try to get on the wavelength of the aliens – as opposed to try to dominate them. It was the scientists who could do this.
In the beginning of the seminar at my school, Spielberg talked about his childhood, of course. His parents divorced when he was a kid, which was a wrenching change for him – but up until then, he had a very happy time. His mother was a concert pianist, and his father was a computer scientist.
During the conversation about Close Encounters, my cheese-ball Dean of the Program (Lipton) made an observation – something which took Spielberg completely by surprise. I still remember the goosebumps rising up on my arm. To see someone realize something about his work … something that he didn’t even know was there …
Cheeseball said to him, “It occurred to me the last time I watched this film – as I was doing research for tonight – Your mother was a musician. Your father was a computer scientist. And how do the scientists communicate with the spaceship? Through music made on their computers.”
I have this seminar on tape – so I can see in close-up what I was only able to sense in the room at the time. You can see this observation land. It lands – and then he recovers for a second, grinning, “You know, I would love to say that that was all conscious, and that I planned that – but honestly – I had no idea … until this very moment …!”
The subconscious at work. Amazing. Everyone started laughing, because Spielberg was laughing – but he said to Lipton afterwards: “Thank you so much for that observation. Thank you so much. I had no idea that that’s what I was trying to get at. I had no idea. Thank you.”
GREAT Close Encouters story, Sheila.
Oh.. and “Hum it right now!”? I already was :)
Ha!!!
Considering how short his screen time actually is, Truffaut gives an astonishingly powerful performance.
Totally, right? I completely believed every second of his performance. Him staring up at “the ship” – and of course THERE’S NOTHING THERE, in reality.
I liked the scene in India, too, when all the fingers point up!
Yup. Totally.. when he’s interviewing Richard Dreyfuss’ character.. it’s like.. OK, another one to get through. And then something clicks..
And in that pointing crowd scene, doesn’t he ask where the boat(?) came from?
Okay, you can all shoot me if you want, but I always disliked the last scene. I found it all a little silly, and grossly overwrought. The ship is spectacularly overlit and oversized. The looks on the faces are, indeed, childlike, but asinine in some ways. I could go on, but you get the idea. I usually buy into this kind of sentimentality, but I didn’t in this movie. Didn’t want to be a downer, but thought I would voice a dissenting view. I still liked the movie, but the last scene lessened its impact for me. It might be Spielberg. Unlike anyone else I know, I didn’t like E.T. that much. I want to stress that I am not one of those people who is a contrarian about everything. It is really out of character for me to dislike movies most people find charming, but I found the sentimentality in both of those movies blatantly manipulative and excessive. Sheila, you can delete this if you want–as if I need to tell you that.
Delete you? You, DBW? Never! I would only have deleted you if you said:
“God, HOW COULD YOU LIKE THAT MOVIE? I hated it! Only idiots like that movie.” Because comments like that are a total drag, and hijack everyone else’s happiness.
I suppose I enjoy the asinine wonder of the last scene. Perhaps that’s what it is. I’ve got a ton of asinine wonder myself! I would have been standing there with Truffaut staring at the ship with that same expression on myself. No doubt about it.
And this isn’t really a post defending the last scene, really.
I just wanted to share the story of Spielberg’s realization, right in front of us – that he had actually been working out some issues he had with his parents splitting up and not being able to communicate with one another anymore in that last scene of the movie.
I wonder if I would buy some of the stuff I love if I saw it now for the first time insted of when I was eight or thirteen years old, like I was for “Close Encounters” and “E.T.”
Actually, I probably still would.
red, that interview tape wasn’t part of the bundle we got, was it? I’d like to get a copy of that.
“I just wanted to share the story of Spielberg’s realization, right in front of us..”
Which is, arguably where Truffaut comes in.. with the preparation needed, from his character’s point of veiw, between the initial scenes, with the 5 notes, and the final scenes when the computers take over.. all of which takes place beyond where the director allows the camera to look.
If you don’t own this already, I cannot recommend it enough. The second disc is one of the best “extra features” discs ever made. Full of tidbit after tidbit, and has what I’d have to say is THE funniest filmmaking story I have ever heard. (It’s about one of Spielberg’s original ideas for the special effects for the aliens that worked out badly.)
I’m watching the part of the documentary right now about the casting. Spielberg almost got Steve McQueen for the lead role.
Red, I remember that moment when cheeseball made the connection and Spielberg had a flash of grokking. Amazing! I’ve gotta see that again and look for you in the audience. You need to start asking some of those brilliant, look-at-me questions people ask!!
Stevie … HA! I only asked questions of two people: Olympia Dukakis and Faye Dunaway and neither made it on TV. Not stupid enough, I guess.
If you want to see many closeups of my ridiculous face, make sure you catch the Tommy Lee Jones one. I am wearing a black beret, and there are about 5 reaction shots of me in the audience. An ex-boyfriend of mine called me upon seeing it and said, “Are you dating a cameraman or something?”
popskull: Yeah, I taped it when it aired on TV. I have it on VHS. They actually play it often – if you check the Bravo website for the show, you can see when it will air.