E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

The emotional core of E.T. can be summed up in two words: “Come” – “Stay”. Also, thanks to the fact that it doesn’t say (or explain) more than is necessary, E.T., together with some of Truffaut's films, remains one of the most reliable ways to briefly relive one’s childhood. Spielberg’s most personal film (suburbs, divorce, loneliness, escaping into a world that adults don’t understand) works both as an intimate family drama and as a breathtaking sci-fi movie (when one genre level supports the other), thus reversing the situation known from numerous Cold War movies in the same genre (to which ET visually refers). ___ A visitor from outer space does not pose a danger to the traditional American family, but rather – in the spirit of optimism that prevailed in Reagan’s America – helps to balance a single-parent family by taking the place vacated by the father. In the first half of the film, the absence of a father figure is cleverly emphasised by the fact that we never see the face of an adult male (a scene with Harrison Ford as the school principal, with his back turned to the camera the whole time, was edited out). Thanks, however, to a highly conspicuous bunch of keys, we remember one man, who in the end is distinguished by having greater understanding than the other adults in the film (and of course it shouldn’t come as a surprise to us when we later learn that his name is Keys). ___ In relation to Elliot, Keys undergoes the same transformation as E.T. does, changing from a threat into a relatively kind being. However, it suffices for the boy to get to know him better and overcome his fear of the unknown resulting from insufficient information. Due to the fact that Elliot’s perspective dominates from the beginning (and thus there is no elevation above the world seen through the eyes of a child), the viewer is led to the same perception of Keys's role in the narrative. This is not the only timeless (and clearly increasingly relevant) message of a film calling for tolerance and defending the right of every being to their own home. ___ Like a significant number of Spielberg’s movies, E.T. thus basically does not have a classic antagonist. It mainly tells a story about a clash of two worlds (childhood and adulthood, faith and rationality) that are mutually incomprehensible, but not entirely incompatible. The very suggestive “colonisation” of Elliot's home by scientists in white spacesuits is an inevitable developmental phase on the path from childhood to adulthood. The home, symbolising previously carefree childhood, must undergo a transformation, just as Elliot did. Together with the main protagonist and with considerable support from Williams’s uplifting musical motif, which for me will forever be the music of childhood, we can again experience a childlike fascination with the unknown, our own emotional maturation and a touching farewell to that which was beyond the comprehension of adults. ___ For me, E.T. is proof that you can fully appreciate the best children’s films only as an adult. Only then will you probably realise that the final emotional tears of childhood were not and still are not merely a manifestation of your suppression of mistrust and succumbing to intense playing on emotions, but also of the director’s honest understanding of childhood and his mastery of storytelling with precisely timed gags, twists, changes of pace and careful guiding of the viewer’s attention. I’ll be glad to be convinced of that again in a couple of years. 90% (02/10/2018) (less) (more)