THE CONVERSATION: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at 40 – a meditation on loneliness, and Spielberg’s most exhilarating film

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E.T. is a movie with a heart. The special effects are minimal. What counts is the story, and the boy and his friend at its centre.

Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore as brother and sister Elliott and Gertie bring credibility and pathos to their roles, fitting seamlessly into the southern Californian ‘burb culture recreated so fondly by the director.

Spielberg’s grasp of childlike wonder is everywhere: notice how he shoots from the children’s eye level and shows adults only from the waist down., allowing Thomas and Barrymore time and space to improvise. The domestic and school scenes all feel more real because of this., Hollywood saw aliens as hostile critters intent on planetary carnage. The recent extra-terrestrials in Alien and The Thing had caused havoc and trauma.

E.T. is different: partly modelled on the facial features of Albert Einstein, it is inquisitive, thoughtful, funny. In the delightful Halloween scene, Elliott throws a white sheet over it as a disguise, and E.T. suddenly spots a child dressed up as Yoda, excitedly repeating “Home! Home!”. From this moment, Hollywood realised the marketing potential of “cute aliens”; whether Ewoks, Grogu or Toy Story’s “Little Green Men”. It is small wonder that Variety

 

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