E.T.

When I first saw E.T. I was a child. I didn't know about movie directors and I was probably only dimly aware that I lived in an apartheid state. That's how old this movie is (and how bloody old I am, I guess). But I understood it then, as I understand it now – its themes, the feeling I feel when I watch it - are almost identical 26 years later.

Steven Spielberg is a bit like Mozart. Many find the childlike apparent simplicity of his work – and its occasional bouts of kitschness – crass. But while all his movies may not be to your taste (hey, I detested Jurassic Park), here's what Spielberg's capable of doing: making great art with real mass appeal. The two can coexist, and in E.T. the joint forces of creativity and a sense of the mensch create overwhelming emotional power that survives despite huge flaws like an incredibly fake-looking rainbow, an ending that inspired countless similar nauseatingly kitsch "American movie" endings and a heavy-handed soundtrack from that demon of music hell, John Williams.

Great art must have more than one layer of meaning. E.T. is compulsively watchable, so skilfully created and so immediate that you need time, and distance, to see its mechanics and deeper meanings. What is apparently a film about a kid discovering an alien and befriending him is really about much more. At first, E.T. is frightening, but only really in the context of the actors' fears. We the audience already know that he's just a harmless alien botanist who got left behind by his ship while collecting plants in a forest. As we grow to love him, we do so because he fills a hole in the lives of characters we've come to love too: a family living in a ready-made home where the grass hasn't begun to grow yet, with the sadness of the absent father who's "with Sally in Mexico" despite the mother's bravery.

Elliot is just beginning to grow up, to try to fit in, and despite his premature wisdom, he's still also a regular American teenager who explains Earth to E.T. in terms of soft drinks, soldier toys and his fish tank, unwittingly telling him that the earth is an un-caring and dog-eat-dog (or shark-eat-fishies) environment. Like many in the film, this scene is both funny and gently disturbing.

Spielberg's connection with his actors is how he reaches his audience – and there's someone in the movie for everyone. When watching Spielberg, a kid, a girl, a boy, a grown-up or a grandmother will all understand the film, but they'll all understand it differently. All their interpretations and feelings will also be valid. Spielberg doesn't seek to puzzle or confuse you. He wants to please and entertain, but that doesn't mean he does it facetiously.

How do we become so involved with the actors – apart from through the sincerity of their portrayals? Spielberg knows the rules and works them hard. He takes us inside the kids' heads by keeping the world small and nuclear; never directly showing an adult's face, except that of Mary the mother, until near the end of the movie. Instead you see keys jangling from a belt, hands with torches and teachers giving instructions on dissecting frogs. He engages your compassion by taking this perspective even further – that unforgettable shot of the frogs jumping around a girl's shoes is framed at frog-height for a reason. When you see from E.T.'s perspective, which you do often, you'll realise that while we call E.T. an alien, E.T. calls us aliens, too.

E.T. is impeccably cast, with Drew Barrymore (Gertie) adorably funny, but never nauseating, and Elliot so completely immersed in his role that he takes you with him on his emotional journey.

Every kid dreams of discovering another world where they're really understood, of flying in a world where everything is controlled by adults and of heroically rescuing someone they love. Every kid has to learn to let go of someone they wish would stick around. As adults, we kid ourselves that there is no other world, that we're now in control or don't mind if we're not and that we don't need to rescue or be rescued. E.T. lets you experience a world full of the innocence of hope, and though you could refuse to immerse yourself, letting go is both heartbreaking and worthwhile.

As Spielberg explains as he directs child actor Henry Thomas (playing Elliot) in an on-set scene from the behind the scenes DVD: "It'll be sadder if it's happy-sad."

- Jean Barker

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Trivia
E.T. screenwriter Melissa Mathison babysat Lost in Translation writer/director Sophia Coppola and had two kids with then husband Harrison Ford – a son and daughter.

Working titles for the script included "A Boy's Life" and "E.T. and Me".

Sound artist John Roesch used a wet T-shirt crammed with jello to create the sound effect for E.T.'s feet doing their waddling walk.

Drew Barrymore was the first actor cast. Dee Wallace who played Mary the mother, was spotted playing a call girl. Henry Thomas was cast after an extensive search. His moving audition is one of the highlights of the DVD extras.

A planned sequel in which Elliot and pals are captured by evil aliens and try to contact E.T. for help was canned at treatment stage, because it would "rob E.T. of its virginity".

Spielberg has said many different things about what E.T. means. He has described it both as being about "tolerance" and about his parents' divorce.

In the 20th anniversary edition, the federal agents' guns were digitally replaced with walkie talkies, but that bloody rainbow was left in for some reason.

Best Quotes

Michael: Maybe it was an iguana.
Elliot: It was NO iguana.
Michael: You know how they say there are alligators in the sewers?
Gertie: Alligators in the sewers.
Mary: All we're trying to say is, maybe you just probably imagined it.
Elliot: I couldn't have imagined it!
Michael: Maybe it was a pervert or a deformed kid or something.
Gertie: A deformed kid.
Michael: Maybe an elf or a leprechaun?
Elliot: It was nothing like that, penis-breath!

Elliot: But, look, you can't tell. Not even Mom.
Gertie: Why not?
Elliot: Because grownups can't see him. Only little kids can see him.
Gertie: Give me a break!

Elliot: You must be dead, because I don't know how to feel. I can't feel anything anymore.

Elliot: How do you explain school to a higher intelligence?

Elliot: He's a man from outer space and we're taking him to his spaceship.
Greg: Well, can't he just beam up?
Elliot: This is REALITY, Greg.

Sources: IMDB.com, Wikipedia, 20th Anniversary DVD.