In Close Encounters, humanity makes contact with alien lifeColumbia/Kobal/Shutterstock
“IF YOU believe, it’s science fact; if you don’t believe, it’s science fiction. I’m an agnostic between the two beliefs, so for me it’s science speculation.”
These were Steven Spielberg’s words in 1977, regarding one of his greatest cinematic achievements: Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In its “science speculation”, it is perhaps the perfect UFO film – brimming with wonder and spirituality, but with one foot firmly on the ground. There’s never a bad time to watch it, but with the release of Spielberg’s new film Disclosure Day this month – a conspiracy thriller about a whistleblower who is trying to share proof of alien life with all of humanity – it is now essential companion viewing.
Close Encounters follows another dogged everyman in pursuit of the truth, but under very different circumstances. Electrical lineworker Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) leads an unsatisfying life in Muncie, Indiana, with his wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) and their two sons. Though their home isn’t without love and affection, it is also full of the noise and resentments that turn happy families into unhappy ones.
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