In order not to hear his parents arguing, young Steven Spielberg stuffed towels into the crack under his bedroom door. The father left the family when Steven was a teenager. As a director, he made broken relationships with the subject. Here it is an alien left behind on earth. His new boyfriend is Elliott (Henry Thomas), a child of divorce.
Before “ET” became the highest-grossing film of all time in 1982, “Star Wars”, “The Exorcist” or Spielberg’s “Jaws” were at the eternal top, crashing works in which blood flowed. “ET” was also a spectacle, including UFOs and a little magic – but primarily a family drama about homeless people that got by without violence.
“Phone home” is one of the best-known cinema quotes: It combines the longing of the extraterrestrial with his belief in the possibilities of earthly communication technology. We humans are not bad guys, that means, and give off a progressive image to the outside or above. There is give and take between human and alien, because ET is introduced into our rituals, assimilated. In the funniest scene, he has to walk the streets with disguised children on Halloween – and of course he doesn’t attract attention.
Steven Spielberg evokes the magic of childhood
The fans’ anger was justified because the director made digital changes in the 2002 Special Edition, the most striking of which was the replacement of his alien, suddenly animated by computer. It’s rare enough for directors to correct mistakes, but in the most recent editions, the beautiful cinema version is presented again.
It remains Spielberg’s greatest achievement that this ugly, pet-free potato gnome became the hero of countless children. And it’s the kids, suburban kids on BMX bikes, who save him from motorized government captors. Later, the cinema paid homage to such kids with the “Goonies”, then came J. J. Abrams with “Super 8”, and most recently, of course, the serial phenomenon “Stranger Things”.
The “ET” chase ends with a triumph of childish faith: Elliott closes his eyes, then he and his friend explode – riding their bikes over the heads of their pursuers. More than a punchline, this is ET’s gift to the boy: he lets him believe he’s a magician.