From Close Encounters to War of the Worlds
For those interested in a more detailed analysis: “War” is an apt companion piece to “Close Encounters.” Both movies are big, noisy, meticulously crafted adventures but they are vastly different in many significant ways.
Heroes
Both protagonists are white, young-to-middle age working-class males. “Close Encounters’ Roy is a low-level employee at a power system, which, literally and symbolically, breaks down; Ray is a dockworker. Roy is presumably happily married to (Teri Garr) and father to two wonderful children. In contrast, Ray is a divorce, irresponsible father who’s about to get his two kids for the weekend from his ex-wife now married to another men. Ray’s kids are older than Roy’s: Robbie is an adolescent, and Rachel is about 10.
Setting
“Close Encounters” is set in Indiana, but also includes foreign and exotic locales, such as Mongolia, Mexico, and India. “War” mostly takes place in a working class neighborhood in New Jersey, before moving onto Boston. The journey may be short in mileage but long in tension, intensity, and scares.
The Family
The family is central to both stories albeit in different ways. In “Close Encounters,” the family begins unified, but soon disintegrates when the father both deserts—and is deserted—by his clan. In contrast, when the story of “War” commences, the family is already broken. Though the exact reasons for their divorce are not specifically stated, we do know there was a class difference between the spouses that might have played a more significant role than either partner is willing to acknowledge. It’s established right away that Ray is an irresponsible and immature father, whose attitude toward his children and the sacredness of the family needs to change.
In both films, the hero provides the link between the world of the adult and that of the child. Roy is first seen in his cluttered living room playing with a train set, struggling with his son’s homework, and trying to persuade his children to see “Pinocchio.” Later, Roy is transformed inside the mother ship into an angelic alien star child, not unlike Pinocchio.
In both films, the home scenes emphasize the chaos and claustrophobia of modern adult life. Both families become the battleground for the forces of adulthood and extra-terrestrial childlike wonder. In “Close Encounters,” Roy drives his unresponsive family to the highway, attempting (in vain) to communicate his enthusiasm to them for the aliens; he keeps staring at the sky, choosing to remain in the world of pre-puberty.
Both Roy and Ray are immature. In “Close Encounters,” the wife can’t cope with her husband’s breakdown, which occurs in the shower, and she refuses to mother him; Roy’s son calls him a “crybaby.”
The family refuses to listen to Roy’s revelation and denies any affinity with the world of childhood. When they all desert him, Roy is left alone outside his house.
Approach and Meaning
Since Spielberg had such an optimistic view of the aliens, “Close Encounters” was not the cold panorama of spaceships, gadgetry, and special effects that most sci-fi films are.
“Close Encounters” represented a desire for authoritative guidance in a culture lost in the complexities and problems of that era. Everyman Roy yearns to escape the confines of his domestic and civilized prison so that he can return to a golden age of childlike responsibility, where all the decisions are made for him. In “Close Encounters,” the security offered by religion and domesticity is replaced by affinity with the world of childhood and belief in the magic of toys and Disney movies. There’s a sense of assurance in the alien revelation that strengthens Roy against his loss of employment and separation from family. In contrast, Everyman Ray begins as a child-like, irresponsible father, whose bright kids are more mature than he is.
Humans and Aliens
In “Close Encounters,” the aliens’ presence is conveyed by a child’s smile towards the unseen being. A tension is set up between the reactions of the adults and the child, and the resolution of the tension is by turning adults into children. By submitting to the alien presence, adults recapture the wonder and magic of lost childhood. Roy, the crowds, the cops, and even the investigators have a childish expression of adoration on their faces. In contrast, in “War,” Ray has been a lost child for too long, and he can’t rely anymore on outside help, let alone the aliens.
In “Close Encounters,” the communication with the aliens is more desirable, because it is based on musical notes and sign language-forms of universal communication. Language is an ideological weapon and it creates barriers among people.
In “Close Encounters,” a mother (Melinda Dillon) is separated from her child only to be reunited with him at the end. In “War,” Ray’s family is in constant threat of separation, and at various points, Robbie and Rachel are either lost or tempted to leave. In “Close Encounters,” Roy is singled out by the aliens and enters the ship alone. In “War,” no human enters the spaceships and their interiors are not seen. In the 1977 film, a contrast is drawn between the vast, empty, and tidy spaceship and the busy, messy, and claustrophobic interior of Roy’s home.
“Close Encounters” urges the viewers to believe that “we are not alone,” that there is no reason to fear the aliens because they represent a benevolent, well-meaning force. In “War,” the aliens are malicious and need to be destroyed for humankind to survive.
Though “War” is much darker and pessimistic than “Close Encounters,” its human message is more upbeat. In “Close Encounters,” Roy cannot achieve salvation or control his own destiny—he needs the interference of an outside force. In contrast, in “War,” Ray’s odyssey means achieving control, salvation, and redemption through the mastery of his own will.
