Close Encounters of the Third Kind begins with a request for an interpreter. Spielberg’s third film (in this case also acting as screenwriter, drawing on a childhood memory) is also the first truly Spielbergian film, in that the themes that would become central to his cinema are clearly in evidence, as is his ability to influence the collective imaginary and to shoot “scenes of daily life with a slightly fantastic feel, and to render fantastic scenes as ordinary as possible”. The words belong to Francois Truffaut, who plays the scientist Lacombe in the film. He was the one who required an interpreter, since in real life he spoke little English (without his companion Helen Scott acting as an intermediary, we would never have had Hitchcock/Truffaut). Communication is the central problem in the film, the story of a child’s dream that comes true only once they are too grown up to accept that it might have been real all along. It does not require much: blinding light through a keyhole, an empty fridge, the screws of an air-conditioning grate loosening in the sunlight. In short, the magic of cinema – a suspense machine used in the most powerfully spectacular way – is sufficient to make it concrete. And somewhat terrifying. Again, however, it is also a question of age, for if the adults in the film – or we spectators – are very scared, little fiveyear- old Barry is willing to walk towards the lights that come from the sky. According to Pocket Money, which Truffaut had just finished shooting in 1976: “Children are resistant… they have tough skins.” The statement is also applicable to Spielberg’s cinema, and the fact that this was Truffaut’s only experience as an actor outside his own films (excluding walk-on roles in the Young Turks’ early debut shorts) confirms the symbiosis between the two auteurs. Richard Dreyfuss’ Roy must give up being an adult and embrace his inner child and irrational self, upsetting the family equilibrium (memo to critics: reread Spielberg’s filmography in the light of The Fabelmans) in order to get close to the UFOs and accept the revelation of their existence. Is Close Encounters a film about faith? Certainly, it is a film about having faith in the Other, even when there are good reasons to be afraid. The five notes devised by Lacombe to create a channel of communication are sufficient: you just have to want and know how to listen. A beautiful dream to believe in, these days.

Gianluca De Santis