Close Encounters is really the story of Little Stevie Speilberg getting swept up from his ordinary life and into the exciting world of Hollywood. You gotta look deep into the subtext to see it though. He used Richard Dreyfus as his alter ego in Close Encounters and Jaws, and both movies feature elements of his own life and the excitement he experienced getting into Hollywood. I know, that's a lot to swallow. Guess I'd better start to back it up.
Note the UFOs are mainly seen as spectacular lights (lighting units). They bring an excitement and magic with their coming that wasn't there previously, and when the mother ship lands it resembles a stage with the scientists as an audience, and before the show really begins there's a symphonic warmup similar to what you would experience at one of the big movie palace theaters with an orchestra pit. Also note Roy Neary built miniature models, such as his model railroad setup, showing that his hobbies from childhood already resembled those of a special effects person, and with the coming of the UFOs (representing in a way Inspiration) he was struck obsessively with the creative bug, as were many others across the country, and they made the trek to the meeting point (Hollywood, city of bright lights). That creativity made him and the rest of the artists weirdos who became outcasts from ordinary society so their own families disowned them, leaving them free to travel to where those skills drew them.
In Jaws Captain Quint represented the old-school directors like John Ford or Howard Hawks, who came up through the school of hard knocks and learned everything on the job when there was no film school, and Dreyfus was the college educated city boy he made fun of incessantly (which the old school directors did when Speilberg's generation emerged from the first film school). All Dreyfus' equipment represented the newfangled special effects gear the old guys thought was ridiculous, but it ended up saving the day, just as Speilberg's generation saved the failing Hollywood studios, which were out of touch with the new post-60's generation of viewers.
When I found this clip I knew I was on to something:
He talks about the event that started his filmmaking obsession/carreer, and it involved a toy train setup. Just like the one Richard Dreyfuss had in the living room in Close Encounters.
I wish I could find the clip I saw long ago, an interview with Dreyfuss, where he specifically said he had played Speilberg's alter ego in three movies. Offhand I can only think of two he was in, Close Encounters and Jaws. Wonder what I'm missing? The original lead for Close Encounters was going to be Bob Balaban, who also is Jewish and resembles Speilberg to a large extent. Balaban is still in the movie, he plays the interpretor at the beginning. He also has a beard and wears glasses. But Dreyfuss said he convinced Speilberg that he (Dreyfus) had to play the lead, because he needs a guy who's a kid at heart. Speilberg realized he was right, and history was made. I agree, as much as I like Bob Balaban as an actor, and agree he does resemble Speilberg, he's too dry and academic to make the part as fun and exciting as Dreyfus made it. In the same interview Dreyfuss also said he and Speilberg both knew they were going to change Hollywood, to make a big impact on it. They were heady days for the young up-and-comers at that crucial time in movie history. The time when special effects-driven movies would take over.
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