E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

USA
directed by: Steven Spielberg
written by: Melissa Mathison
starring: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Pat Welsh
seen on 24th January, 2019

I like a lot of the imagery, the fascination with night and woods in the night, and with the starry sky and the mysteries of the universe. I like how the three siblings cooperate and show affection for one another (instead of the usual movie siblings rivalry). I love the bizarre bordering on surreal scene of freeing the frogs at school. I generally like the idea of an extra-terrestial trapped on Earth but I'm not sure if the film ever moves past this idea into some kind of a functional story. 

And the rest of the film also raises a lot of eyebrows. Firstly, Henry Thomas. I'm not sure if I'd call him a talented child actor, but I'm also not sure whether he only seems to be so annoying because of the screenplay being so weird and the story completely stopping midway without making any effort to move forward. (Why are the "agents" presented as villains and why they are accused of "hurting and killing him" when the film never shows their intent to hurt him or any connection between E.T.s failing health and their arrival?) There is also a ton of mentions of the absent father for it to be just a "coincidence" but the film never develops this theme and it plays no part in the finale, just as the relationship between Elliot and the agent also simply fades away despite tha fact the the first half was about them seeking/avoiding each other and the agent implying he know something more than everybody else. The character of Elliot's mom also bothers me. The film-makers make an effort to show that she has no personal life apart from taking care of her children, but she still fails to notice that something shady happens right in front of her nose. John Williams made the music too cheerful even in the scary and dangerous parts. My childhood alien visitations looked absolutely different, that's what I'm trying to say.