Blogging By Cinema-light: Don't Make a Scene: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

The Story: Spielberg magic.

And it's not about Special Effects. In this scene from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the special effects are the basically static puppet and the hands of puppeteers playing his hands and a light at the end of his index finger—all practical effects done in the camera. Not exactly a budget buster.

No. The magic comes from Spielberg's knitting together a couple of plot of elements with a rich dose of thematic resonance. E.T.—the alien that Elliott has adopted and squirreled away in his bedroom away from adult supervision—has cobbled together pieces for a communication device, which Elliott drags into the closet so he can work on it. But, E.T. is more interested in what's going on in the room sharing his closet hideaway: single mother Mary (Dee Wallace) is reading Gertie a bedtime story—"Peter Pan," in fact (Spielberg would make his own version of a grown-up Pan with Hook, just a few films away and a couple episodes of "Amazing Stories" away)—probably Barrie's novel "Peter and Wendy."

While Elliott is gathering the bits and pieces, he cuts his finger on a saw-blade only to find that his alien charge has a power he doesn't yet know—healing.

Now, E.T. is an interesting creature-invention. It's hard to know WHAT he is, but one can see from the visuals and the rest of the story that he draws a life-force from his alien companions—part of the reason he wants to get back with them is that they sustain each other, accumulating plants (also living things) and nurturing and drawing on their "energy" (?) to live. It's why E.T. gloms onto Elliott, and why the two of them get weaker the longer they're with each other. This also manifests itself when E.T. gets drunk later in the movie and Elliott feels the ill-effects. When I'm being sardonic about the movie, I say that E.T. is basically a space-leech, sucking the life out of Elliott and only when the boy's life is threatened, does E.T. sacrifice himself and cuts the bond, dying in the process.

But, E.T. also gives off that energy—it's what heals Elliott's finger and, later, revives a plant that had previously wilted in his presence. It's a measure of self-sacrifice that is at the glowing heart of the film, and what teaches the rather selfish Elliott to let go of the bitterness resulting from his parents' divorce and care-take his lost-in-the-woods alien friend. It teaches him maturity and allows him to be the empathic little man who will have the strength to eventually let his friend go.

But, that's getting ahead in the film. For now, all he knows is that he's helping, while in the background, another sacrificial scene—the altruistic Tinkerbell drinking the poison meant for Peter Pan, and her revival by the efforts of the mute witnesses to express their belief in fairies—is narrating in whispers things he does not yet understand, but his experiences with E.T. will force him to appreciate and emulate.

Yeah, there's a lot of amazing things going on in the film—things to stimulate the heart and the tear-ducts. But, this quiet little scene with its layers of perspective and echoes of teaching lessons reaches—at least in me, anyway—something in the soul, beyond clever mise-en-scene and technical achievements, and the usual things we associate with Spielberg, the things in the highlight reels and the click-bait.

But, this sort of scene is where the true Spielberg magic is.

The Set-Up: The child of a divorced parent, Elliott (Henry Thomas) has stumbled upon an alien being, abandoned by his exploratory party. He decides to bring the creature into his house, hiding him in his bedroom.

Action.

A note on the scene break-down: the direction portions come from a source that I can't be sure is close to the screenplay (which I've never read). From what I understand, Mathison's screenplay was a bit loose (like this) and she worked on-set with the child-actors for ideas and dialogue, which was Spielberg's preference, as he wanted to make the kids feel more like "real kids"— not strictly scripted but mildly chaotic, as is more like life.

INT: GERTIE'S ROOM: NIGHT Mary lies in bed next to Gertie as she reads her the Peter Pan story.

MARY: "Peter says, 'The Redskins were defeated? "'Wendy and the boys captured by the pirates? "'I'll rescue her. I'll rescue her.'

E.T. watches them from the closet.

MARY: "He leaps, first at his dagger...

MARY: "...then at his grindstone to sharpen it."

MARY: "But Tink rings out a warning cry."

MARY: "'Oh, that is just my medicine.'"

MARY: "She says, 'Poisoned? "'Who could've poisoned it?'"

MARY: "'I promised Wendy to take it and I will,...'"

Elliott comes into the closet, stands next to E.T., then closes the door behind them.

MARY: "'...as soon as I have sharpened my dagger.'

MARY: "Tink, who sees its red color..."

MARY: "...and remembers the red..."

MARY: "...in the pirate's eye..."

MARY: "...nobly..."

MARY: "...swallows the draft..."

MARY: "...as Peter's hand..."

MARY: "...is reaching for it"
Elliott pulls E.T. away from the door, then shifts through a box of items that he brought up from the garage.
MARY: "'Why, Tink, you have..."