ET The Extra Terrestrial

I had bought a DVD of Steven Spielberg's "ET-The Extra Terrestrial" during my trip to Bangalore last weekend. Now, my wife, Anu, is not into English movies and falling asleep besides me or doing her chores while I watch one has become a sort of routine for her. I have been slowly trying to break this ever since our marriage and trying to induct her into the world of Hollywood cinema. What better way to do this than to show her one of the "best family films" ever made?

We were seeing the digitally remastered 20th anniversary edition of the movie and I could see from the corner of my eye that Anu was hooked. The antics of ET, little Drew Barrymore’s scream, the scene where ET walks about in the hall right under Elliot's mothers nose, the sensational cycle-flight scene were all being thoroughly enjoyed. Then came the gut wrenching scene where ET is pronounced dead. During the build up to this, I had told her jokingly that the movie would end once ET is dead. She was disappointed and said, "What a bad film!!!". And then Elliot sees the withered flowers coming back to life and ET says, "ET Phone Home" when Elliot opens the containment unit. Anu starts clapping and laughs. Once the movie ends, she gives me a hug.

That it is able to evocate such strong emotions even from a non enthusiast of cinema and that too nearly 30 years after its release is a testimony to the magic of ET. I must have seen it about 10 times but I still get goosebumps when ET and Elliot flies to the rousing score of John Williams and I cry during the farewell scene. Haven't we all, as adults, wished atleast once to go back to childhood? Childhood was a time of innocence, when life was simple, when "lifelong" friends were made because you liked them and not because they served some purpose, a time when all our complicated problems could be solved by our mothers. It makes an alien from outer space a welcome companion and a friend whom you would try to save even when faced with guns and not something dangerous that you want to experiment on with zero empathy. It is its ability to take us all back to a cherished period in time, that has made ET the great film that it is.