This part of the summer series Blesku will probably appeal mainly to today’s forty-somethings and their parents, who in the mid-1980s took them in droves to Czechoslovak cinemas to see a small miracle – an American-produced film. In our country, we believed in miracles thanks to the stories of Arabela (1980), Three Veterans (1983), or The Devils Are Not Jokes (1984). Next to them appeared the icons Sun, hay, strawberries (1983), …and a couple of faces (1989), Vrchní, prchni! (1980), Snow Whites and Moss (1982), Disco Story (1987), Bony and Peace (1987) and many others, including comedy of the century I enjoy the world with you (1982). Things were freer and so the time came to introduce the story of another movie superstar Steven Spielberg (77) started spinning already after his parents divorced in 1960. He filled the place of the missing sibling with an imaginary alien companion whom the others also saw 22 years later.
In world cinemas, audiences enjoyed the first Police Academy (1984), learned the steps of Sinful Dance (1987) or Flashdance (1983), Dustin Hoffman (86) dressed Tootsie (1982), while Tom Cruise (62) joined the unit Top Gun (1986), only for the two actors to find their way together in the film Rain Man (1988). Even the next Star Wars (1980 and 1983) did not catch up with the birth of Sopielberg’s friend, who in 1982 became ET – Extraterrestrial. “I don’t think anything in the film comes out of the blue. Creative people are all the work of the sum of the impressions of their earliest memories,” confirmed Spielberg’s inspiration in his own childhood.
For her, the producers reached into their pockets for 10.5 million dollars. For the film’s earnings, they were already running wild, it grossed 792.9 million dollars! At the beginning, no one even dreamed that the work would see a renewed premiere not only in 1985, but also to celebrate the 20th anniversary again in 2002. The film already presented supplemented edited shots, improved visual effects and new scenes. So he was last in IMAX theaters on August 12, 2022, 40 years after the premiere. Who was that little creature from space anyway?what brought the whole world to its knees?
“A venerable burgher and a veteran who was a few dozen, even a hundred years old. A space botanist from the planet Brodo Asogi, three million light-years from home, researching flora on intergalactic journeys.’ This is how writer William Kotzwinkle (81) approached the character of ET in the book form of the film. Three years after the premiere, he also wrote ET: The Book of the Green Planet, in which ET finds out how much has changed there after returning home. She continues to follow Elliott and his adolescence until she decides to return to Earth to see him, breaking all the laws of her planet in the process. Both Spielberg and Elliott’s actor Henry Thomas (52) rejected the film sequel. “It wouldn’t do anything but steal the original!” said the director. “I hope there’s never a sequel,” Thomas seconded. But – never say never. Both Thomas and ET reunited on November 28, 2019!
Although it was not a full-length film, it was a several-minute story called Holiday Reunion. It was created by the telecommunications company Xfinity as an advertisement for its services, and it again scored well with all viewers. In it, ET returns to Earth to experience the winter holidays and the festive moments of Christmas with an adult Elliott and his family. We will also see the alien’s family and also a lot of details referring to the original film. Director Lance Acord, 59, used an ET puppet during the production to get more realistic performances from the actors, just as Spielberg did in 1982.
“You know the saying: never work with children and animals? It was a joy for me, they added an authentic and felt dimension to the story,” he said. “It’s actually a film about loneliness, the importance of friendship and the innocence of childhood,” he described the story, which, mixed with groundbreaking visual effects, turned into a powerful and enduring piece of cinema with a permanent place in pop culture gems. There were enough children in it. They became companions of a space explorer who misses the departure of his ship from an exploration in the forest near Los Angeles, and then meets 10-year-old Elliott, his older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton, 57) and younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore, 49).
It was this then seven-year-old celebrity who drank down the cup of bitterness associated with the climb to the top, steep falls, drug affairs and the dark side of Hollywood. Fortunately for her and the audience, Drew eventually managed everything and returned to the limelight. Even thanks to the fact that Spielberg unusually shot the film as the real story unfolds and not a flashback, she believed that ET was real. “I remember we were waiting on the set and it was quite cold. And I asked the costume designer if she would give him a scarf so he wouldn’t catch a cold,” she recalls to this day. “He was also my first imaginary friend. The deep bond between him and me has resonated throughout my life,” Barrymore said.
Millions of adults today remember the moments when Gertie puts on the ET blonde wig and hat. As he drunkenly stumbles around his hosts’ house, tipsy, he thinks of Elliott rescuing frogs (and a classmate). When a bunch of guys on bikes will fly high into the clouds thanks to him. When he looks longingly at the night sky and says: “ET call home!” The message is even on the 15th place in the ranking of the 100 best quotes from American cinema.
Watch the trailer for the film and the return of ET in 2019:
It was spoken by actress Pat Welsh (†79), someone like the American version Jiřina Bohdalová (93), also known for her unmistakable husky voice, caused by her heavy smoking. She worked mainly in radio, made only three films and was seen in only one. But she had, for example, a successful gardening show. However, she then said “ET phone home” and became immortal. In our case, Stanislav Fišer repeated the sentence in three dubbing versions (†90, year 1984), Bohuslav Kalva (84, year 1993) and Gustav Bubník (62, year 2002). The beloved alien may now be collecting loot somewhere, we will not go after him, but to the stormy 90s. See you next time.
2024-08-24 15:44:45
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