Encounters of tile profitable kind

Press, 2 March 1981, Page 12

Encounters of tile profitable kind

AT THE CINEMA

Hans Petrovic

THE CHANGELING Directed by Peter IWedak. Screenplay by William Gray and Diana Maddox. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND: THE SPECIAL EDITION. Directed and Written by : . Steven Spielberg., : <; ' -.i The Dawning of the'‘Age of Aquarius is. almost over : supposedly us closer to a time when our dealings with the other-worldly will becQme more accepted as a. part, of ■•everyday’ life. The film-makers; certainly have not been slow, in accepting this as a fact —- and cashing in on it. » This week, we have been treated to a reissue of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (Odeon), the very, successful flying-saucer "movie of a couple of years ago, with sufficient changes to justify this one being called “The Special Edition.” and the first of another spate, of supernatural films,’“The Changeling” (Savoy) dealing again with the haunted house and with its bumps in the night (which should serve as a nice intro-

; duction to next week’s release of Stanley Kubrick’s .“The ' Shining”). ■ ’ As a self-confessed fan of - horror movies (both the goodand not-s O-good), I could not i help but be pleasantly sur- : prised by “The Changeling.” I In other words, if you go for ■ this kind of' stuff, don’t miss ' iti. : ! i I expected a rehash of “The ' Amityville Horror,” “The Omen” and some of Brian de Palma’s work — which it is. But “The • Changeling,” with the authoritative h'elp of George C. Scott and a sound (very loud at times) plot,' deserves to be acknowledged a$ a damned good effort. The film has its. touches of class, with Scott as a modern composer lecturing at a Seattle campus, living in a grand old manor and with a lady horse rider and member of the historical society as his friend. , ./ Very good photography and the nicely-paced unfolding of the story mapage to keep the audience’s interest throughout-;. . All the required trappings of any self-respecting ' ghost story are there — including the big, deserted house, the hidden area behiqd a boarded ' up section of the place, the ! swinging chandelier which nearly crushes somebody, and the collapsing staircase dur- ’ ing the final moments of conflagration. 1 Not to be forgotten is the robust performance of Melvyn Douglas as a seemingly ■. fragile senator in the grass. • He was' last seen here' in 1 “Being There,” with ’ Peter > Sellers. I hope he can keep ; ingoing; for a good few years yet 1 With ; .“C!ose Encounters of : the Third Kind”’ however, ■ one wonders whether more ■ than good enough should be left alone, instead of : presenting the same thing ] again with only a few t changes and additions —- al- <

Though the box office response in America and England seems to have justified it. On its original release, I did find this film quite “fantastic,” and saw it a couple of times then.- But memory being’ less reliable than one likes to think, it is difficult to pinpoint the actual alterations, except for the, additions to the ending with its kaleidoscopic cathedral from ! the sky — this time, we are ! privileged enough to actually , step inside, for another spec- ■ tacular light show. I For those who wonder, ; the director (Steven Spiel- ; berg) has deleted 25 minutes from the original and includ- ' ed 20 minutes of material filmed then but not used and some new footage. Basically, ,the new stuff is that; which you see at the end, and a few other things: ■■ There is a short sequence of: a water-type ship wrecked in the middle of the Gobi Desert, spliced in during an. argument between Richard Dreyfuss and his wife about the shape -of U.F.O.s. He: It was like an ice-cream cone. She: What flavour? He: Orange. There is a night scene at Dreyfuss’s house, when he is found, in the. shower,. and manages to drive his wife and?. Kids , hysterical; replacing the scene •in., which he uprooted /‘his garden for things,’.with which - to . build his. yiSion of the - Devil’s Tower; •; There also seem .to; -be:'a few additions to the efforts by the French Scientist (Francois Truffaut) .for ■ plpse encounters of, they second kind. ,< , . ' And then there, is Disney’s tune, • “When .You Wish Upon a Star,”’which ! -cannot remember the other time, and which helps give this version more of the fairy-tale . feeling 'that some people ..seem associate with’the U'.F.OJphetidmena.', Spielberg’s explanation of the extended '(-ending-' r j .is: “What we; have, done i's' ;td take - Richard- Dreyfuss one step, further . But : the mystery still, exists in the Special Editibn.” ’Sb true. I am still' not sure what the ending is supposed to signify — except an excellent technical tour force. . .. , v , v ,