The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

84 Brian Herzlinger
during the scene where Elliott gets drunk and E.T. gets drunk. They were
able to patch it together so that the movie picked up five minutes later. But
here’s the amazing thing: I had no idea that scene existed until the rerelease
in like ’85.
I had to special-order E.T. on Betamax. I remember just bawling my eyes
out when E.T. got sick. I couldn’t get over it; it was just detrimental to my
development as a child. I couldn’t even look at the screen when he’s all ashwhite
and reaching out for Elliott to help him, and Elliott’s mother, played
by Dee Wallace, is just doing her job as a mom to keep her kid safe, and all
Elliott’s doing is reaching back to E.T.
E.T., much like he was in the very beginning of the movie, is alone. And
when he dies . . . at that point, I don’t think I’d ever experienced death in
my family. And it was crushing, absolutely crushing. But as crushing as that
moment was—the moment when his heart comes alive and he says, “E.T.
phone home,” and the perfect John Williams score kicks in—the devastation
was matched and exceeded by elation of that moment.
How did this film specifically change your life?
Herzlinger: Well, what Empire Strikes Back did for me was open up the
world of movies and the movie theater. What E.T. did for me was open up
the world of what movies can do to you as a viewer.
You hear all filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and
Francis Ford Coppola talking about the movies that inspired them as a
child, and they’re talking about Michelangelo Antonioni, they’re talking
about John Ford, John Huston. Those are the movies growing up. And
the first movie that Spielberg saw in the theater was The Greatest Show on
Earth, the Cecil B. DeMille movie. His father told him he was taking him
to a circus. And it blew him away. For me, E.T. is my Greatest Show on
Earth. Those were the movies that were coming out at the time that were
aimed at my age group. E.T. is the exception because it transcended children.
It has universal themes, universal appeal. Adults and children alike
were sobbing when he died and rejoicing when he lived. Again, having
the lump in their throats during the entire act three, culminating when he
says, “I’ll be right here,” hugs Elliott, and says good-bye. I get choked up
talking about it!