E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released on June 11, 1982. The film won many awards, including 4 Oscars, and I can see exactly why.
The enchanting and loving story about a boy befriending an alien is truely one that warms the heart. It begins with the mysterious landing of a UFO visiting earth, which all of the sudden becomes disturbed by a human encounter. All of the aliens are forced to get back on the spacecraft and travel back to their home planet, but they forget something. One of their own. Not knowing what to do, the alien finds his way into a ball shed of a random backyard, but the backyard he wanders into doesn't turn out to be quite so random. It is the home of Elliot Thomas. Elliot is a pretty normal boy growing up with the battles of a single mother and two siblings, but the discovery of the alien, that he eventually names E.T., turns his world upside down.

The performances of all characters (including E.T.) are great. Even though Henry Thomas, who plays Elliot, is so young, he carried the entire film. His ability to pull off the curiosity of a young boy, but also the maturity of an adult was impressive. I read somewhere that Henry Thomas used the day his dog died to help him express sadness during the audition for the part, which in turn made Steven Spielberg himself cry, resulting in Spielberg to hire him on the spot.
The movie called for a somewhat psychological and very physical connection between the character of Elliot and E.T., meaning that Elliot had to act and react the same as an alien. This sounds like a difficult task but Henry Thomas makes you forget that he is even acting. It seems almost real and gives a very humorous flavor to the film. The film also includes another young actor which many would not recognize, but almost all have heard of. Drew Barrymore plays the role of Gerty, Elliot's younger sister. She also gives an enchanting performance that really makes you feel attached to the family and gives you the hope for a happy ending.

Not only did E.T. The Extra Terrestrial have a great plot and great actors, the cinematography was a delight as well. Now that I have taken the basics about Art Of Film, I found myself really noticing the aspects of good filmmaking. Steven Spielberg uses many different types of camera angles, Extreme long shots showing the cityscape, medium long shots showing distance between characters, and close-ups to focus on the emotions of the characters. There was one part that I keep thinking of that I thought showed a lot of artistic cinematography. It was when Elliot finally sees E.T. for the first time and his scream is stretched out between 4 or 5 of the same shot from different angles at a very quick pace. I thought this made it really interesting and gave you a little bit of a rush and alertness since the shots were coming at you so quickly with a scream to back it up.

Well, I obviously have a strong love for this movie and I would recommend it to anyone because it can really connect with everyone on some sort of level. Thanks!