War of the Worlds
directed by Steven Spielberg
H.G. Wells' classic War of the Worlds is a book that has
been updated for radio, television and film in the past. Each time an update
is made, features of the present are brought into play, providing an emotional
subtext for the audience to latch onto.
The subtext of the story this time is terrorism and the backstory involves
a less than perfect father (Tom Cruise) trying to save his estranged son and
daughter from rampant forces of destruction. In some ways this is familiar
Spielberg territory. Dysfunctional families and aliens have featured in his
movies before, notably in ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Indeed,
there is a thread which runs through all Spielberg movies, starting even with
his first movie, Duel, which portrays an emasculated family man (Dennis Weaver)
engaged in a titanic struggle with a nameless, faceless, and irrational trucker.
If you haven't seen it, you should. What's even more interesting is to see
how ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind contrast with this new version
of War of the Worlds. In the earlier movies the alien encounters were friendly,
and possibilities for friendship and enlightenment existed. Times have changed.
The all pervasive gloom and doom of War of the Worlds is symptomatic of a
different sort of era, i.e. ours.
Just as so many of the classic 50's sci-fi movies were subliminally about
the cold war, so too is this one about terrorists, or “Tuursts”,
as our beloved leader calls them, which is not to be confused with “tourists”.
This is of course not to say that War of the Worlds is a mere allegory of
modern times. Spielberg does not belabor the parallels to terrorism, but builds
on them where he can. This movie speaks to the fears of irrational forces
which appear throughout history.
The story starts with a sweeping and breathtaking shot (presumably from
a helicopter) which seamlessly takes us down and into the cab of a dockside
crane operator (Cruise), perched high above the docks as he finishes his shift.
The view of the city is panoramic, and the camera work throughout the movie
is vintage Spielberg. From the outset Cruise is portrayed as a hard working
stevedore, in great demand by his boss, who begs him to come back in four
hours to pick up a little overtime, since he is the only operator who can
meet the demanding needs of the busy schedule. On the ground the camera tracks
Cruise as he walks briskly away from his pleading boss, smiling and waving
him off, as semis swoop noisily between the camera and the moving pair. Already,
the demands of work are pitted against the demands of family, as Cruise gets
in his car and drives home to meet his two kids, who are being dropped off
for the weekend by his former wife and her new beau.
The neighborhood Cruise lives in, and his house, are blue collar, and Spielberg
does a great job letting this setting do its work in lending authenticity
to the characters. The contrast between Cruise's house and his wife's new
house is indicative of the separation between the two worlds his children
now inhabit, and it becomes increasingly apparent that they do not miss their
old world at all. What is refreshing is that Spielberg avoids caricature,
so that when Cruise and his kids manage to escape the city and seek refuge
in the leafy suburbs where his wife now lives, we see an upscale house, but
not a “lifestyles of the rich and famous” sort of sketch. The
basement of his wife's new house is well lit, with expensive treadmills and
stair climbers, but is still unfinished, with ceiling joists showing and block
walls instead of plasterboard. These little touches lend authenticity to the
people, who might otherwise seem dwarfed and poorly drawn in comparison to
the amazing special effects.
There is very little I can say about the special effects which can do them
justice. Whole buildings are demolished, runaway trains speed by in flames,
cracks appear in the pavement and ripple through the city, a ferry overturns
and cars come tumbling down over the railings, landing on passengers in the
water, illuminated from below by other cars. And then there's the aliens.
Neat stuff - unremitting and loud. Do yourself a favor and see this movie
in a theater with a proper sound system. The alien tripods have a noise like
marble on steel, heavy and resonant, with a heart thumping insistence which
vibrates through and through. You can feel it in your solar plexus. This is
why people still pay to go see movies on the big screen. Dakota Fanning, it
turns out, also has the ability to frighten with ear-piercing screams that
just don't quit. And then there's the subtle noises, like the layerings of
distant dogs barking in the background, which you think maybe are coming from
the back alley outside, but are actually part of the soundtrack. Spielberg's
sound man definitely earns his keep.
Ultimately the movie is about redemption through hard work. Cruise portrays
a dad who has been unconnected throughout his children's lives. His love for
them has not been apparent, but is shown in the end through his perseverance
and determination. In the beginning the children are left to fend for themselves,
and Dad is given little respect. Gradually, he begins to act like a dad and
take charge.
At one point in the story the dad must plead with his son, who is motivated
by the impotent rage symptomatic of youth and certain politicians to join
the army and fight the aliens. He begs his son to stick with him and his daughter,
who is standing downhill, thirty yards away, next to a scrawny sapling, illuminated
by the intense firefight that is being conducted up at the crest of the hill.
The actual positioning of the characters is very gripping. Cruise must finally
choose between letting his son go uphill to fight or retreating downhill to
save his daughter: he can't have it both ways. There is a tendency for these
kids to wander off at precisely the worst moments, instead of sticking close
to family. This particular scene is the most emotionally charged of the movie,
and is made more powerful in the context of the war on terror.
Through his update of War of the Worlds Spielberg shows a prescient anticipation
of life as it is lived now, on an emotional level. Indeed, the failure of
the military to meet their recruitment goals is now blamed on parents, who
are the ones pleading with their sons and daughters not to go. Consequently,
the recruiters are now attempting to win the hearts and minds of the parents.
It's interesting to note that the military does not come off well in this
movie. Convoys pass by in sullen silence, splashing up huge puddles on pedestrians.
Officials arbitrarily pull up the gangplank on a ferry, leaving helpless civilians
to fend for themselves. Armies move up hills like toy soldiers to take their
positions, and individual faces never congeal out of the mass of movement.
This movie is not about Saving Private Ryan, but about Tom Cruise “Saving
My Kids”. Instead of focusing on global forces and armies, Spielberg
makes the movie meaningful by playing to a parent's intimate wish to protect
his children from harm.
The last scene is somewhat hokey, involving Tom Cruise holding Dakota Fanning
in his arms, delivering her safely to her mother, who is conveniently situated
in a house at the end of a cul de sac in an upscale Boston street. This shot
allows Tom to be seen full frontal as he approaches down the rubble strewn
street, face to face with his ex-wife. Tom is lit from behind as a new day
dawns, and there is much exchange of meaningful looks. But still, it's not
syrupy, and on the whole Spielberg gets it just right. War of the Worlds is
a technical tour de force with a beating heart and a functioning brain.