In the night skies over Indiana, working-class power repairman Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) has an extraordinary encounter with a strange spacecraft while out on a repair call. Recurring visions of a mountain fuel an increasing obsession that drives him to an emotional breaking point, and a painful break with his wife (Teri Garr) and family. Desperate to understand what he has experienced, he finds an ally in Jillian Guiller (Melinda Dillon), a single mother who believes her son has been abducted by extra-terrestrials. Meanwhile an international group of scientists led by French linguistics expert Claude Lacombe (François Truffaut) search for a breakthrough in human-alien communication. Their collective, global quest culminates in a remote Wyoming rendezvous and an event of unequalled importance in all of human history, an event where we finally discover that we are not alone in the universe.
With revolutionary special visual effects by Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey), John Williams’ unforgettable score, and memorable performances by Dreyfuss, Garr, Dillon, Bob Balaban, and legendary film director Truffaut (The 400 Blows), Close Encounters quickly established itself as one of the most popular films of all-time upon its release in late 1977.
To highlight our release of Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, the newest science fiction film from one of cinema’s great pioneers of the genre, the Jacob Burns Film Center will present screenings of a Spielberg-directed sci-fi film every weekend from May 9 through June 21 as a part of our series Steven Spielberg’s Sci-Fi.
