But what these beings from elsewhere have in common (or to be more accurate, they come from the mind of one of cinema’s greatest directors) is that they are made not of flesh and blood but of pixels and technology, ever more advanced and pushing back the boundaries of fiction.
With the release of Disclosure Day, almost fifty years after Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg returns to his first love: the stars, and those who undoubtedly live there.
Disclosure Day, what’s it all about?
“I’ve always been fascinated by inexplicable things”, Spielberg commented in one of the first trailers for the film. And in Disclosure Day, it’s this unknown that the director explores, with a five-star cast including Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colin Firth and Colman Domingo.
The pitch for the film is simple: what would you do if you discovered that we are not alone? If someone showed you, proved it to you, would you be afraid? For Spielberg, like his characters, the truth belongs to seven billion people. And every second brings us closer to the inevitable day when all will be revealed. The famous Disclosure Day.
Representing the Other, a major artistic challenge for an experienced team
To bring this strange world to life, Spielberg teamed up with several long-standing collaborators, starting with Janusz Kaminski, the director of photography with whom he has worked for many years.
It was he who, in 1982, signed the ethereal and singular photograph of E.T. The Extraterrestrial, a veritable definition of the depiction of extraterrestrials in cinema for the second half of the twentieth century. The Extraterrestrial, a veritable definition of the depiction of extraterrestrials in cinema in the second half of the twentieth century.
This time, Kaminski once again shoots on film, adding a distinctive grain to his image.
Spielberg’s artistic director is Deborah Jensen. After fruitful collaborations on
After fruitful collaborations on West Side Story and The Post, here she is at the helm of a film whose atmosphere owes much to the attention paid to the smallest details, from the sets to the atmosphere and the management of the many special effects that inhabit the film, and its creatures of course.
What does Spielberg think of AI?
In a recent interview with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, hosts of the “IMO” podcast, Steven Spielberg clearly defined his position on generative AI and its impact on cinema. Unlike filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Darren Aronofsky and James Cameron, who recently spoke of his desire to use AI to reduce production costs forAvatar, Spielberg refuses to integrate AI into his creative processes.
“What I don’t like about AI,” he points out, “is when it takes a seat or a chair is left empty at the scriptwriters’ table. I’m not prepared to take someone else’s place, because I don’t really believe in consciousness. I don’t believe there is a substitute for the soul. I don’t think such an algorithm can be invented… Accepting a computer that claims to feel more than we do is contrary to the education I received, and to the way I will practise my profession as a producer and director in the future.”
Without completely banishing AI from his processes, the Disclosure Day director added: “I don’t want AI telling me how to write this character’s dialogue, where to place the camera, or telling me what the set should look like.
Use AI as a tool, but don’t regard it as the last word in creation. That’s my limit”, he concluded.
A point of view that must be a relief to many of his teams, especially among the visual effects companies he works with.
In terms of special effects, how good is Disclosure Day?
Although a few shots (the famous ‘money shots’) in the trailer might tempt you to think that the film was going to be riddled with special effects, early feedback suggests that this is not the case.
Spielberg and his VFX teams have produced a film in which special effects and reality blend with subtlety and nuance. A masterpiece (according to Art of VFX) by the teams at Digital Domain, Weta FX and Storm Studios, with VFX Supervisor Matthew Butler and VFX Producer Lauren Ritchie at the helm.
Between shadow play, crop circles, strange animals and worrying spaceships, these teams have succeeded in conveying a whole atmosphere that will make your mouth water (and put stars in the eyes of all those who one day dream of going into the special effects industry).
The verdict? A return to our roots, already acclaimed by the press and fans alike
After a series of world premieres, including one last week in Paris attended by the cast, initial reactions from the international press and public have been unanimously enthusiastic.
Entertainment Weekly describes Disclosure Day as “Spielberg at the top of his game”, while several American critics are quick to describe it as “the best Spielberg film in twenty years”. The film is “ambitious, moving and surprisingly audacious” (GamesRadar+), with spectacular direction and an outstanding performance by Emily Blunt.
Many journalists are also highlighting the director’s return to the science fiction that made his legend, while hailing a film that is more mysterious, daring and contemporary than anything he has made recently.
Some are already seeing it (with some justification) as the spiritual heir to Close Encountersof the Third Kind, while pointing out that Disclosure Day takes a completely new path.
All of which augurs well for this new Spielberg vintage, in cinemas from today.