Are we alone in our vast, vast universe? Or is there someone else watching? Could there also be a higher power out there, or did we really evolve from apes? If we did obtain proof that aliens existed, how would the world react? Would contact with them be striven for by the governments around the globe? These are the questions that Carl Sagan’s science fiction classic novel Contact answers. It is a tale its 1997 cinematic adaptation attempts to adapt, with varying degrees of success, but nonetheless providing one of the most introspective and unique films of its genre.
Contact follows Ellie as she grows up with a passion for science and makes a breakthrough, discovering a message transmitted from outer space that changes humanity forever. Characters include the religious Palmer Joss, Ellie’s father Theodore Arroway, science advisor David Drumlin, Nation Security Council head Michael Kitz and billionaire S. R. Hadden, who all aid and challenge her on her journey to a brilliant discovery that will change her perception of reality forever. Ellie feels like a real person, and her relationships with every character are captivating to experience. The way her lack of faith gives her challenges and advantages throughout the story provides a nuanced and realistic view of atheism, without discriminating. All the fine details, such as religious fanatics having such visceral reactions to the discovery, including the bombing, feel sadly faithful to real-life, and provide for an immersive experience. The final revelation also does not disappoint, despite almost leaving the viewer with more questions than answers.
That is where the similarities between the book and the film end. Now, there are certainly improvements that the movie made on the book. For one, while the book included many interesting details and plot points, it also dragged on at certain points. Because of its compressed format as a film, the movie cut out a large amount of the fluff, leaving a tighter, more compact product. The film also makes the relationship between Ellie and Palmer Joss more romantic and interesting, with a great dynamic between the two of them. This is in no small part thanks to the terrific performances of Jodie Foster and Matthew Mcconaughey. In addition, there are some absolutely beautiful shots of outer space and the New Mexico desert and sky, underscoring the contemplative nature of the film.
While the film is overall a success, there are certainly some aspects that hold it back. For one, while the film mostly looks solid, some of the effects in the space-traveling scene have not held up. In addition, because of its nature as a film with a limited runtime, it had to cut out a lot of aspects. As mentioned earlier, it did remove a substantial amount of the fluff, but also cut out or altered some of the best details of the story, such as Ellie’s childhood and relationship with her mother and father-in-law. It also omitted the detail that the Machine had 5 seats. The book took this to the logical conclusion that multiple representations from around the world were selected to go, allowing for diverse and interesting characters from Russia, India, China and Nigeria to go along with Ellie. The film, however, ignores this, decreasing the diversity and realism of the story. The film also chooses not to handIe the themes of prejudice and sexism, which were handled extremely deftly and well in the book, for its time. In addition, Ellie’s meeting with the alien is significantly different. In the book, she is given almost irrefutable proof that there is the existence of a higher power through mathematics, and despite having no proof of her meeting to bring back to Earth, this possibility of discovery fills her with hope. However, in the movie, this interaction is significantly shortened and doesn’t include the iconic detail of the alien telling her of a message possibly being encoded in pi. Ellie is forced to go back to Earth without proof of the alien, and admits that people must simply have faith that her discovery was real. This is almost the opposite of the message of the book, which showed that real proof is essential and that that was the only thing that could have converted Ellie.
Despite all this, Contact, both the novel and the film, remains a mystifying and incredible tale of faith, love, discovery and loss. It was ahead of its time in almost every aspect, has fully realized and brilliantly-written characters, and stands tall as one of the most unique extra-terrestrial tales in a genre filled with generic, uninspired stories.The thought of humanity being alone in our vast, vast universe can make us feel insignificant and tiny, and great art like Contact helps to alleviate such feelings and make life truly worth living.