Contact
This 1997 film raises important questions about our place in the universe. It touches on the role of religion and how to handle that first contact. Religion and science clash in the movie as people struggle to deal with the fact we are not alone. Politics, scientific rivalry and romance stir the mix.
Dr. Ellie Arroway is a maverick scientist. With limited funding, she seeks signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. Her efforts draw scorn from mainstream scientists. The presidential science advisor David Drumlin pulls her funding. Arroway then secures support from an elusive millionaire.
Then the days arrives. A repeating signal of prime numbers arrives. Further analysis reveals hidden information in the signal. This includes a speech by Hitler at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The whole project comes under government control. Arroway gets shunted aside by Drumlin.
Deep in the signal are plans for a space machine. Construction gets underway. The machine is designed to carry one person through a portal to first contact with the aliens. Arroway’s seeks to take the trip. A panel selecting the passenger learns she’s an atheist. Her former lover, Palmer Joss, a Christian philosopher, steers the panel to select Drumlin.
The sabotaged machine malfunctions. It explodes killing Drumlin. Arroway is then offered a ride on a covertly built second machine. The hidden backer has been busy. She takes the trip through space to encounter an alien taking the form of her father. The alien explains this is the first step of a long process. Humanity needs to be patient before joining other lifeforms in space. Transported back to Earth Arroway, meets scepticism over her account of events. On Earth, her craft falls through the machine to emerge seconds later.
The scientist faces challenges on her assertions of what happened. She can only rely on ‘you must have faith’ in what I've said. Like the religious types, she can’t prove anything. Joss comes to believe her. In the final segment of the film, its revealed 18 hours of video was recorded in the machine.
Arroway went somewhere.
Dr. Ellie Arroway is a maverick scientist. With limited funding, she seeks signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. Her efforts draw scorn from mainstream scientists. The presidential science advisor David Drumlin pulls her funding. Arroway then secures support from an elusive millionaire.
Then the days arrives. A repeating signal of prime numbers arrives. Further analysis reveals hidden information in the signal. This includes a speech by Hitler at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The whole project comes under government control. Arroway gets shunted aside by Drumlin.
Deep in the signal are plans for a space machine. Construction gets underway. The machine is designed to carry one person through a portal to first contact with the aliens. Arroway’s seeks to take the trip. A panel selecting the passenger learns she’s an atheist. Her former lover, Palmer Joss, a Christian philosopher, steers the panel to select Drumlin.
The sabotaged machine malfunctions. It explodes killing Drumlin. Arroway is then offered a ride on a covertly built second machine. The hidden backer has been busy. She takes the trip through space to encounter an alien taking the form of her father. The alien explains this is the first step of a long process. Humanity needs to be patient before joining other lifeforms in space. Transported back to Earth Arroway, meets scepticism over her account of events. On Earth, her craft falls through the machine to emerge seconds later.
The scientist faces challenges on her assertions of what happened. She can only rely on ‘you must have faith’ in what I've said. Like the religious types, she can’t prove anything. Joss comes to believe her. In the final segment of the film, its revealed 18 hours of video was recorded in the machine.
Arroway went somewhere.