The War of the Worlds and the frightening chasms – Libero Quotidiano

Giorgio Carbone

Born in Tortona (Al) on 19 December 1941. Graduated in law in Pavia. Journalist since 1971. For 45 years married to actress Ida Meda. Two sons. Film critic (titular) for “La Notte” from 1971 to 1995. For “Libero” from 2000 to today. Author of three dictionaries: Dictionary of films (1978 to 1990); All films (from 1991 to 1999); Dictionary of TV (1993).

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WAR OF THE WORLDS Channel 20 at 9.05pm with Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning and Tim Robbins. Directed by Steven Spielberg. 2005 USA production. Duration: 1 hour and 56 minutes

THE PLOT A divorced father while taking his children for a walk on a weekend “off” sees frightening chasms open up on the walkway. From the chasms emerge frightening machines that spread death and destruction in the surroundings. It is the beginning of an invasion of extraterrestrials. The father (Tom Cruise of course) understands this earlier than most of those present. He loads the children into the car and leaves. Towards where? Towards the Atlantic coast where it seems that the alien monsters have not yet arrived. But the journey is terrible. The big country is completely devastated and the few survivors behave like mad beasts.

WHY SEE IT Because Spielberg translated the first science fiction classic into images as best he could. And he gave the hallucinating futuristic born from the imagination of HG Wells an extra gear: Cruise’s desperate escape reflects the friendliness and disorientation in the USA in the aftermath of the Twin Towers. A treat for cinephiles: the actors who play grandparents in the Boston finale are the same (Gene Barry and Ann Robinson) who played the version of “War” in 1953.