'Taken' - Mini series by Stephen Spielberg..................by K J S Chatrath

 

I am a fan of Stephen Spielberg. Over two decades back I saw his mini-series ‘Taken’ on the TV. It is about aliens who abduct some selected humans for short periods and then send them back to earth. There are a number of plots and sub-plots which are woven around the experiences of three generations. But here I am going to mention two parts from the series which impressed me a lot.

 

The first is the way Spielberg introduces an alien for the first time. One sees a fleeting movement of an alien running around in one corner of the screen. So the viewer is prepared to see the aliens later on, even though their presence on the screen is for very short spells of time. The subtlety with which aliens are portrayed is noteworthy.

 

The second part relates to a young girl aged around 7, who gets introduced in the last two episodes. She is Dakota Fanning. She carries every scene in which she is shown with amazing aplomb and self-confidence..

 

I subsequently saw two more films of Dakota Fanning in which she plays the role of a child- ‘The War of the Worlds’ with Tom Cruise and 'Man on Fire' with Denzel Washington. She stands her ground in every scene with these polished actors and does not let them overshadow her.

 

Yesterday I noticed a new film on the Netflix where Dakota portrays the role of a grown up young lady. I have still to watch this film. However I have watched two other films where she portrays the role of an adult. My sad conclusion has been that the absolute brilliance that she showed in her ‘child’ roles, seem to have got replaced by sheer mediocrity.