Steven Spielberg
In Steven Spielberg we have one of the most
influential and supremely talented film makers ever. Duel,
the film he made in 1971 was well received and received some
critical acclaim. On the other hand, Jaws, a movie he directed
in 1975, was a massive creative and financial success. But
Steven Spielberg can write too. He wrote Close Encounters
Of A Third Kind, so like his friend, George Lucas, Steven
Spielberg is strongly attracted to SciFi themes, but in much
of Spielberg's work one can find a strong message, a philosophy
woven into the fabric of his films. Close Encounters Of A
Third Kind and the great classic E.T. deal with mans first
contact with extra-terrestrials. But Spielberg is too great
a talent to be limited by genre. Steven Spielberg has challenged
and stretched his talent far beyond the pigeon-hole labels
of industry and critics. Steven Spielberg is the consumate
story-teller and he can tell a story about anything and spellbind
his audience with true magic. Look at The Color Purple, a
story about poverty, racism and sex discrimination, it only
takes Steven Spielberg to focus his imagination and the subject
matter becomes beautiful poetry. It is a story about tragedy
and suffering, hope and inspiration. The audience sit in a
cinema before the screen and live it. The audience leaves
the cinema having experienced. That is the wonderful and awesome
power of film. In that film Steven Spielberg bares the soul
of humanity. Then you have to look at Shindler's List, a film
focused on the darkest heart of mankind and yet, when Spielberg
applies his imagination he shines a light into the darkest
heart and evaporates the evil with moral strength and courage.
Then we have Saving Private Ryan, one of my favourite films
- and I have experienced war. Saving Private Ryan starts as
duty, becomes a quest and ends offering us purpose. A great,
great story. A story we will never tire of experiencing. A
true classic...
And I haven't yet mentioned Indiana Jones or
Jurassic Park, each now a classic in their own right with
the Indiana Jones series of films, original stories created
and written by George Lucas, now a genre in their own right.
And Spielberg has made a couple of films that haven't broken
box-office records, yet are beautifully crafted films that
offer an equally intense experience to the audience, films
such as Always, a deeply wonderful film and A.I. Artificial
Intelligence, a film that challenges the moral conscience
to reappraise what it means to be human when a child android
called David is programmed with the ability to love... I also
have to mention Steven Spielberg's TV series Band Of Brothers,
which is superb... but that was to be expected ;)
Tim Rees
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