Spielberg

The reason I write on Spielberg in detail is to examine both the career and impact of the supposed “most successful director ever.” His career completely changed the industry of producing motion pictures and is a key in understanding the inner workings of Hollywood.

Steven Spielberg emerged from Universal Studio’s Television department as a brash wide-eyed kid. His initial foray for the studio after episodes of Columbo and Night Gallery (his segment entitled “Eyes” is stunning given the constraints and format.) was a cheapy “movie of the week”. His was given an extremely tight budget and 12 days to shoot a little Richard Matheson short story about a ordinary man who is harassed on the open highway by a truck. Duel (1971) is the definitive statement of his filmic career. Every single moment is so packed with the nuts and bolts of cinema that no exposition is needed. Man vs. truck. Empty desert highway. All shot on location and perfect visuals. This is a lean and mean film that doesn’t forget to also be a movie at heart. In the final fate of the truck, David Mann is left at the top of the cliff and after rejoicing momentarily he then slumps down exhausted. The credits roll as he aimlessly tosses a rock off in the setting sun. Ultimately, nothing is answered.

Duel was so successful that it was released theatrically in Europe. This led to Spielberg’s first feature The Sugarland Express (1974). If Duel was heavy on filmmaking talent, then Sugarland has the heavier element of Spielberg’s particular brand of Americana. Take the two elements from both films and the result is Jaws (1975). Commonly regarded as the film that broke the New Hollywood movement, Jaws is actually a certified product of the movement. The first half deals with shady local politics, social commentary (although very diluted from Peter Benchley’s original novel), and the tensions of a city man being the new local sheriff. The film takes off from the point of Brody looking out to the open ocean in the wake of the shark. Here, the second half emerges as the true heart of the film. Spielberg is effectively remaking Duel and homaging every classic adventure he had ever seen. We have the clash of three different personalities confronting a very real danger all in the midst of a vast ocean with no outside contact to get bogged down in.

After extremely difficult and trying production, Jaws became the first true blockbuster. Thus Spielberg became the golden child of the entire industry and could do no wrong. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) became a bloated special effects extravaganza that was permeated with a heightened sense of nostalgia that had originated in Sugarland. Next came the debacle of 1941 (1979) which was a madcap comedy set in WWII that bombed so horribly no one thought Steven would ever get a job again.

Along comes his friend George Lucas who offers him the opportunity to direct the first in a series of films about an adventuring archaeologist. Spielberg jumped at the chance and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) was born. He has acknowledged that Raiders was his make or break point. He had never made a film that came in on budget and schedule. Thus, the 30’s serial film style he was aiming for became the film he made. Shooting was fast, dirty, cheap, and ultimately inventive. The real magic behind Raiders is not escapism but that it is a 30’s serial film that just happened to be made in 1981.

Spielberg was back on top. Thus it was inevitable for the return of whole hearted nostalgia in E.T. (1982) which is probably the most blatant example of this. Watching this film is like rubbing salt in a wound. You simply wince at the unnecessary saccharine positivism. This appeared to a certain degree in the Raiders sequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), but thankfully was kept to a minimum and the film became a darker version of the original’s universe, complete with child slavery, human sacrifice, torture, Thuggees, and a much darker overall tone. Instead of simply remaking the first film Spielberg decided to make an opposition to Raiders. Thus Temple stands as the darker chapter in the Indiana Jones series.

The Color Purple is a landmark novel in African American culture and while not exactly to this writer’s taste, an important work. Spielberg grabbed onto this story and made one of the most egotistical works I have ever seen. 11 Oscar nominations and not a single win. Does that say anything? The film itself became a pointless thing and akin to a Lifetime movie of the week. Empire of the Sun (1987) was a step back from this grandiose sense of self and was essentially Spielberg channeling David Lean. It was also his last good film. It perfectly incorporates Spielberg’s positivism with the childish outlook of 7 year old Jamie Graham as he is thrown into a Japanese prisoner of war camp. It precedes this aspect of Schindler’s List (1993) without becoming too preachy.

A third and uninspired Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), proved to do the franchise in. (or so we thought.) Aside from Sean Connery as Indy’s father the film is about as uninspired as they come. The Nazis return along with another villain out for his own ends except without any of the interesting qualities of Paul Freeman’s Belloq. Julian Glover is wasted completely here. Just see what he can do with a devilish character such as this in For Your Eyes Only (1981). The character of Ilsa does little but scream, backstab, and sleep with both Joneses (one of the few great laughs, of course delivered by Connery.) The whole film just seems completely uninspired. The tank chase goes on for much too long and was actually improvised. If this is Spielberg improvising, then I’d like to reintroduce him to the Spielberg of 1971 who made Duel.

Then comes the pointless throwback comedy Always (1989), dull Hook (1991), uninvolving Jurassic Park (1993), and Schindler’s List (1993). How can a film about the Holocaust lose? You have the box office clout, major production and promotion, A-list budget and actors, and subject matter that cannot be refuted. What results is a film that is in effect empty. I admire the choice to make a black and white film, but this comes off not as a creative decision but more of a “just because I can” mentality. There is more depth in Empire of the Sun than Schindler’s List. Just because a film is about something important does not make it so.

Billy Wilder should have made this film. Plain and simple. He contributed to the project and was refused the job by Spielberg who promptly didn’t make the film for several years. Only he could have captured the combination of absolute madness and ironic humor that is life.

A sequel to Jurrassic Park and a tossed off Amistad (1997) came before Saving Private Ryan (1998) which takes the built-in potential of Schindler’s List to new heights. There simply had not been a serious decent modern film about WWII. Otherwise people could easily see how shoddy the film is. It takes extreme patience to sit through.

A.I.(2001)is the oddball in Spielberg’s career. It shows the new direction he would take with his post-2000 output with a strange mixture between his patented outlook and Stanley Kubrick’s vision. Kubrick had labored over A.I. for years and only thought it possible after seeing Spielberg’s use of CGI in Jurassic Park. He contacted Spielberg and worked collectively over the years. Eventually he asked Spielberg to direct it as he felt it was more suited to Spielberg’s personality. The film was eventually produced after Kubrick’s death. It is Kubrick’s input and the story material that keeps the film afloat. Spielberg just doesn’t know how exactly to deal with this material. It really is just a confused experiment.

This confusion went on into Spielberg’s next project where he applied the same to Phillip K. Dick short story Minority Report (2002). I don’t know what kind of film Catch Me If You Can (2002) is but it does fit in that odd post-modern category which holds the abomination that is The Terminal (2004).

War of the Worlds (2005) is an unnecessary reimagining of H.G. Wells’s classic tale (and of George Pal’s 1953 film version). Munich (2005) is an attempt to get back to meaningful plot lines but it comes off as overlong and ultimately without much of a message. It also applies the hyper cinematography style of Minority Report to the 1970’s. This combination of realistic period trappings and stylized textures makes the period look fall apart.

The less that is said of a certain fourth entry in a series the better…

Spielberg works best when he is under the gun and out of time. His best films were all produced under extreme stress and I believe this is the real key to his greatness as a filmmaker. Maybe his upcoming project based on Herge’s legendary Tintin comic strips can bring back the hard edge back to his work. Spielberg and escapist adventure have always been a good mix. However, the use of 3D CGI animation leads me to doubt this. Hey, I can dream can’t I?

Key films:

Duel (1971)

Jaws (1975)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Empire of the Sun (1987)

Terry Gilliam was lamenting on the loss of meaning in cinema when he brought up Spielberg, Schindler's List, and The Master. "Spielberg and the success of most films in Hollywood, I think, is down to the fact that they're comforting, they tie things up in nice little bows, gives you answers, even if the answers are stupid, they're answers. Oh, you go home, you don't have to worry about it. (...) There was a wonderful quote in a book that Freddy Raphael wrote about the making of Eyes Wide Shut, it's called Eyes Wide Open, and he's talking to Kubrick about Schindler's List and the Holocaust, and he says: "The thing is, Schindler's List is about success, the Holocaust was about failure." And that's Kubrick, and that's just spot on. (...) And I know which side I'd rather be on. I'd like to have a nice house like Spielberg, but I know which side I'd rather be on."

This has simplified my entire point into a single comment. And of course it came from Stanley. Go figure. ;)