Hey everyone. Yesterday I went to watch old man Steve’s ‘Bridge of Spies’… and as expected it was brilliant! Also, with next week ushering in the date that Marty McFly travels to in the future (Oct 21st 2015) in Back to the Future Part II, I guess there’s no better time than now to post this tribute to The Man Spielberg…
RAMBLIN’ ABOUT AMBLIN
CHAPTER 1
INTRO
Back when we were kids, my cousins, Vihi and Abhi, and I used to go swimming almost every week. One sunny day, Vihi (that mischievous git; God bless him!) decided to play a prank on poor, unassuming Abhi.
He was a good swimmer and swam well underwater. Abhi was just lazing around near the pool edge as Vihi stealthily swam up to him under the surface and suddenly grabbed his leg.
Abhi let out a horrendous scream and, wrought with fear, absolutely refused to get into the pool after that!
Or any pool for that matter!
For the next 5 years!!!
A little further back in time, I used to have two recurrent, extremely vivid dreams.
In the first dream I would be lying in my bed right next to the bedroom window which was on the 7th floor of an apartment complex. I would stare with a mounting sense of dread at the window, waiting for the same sight I had dreamt a hundred nights before already. The sight of a humongous creature with malicious, reptilian eyes…
It would slowly reach the window and peek its right eye inside while I tried to become one with the mattress below me, holding my breath until the eye moved away to the next house.
The second dream would always start with me having to reach into a dark crevice in a wall to retrieve a key for some unexplained reason. As soon as my hand disappeared into the darkness of the crevice I would feel thousands of creepy-crawlies inside, creeping and crawling, slithering all over! I would retract my hand immediately in horror, clutching the key but the repulsive insects of all shapes and sizes would burst out of the crevice and start filling up the dungeon-like room I was standing in, forcing me to shut my mouth as tight as possible lest they find a resting spot next to my uvula! They would come out in swarms until almost every square inch of the room was covered by a grotesque, moving carpet and the only space left for the creatures to occupy was in my ears. It was at this precise moment that I would wake up with a start every time!
When I was a little older there were times when I would stop eating my cereal and just stare at the far end of the room, waiting earnestly, hoping even, to see my future self dart around the corner and come and warn me about something that I should avoid doing later in my life (this was around the same time that my mother was a little worried for my mental health!).
All these incidents and anecdotes may seem mighty random and incoherent, like an amateur trying in vain to emulate a Tarantino screenplay, but believe me, there is a common thread between them.
A common factor responsible for each of these events and memories.
That common factor is in fact a person.
That person is Steven Spielberg….
Steven Spielberg!
He needs no introduction. Even someone who has never seen a single Spielberg movie in his life (is that even possible???) knows that his name is intricately bound to the medium of cinema like the two strands of a Dino DNA!
A group of friends meet after a long time and one of the blokes whips out his phone/camera and starts to film their shenanigans. His pal ribs “Ae!!! Khud ko Speilsberg samajhra hai kya???” (Hey man!!! Do you think you’re Speilsberg or something???)
He doesn’t need to know that the man he just compared his friend to is the most commercially successful film director and producer of all time! Heck, he doesn’t even know how to pronounce his name! All he knows is that when you talk movies, you talk Spielberg!
This man has amassed more than 9 billion dollars worldwide in movies he has directed and another 15 billion dollars in movies he has produced. He has collected 3 Oscars and has had numerous more nominations. 3 of his directed movies (Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park) held the prestigious position of ‘Highest Grossing Movie of All Time’ at their respective periods of release. In the 29 years from 1975 (Jaws) to 2015, 9 of the years had Spielberg movies as the highest grossing of that particular year (including this year’s Jurassic World).
But all these numbers aside… Spielberg has been responsible for some of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, nerve-wrecking, awe-inspiring, gut-wrenching, mindboggling and ultimately unforgettable moments ever put on film!
The images that come to mind as soon as his name is mentioned are many… A woman swimming in the sea suddenly starts getting jerked around by some unknown menace under the surface as 2 eery piano notes are repeated till they reach a terrifying crescendo; a boy and his alien friend ride a bicycle into the sky, seemingly with the power imparted to them by the soaring violin score, framed against the mesmerising backdrop of the moon; a gigantic alien ship communicates with humans through a 5-note tune and a blinding flash of colours; a rugged man with an awesome fedora, a golden idol and oodles of swagger barely escapes death as he outruns a huge rolling boulder; ripples appear on the surface of water in a glass as a low rumbling is heard in the distance, whose gradual increase in decibels is inversely proportional to the number of breaths the audience takes; an innocent little girl walks unknowingly amongst the carnage taking place around her, her red robe in stark contrast with the black and white rendering of the rest of the film; an aerial shot of a group of travellers in a field of tall grass as they are stalked by dreaded predators, whose presence is indicated only by the trails of falling grass converging around them; a 20 minute sequence of bloody mayhem, so realistic it takes us as close to World War II as ever possible, as we feel every bullet that whizzes by and pray that we just survive the next few minutes….
The mere fact that there are so many different images that jump to mind proves that he is a constant and enduring genius!
This man has caused our minds to soar to places we’ve never imagined possible!
So let’s get this straight… I LOVE Spielberg and his movies! Every single one of them! Even the obscure ones that no-one has even heard of, let alone seen!
He and his Band of Merry Men including the legendary John Williams, the maestro who has composed music for almost every movie Spielberg ever made and whose tunes automatically accompany fond recollections of the aforementioned scenes, Kathleen Kennedy, friend and regular co-producer, Michael Kahn who has cut together most of Spielberg’s movies and Janusz Kamiński, his frequent collaborator with the camera, among others, have consistently thrilled and wowed audiences across generations.
Spielberg’s appeal isn’t confined to a single demographic or age because the spectrum of genres that he has attempted and mastered is so wide and eclectic that it is astounding! It’s hard to believe that the same man who made Jaws and Jurassic Park also made Schindler’s List and Lincoln, Indiana Jones, The Terminal, The Colour Purple etc.
This said, a close observer (and die-hard fans) will always be able to tell that they’re watching a movie made by The Beard (an affectionate and appropriate nickname). No matter what the overall theme of the movie is, you are usually exposed to some classic Spielberg Tropes. Ordinary people in extraordinary situations, usually children (hence most of his child protagonists being classified as Spielberg’s Lost Boys), terrific performances from these children, father issues, suburban settings, a dash of sentimentality (a severe bone of contention for some people but not me; what’s wrong in having a happy ending???), beautiful use of lighting, unlikely friendships, the overcoming of barriers of language and communication, the look of amazement on the protagonist’s face as they stare awestruck at something wondrous/terrifying before we have the privilege of seeing it for ourselves (the Spielberg Stare)…
But it wasn’t just the movies directed by Spielberg which captured the imagination of the people. In 1981 Spielberg formed his company ‘Amblin Entertainment’ named after his own short film Amblin’. Under this banner he has produced hordes of movies and TV shows to great success. There was a time during the eighties when going for an Amblin Movie was akin to going to watch a Disney Movie, as in, even if the movie wasn’t directly made by the respective auteur himself, his name on the credits roll guaranteed a degree of quality and entertainment.
So let’s cut to the chase. My worship of all things Spielberg prompted me, 6 months ago, to embark on a long and exciting journey.
I decided to watch every single movie directed by The Berg (another affectionate moniker) in order of release along with a handful he has produced. Watching every movie he has ever produced would be too huge an undertaking so I restricted the list to those movies which, though not directed by Spielberg himself, have a definite level of involvement from him and share such a close relationship to his own work that they have to be considered ‘Spielberg Films’.
The list of movies in order is:
- Amblin (1968)
- Duel (1971)
- The Sugarland Express (1974)
- Jaws (1975)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- 1941 (1979)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Poltergeist* (1982)
- Twilight Zone: The Movie*^ (1983)
- Gremlins* (1984)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- Back to the Future* (1985)
- The Color Purple (1985)
- The Goonies* (1985)
- Empire of the Sun (1987)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?* (1988)
- Always (1989)
- Back to the Future Part II* (1989)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
- Back to the Future Part III* (1990)
- Gremlins 2: The New Batch* (1990)
- Hook (1991)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- Schindler’s List (1993)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
- Amistad (1997)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
- Jurassic Park III* (2001)
- Minority Report (2002)
- Catch Me If You Can (2002)
- The Terminal (2004)
- War of the Worlds (2005)
- Munich (2005)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
- Super 8* (2011)
- The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
- War Horse (2011)
- Lincoln (2012)
- Jurassic World* (2015)
- Bridge of Spies (2015)
(* = movies not directed by Spielberg.
^ = movies having multiple directors. Spielberg directed the ‘Kick the Can’ segment of this movie.)
That’s a whopping 30 movies directed by Spielberg, 11 produced by him (but quintessential ‘Spielberg Movies’ nevertheless) and 1 anthology movie containing a segment directed by Spielberg.
The Spielbergathon was an amazing experience that culminated yesterday with his latest release ‘Bridge Of Spies’ (his fourth collaboration with Tom Hanks; fifth if you include the Band of Brothers TV series which they produced together).
Over the next few months I will keep updating my thoughts and feelings and interesting facts about each of these movies as separate chapters corresponding to each era of his filmmaking career.
As Sheriff Brody would say – “You’re gonna need a bigger page!!!”
Life @ 100 Frames Per Second 
Adu boy how good one can write when you are consumed with passion of the subject..you are a classic example..Keep writing . Once more let me admit I am proud of you
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