Cool Stuff: Spielberg: The First Ten Years Book Digs Into The Director's Earliest Blockbusters
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No one can deny that Steven Spielberg is one of the most renowned and influential director's in cinema history. From game-changing blockbusters like "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park" to devastating prestige Oscar-winning films like "Schindler's List" and "Munich," Spielberg is a master storyteller who has been turning celluloid into gold for over 50 years (and his 21st century films aren't bad at all). But like every legendary filmmaker, Spielberg had to start somewhere, and a new book from author Laurent Bouzereau will dive into the first 10 years of Spielberg's quickly impressive career.
"Spielberg: The First Ten Years" is coming to shelves in October, and it promises to explore "how a young filmmaker reinvented American cinema within just ten years." The retrospective includes looks at his early made-for-TV film "Duel," his first theatrically released feature, "The Sugarland Express," and the troubled production of "Jaws," which would go on to become the first true blockbuster. From there, the book shifts into sci-fi territory with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," the not-so-acclaimed war comedy "1941," the "Indiana Jones" franchise-starter "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and the emotional "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial." Yes, that's just the first 10 years of Spielberg's career. What a filmmaker!
Technically, the book spans from 1971 to 1982, so that's actually 11 years, but that doesn't roll off the tongue quite as nicely. Within that time span, the book includes new, exclusive images and expert insights from Laurent Bouzereau. If that name isn't familiar to you, Bouzereau collaborated with the late Lucasfilm historian J.W. Rinzler on "The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films," and if the title wasn't enough of an indicator, that book is truly the best chronicle of the making of the "Indiana Jones" franchise, at least before "Dial of Destiny" came along. Bouzereau also dug into Spielberg's work more recently with a book that looked at the making of his "West Side Story" remake from 2021.
'I guess I've never been far away from home'
For those curious as to what kind of material this book has, Vanity Fair unveiled quite a lengthy excerpt, which features an extensive interview with Spielberg about the making of "Jaws." As Bouzereau recounted to the magazine, "What he describes in the book, having a bit of a nervous breakdown over it, was so powerful to me, because that really shows the struggle and the toll that this took on him." And there are several interesting tidbits that Spielberg addresses, including his desire to keep a lot of red out of the set design:
"Yes, for Jaws, I didn't want red to be dominant on any of the sets. I told Joe [Alves, art director and production designer], 'Please . . . when you're designing the picture and finding your colors, don't use too much red, allowing for the blood.'"
Because Bouzereau is a Spielberg scholar, he also picked up a thread that runs through Spielberg's early career that reveals a theme that some may not have realized, even after all these years. It's something that ties this first decade of films together in a nice way. The author explained:
"When I was writing the book, I needed to find, what is the real theme of those first 10 years? The thing that I discovered is that all those films are a variation on 'home.' In 'Duel,' you have a man who is being pursued by this killer truck. He may never go home. 'The Sugarland Express' is about this couple trying to get home and be reunited with their kid so that they can have a home. 'Jaws' is about a man who leaves New York to form a new home in Amity Island, and what do they sing when they're on the boat chasing the shark? 'Show me the way to go home...'
Then you go to 'Close Encounters,' about a man who leaves home. '1941' is about the attack on the homeland. 'Raiders' is about a man with virtually no home. And we end with, 'E.T. phone home.' And so I explained it to him exactly like I'm saying it to you, and he's like, 'I guess I've never been far away from home.'"
"Spielberg: The First Ten Years," which features a foreword by composer John Williams and an introduction by George Lucas, will be released on October 24, 2023, and you can pre-order it right now.
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