| Since 1998, Scott Essman has been the publisher of DIRECTED BY Magazine. He can be reached at scottessman@yahoo.com. |
 |
|
Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg
|
On every level, there is something about a Spielberg genre film that resonates honestly and realistically, as if any person would react similarly to the fantastic situations in which he places his everyman characters. His body of genre work stands as a testament to everything which science fiction fans hold dearest about the best material – the ability of such films to transcend daily experience, to connect with something much greater than the ordinariness of life, to bring people of all walks together in a manner which speaks to the uniformity of all human experience, regardless of age, race, class or nationality. Spielberg’s best genre films make all audiences one and bring viewers together in a commonality of interrelation – there might be unknowns in the universe, but that only underscores the degree to which I feel an affinity and kinship with my fellow man.
 |
|
Tom Cruise in "War of the Worlds"
|
If Spielberg mastered that connection between filmmaker and emerging
audience in his 1970s films, he superseded his abilities in his early 1980s work. Both Duel and
Jaws perfected the fish-out-of-water horror journey and Close
Encounters propelled us into territory that was at the same time far beyond the familiar and personal to every viewer. Later, Raiders and E.T. spoke to the genre fan in all of us, and Jurassic Park reinforced themes that he had established with films including Jaws and Poltergeist. In a Spielberg genre film, the otherworldly is majestically transformed into the worldly.
In both a stylistic and thematic manner, Spielberg’s last three genre films are of a piece: A.I., Minority Report, and the current War of the Worlds speak to similar emotions and connections in their intended audience. His vision is bleaker than it was in his earlier work, perhaps due to the changing political climate, perhaps due to his maturing into middle age. Whatever the case, these new films are colder, more sterile, and less endearing than the 1970s films. Both A.I. and Minority Report left this viewer feeling more alienated from the time of place of those films and their main characters despite the seriousness with which Spielberg approached the material and the overall interconnection of their science fiction with the genre as a whole. However, Spielberg has not lost his disposition for genre fare, as evidenced by the recent installment, War of the Worlds. In fact, more than any film since the early 1980s, War of the Worlds finds Spielberg painting his canvas with the same colors that made him fall in love with the genre and simultaneously made audiences fall in love with his films.
 |
|
Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning in "War of the Worlds"
|
As is the case with most remakes, there is much about War of the Worlds that seems reminiscent of other films in the genre. Of course, when the original film was released in 1953, it was fresh, exciting, and original, but succeeding “flying saucer” films of the 1950s and beyond flooded the popular consciousness with like-minded movies of often inept levels of craftsmanship. In Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, specifically, there are choices throughout the story that seem to recall genre projects over the past 20 years. One can see flashes of The Abyss, The Matrix, Twister, Independence Day, The Terminator films, and even – dare I say – Titanic in War of the Worlds’ many action set pieces. There’s little doubt that those genre directors of the past 20 years have been continually trying to make a Spielberg movie and in a sense trying to BE a Spielberg. In several cases, they have tried to outdo Spielberg at his own game, playing to his strengths and stealing his métier. But it’s as if Spielberg is now saying “here’s what my competitors to the throne have been doing lately, and here’s how I am doing it – better than all of them.”
To this author, there’s little doubt what makes Spielberg the best genre director of his time, if not all time. It’s his ability to manage his actors, camera, crew and effects team through an interpersonal system which makes nearly every shot in his films unique and memorable. This is not to say that he particularly chooses the best lenses, lighting scenarios and camera moves; nor is it that he gets the best readings from his actors or produces the most remarkable effects sequences. To my taste, you can find other directors (some mentioned in this first paragraph), who realize the cleanest filmmaking ever put on celluloid in terms of the drama that their cameras and actors regularly deliver. But Spielberg’s shots have something collectively that others don’t possess: without exception, almost every shot in a Spielberg movie tells a story. Whether it is the combination of the superb craftsmanship that has become the hallmark of his films, his unique relationship with his regular cinematographer, editor, composer and visual effects supervisor, or the interplay that allows his actors to often give their most natural performances, Spielberg films have thousands of miniature stories within the overall story. Throughout all of his genre work, War of the Worlds being the latest and most refreshing example in at least a decade, Spielberg infuses each shot with meaning, purpose, and - most importantly – striking drama. Yes, he is the master of camera placement, movement, and point-of-view. But the inherent qualities of narrative that he brings to 95% of the shots in his films make his work stand out above his peers.
On the subject of cinematography, one thing must be said about Spielberg’s collaboration with Janusz Kaminski, with whom he has worked on every film since 1993’s Schindler’s List... The director brilliantly integrated Kaminski’s washed-out jaded look into Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan; both of those films demanded a horrific desaturated palette that Kaminski so effectively brings to his films. However, in Spielberg’s genre material, I don’t find it to be as suitable. I much preferred the romantic glow of Allen Daviau’s ET and the pilot “Ghost Train” episode of Amazing Stories, Dean Cundey’s rich textures in Jurassic Park and Hook, and Douglas Slocombe’s gorgeous period colors in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I can see why Spielberg might want a pallid look for a film such as Minority Report, but somehow, Kaminski’s approach seems incongruous to the material in War of the Worlds.
Nonetheless, let it be said that Steven Spielberg, though he had taken understandable and welcome diversions from genre work through the past 20 years, is still the master of genre in all significant ways: craft, style, and aesthetic choices. Whatever the faults of War of the Worlds – some more unavoidable than others in light of a remake which comes 52 years after its spawning film – Spielberg is back with his new film, or more accurately, he has never really left.