There are times when movies like Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones were becoming part of a phenomenon. With such a huge fan base and clubs associated to them. These movies are very huge that until today it unfolds fond memories amongst some people. Transformers and War of the Worlds may share the podium too.
The merchandising and video-tape era ( which slots in and takes a few seconds of mechanical rit-rat ) reminds us that the 80’s baby are the luckiest and gained most limited experiences of this century. Then comes the VCD and now the ever interactive and vivid DVD ( which the seller promises to be clear but still lacks of correct translation and silhouettes of people exiting the cinema )
Then comes family favorites like E.T ( extra terrestrial ) with the levitating bicycle upon the full moon backdrop. A story which you would want to watch on some lazy Sunday nite with the phone switched off. Poltergeist, in which a creepy woman head turns 360 degrees on a gloomy street; which is amazingly becomes synonymous with supernatural movies that follows.
Movies which performed quite well and became memorable such as 2002 Catch Me If You Can and 2004 The Terminal are both cunning and clever. It may not be an instant classics, yet, the stories had some sort of attraction ( apart from the sultry Catherine Zeta ) which casual movie-goers might like and keep holding them to their seats.
Laser shooting guns and flying back packs are forward looking futuristic movies which can be a headache-inducing movie in less than a decade. Minority Report seems to maintain the logic and explore the possibility of future. A movie that is mind twisting yet managed to be told in a manner easily digested by average minds. Then, comes A.I (Artificial Intelligence) which plays around the concept of humanoid robots which sparkled a conflict within itself. The touching story starred Jude Law as Gigolo Joe ( Why not Alfie? ) and the android kid David. A.I is sure forward but the story remained deep and intriguing with an ending which makes us utterly shed at least a single vapor of tears.
War movie buffs? Loves to see planes plunging down from the high skies or battleships sinking with smokes billowing from the belly? Saving Private Ryan are some of the movie which is both awesome in terms of war psychology and the bitter human battle of survival. As bitter as a sophomore kid
Bear in mind, these great blockbuster titles mentioned above were some of Steven Spielberg greatest work. It may be directed, scripted or written by him. An influential person in the industry to the extent where the “S” in the DreamWorks SKG ( remember Shrek intro? ) stands for Spielberg himself. The “K” and “G” on the other hand refers to his fellow director friends ( Katzenberg and Geffen ). Spielberg is both prominent and prolific; surely the Louis Khan of movie making or Steve Jobs of movie writers.
I personally admired the spirit of him in founding his own production studio as late as 1994. In effect, DreamWorks were put in-line with giant production studios such as Warner Bros, MGM, 20th Century Fox and Universal which has been in the business as early as 1920’s when BOTOX and internal combustion engines were deemed as virtually impossible.
Being on top of the world and exceptionally good in what he does. Spielberg seems to never forget his roots. He is definitely not another blockbuster hungry Hollywood director. The Holocaust tragedy, death camps and ghetto liquidation seems like a wound that Spielberg inherited from his forefathers or relatives. Of course, what I’m telling you here the obvious, he is a Jewish.
Spielberg seems to have a personal war on behalf of his Jewish ancestry. The way he sets the game is different. A person who played the same game, but with the exception of different rules. Most of us are ashamed to admit the shameful or bitter experiences that we had previously. We despise our sad past till death, as we strive to live a happy life. We kept our mouth glued, screwed and shut from talking about the matter. We tried to never ever “walk-the-line” . ‘truth hurts’
As a Malay, I personally understood that Malays are secretive lot of people, we tends to try very hard in forgetting our hard-lived or bitter past which spurned the Melayu mudah lupa syair. This is not a holier-than-thou situation I’m trying to put people into, but, once a while, a visit to relatives which are chronically ill ( kencing manis, sakit jantung, buah pinggang etc.) makes us feel that in our relentless effort to fulfill our desire to match those that we envy; we do need to look back at our past once a while.
In the case of Spielberg, he seems to turn his past tragedy into triumph in forms of movie making. A person that walks the line. Although the line may be crooked or ugly.
The massacre of Israelites athletes during 1972 Olympic games in Munich, Germany in which the whole Israel Olympic team of 11 athletes were slain by Fatah freedom fighters were depicted into a film entitled ‘Munich’ released in 2004. Mostly about the vengeance of the Mossad ( Intelligence arm of the Israel ) in finding the plotters of the massacre. It garnered lots of award and a critically acclaimed.
The most straight-forward depiction of Jews hardship would be during the holocaust period itself. The movie ‘Schindler List’ which tells the story of a German industrialist which handpicked a thousand Jews from the camps and turned them into working-class people that produced cooking utensils for the Nazi German.
The hardship of Jews were not always told in a straight forward manner. If you looked back and found out that ’An American Tail’ cartoon are as adorable as those Sin Chan, then you may have not seen the big picture yet. An American Tail animation which depicted about a mouse which travelled to America with the hope that there is no cats there, were loosely based on the struggle of Jewish immigrant that made living abroad. Thrown inside this 1989 animation is also adult elements subplots like hypocrisy, sweatshops and corruption .Pretty cool for a kid cartoon huh?
Steven Spielberg film that focuses on human struggle extended even to the eastern corner of the world. Empire of The Sun ( 1987 ); a film about a privileged people which fell into the plague of war is a sign of Steven first foray this type of genre. Set in Shanghai during the invasion of Japanese force in early 1940’s.
Above all, this is simply Steven Spielberg way of showing his war on behalf of his ethnic. While he directed or wrote movies that enchant, pleases and enlighten us till we may have those Jurassic Park posters hung on the backside of the door or wardrobe ( dinosaurs staring at you as you slipped your pants ), he seems to run a war machine through the film industry. We ponder how does he did that; apart from big help from Jewish lobbyist in the American administration structure.
While we ponder, I assume that no matter how great we have gone, how many people we have rubbed shoulder and how far the length we go to pursue greatness, there is still one thing we shall never forget be it a Malay or a Jew: Never forget your roots.
No comments:
Post a Comment