Steven Spielberg names his ultimate escapism movie: “A film that fulfilled my fantasies”
Despite the fantastical qualities to many of his films, the process of making has not always been easy for Steven Spielberg, with the legendary director encountering many obstacles during the filmmaking process that have slightly tainted the overall production. Whether it be the tumultuous production of Jaws that faulty sharks and equipment failure plagued, the intense physical demands of his war drama or the constantly ballooning budget on Hook, the director has had few filmmaking experiences in which he isn’t being tested to the absolute limit, which is undoubtedly a reflection of the challenging nature of the medium and Hollywood itself.
However, while he has been pushed to wits end with many of his films, there was one that was a welcome change for the director and a chance to completely escape through the power of film, despite being one of his less-praised projects.
Spielberg is, without a doubt, one of the most influential auteurs of all time, forming a new genre of blockbuster cinema through films like Jaws and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and creating stories that appealed to mass audiences. There is a quality of wonder and spectacle to each film, creating life-affirming family dramas that revolve around often fantastical and miraculous experiences.
However, even though the director induces a feeling of comfort and safety through his films, this hasn’t always been his experience of them, except in his lesser-known 2018 film Ready Player One.
Starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelsohn, the film follows the aftermath of the death of a popular video game creator, in which a deadly competition is created to fight for his fortune. It is one of the more bizarre instalments to his filmography given that it barely feels like it was directed by him, with few shots or moments that are defined by his signature trademark, almost as of he was trying to do something completely different.
When discussing the film, Spielberg said, “For me, this film was my great escape movie. This was a film for me that fulfilled all of my fantasies of the places I go in my imagination when I get out of town. I got to live this for three years. I got to escape into the imagination of Earnest Cline and Zak Penn [who co-wrote the screenplay]. It was amazing. But I came back to earth a couple of times. I made Bridge of Spies and The Post, while I was making Ready Player One. So, I got that whiplash effect of going from social reality to escapist entertainment and I’m feeling it. It’s a great feeling but it also makes my wife and kids kind of crazy because they don’t know who dad’s going to be when he comes home, or which dad they’re going to get.”.
Perhaps it is important to shake free of the things people expect from your work and embrace reinvention, even if no-one recognises that it was made by you in the first place. While it was a risky move from Spielberg, the process of losing himself in the story and fully stepping into an escapist world was maybe crucial to cleanse his creative palette and eventually return to what he was familiar with.
