The movie Jordan Peele called “an awe-inspiring cinematic feat”
In an industry that repeatedly looks down upon creatives, Jordan Peele has become a rare breed in Hollywood. Coming from the sketch comedy of Key and Peele, the acclaimed director subverted every expectation people had for him on Get Out, making one of the most original films of the 2010s. While Peele had a unique approach to telling a story in all his movies, he has always been a student of classic cinema.
Much like Peele, Steven Spielberg was in a similar position when getting his career rolling in the late ‘70s. As depicted in The Fablemans, Spielberg’s road to being one of the most visionary filmmakers of all time began with him making amateur films with his friends and family before moving ahead with a broader scope on blockbusters like Jaws.
Though Peele did take a few cues from Spielberg in a handful of scenes, he referenced Close Encounters of the Third Kind as a groundbreaking moment in film history. Coming after making Jaws, Spielberg’s intense look at how humanity deals with an alien invasion struck a nerve with audiences that had a strange curiosity for what existed beyond our planet.
Even though films about alien life weren’t as prevalent at the time, Peele still marvels at how Spielberg was able to make the film, telling Taste of Cinema, “Close Encounters is such an awe-inspiring cinematic feat, and I think the ambition with a flying saucer film and taking that on, he brought the appropriate ambition to it and so I felt a sort of responsibility to take on that ambition and do things in my style”.
While Peele would get his foot in the door by making comedic sketches with Keegan-Michael Key, his approach to films would become more grandiose in scope. Even with a horror movie like Get Out, Peele’s use of creative shots like Chris’s out-of-body experience has the same creative ingenuity Spielberg had when making the flying saucer for the first time.
Peele’s admiration for Spielberg’s work continued in the making of his follow-up, Us. Being more of a straight-ahead thrasher movie with cerebral elements, Peele had a tip of the hat to Spielberg when he included one of the characters from the film wearing a Jaws T-shirt. When discussing its inclusion in the movie, Peele remembered calling Spielberg to get his approval of the Easter Egg, saying, “I reached out to Steven, thanked him, and asked ‘Is there a Jaws shirt I can use for this film?’, and he said, yes. It’s such a validating moment for the design of the film”.
After his first two horror masterpieces, Peele’s third outing, Nope, would be the moment he capitalised on Spielberg’s influence. Set against an unknown force in the sky hiding amongst the clouds, the central story behind Nope is the logical extension of what Close Encounters could be like in the modern age, with people being so concerned about discovering the meaning behind this alien craft in the sky.
While it’s clear that Spielberg has had a significant influence on Peele’s style, it never crosses the line into becoming too much of a homage. Instead of replaying the same tropes that Spielberg pioneered, Peele is taking those lessons and refining them for a new audience.
