I met ‘Movies’ on Monday night. And was speechless. How do you speak to ‘Cinema’? How does one have a dialogue with ‘Motion pictures’? How does one ask ‘Film’ a question? Unless you are Amitabh Bachchan, I think it is best to be silent when you watch a movie or its synonym , Steven Spielberg. Yes. I genuinely believe, despite being the biggest fan of Woody Allen, Vittorio de Sica, Majid Majidi, Giuseppe Tornatore, Clint Eastwood, Ang Lee and a few others, that movies must be rechristened Spielbergs. It is possibly the biggest tribute we can pay to movies.
When teenagers in the ‘80s expressed an interest in movies, pat came the reply from their parents, ‘Bloody fellow thinks he is going to be a Spielberg… Shut up and study!’ When producers wanted to put their directors in place they were always told, ‘Hello… what do you think you are, Steven Spielberg?’ (Never who. Always what.) When actors wanted to refuse a film they always said, ‘Even if Spielberg comes I don’t have dates for the next one year.’ Everyone spoke of movies like they were an aspiring Spielberg. Note… I say spoke.
Accessible technology, a few path-breaking films from James Cameron, Spielberg’s own quest for infusing cinema with depth, with a mission to remind us of the glorious lessons in history and of course his passion for creating and grooming other extraordinary talents through his DreamWorks and Amblin empires… all have contributed to a slight downgrading. From an ET, now to just a phenomenon.
On Monday, at the masterclass with Steven Spielberg, Steven was introduced with a video of shots from his work and somebody exclaimed… ‘What a body of work!’ As if to announce that he was just an extraordinary director. But even by the mood of the last few years, assuming movies have got the chutzpah to think of themselves as equals to Spielberg, I believe we can safely rechristen movies as Spielbergs without insulting Spielberg, as we may have after Indiana Jones Part 1. A lot has been written from Duel to Tintin. A lot has been felt and spoken. But I believe Spielberg’s best Spielberg is Lincoln.
Movies must be called Spielbergs: R Balki
