Steven Spielberg: Interviews

Conversations With Filmmakers Series

by Lester D. Friedman (Editor), Brent Notbohm (Editor)

Steven Spielberg has become a brand name and a force that extends far beyond the movie screen. Phrases like "phone home" and the music score from Jaws are now part of our cultural script, appearing in commercials, comedy routines, and common conversation.

Yet few scholars have devoted time to studying Spielberg's vast output of popular films despite the director's financial and aesthetic achievements. Spanning twenty-five years of Spielberg's career, Steven Spielberg: Interviews explores the issues, the themes, and the financial considerations surrounding his work. The blockbuster creator of E.T., Jaws, and Schindler's List talks about dreams and the almighty dollar.

"I'm not really interested in making money," he says. "That's always come as the result of success, but it's not been my goal, and I've had a tough time proving that to people."

Ranging from Spielberg's twenties to his mid-fifties, the interviews chart his evolution from a brash young filmmaker trying to make his way in Hollywood, to his spectacular blockbuster triumphs, to his maturation as a director seeking to inspire the imagination with meaningful subjects.

The Steven Spielberg who emerges in these talks is a complex mix of businessman and artist, of arrogance and insecurity, of shallowness and substance. Often interviewers will uncover the director's human side, noting how changes in Spielberg's personal life -- marriage, divorce, fatherhood, remarriage -- affect his movies. But always the interviewers find keys to the story-telling and filmmaking talent that have made Spielberg's characters and themes shape our times and inhabit our dreams.

"Every time I go to a movie, it's magic, no matter what the movie's about," he says. "Whether you watch eight hours of Shoah or whether it's Ghostbusters, when the lights go down in the theater and the movie fades in, it's magic."

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Biography, Business

250 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

Reviews

[Alenka · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I've never been in it for the money; I was in it for the physical pleasure of filmmaking. It's a physical pleasure being on a set, making a movie, you know - taking images out of your imagination and making them three-dimensional and solid. It's magic."
If I didn't know or like Steven Spielberg and/or his works enough, this book made sure I did. Even though it only includes discussions about his works up to the year 1998 and is in dire need of an update, it perfectly balances information about movies, production, his personal life, and the filmmaking industry as such. As a cinema lover and someone who grew up watching his movies, this book really delivered.

[Michael Jolls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although badly in need of an update (it concludes just after the release of "Saving Private Ryan"); it's still one of the best in the Conversations With Filmmaker series. The pieces give the career arch of the Hollywood titan; the talented youth who impressed studio heads to get the directing job for "The Sugarland Express", followed by the first contemporary blockbuster, "Jaws". Speilebrg keeps excellent track record, until coming to "The Color Purple" in which he openly frets about taking on more adult content (still a fantastic film). He stifles his way through the remainder of the 80s, until the year 1993, in which the articles become fixated on the boy becoming a man. The theme carries on for the rest of the 1990s, and tips its hat to the opening of DreamWorks and Spielberg's branching out as a producer.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun read. The interviews and essays collected here were remarkably good and packed a surprising punch in terms of information and the color they lend to understanding Spielberg's personality, making this really brief book an incredible value. Spielberg is fascinating to watch throughout the book's pages. He is now certainly one of the most articulate and interestingly cultured filmmakers, but this volume does an excellent job of showcasing his personality during the course of his first films, where he was simultaneously more and less confident about his space in Hollywood culture and history, and occasionally displayed a curious hubris that gets worn down into a steady humility in his later life and films. All-in-all this was an excellent collection to read, one that was breezy to get through but just value-laden in terms of its influence, impact, and the perspectives offered on Spielberg's words and work.

[Michael Jolls · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the update we’ve been waiting for!! This long overdue follow up to the 2000 edition hits the nail on the head. The update addresses the duality between Spielberg’s light hearted flair and his serious drama, particularly in the 2000s and 2010s. The interview choices look peculiar from the outset, but they are masterfully chosen. Arguably a new “best” in UPM’s Conversations with Filmmaker Series.

[Ben Cryer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago, but from what I remember it was a very nicely written book. And since I love film it was nice to get an in depth look at the life of one of the greatest filmakers of our time.

[Gabriel Tejeda-benitez · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really good. I got to know Steven Spielberg. He's awesome.

[Hasan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book on Spielberg and his success as a critical and commercial filmmaker.

[Norman Howe]

Science-Fiction