Oscar-Winning Film Leaves Steven Spielberg ‘Stunned’ and ‘Speechless’

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The film that managed to bluff Spielberg

Whether you're a big movie buff or just like going to the movies from time to time (or even just watching movies from the comfort of your couch), you're bound to know Steven Spielberg. Between his first and his last film, almost 60 years of career stand behind this great man of cinema, and suffice to say that the latter is very full. Jaws, AND The Extra-Terrestrialthe saga Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, War of the Worlds, Ready Player One, West Side Story…Steven Spielberg has probably made the most memorable films of the last few decades, and he hasn't even announced he wants to retire yet.

But while one might believe that the American director never had to take advice from anyone, he revealed in an interview that there was one film that simply blew him away. It must be said that this is not just any feature film since it was awarded no less than 7 Oscars the year of its release, including those for best film, best director and best cinematography. This film is none other than Lawrence of Arabiadirected by David Lean. As a reminder, the feature film is inspired by the life of the British officer and writer Thomas Edward Lawrence, also called Lawrence of Arabia. Played by Peter O'Toole in Lean's film, this character is known for having succeeded in uniting several tribes of Arabia, including the Howeitat of Aouda Abou Tayi, all to found an independent and modern Arab nation.

Personal and artistic reasons

When Lawrence of Arabia was released, Steven Spielberg was only 16 years old.. However, several years later, the American director is clear: it was this film that changed him forever and inspired him to make his own films. In video interviewSpielberg says:

I wasn't really able to digest it all at once. I left the theater stunned and speechless and didn't understand the impact this film had on me until several months later.

After seeing the film for the first time during his high school years, the young Steven Spielberg bought the soundtrack to Lawrence of Arabia and listened to it countless times in order to better understand the cinematic experience that he had just lived. In addition to all its technical qualities, it must be said that David Lean's film had everything to please a young Spielberg already familiar with desert expanses:

I grew up in the desert so I had a certain affinity for Lawrence's love of the desert and understood his obsession with the “cleanliness” of the desert.

As a reminder, Steven Spielberg grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. If it is of course not the same type of desert as that traveled by Lawrence of Arabia, it seems to have been enough for the future director to project himself into this character. This love for this type of geography also returned to the screen when making his autobiographical film The Fabelmans, currently available on Netflix. Later, Spielberg finally had the opportunity to meet David Lean. An experience that the American director was able to compare to “meeting your guru”. So even the greatest have their idols.