Earlier this month, I wrote an article on one of my film directors - Stanley Kubrick (which you can read here). This week, we're going to take a look at another iconic director - maybe one of the most influential directors in the history of film: Steven Spielberg. In this article, we're going to take a look at Spielberg's career story and three of his most famous productions: E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial (1982), Schindler's List (1993) and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001).

Steven Allan Spielberg was born December 18th, 1946 (now age 70) in Ohio, U.S. Both his parents were from Russian Jewish immigrant families. Spielberg went to California State University but dropped out to pursue his entertainment career. Spielberg worked actively as a director throughout the 60s, which would portend his future career in movies.

During his career spanning more than four decades, Spielberg's films have featured a row of themes and genres. His early films belong to the science-fiction and adventure genres - such as Jaws (1975) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). In later years, Spielberg began addressing more humanistic issues, like civil rights, war, terrorism, the Holocaust and the transatlantic slave trade. Examples of this are Empire of the Sun (1987) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). 

Spielberg has so far had an extremely active career, and in all likelihood, you have watched a production where Spielberg has been involved to some degree - either as director, screenwriter, producer or executive producer. 

Which Spielberg production is your favorite?

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Thank you Fiskarna for the layout!

Released: June 1982
Genre: Family, Sci-Fi
IMDb rating: 7,9/10
Metascore: 91/100

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was written television screenwriter Mellisa Mathison, and co-produced and directed by Spielberg.
E.T. was an immediate blockbuster in its time, and quickly became the highest-grossing film of all time (even surpassing Star Wars!). E.T. held this record for 11 years, until Jurassic Park - another Spielberg-directed film - eventually surpassed it in 1993.

The concept of E.T. was based on an imaginary friend Spielberg created after the divorce of his parents in 1960. The film tells the story of a gentle alien named E.T. who is stranded on earth. E.T. befriends a 10-year-old boy named Elliot. E.T. has a strong wish to go home, and he builds an improvised device to ask the other aliens to pick him up. Soon, however, E.T. falls seriously ill, which results in government intervention which puts E.T. and Elliot in a dire situation.

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Released: November 1993
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
IMDb rating: 8,9/10
Metascore: 93/100

Schindler's List is based on the novel Schindler's Ark by the Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film pictures the incredible true story of businessman Oskar Schindler, who arrives in Krakow in 1939, ready to make a fortune from World War II. He staffs his factory with Jewish workers to exploit cheap Jewish labour. However, he gradually becomes concerned for them as he witnesses their persecution by the Nazi Germans. Schindler's motivations change from profit to human sympathy, and he ends up saving more than 1000 Jewish lives from a certain death during the Holocaust.

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Released: June 2001
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
IMDb rating: 7,1/10
Metascore: 65/100

Spielberg wrote the screenplay for A.I. Artificial Intelligence based on a screen story by author Ian Watson and the 1969 short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss. Originally, A.I. was Stanley Kubrick's project, but he handed the project to Spielberg in 1995 (which I have mentioned before in my prior article on Stanley Kubrick).

A.I. is a futuristic tale of a highly advanced robotic boy named David. He is adopted by the Swinton family because their biological son is in a coma he is unlikely to survive. Although being artificial, David's love for his mother Monica is completely real - and he wants nothing more than to be with her forever. But, when the Swinton's real son waked up and comes home, things dramatically change. David is abandoned by his family and has to learn how cruel the world truly is towards a young robotic child. He goes out on an adventurous, Pinocchio-inspired mission to find a way to become a real human boy, so Monica will want to be his mother again.

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