Scarecrow Press The Films of Steven Spielberg (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series): Critical Essays: 94

Steven Spielberg has fashioned an enviable career as a writer, producer, and director of American motion pictures, winning Academy Awards for Best Direction (Saving Private Ryan, Schindlers List), and for Best Film (Schindlers List). With David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg he founded Dreamworks SKG, already one of the most productive and respected studios in Hollywood. Despite Spielbergs notable successes, however, his films have not avoided controversy. The Films of Steven Spielberg provides for the first time a collection of critical writings by professional film critics about the director and his films, bringing together many articles and reviews scattered in often inaccessible specialist publications and professional journals. The opinions vary from complimentary to critical, but they definitely provide a well-rounded view of the films and the director. Twelve of Spielbergs major box office hits, including Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, Schindlers List, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, are discussed in essays that vary in complexity ranging from the heavily theoretical to the more general. This collection of essays, compiled for both film students and professionals in the film industry, attests to the influence of Spielberg and the films that have earned him a significant place in the history of cinema as one of Americas most innovative and culturally important filmmakers.