The great US director Steven Spielberg is a master of his craft. Nevertheless, he cannot do without a certain ritual that he performs before each new film.
What ritual is it? Steven Spielberg is one of the most famous filmmakers in the world. His works include Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List or Indiana Jones.
For him, working on set has long since become a habit, and he feels visibly comfortable in various genres. Before the filming of a new Spielberg film begins, the director has a little ritual that he performs just for himself.
He watches one or two films every time. And not just any films, but true classics of American cinema.
Apart from that, Spielberg likes to recommend the occasional film. For example, one of the most popular animes, or a science fiction classic. Here you can see the trailer to one of his own films:
The films of a great role model
What does Spielberg watch? As the director recounted in an interview with the American Film Institute in 2013, he watches a film by John Ford before starting filming.
This filmmaker is considered one of the great directors of “Classical Hollywood,” the era between 1930 and 1960. Ford is mainly known today for his westerns, particularly The Searchers with John Wayne in the lead role.
And it is exactly this film that Spielberg watches every time anew. Not because he wants to relax before the strenuous filming, but because he gets inspired by it. He says the following:
I react very sensitively to the way he (Ford) uses the camera to paint his images.
Steven Spielberg via jeuxvideo.com
John Ford would usually keep his images static, while only the characters move. Just like a painter who has the static frame of a canvas in front of him.
What is this film about? In The Searchers , western icon John Wayne plays the tough guy Ethan, who is searching for his children. They have been kidnapped and need to be rescued. Additionally, the family’s farm has been burned down, an image that was later quoted in the first Star Wars.
Over the years, the film has become a major classic and is regarded today as one of the best American films of all time. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a critic rating of 87%. The British Film Institute ranks it 15th in their list of the best films of all time (via bfi.org).
Steven Spielberg is such a big fan of John Ford and his work that he even incorporated the late director, who passed away in 1973, into a film. Namely in The Fabelmans (2022), in which Spielberg tells the story of his own family and his beginnings as a filmmaker.
John Ford appears in one scene and gives young Spielberg advice. Particularly curious: Ford is played by David Lynch, who himself is one of the great American directors. The Fabelmans was Spielberg’s most recent film. We can be curious about what the filmmaker plans next. By the way: Two of his blockbusters helped him graduate from university in the 1990s. You can read more about it on MeinMMO.
