Spielberg Page #6

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on "Close Encounters."

Columbia Pictures

was literally on the verge

of bankruptcy,

and they bet the farm

on this movie.

He had bankers and Hollywood

breathing down his neck

to prove to the world

that "Jaws" wasn't a fluke.

So, Steven had

a giant responsibility

on his shoulders,

but he had to stay true

to what worked for him,

or it wasn't gonna be

a good film.

And he did.

Win or lose,

he made the movie that

he had dreamed of making.

Spielberg:

When I was a kid,

my dad took me to watch

the Perseid meteor shower

and introduced me to the sky

as a place

of unspeakable wonders.

And because

it was such a beautiful

experience for me,

the heavens promised

if there was ever gonna be,

you know,

a first meeting

between an extraterrestrial

civilization and our own,

it would only be benign

and constructive.

It would be

a conversation.

( high notes playing )

( low notes playing )

Williams:

When these extraterrestrials

are coming here,

we don't know

what they can speak,

what they understand,

or even what they see,

so Steven had this idea

that communication

should be a combination

of sound and light.

( notes playing )

( notes playing )

Spielberg:

I had first thought

mathematics would be

the common language

between intergalactic species,

but I thought it would be

much more emotional

if music was how we spoke

to one another.

( music playing )

Spielberg:

I don't search for films

consciously

that have

a spiritual core.

There's a spiritual part

of myself that happens

to bleed over into the work,

and so I subconsciously,

which is the only choice

that's important,

will find things

that inherently have

something of a belief system

that's beyond

our understanding,

that's a little bit out there.

Balaban:

"Close Encounters" was

much more a personal statement

than his previous

two movies had been.

I mean,

he wrote the script.

It really meant

a huge amount to Steven.

Its genesis

was from a film

I had actually written

and directed when I was 17.

( music playing )

It was the story of

man's first contact with UFOs.

And there were actually

UFOs in "Firelight"

that I created.

I saw a lot of movies,

and I had a whole card

catalogue in my brain

of the things I had seen.

And just by watching movies

with special effects in them,

I could figure

most everything out.

Balaban:

In a way, he had lived

with "Close Encounters"

since he was a child.

And he had a vision

in a real palpable sense

of what this movie

should feel like

when you experience

the movie.

Steven doesn't want to make

little personal movies.

He wants to make

big personal movies.

That's not right.

That's not right.

That's not right.

That's not right.

Spielberg:

I identified

with this obsession

that Richard Dreyfuss

was struggling with.

I was Neary

in that movie.

Something opens up

his imagination

to go for something

that he thinks

is going to provide

some cathartic answer.

He had to go

through chaos

to reach

some kind of clarity.

He was an artist

trying to plumb

the depths

of his imagination.

And so I think

in a sense

"Close Encounters"

is maybe the most,

at least certainly

the most personal film

I had made

up to that point,

because it was also about

the dissolution of a family.

( crying )

Nancy:
I remember when we moved

to Northern California

from Arizona.

I had sensed that things

weren't going well

with my parents.

Spielberg:

And one day,

my dad just broke down,

and I never had seen

my dad cry before.

And I just stood there

in the kitchen,

outraged that my father

was not a man.

He was crying

like a little boy.

And I started

screaming "crybaby" at him

as loud as I could.

Just started screaming,

"Crybaby, you crybaby,

you crybaby,"

until they pushed me

out of the kitchen.

Roy, promise me

that you'll go!

Please!

You crybaby!

You crybaby!

You crybaby!

- You crybaby! Crybaby!

- Get out of here!

Get out!

Come on, you guys.

- Crybaby!

- Come on.

You crybaby!

- Be quiet!

- Ronnie:
Stop it!

My mom went from being

completely joyful

and celebrative

about life itself

to being full of despair

and palpable sadness.

( music playing )

Spielberg:

I would see my mom

going into the living room

and playing some Schumann

and crying.

Crying to the point

she couldn't see the notes

on the paper.

I'd sit with her

and hold her hand,

talk to her.

She just said,

"I'm so lonely here.

I'm so sad here."

I was going through

the same thing.

And all I knew

was that my dad

was fulfilled up there,

and we weren't.

So, when it was announced

by my mom

that my mom and my dad

were splitting up,

I didn't know

any of the details.

I didn't know

why they were splitting up,

and I didn't

for a long time.

I didn't want to know.

I fell in love

with somebody else.

I was madly in love

with Bernie Adler.

I look back, I think,

"How dare I do that?"

But I really didn't care

at that point.

It was all about me

and my unhappiness.

Anne:

Bernie had been

my father's best friend,

and he was a fixture.

It was like

having an uncle.

Arnold:

I never would tell the kids

that she divorced me.

Instead, I let them think

I divorced her.

Lacy:

Why did you do that?

Protecting her

'cause she's fragile.

And she still is.

And so, I figured I could be

hurt less than she.

I still loved her.

My dad and my stepfather

were best friends.

My mom married

Dad's best friend.

You look at the big picture,

that's sh*t.

That's really bad.

It didn't hit me

till I got older

that that was

a really tough thing

for Dad,

and I--

my heart bled for him.

Anne:

Steve really thought

my dad left us.

So, during a number of years,

we blocked him out.

And Steve, I know,

blamed him

for the relationship

going bad.

Spielberg:

It was literally

the worst period

of my entire life.

I never told my dad

I was mad at him.

We never had

angry words,

but it was

an estrangement

that I created,

not from my dad.

He was seeking

a relationship with me.

I just went off

and got lost in my work,

the way I saw my dad

get lost in his

all those years

of coming home late

and working weekends

back in Phoenix and

all of that.

I became my father.

I became a workaholic.

And I just lost

the contact with him.

It went on for...

15 years.

Tom Snyder:

You know, I read

about you today.

You've done four pictures.

That's all.

Four movies

that I can count.

You're not Alfred Hitchcock

who's done over 50.

You're not John Ford.

Can you believe

that you've directed

four pictures

and you're a famous person?

- Can you believe that?

- Can I believe that?

Yes, I can,

as a matter of fact.

I can believe

that I've directed

four pictures,

although it seems like

I've been directing

much longer.

Tom Hanks:

He arrived on the scene

in such a huge manner.

You know,

the way "Jaws" entered

into the consciousness

of the world was huge.

"Close Encounters"

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