A Minute with Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg’s latest venture, War Horse, is based on a book about the love between a boy and his horse.

LOS ANGELES:

Steven Spielberg is among the most prolific film directors ever and — as if to prove it — he has two movies in theatres in the US this week during what is one of the biggest box office periods of the year.

The Adventures of Tintin, a computer animated movie using motion capture technology, is based on the popular books by Belgian writer Herge about an adventurous boy journalist, while War Horse is based on a book about the love between a boy and his horse that endures the ravages of World War One. It is the sort of drama that aspires to win Oscars.

In a recent interview, Spielberg spoke about both films.

You’ve said about Tintin that as soon as you read the first of the books, the idea of a movie never left you. Why?

It was just that I had never seen before a character that had so much tenacity to achieve a goal. I think Tintin and I share one thing, we’re both very goal-directed and I really admired this character.

You acquired the rights back in 1983. What took so long to get it to the screen?

In 1983, not only was there no such thing as performance motion capture technology, there was also no such thing as digital animation. This was the analogue era. And I was mainly concerned with not getting a script that would satisfy the memory millions have of these illustrated characters. So I spent at least a decade trying to develop the script.

I realised how to make the film when motion capture first reared its beautiful face in The Polar Express, and I said, ‘well, you know, I don’t think the technology is there yet to tell Tintin but this is the art form I want to tell the story in.

Tintin is a rollicking adventure and War Horse is a human tale set during wartime. Both seem very much in line with being ‘a Spielberg movie’. Is that fair to say?

I don’t know how to define myself or talk about myself in that way because I’m at the disadvantage of being myself. All I know is that I’m reactive to stories that move me and War Horse makes me cry and Tintin makes me breathless and makes me laugh.

You turned 65 this month. Retiring anytime soon?

I don’t know, one of my best friends is Clint Eastwood (81) and he’s my guiding light, so as long as he’s good to go, I’m good to go.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2011.