Special guest for Cannes Classics 2013 : @richarddreyfuss Merci !
— Festival de Cannes (@FdC_officiel)
The Cannes Twitter feed reveals that Close Encounters, Jaws and Always star Richard Dreyfuss will be appearing at the festival.
“Spielberg has always been a filmmaker known for heartfelt films with a moral message, and with his 1989 slate he could not have been clearer on his intentions. Within a sequel and a remake he laid out quite clearly that what matters most—more than life, death, or self-satisfaction—is those we love. And whatever we need to sacrifice for them is worth it. However, while The Last Crusade is built from a central story about the love of a father and son, Always builds from a romantic relationship that is cringe inducing from the start. We root for Indy and his father not only to survive this adventure, but also to mend their broken bond. But in Always I found myself mostly wishing Pete would disappear because he was using his abuse of his God-given powers of suggestion seemed more suitable to a horror movie than a romance. Yes, by Always sentimental finale he has learned that love is not about possessing, it’s about giving of yourself for the betterment of the one you love. But by this point it’s become disturbingly clear that this film’s only villain is its self-centered protagonist. It’s little wonder Always is so often overlooked.”
Kristy Puchko compares Always and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in another great Cinemablend article.
“It’s about life and saying it while you’re here and doing it while you can.”
This is Spielberg discussing Always, one of his most overlooked pictures, but also one of his most important - if for nothing else than this quote. All Spielberg’s films are, up to a point, about “doing it while you can”, but with Always it became a fully formed theme.
Look, for example, at Last Crusade, in which Indy realises he has to make peace with his father while he still can, or Hook, in which Peter Banning realises he has to spend time with his kids while he still can. In Jurassic Park, Alan Grant has a similar experience after narrowly avoiding death in the park.
The theme can also be seen in Spielberg’s serious films. Oskar Schindler realises he has to take action against the Nazis and regrets not doing so sooner in Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan is almost entirely about the transience of life and “earning it” while you can.
Always may not be one of Spielberg’s better achievements, but it is a starting off point from which great things would emerge.
I have a real soft spot for Spielberg’s flawed but charming 1989 film Always. Its romantic trailer is above.
Always is one of Spielberg’s most overlooked and underloved films, but I’ve always thought its visuals are beautiful and themes engrossing. The scene between Audrey Hepburn and Richard Dreyfuss after Dreyfuss’s character, arial firefighter Pete, has died is particularly wonderful.
It takes place on a grassy oasis in the middle of a forest that Pete was trying to save from a fire before he died and serves as a neat symbol of the film’s theme of man vs nature.
Pete’s job is to control nature. He does this arrogantly, however, showing precious little regard for his, or others’ safety, and ignoring his girlfriend Dorinda’s (Holly Hunter) wishes that he quit for something less dangerous.
As a pilot, he is surrounded by technology and machinery, and when his arrogance is finally punished, he is thrown into nature - the grassy oasis - with the ultimate ‘Mother Earth’, an ethereal Audrey Hepburn in her final film role.
She tells Pete that he must help Dorinda recover from his death by setting her up with another man, and he achieves this in a thrilling finale that sees he and Dorinda plummet to earth in Dorinda’s plane. They crash in a lake and here, trapped in a machine but surrounded by nature, they finally connect, allowing Dorinda to move on with her life.
Always is far from Spielberg’s best work, but there are many interesting themes and ideas running through it that haven’t been fully investigated.
