A lot of things click while watching Amblin'. After all, this is the work that reportedly got Spielberg a contract with Universal and started him off on a legendary career, not a trivial achievement by any means. No, it is no coincidence that a 25 minute short film, had the power to persuade Universal's executives to hire a director, who at the time was barely out of his teens.
There is an irresistible quality to the work that despite very poor available transfer, does not hide the skills and the sheer sense of liberated fun that so many student filmmakers strive for but rarely achieve. What is more, it is absolutely a work of the man who would go on to helm Duel, Jaws and Close Encounters within the decade of his hiring.
Amblin' is absolutely devoid of amateurishness.
This is not just due to the issues that typically come with student films or that so many of them tend to be very personal; rather it is because the director, who clearly already felt very comfortable in his role, was not merely experimenting with a certain theme but striving for something very particular. I've long understood that Spielberg's range as a filmmaker far exceeds the range of the majority of his vast fan base. The end results are often all the better for it (as is true of work of gifted and capable directors in general) and those viewers who do not fall under that rule, will be rewarded in ways that almost no other film experience can provide.
Amblin' is no exception for it is due to those special qualities that the film has that it will be appreciated even fuller by those who can both feel and think.
There are people who do not understand why "Lost In Translation" is such an incredible work and find it to be dull and pointless. It is no use explaining as it is impossible to convey the appeal of a film that, above all else, must connect emotionally - something that is very true of Amblin' as well. Luckily, there are many more viewers who saw the film and loved it.
Amblin' deserves to be seen as it is an achievement that aspiring students can actually get inspired and learn from.
In my heading I called Amblin' a tone poem and it very much feels like one. Visuals play an important role in both establishing the style and the setting, with musical cues (a fore-shadower of Spielberg's mastery of using music scores) standing in for dialog.
Of special note is the palatable chemistry between the two leads. Watching Amblin' one gets a very strong sense of growing sexual attraction between the pair, tension which culminates in one of the most romantic scenes I have seen. It is a testament to Spielberg's sense imagination that in one brief shot we can tell that the girl is fully topless even when there isn't much that we can actually see. What he does is create a feeling of un-staged closeness.
While it openly plays up the era it was made in, it would be very inaccurate to call Amblin a "hippy movie". The 60s atmosphere definitely informs the movie's feel and plot, but just as there is a lot more to that decade's vibe than the hippie movement alone, there is much more to the character's look and behavior. In fact, if anything, Amblin' can almost be seen as a send off of some of the more stereotypical 60s traits - a fact that is seemingly lost on quite a few of the earlier reviewers. One must also not forget that being a young man, Spielberg's own ideas of young people and relationships probably colored what we see in the movie. He clearly knows what it feels to be attracted by someone and this is his meditation on what it is like.
With its long takes and an emphasis on both the flirting and the realistic aspects of a budding bond, Amblin' can be seen as a very representative early French New Wave entrant.
Minor Spoilers follow:
In Amblin' it is not all "free love" and endless road. The ending makes it clear that disappointments, disillusionments and insecurities were very much in play. Each character had something to protect or hide and their shared future together was never guaranteed. Not because either one of them looked for was a one-night stand (I never got a feeling that anything that happened was pre-calculated) and was not interested in staying with the same partner. It was because the guy could not keep the mystery and the girl could no longer see him the same way she saw him before. What seemed like a quirk before took on a new meaning.
Cuteness could only take our hero so far. The moment he relaxed and let himself go was the moment he became vulnerable. That is the moment of the movie I connected with the most. How carefree and happy he looks. Maybe these moments of happiness are worth it even as he hoped she would be there because he got used to the feeling she gave him. However, the film's ending is both realistic and complicated. The characters made no promises, they exchanged no vows and their closeness, once their arrived at it is both spontaneous and completely earned. This is why we don't see they guy's reaction. Perhaps he knows. Perhaps he knows that this is as far he could have taken the relationship. Or maybe, he is riding his current high, and, for a brief moment, totally carefree.
End of Spoilers.
And, at the end, while I am very thankful to Amblin' for helping launch the career of the Great director, I am equally glad I saw it because it is among the finest short films I have seen. Love Amblin'.
There is an irresistible quality to the work that despite very poor available transfer, does not hide the skills and the sheer sense of liberated fun that so many student filmmakers strive for but rarely achieve. What is more, it is absolutely a work of the man who would go on to helm Duel, Jaws and Close Encounters within the decade of his hiring.
Amblin' is absolutely devoid of amateurishness.
This is not just due to the issues that typically come with student films or that so many of them tend to be very personal; rather it is because the director, who clearly already felt very comfortable in his role, was not merely experimenting with a certain theme but striving for something very particular. I've long understood that Spielberg's range as a filmmaker far exceeds the range of the majority of his vast fan base. The end results are often all the better for it (as is true of work of gifted and capable directors in general) and those viewers who do not fall under that rule, will be rewarded in ways that almost no other film experience can provide.
Amblin' is no exception for it is due to those special qualities that the film has that it will be appreciated even fuller by those who can both feel and think.
There are people who do not understand why "Lost In Translation" is such an incredible work and find it to be dull and pointless. It is no use explaining as it is impossible to convey the appeal of a film that, above all else, must connect emotionally - something that is very true of Amblin' as well. Luckily, there are many more viewers who saw the film and loved it.
Amblin' deserves to be seen as it is an achievement that aspiring students can actually get inspired and learn from.
In my heading I called Amblin' a tone poem and it very much feels like one. Visuals play an important role in both establishing the style and the setting, with musical cues (a fore-shadower of Spielberg's mastery of using music scores) standing in for dialog.
Of special note is the palatable chemistry between the two leads. Watching Amblin' one gets a very strong sense of growing sexual attraction between the pair, tension which culminates in one of the most romantic scenes I have seen. It is a testament to Spielberg's sense imagination that in one brief shot we can tell that the girl is fully topless even when there isn't much that we can actually see. What he does is create a feeling of un-staged closeness.
While it openly plays up the era it was made in, it would be very inaccurate to call Amblin a "hippy movie". The 60s atmosphere definitely informs the movie's feel and plot, but just as there is a lot more to that decade's vibe than the hippie movement alone, there is much more to the character's look and behavior. In fact, if anything, Amblin' can almost be seen as a send off of some of the more stereotypical 60s traits - a fact that is seemingly lost on quite a few of the earlier reviewers. One must also not forget that being a young man, Spielberg's own ideas of young people and relationships probably colored what we see in the movie. He clearly knows what it feels to be attracted by someone and this is his meditation on what it is like.
With its long takes and an emphasis on both the flirting and the realistic aspects of a budding bond, Amblin' can be seen as a very representative early French New Wave entrant.
Minor Spoilers follow:
In Amblin' it is not all "free love" and endless road. The ending makes it clear that disappointments, disillusionments and insecurities were very much in play. Each character had something to protect or hide and their shared future together was never guaranteed. Not because either one of them looked for was a one-night stand (I never got a feeling that anything that happened was pre-calculated) and was not interested in staying with the same partner. It was because the guy could not keep the mystery and the girl could no longer see him the same way she saw him before. What seemed like a quirk before took on a new meaning.
Cuteness could only take our hero so far. The moment he relaxed and let himself go was the moment he became vulnerable. That is the moment of the movie I connected with the most. How carefree and happy he looks. Maybe these moments of happiness are worth it even as he hoped she would be there because he got used to the feeling she gave him. However, the film's ending is both realistic and complicated. The characters made no promises, they exchanged no vows and their closeness, once their arrived at it is both spontaneous and completely earned. This is why we don't see they guy's reaction. Perhaps he knows. Perhaps he knows that this is as far he could have taken the relationship. Or maybe, he is riding his current high, and, for a brief moment, totally carefree.
End of Spoilers.
And, at the end, while I am very thankful to Amblin' for helping launch the career of the Great director, I am equally glad I saw it because it is among the finest short films I have seen. Love Amblin'.
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