Cool Stuff: Spielberg: The First Ten Years Book looks at the director's early blockbusters

For those curious about what kind of material this book contains, Vanity Fair has unveiled a rather lengthy excerpt, which features a lengthy interview with Spielberg about the making of "Jaws." As Bouzereau told the magazine, "What he describes in the book, a little nervous breakdown because of that, was so powerful for me, because it really shows the struggle and the consequences that it cost him. . And Spielberg touches on several interesting points, including his desire to keep a lot of red out of the set design:

"Yeah, for Jaws, I didn't want red to be dominant on any of the sets. I said to Joe [Alves, art director and set designer], 'Please please... when designing the image and finding your colors, don't use too much red, taking blood into account.'"

Because Bouzereau is a Spielberg scholar, he also picked up a common thread running through Spielberg's early career that reveals a theme some may not have realized even after all these years. It's something that ties this first decade of movies together in a nice way. The author explained:

“When I was writing the book, I needed to find out what was the real theme of those first 10 years? What I found out is that all of these movies are a variation on "home". In "Duel" you have a man who is being chased by this killer truck. He may never return home. "The Sugarland Express" is about this couple trying to get home and reunite with their child so they can have a home. "Jaws" is about a man who moves from New York to Amity Island, and what do they sing about when they're on the boat chasing the shark? "Show me the way home..." /p>

Then you go to "Close Encounters", about a man who leaves the house. "1941" is about the attack on the homeland. "Raiders" is about a man who barely has a home. And we end with "E.T. phoned home. So I explained to him exactly like I was telling you, and he was like, 'I guess I've never been away from home.'"

“Spielberg: The First Ten Years,” which features a foreword by composer John Williams and an introduction by George Lucas, will be released on October 24, 2023 and you can pre-order it now.

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