1. Although Spielberg never made friends with aliens, “IT” is based on his personal story. He grew up in a Jewish family with three sisters and with a mother and father who grew distant, until they separated and broke his heart. To deal with the separation, he invented a friend for himself My imagination from another planet. “This extraterrestrial was the brother I didn’t have, and the father I felt I no longer had,” he said. Down the road, this extraterrestrial would also be an inspiration for the hero of the classic hit.
“The Fablemen”, Spielberg’s officially autobiographical film released this year, focuses on the story of his parents’ divorce, so it can be seen as a sort of prelude to “I.T.”
2. Another source of inspiration for the film was the French director Francois Truffaut, one of Spielberg’s idols, who appeared as an actor in his “Encounters of the Third Kind” in the late 1970s. The veteran filmmaker noticed that the young director was good at working with the children who appeared in supporting roles and suggested that he direct a film that would put them at the center – advice that his Spielberg took with both hands.
3. Spielberg made sure to present the film from the point of view of children, and until the final scenes he also tried to present as few adults as possible, except for the mother of the protagonist. So, for example, in the scenes that take place in Eliot’s classroom, we don’t see the biology teacher. In a scene that was cut from the film, Elliot is required to report to the manager’s office, who is played by none other than Harrison Ford, but we also only see him from the back. Spielberg eventually decided to cut this segment, because what’s the point of including a scene starring such an actor if you don’t see his face.
4. Spielberg did well to work with the young actors, as he would later do in “Empire of the Sun”, “Jurassic Park” and “Artificial Intelligence”, and this year in “The Devilmen”. To squeeze as authentic reactions from them as possible, he shot the film in order Chronological and without repetition. His innocent actors believed that IT was real, and the director did not tell them otherwise. Whether it is ethical or manipulative, you decide, but it is difficult to argue with the effectiveness of the result.
5. In the United States and most of the world “IT” was allowed to be viewed by all ages, but in Scandinavia they thought otherwise. In Finland the threshold was 8 years and older, in Norway it was 12 years and older, and in Sweden they only allowed viewing to those 11 and older, claiming that “the film shows adults as enemies of children, and creates a threatening and frightening atmosphere.” The children of Sweden refused to accept this and demonstrated in the streets with signs such as “Remove the ban”, “Children’s movies are for children” and “Let us see ‘IT.'” According to reports published at the time , many pranksters simply pretended to be older and thus entered the cinema, and in any case the film broke the box office in the country.
6. In our country, the film was released in mid-December 1982, half a year after its premiere in the United States. Aharon Dolev wrote in “Maariv” at the time, with the patronage that was typical of Israeli critics at the time: “You don’t need to get caught up in the hysteria that gripped America, to experience – with childlike pleasure – the charms of a fantastic, kind and innocent adventure. You just have to let the wizard of Hollywood, Steven Spielberg (as he originally spelled it), bring you back to the lost realms of childhood. Go see his little celebration, and don’t forget to take the kids.”
7. And speaking of us: an E.T. doll. stars in “We – The Museum of the Jewish People” in Tel Aviv, and there is a common theory that “IT” is a Jewish parable. The magazine “Tablet” even chose it as the greatest Jewish film of all time, no less, claiming among other things that it presents a story of Jewish exile and Jewish existential anxiety. On the other hand, a letter to the editor was already published in the “New York Times” in real time which claimed that IT is a personage of Jesus and the entire film is a Christian parable. Universal Studios designed its original poster inspired by “The Creation of Man” ” by Michelangelo, hanging in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican – a slightly less Jewish place.
Spielberg commented on this at the time and said – “I am a good Jewish boy, and my mother is the owner of a kosher restaurant.” What do you think she will say if I tell her ‘Mom, I created a Christian parable’?”
8. Legendary film critic Pauline Kyle praised the film and wrote that one of its main virtues is the alien’s voice. This voice is mainly responsible for Pat Walsh, an unknown and almost uncredited actress, whose hoarse voice was created as a result of chain smoking. The person who located her was the film’s sound designer, Ben Burt, who happened to encounter her in a photo shop.
In the diaries she left behind, Walsh said that she always aspired to be famous – a dream that eventually came true in a way that no one could have dreamed of.
9. Spielberg gave a lot of credit to the cinematographer Alain Dabio, his longtime friend who worked with him on his short films. The director explained that thanks to the photographer’s use of lighting, the extraterrestrial’s spectrum of facial expressions expanded from 40 to 80. More importantly, thanks to him I.T. It doesn’t just look sad, but “curiously sad” (or “curious in a sad way”, or however you choose to translate “Curiously Sad”, as Spielberg said).
And speaking of sadness: Dabio had a few more collaborations with Spielberg and a few more records without him, but his career began to wane in the 90s, the last film he shot was in 2004 and he passed away three years ago, after contracting Corona.
10. “IT” became at the time the most successful film of all time, and probably Spielberg’s most successful film as well, until “Jurassic Park” came along in 1993 and took both titles from him. The difference between the two: the director did not feel a special affinity for “Jurassic Park” or the need to protect its legacy, and was not opposed to creating more and more pawns for it. On the other hand, he refuses to create the pledge for “IT.”
Spielberg insisted on his refusal even in the comprehensive and fascinating interview he recently gave to Stephen Colbert. The instructor urged him to create “I.T.” 2″ and said that such a pledge would be a money-printing machine. The director replied in response that the original film was so beloved that it is very possible that no one would want to see its sequel, and in any case he never seriously considered directing such a sequel. Spielberg also added that “I. T.” is a “pretty perfect movie,” and admitted that he can watch it over and over again. the truth? We too.