Amblin'

All masters achieve greatness at once and Spielberg illustrates it. His 1st professional work is a terrific short love story in the hippies world. It prefigures in a way his future Duel because it's also a silent movie (no dialogs) set in really sunny California! In spite of the minimalist plot (reaching the waves), Spielberg gives us a dynamic movie with great casting, cool soundtrack and amazing camera work. Even today, he still does the same things and he always reaches his audience because he is a true storyteller! So he's different from David Lynch, another favorite director of mine because Lynch prefers feelings over story and from Tim Burton who stays in fairy world. Spielberg knows how to tell different stories and is always in touch with the moment. So that's why Amblin is finally very moving because it's Spielberg in the 60s, the hippie generation, the rebellious and dreaming youth and for sure, movies like that can't be done today, even by Spielberg! A true gem to discover quickly!

This is Spielberg at his most natural and fluid, loving every minute of being behind the camera. A short, sharp, comedy - road movie. This has a bittersweet quirkiness and some genuine touches of genius. Witness the opening credits, to see the influence of Saul Bass. Spielberg is toying around, being inventive and inquisitive, and his cast serve him well. Those who have been brought up on a diet of Shooting Gallery shorts, should really check this out, to see where it is at!!! Excellent!!!

Y'all can expect a lot of Spielberg reviews for a while, because one of my modules, one of my last ever uni modules (christ time goes fast), is about him.

And this is the earliest thing we're watching by him. And sure, he was inexperienced here, and sure, the version of this you're most likely to see looks and sounds like absolute rubbish. But if we can ignore that...which I did manage to do, I really do think this showcases a hell of a lot of talent early on in his career.

Like, there are a lot of really memorable shots in this, the two lead performances are pretty great, and it's a really good example of how to tell a story with no dialogue. Admittedly, it is a pretty simple story, and it wouldn't win any screenplay awards, but I do think these two characters are surprisingly well defined for the limited time spent with them.

And the soundtrack is really good at setting the atmosphere, so if you don't mind looking at aged film prints that ended up making this look like a hippie fever dream, then check it out if you want to see the origins of one of the masters.

Amblin' is a film of a kid that's in love with the movies. Whoever judges this little diamond by its execution will commit a mistake. A mistake that it won't allow you to see the true nature of the film. Spielberg is a storyteller and here you have the first sample of his career. You can clearly see that he (at such young age) is able to capture the emotion of his subject and project it to the viewer's eye. That is truly amazing and I think that this is what caught mister Sidney Sheinberg's eye about Spielberg. It takes charisma to be able to direct and he proved he had it.

Although not intended when filmed, it serves as a small piece of 60's youthful hippie nostalgia.

If you've heard the name Amblin, you may recognize it as Steven Spielberg's production company. As it turns out, the name comes from a surreal short that the director made in the late '60s. "Amblin'" focuses on a young man and young woman wordlessly roaming through the California desert. The movie looks like a product of the '60s, complete with a theme song that sounds a bit like Simon and Garfunkle's "Scarborough Fair". One might interpret the end of the movie as a representation of the lost dreams of the '60s.

In relation to most of Spielberg's work, "Amblin'" looks like a standalone movie. There's none of the themes that pervaded his later movies. Of course, he was just getting started, so it doesn't lessen the movie. I thought that it was a good movie. Definitely something that could function as an inspiration to aspiring directors.