From Sugarland Express to The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg and John Williams have enjoyed a collaboration unlike any other in cinema history. It’s difficult to imagine the vast, varied films of Spielberg accompanised by anything other than the music of John Williams, and that storied partnership will be celebrated at an American Cinematheque Tribute – “Spielberg/Williams — 50 Years of Music and Movies” – on 12th January at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills.
Spielberg and Williams first met and began working together in 1972 on Sugarland Express (1974), the first of 29 feature-length films on which they have teamed. (Spielberg has made only five films that weren’t scored by Williams.) Many of their collaborations — including Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler’s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Munich (2005) and Lincoln (2012) — immediately call to mind both visuals and music in a way that is true of only a select few, if any, other director/composer teams.
This year, the duo reunited for The Fabelmans, which Spielberg has described as the “most personal” film of his career. The film has already been nominated for best picture and best original score Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards, with major Oscar nominations almost certain to follow.
If the film is nominated for best picture, Spielberg will extend his record number of nominations for a producer from 10 to 11 (though he has won in that category just once, for Schindler’s List). And if it’s nominated for best original score, Williams will extend his record number of total noms for a living person from 52 to 53 (he has won five times); he already holds the all-time record for most decades with at least one nom (the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s).
- Shrink-wrapped
- Audio CD – Audiobook
- 03/17/2017 (Publication Date) - Masterworks (Publisher)
