In 1975 an almost unknown director made a film about a shark that attacks people at a popular tourist resort. It terrified film audiences across America and the unknown director was Steven Spielberg.
In the years since Jaws was made, Spielberg has made some of the most popular films of all time. They include E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Jurassic Park (1993). He has also made several serious films. Schindler's List (1993), for example, is about a German man who saves a group of Polish Jews from the Nazis during the Second World War. Saving Private Ryan (1998), which is also about the Second World War, includes some of the most realistic war scenes ever shown in a film. Both of these films won Academy Awards for best director.
One film reviewer remembers seeing E.T. for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival. 'Cannes audiences are always difficult to impress. But this film about an alien on Earth, trying to get home, had them all crying and cheering! They loved it.
Perhaps that's the secret of Spielberg's success. He is able to show us something amazing something that makes us want to cry and cheer all at the same time.