What is the determination that Spielberg entrusted to his “father” in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”?

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" synopsis

Indy's nemesis, the Nazis, returns and kidnaps Indy's father, Professor Henry Jones, to help him find the Holy Grail. Follow clues from America to Venice. It is up to Indy to rescue his father, discover the Holy Grail, and achieve justice.

Index

• Spielberg's version of "And Becoming a Father"
• The original James Bond is cast to play the father.
• Indiana Jones' three fathers

Spielberg's version of "And Becoming a Father"

"foundling". It's a consistent theme in Steven Spielberg's filmography, as many pundits have pointed out.

Young Elliot (Henry Thomas) in `` ET '' (1982) is growing up in a nuclear family without a father, while Jamie (Christian Bale) in `` Empire of the Sun '' (1987) is separated from his parents in Shanghai. Put it away. The robot boy David (Haley Joel Osment) in `` AI '' (2001) wanders in search of his mother's love, and Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) in `` Catch Me If You Can' ' (2002) I am alone for the rest of my life.

In `` The Lost World/ Jurassic Park '' (1997), a T. rex child, not a human, is considered an "abandoned child," and the enraged mother T. rex goes on a rampage in San Diego. Spielberg, who grew up with an electrician father and a pianist mother, experienced his parents' divorce when he was young. Perhaps ``an abandoned child'' is a latent proposition that has settled deep within him.

“The Lost World/ Jurassic Park” trailer

However, when we focus on the theme of ``abandoned children'' from the perspective of ``fathers,'' we find that the way they are portrayed has changed slightly over time. Kazushige Abe, an Akutagawa Prize-winning author and film critic, makes the following statement in a book of interviews.

``First of all, early Spielberg movies are stories about fathers leaving their homes.Fathers leave their families and go outside, leaving the mother and child behind.'' (Excerpt from `` Lost in America' ') )

Indeed, Brody (Roy Scheider), the main character in the early film Jaws (1975), leaves his wife and child behind to go to sea, and Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), the main character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), goes to space. He departed. The mission he had to accomplish took priority over his family, and those left behind were destined to become abandoned children.

However, when Spielberg gets married and has a child, and becomes a father himself, the role of the father in the film also changes to that of the children's ``protector''. The story is about Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) in "Schindler's List " (1993), who awakens to the idea of ​​being a "father" who is trying to save a Jewish "child", and the story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who has professed to hate children, in " Jurassic Park". Dr. Grant (Sam Neill) in ``Park '' (1993) communicates emotionally with children through his adventures.

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

Peter Pan (Robin Williams) in `` Hook '' (1991) is perhaps the most obvious example. Peter Pan, a 40-year-old man who was absorbed in his work without thinking about his family, returns to his family after going on a great adventure in Never Land. This is the story of how he goes from being an "eternal boy" until he realizes that he is a "father."

The third film in the Indiana Jones series, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade(1989), is the work in which this theme is most strongly expressed. This film can be called Spielberg's version of ``And Becoming a Father.''