Duel

I've been noticing lately a clear division between excellent films and everything else. That sounds obvious written down, but let me explain. A handful (maybe a few dozen) of films I feel I can recommend to anyone and be certain that 99% of those people will recognize their greatness. Everything else is opinion -- people can either love or hate a film depending on whether they like the actors, the theme, or the mood of the film (or what mood they're in when they go to see it). This film is one of those handful and its description is bound to increase your skepticism of my theory. A guy driving to a meeting is terrorized by a large truck. That's it. Based on a short story originally published in Playboy, it was picked up by Steven Spielberg's assistant at the start of his career, as he was shooting 1960s TV episodes. And as boring as it sounds, I place this first film at the same level as Spielberg's most serious (and masterful) effort, Schindler's List. Go right ahead and be skeptical -- the more you are, the more pleased you will be by the end result. If you rent the DVD, watch the featurette interviewing Spielberg about the making of the film. If he isn't teaching potential filmmakers, he should be. He's one of the few visionary directors who can also excels at discussing technical and compositional issues of film directing. And he's passionate and intelligent which only improves his appeal. My favorite point of his from the featurette is how important it is for a film director to believe in the film he is making -- whether it's Jurassic Park or Amistad -- because if you don't believe in it, why will the audience?

year: 1971
length: 90 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067023/combined