Posted on 11/04/2015 5:53:19 PM PST by Borges
Melissa Mathison, who was Oscar-nominated for original screenplay for Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial†and also wrote “The Black Stallion,†died Wednesday in Los Angeles after an illness, her brother Dirk Mathison confirmed. She was 65.
She recently reunited with Spielberg to write the screenplay for Roald Dahl adaptation “The BFG,†which is in post-production. Mathison, who was married to Harrison Ford from 1983 to 2004, had two children with the actor, Malcolm and Georgia.
Mathison also served as associate producer on “E.T.,†which was produced by Kathleen Kennedy.
Spielberg, who worked closely with Mathison on the concept for the film partially inspired by his parents’ divorce, said in a statement Wednesday, “Melissa had a heart that shined with generosity and love and burned as bright as the heart she gave E.T.â€
On a DVD special edition of the 1982 classic, Spielberg described her contribution: “Melissa delivered this 107-page first draft to me and I read it in about an hour. I was just knocked out. It was a script I was willing to shoot the next day. It was so honest, and Melissa’s voice made a direct connection with my heart.â€
Mathison explained on the DVD: “I would write for four or five days in my little office in Hollywood, and then drive out to Marina Del Rey where Steven Spielberg was editing in a little apartment on the beach. I’d bring him my pages and we’d sit and go through them…It took about eight weeks for us to get the first draft, which was quite fast, I think.â€
She also wrote screenplays for Martin Scorsese’s 1997 “Kundun,†during which she started a friendship with the film’s subject, the Dalai Lama.
She had a particular feeling for children’s literature, adapting classic novel “The Indian in the Cupboard†for Kennedy-Marshall Productions. She also wrote screenplays for “The Escape Artist,†a segment in the “Twilight Zone†movie as well as the TV movie “Son of the Morning Star.â€
Mathison was born in Los Angeles and attended U.C. Berkeley.
Feel free to name a film about children that was a big success from about 1967 till E.T. Anyway E.T. is a good film because it’s beautifully filmed and poetic. It’s a fantasy so ‘ludicrous’ doesn’t apply. You either go with it or you don’t. For what it’s worth I thought A.I. was also a great albeit flawed film.
The Indian in the Cupboard is a favorite movie in my household.
67 to 82 is 15 years, not twenty.
Mary Poppins falls in your original 20 year window.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Willy Wonka.
Escape to Witch Mountain
These are simply off the top of my head.
None of those films are about children. They are about children. E.T. is completely centered around the child’s psychological experience.
Oops diction error. They are about adults who have children around them.
I’ll go you one better...not only have I never seen ET, but I have never seen Gone With the Wind, Titanic, Avatar, either Avengers, any Pirates of the Caribbean movie, any Fast and Furious movie, Jurassic World...ah, to hell with it...the list is too long.
Ok. Make it up as you go along.
How about Bad News Bears?
It became a franchise.
I’ve seen a couple of these pictures where she is a dead ringer for that whiny ‘Leave Britney alone!’ teenage tranny that’s been making the rounds for the past few years...
I’m responding to your assertion with observations. The Bad NEws Bears was about the Walter Matthau character. E.T. was not about the adult characters at all. It’s told entirely from a child’s point of view.
How about L’Argent de Poche?
Very popular.
Another question. You call ET a fantasy, but call it science fiction in 6.
Those aren’t the same thing. Which is it?
Also, as far as your definition of movie about children, you maybe should define it more. It seems that there was only one ever made, which was ET.
You’ll need to cite other movies that qualify.
Were any even made that qualify under your idiosyncratic criteria in the 15-20 year window you ask about?
If so, what were they?
Science Fiction and Fantasy is the same thing for these purposes. Any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Children meaning pre- pubescent. Many Disney films qualify (Pinnochio, Bambi). E.T. sort of updated the Disney template for the post Walt age.
That qualifies I guess. But it’s hard to call it a big mainstream hit in the U.S. Coincidentally, Truffaut followed up that film by appearing in C.E.
No, not the same. ET as fantasy is not the same as ET as science fiction.
If the latter, ET is real. As fantasy, his reality is beside the point.
As fantasy, it is very dark and adult.
As science fiction it makes more sense.
It’s the same film no matter what you call it. Those are marketing designations not meaningful aesthetic categories.
No, his will be first, hers will be smaller print, under the title. ;)
Thank you, ifinnegan.
Lol, my brother always said listening to Ford in an interview was akin to watching paint dry. He really is odd.
Lol! Touche!
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