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What is remarkable
about Steven Spielberg’s extraordinary career is that, with rare exception,
he has consistently created films that have captured the imagination,
hearts and dollars of the movie-going public. Will Spielberg’s quarter
century domination of the box office continue with his upcoming summer
release, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, or will this sci-fi
fantasy mark the end of an era?
Close
Encounters of the Fifth House Kind
 Not
only does Spielberg enjoy a number of planets by birth in the Fifth House,
the house of creativity, but he also received significant transits from
Uranus and Pluto through the Fifth House throughout his career, catalyzing
and intensifying his natural creative flair. From approximately 1976 to
1984, Uranus transited Spielberg’s Fifth House. During this early phase
of his career, Spielberg utilized innovative special effects, John Williams’
brilliant scores and well-crafted scripts to create movies that awed audiences
and allowed viewers to enter into new cinematic universes. The groundbreaking
films of Close Encounters, E.T. and the Indiana
Jones series were all indicative of Uranus’ dazzling genius and
creative fire.
As Uranus
moved on and Pluto entered the Fifth House, Spielberg moved into a new
phase of his career. He began to create movies less reliant on technical
wizardry and more founded on high drama, intense conflict, deep emotional
impact and the profound themes of human existence—movies the Academy usually
smiles upon. These “Pluto” themes, found in films like A Color Purple,
Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan,
are much deeper in scope, heavier in emotional content and more darkly
dramatic than the early Spielberg.
A.I.
is special because it represents the last film created under the significant
and long transits of the outer planets to Spielberg’s natal Fifth House.
As production on A.I. was wrapping up, Pluto was finishing
its fifteen-year sojourn in Spielberg’s Fifth House. Thus, we can expect
that A.I. will continue Spielberg’s explorations into the
deeper, more dramatic themes of life.
A.I.:
Deep Intelligence
As Spielberg
wrote the screenplay for A.I., Pluto hovered over his
Mercury (planet of communication) in wisdom-loving Sagittarius. This combination
is known for its probing insight, penetrating powers of observation and
critical contemplation. As a point of reference, Stanley Kubrick, who
was to direct A.I. before his premature demise, possessed
a Mercury-Pluto conjunction in his natal chart. Consequently, do not anticipate
A.I. to be light summertime entertainment. On the contrary,
assume the film to be Spielberg’s most cerebral release yet, exploring
deep philosophical themes sure to stir up unsettling debates on our current
fascination with technology.
Dark
Vision
For nearly
three years, Neptune, the planet of imagination, idealism and illusion
will be opposite the dark magus in Spielberg’s natal chart, Saturn. If
Saturn manifests in our life as strict definitions of form, boundary and
structure, Neptune, by contrast, represents the amorphous, the oceanic
and the ever-changing fantasy life of the unconscious emerging subtly
into our day-to-day awareness. When Saturn and Neptune meet, our visions,
hopes and dreams tend to take a turn toward the grim.
In movies,
Saturn and Neptune are often evidenced in starkly beautiful sets. Grays
and blacks are the color pallette of choice, and only the essentials are
needed in terms of props, backdrops and acting. In terms of direction,
Saturn and Neptune films tend to be hauntingly quiet, allowing the power
of nuance and suggestibility to be as present as anything explicitly stated.
Thematically, Saturn and Neptune beg the question, “What is real and what
is not?”
With Saturn
and Neptune, we are led down the proverbial rabbit hole with Alice where
we are asked to let go of our hold on certainty. Popular movies released
in 1999—when Saturn formed a square aspect to Neptune—better illustrate
the shadowy imaginings of this combination: The Matrix,
The Sixth Sense and Fight Club. With these
films, we were asked to venture into dark, if not depressing, realms where
truth was revealed only after light and shadow fused as one.
Blockbusters
and Brilliance!
With Neptune,
Saturn and Pluto dominant, will A.I. be so ominous, dark
and intense that it will repel the summer movie crowd? Hardly. In June,
the month of A.I.’s release, Jupiter makes a conjunction
to Spielberg’s natal Uranus in the Twelfth House. If there is any planetary
combination that is associated with all-time classic films and movie breakthroughs,
it’s Jupiter-Uranus. Often when Jupiter travels past Uranus’ placement
in a director’s natal chart, a signature film, or even masterpiece, is
released. Examples include George Lucas, Star Wars; Milos
Foreman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; John Schlesinger,
Midnight Cowboy; Stanley Kubrick, Dr. Strangelove;
Cecil B. DeMille, The Ten Commandments and Elia Kazan, On
the Waterfront.
Jupiter and
Uranus are also associated with technological innovations that irrevocably
alter the course of film history. Stanley Kubrick waited so long to initiate
A.I. because he believed that the state-of-the-art in special
effects couldn’t do justice to the futuristic world he envisioned. With
Jupiter and Uranus figuring prominently in Spielberg’s chart in June,
it is highly likely that Spielberg will once again live up to the challenge
of bringing something breathtaking and awe-inspiring to the silver screen.
That’s
a Wrap
Astrology
suggests that A.I. will be one of Spielberg’s more complex
films to date, if not a study in contrasts. Visually, expect the film
to be dark, spare—almost gothic—but brimming with eye candy that only
Spielberg could whip up. Acting will be trimmed down, but the volume on
intellectual content should be cranked high. And finally, with a tight
script, long box office lines and deep themes, expect Spielberg’s homage
to Kubrick to fly high and wide.
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