Some are calling ‘The Fabelmans’ a coming-of-age film. Others are hailing it as Steven Spielberg’s love letter to cinema. I will take it a step further and say that it is a thank you to his parents that shaped him into this generation’s most influential filmmaker. There is no denying the impact Spielberg films had on my upbringing. To this day, ‘Jaws’ is one of my favorite movies of all time. It holds the distinction of being the first summer blockbuster which changed the way Hollywood studios worked. ‘The Fabelmans’ won’t go down as one of his masterpieces but it is a film that he needed to get off his chest. It’s a heartwarming look at the power of filmmaking. It is an enjoyable film for the whole family.
The story centers on Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) as a young boy dealing with family drama and chasing his dream of making movies. His father Burt (Paul Dano) is a successful engineer and his mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams) is an artist/pianist who put her dreams aside to raise a family. That’s what women did in the 1950s/60s. She encourages Sammy to pursue his love of filmmaking. You can almost look at this part of the story as therapy for Spielberg. His mother is loving but unstable at times. His father calls Sammy’s movie-making a “hobby” which naturally irks him to no end. It’s an interesting dichotomy of science versus art. Thankfully, the young Spielberg is encouraged to pursue his passion for filmmaking in high school.
I have to gush at Michelle Williams’ performance as Spielberg’s mother. It’s a fascinating and layered performance. She deserves an Oscar nomination for best actress. She is absolutely mesmerizing in the role. She battles what many women of that era had to endure. They sacrificed their passion and careers for staying home to raise a family. It is certainly a heartbreaking performance. It shows how important his mother was in his life as a positive force to encourage him to make movies. His father was not a bad person. He simply did not know how to express his feelings to his son. Let’s not forget it was his dad’s movie camera that allowed him to make his first home movie of a Lionel train crashing. Spielberg is showing us how his parents (particularly his mother), helped shape his love for movies.
When the Fabelman’s move to Santa Clara, California, Sammy feels like a minority. He is one of the only Jews in the high school. This part of the story shows how Spielberg uses the power of filmmaking to his advantage. His god-fearing girlfriend, Monica (Chloe East) coaxes him into filming the senior classes “Ditch Day’ at the beach. He is resistant at first until she lets him borrow her father’s 16mm camera. At the Prom, Sammy plays his school film. This is where Spielberg shows us how movies have the ability to make people feel what you want them to feel. A good director can ignite emotions of laughter, fear, love and sorrow.
Spielberg has phoned home with ‘The Fabelmans.’ This is his most personal film yet. It is his coming-of-age story of his life. It’s an ode to filmmaking but more importantly, it is dedicated to his parents. It is one of those films that Spielberg had to make for himself. Think of it as a kind of self-therapy. He pulls the curtain and reveals to the audience how he became the director he is today. Movie-making is magical. His love for cinema is undeniable in ‘The Fabelmans.’
Good review!
Distinction: I grew up during the 1950’s-‘60s. The reviewer reported that in this movie the mother “..put her dreams aside to raise a family….”. From my real life experience the overwhelming majority of married women with children, were not even ALLOWED to consider that they had dreams or a profession at all, Not in the ‘50s-‘60s. That is what I perceived from the women I knew. (My motivation… I want all people to know how bad things were, and how far women have come.)
Want to see movie!