Since the early 1970s, Steven Spielberg has shaped not only his beloved artform, cinema, but humanity’s conception of itself. His films have caused us to ponder what is possible, as in ET and Jurassic Park, what evil and light reside within us, as in Schindler’s List and have exposed us to our greatest fears, as in his breakthrough blockbuster, Jaws. His semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama, The Fabelmans, makes growing up every bit as scary as a ravenous white pointer.
Suburban living and domestic relationships are not a foreign domain for Steven Spielberg: ET was set in a San Fernando Valley neighbourhood; Sam Neill and Laura Dern bicker and flirt while exploring and escaping Jurassic Park. It’s just that his camera’s focus has generally lingered on something grander, more awe inspiring. In The Fabelmans, Spielberg recreates his childhood as vividly and meticulously as he recreated the two World Wars in Saving Private Ryan and War Horse; so vividly that the truth delivered about his parents, and their shortcomings, is discomforting in its honesty.
Michelle Williams, as Sammy Fabelman’s (young Spielberg) mother, gives the performance of her career; as a gifted concert pianist that sacrificed her career for motherhood, she bucks and chafes at the strictures of domesticity, and searches for a way out of her marriage with Sammy’s father, an ambitious workaholic computer engineer played by Paul Dano, who is typecast in genius roles for a reason. Sammy’s parents seek to expose their timid son to that which he fears, which initially is everything. His mom soon discovers that a video camera is a tool for Sammy to obtain some control over his fears, and he scarcely strays his eyes away from the lens after this discovery. We join Sammy on his journey to become a film maker and step onto the set of his childhood works.
Seth Rogan and Judd Hirsch play compelling and pivotal supporting roles, with Rogan as a family friend with a secret, and Hirsch stealing the show as a grizzled but wise great uncle. The Fabelmans’, as an isolated tale of domestic strife and high school angst, is a masterpiece of storytelling. As a semi-autobiographical work, this added layer of meaning renders this an all-time classic: a rare window into the mind and formative experiences of the most successful film maker of all time.
Review by James Murphy
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