The Fabelmans (2022)

 The beginning of "The Fabelmans" starts with the family taking young Sammy to the cinema.  Apparently it was the director Steven Spielberg's first film that he saw with his mom & dad.  Throughout the film the movie shows how Spielberg became fascinated with moviemaking became a skillful storyteller.   I am familiar with Spielberg's career and throughout the years he has given many interviews about his growing up & making movies in his teens.   In fact it was a photo of him shooting a miniature of a spacecraft that made me interested in filmmaking.  A good documentary to see if you have time is literally named "Spielberg".   It is the most definitive documentary about Spielberg & his family.  It is on HBO Max and it is longer than the film the Fabelmans by about 17 minutes.  The film "the Fabelmans takes some liberties on Spielberg's origin story as I call it, and I had no problem with that.  After all this is no documentary.  In fact the film kind of made me acutely aware of the anti-semitism he had to grow up with, and it brings an emotional element to the story and makes the story prevalent in our own time.  

I am curious on how the film works with people not interested in the filmmaking aspect of the film.  It is a big part of Spielberg's persona, and he's worked very hard to get where he is, and we see how hard it was. We also see how much a natural Spielberg is as he communicates via the camera.  It is something he has cultivated since being a young child.  It also is a love letter to his parents who had their issues and who struggled to raise their children, while struggling to keep their own identity and not loose their love for each other.  

The criticism I've heard is that the movie is too long, but for me it wasn't at all.  I laughed and enjoyed watching young Sammy and his family celebrate their lives together.  When the family goes camping it is beautiful to see them celebrating their life together, but within the scene we see the various dynamics that put stress on the family.  A mother who has lost her identity by being the mother and not the talent pianist she was aspiring to be.  The theme of not recognizing each other as individuals with different talents, likes & desires is one that permeates the film.  It is that theme that hits home for me. 

Another theme is family & art, and how they will and are always be in conflict with each other.  Judd Hirsch appears as Sammy's grandfather, and his scenes are powerful.  If Mr. Hirsch doesn't walk away with an Academy award for his performance in this film I will most certainly think a lot less of the Academy.  Mr. Hirsch is only in a few scenes and yet his performance struck me as powerful and revelatory.  His speech to Sammy is filled with some truth, yet I was conflicted with it.  Most artists who are successful find a way to produce their art and be full-filled.   Yet there are successful artists that find that balance and that this conflict is a romanticized notion that we as society have about artists.   This "conflict" is of our own making, and to say that art & family are always in conflict is not an absolute.  In fact one can say that when one finds balance one can become super productive and reach their goals.  It is only our fantasy of the struggling artist that appeals to our romantic self.  I believe that good art can be made when one finds balance and when one comes to that conclusion one will be super productive & happier.  But the movie makes an interesting point and it is really worth more discussion perhaps to be explored in another movie.

But you see how this movie worked on me.  I found themes that I liked and we're familiar with hence the appeal to me for the movie.  For others I don't know if it is a movie that will evoke such feelings.  I have my suspicion that it will appeal to you if your''re the artistic type or involved in the arts, but I don't know.  Without that perception I guess the film becomes a family drama of sorts.

I also liked the father son relationship in the film.  Paul Dano does a fantastic job playing Sammy's father.  A father who is in love with knowledge and how things work.  He plays the engineer and as Michelle Williams plays the artist and who is Sammy's mother.  In fact Ms Williams talks about being the engineer vs the artist and that Sammy is on "her side".  Spielberg is interested in this dynamic, and I have a feeling that he believes that an engineer can be an artist as well as the artist be the engineer.  There are many examples of that throughout history.   Leonardo da Vinci was both, and who is to say that Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates aren't artists in their field.  After all artists use their inventions to create more art, so why not call them artists?

I would be remiss to not include Michelle Williams performance in this movie.  The conflict that exists within her character shows throughout her performance.  Ms Williams should be nominated also, and the Academy needs to really consider giving her an award, and I hope that does happen, but the performances in this film are stellar and it's all because of Spielberg.  This is his film.  It's his story, and it's a love letter to his parents.

In the end we don't need to see Spielbergs's rise to prominence. We already know that story, but for two hours and 10 minutes we see how a little boy becomes one of the greatest storytellers of the 20th century, and like all Spielberg films it is mythical.  For a brief moment we see how the magic is done, and we see that family winds up to be one one of the most important things in creating art & in self expression.  I like to thank Mr. Spielberg for the opportunity to have a glimpse into his past & to see that us pure mortals do share similar experiences & that we can have both family & art and be successful.  All in all I really liked this film & for a moment I was captivated by how Spielberg learned and became a master at moviemaker and for that I am eternally grateful & inspired in fact.