‘The Fabelmans’ review: Steven Spielberg’s most personal film celebrates the art and struggles of telling stories through film [B+] | Toronto
In his most personal film to date, one that will certainly delight cinephiles as well as mainstream audiences who love his work, Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans is a joy to watch. An ode to the process of creating art, telling stories, finding inspiration, and mustering the courage to go beyond your own struggles and frustrations to inspire others with characters that spark hope on screen, the film’s strongest element is showing us the influences, both painful and joyful, that made Spielberg one of the most iconic filmmakers of all time.
Chronicling the director’s childhood and youth, as he grapples with his place in the world, his intense passion for filmmaking and his sense of identity, the film works as an intimate reflection on the forces that shape us, the moments that truly change our life course and the process of growing into a storyteller.
Telling stories, as the film beautifully shows, is both an act of escape and courage. While many storytellers choose to tell stories that reflect their own grievances, others simply choose to do the opposite, using film as an exit strategy to challenge their own life disappointments and create wondrous worlds that helps us forget, at least while the lights are off in these dark rooms where we experience the magic of the big screen with complete strangers, our own frustrations, and challenges. The beauty of The Fabelmans is that it shows us Spielberg doing both, revealing for the very first time his own personal experiences while maintaining his love for storytelling and spectacle.
It’s quite the fascinating mix, witnessing the forces that shaped the director we love. Identity, ambition, and pure love for cinema are all on display here – but the film comes to life the most whenever the director is focused on his family. His layered reveal of how his relationship with his parents shaped his voice as a filmmaker, fueling his love for film at times while also making him question it at some painful points in his life, works wonders as we get to fill in the blanks and see the man behind the camera.
The film opens with young Sammy Fabelman (played by Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord as a child then by Gabriel LaBelle as a teen) whose first experience watching a film on the big screen leaves quite the impression. Fascinated with the grand moving images on the big screen, Sammy’s love for film is fueled by his mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams), who, on her own, is a larger-than-life character who never succumbed to the confines of urban life. On the contrary, his father (Paul Dano) seems to view filmmaking as a mere hobby, never taking it seriously as a career option for his son. The contrast between Sammy’s parents makes him even more determined to tell stories, always looking for new pieces of gear to make even bigger, more impressive movies with his friends.
As Sammy’s mother, Michelle Williams is the heart and soul of the film, drawing us to her elusive, fascinating character full of life, and as we get to know later, despair. Her frustration with living a life that limits her potential, while ensuring her son gets to develop his talent and ability to inspire others with his imagination, is quite affecting; and Spielberg’s audacious depiction of her flaws, depression and marital struggle makes for the film’s most memorable sequences.
The film’s narrative may seem a bit sporadic with its organic flow of events that break free from typical story structures, and some viewers may feel the stakes are not as high or compelling especially since we know Sammy ends up being one the greatest directors of all time, but this remains a deeply personal account that is both illuminating and touching.
The film’s most memorable and best written scene, comes when Mitzi’s uncle Boris (a spectacular Judd Hirsch), tells Sammy what it’s like to be an artist, summing up the whole point of the 2.5-hour film. To create art is to suffer, sacrifice and pay the price. Aside from all the glamor, success and fame that may come along with it, a true artist remains tormented with his ambitions and never-ending urge to give birth to his ideas. Remember that pain, he tells Sammy, for that pain is the hallmark of a true storyteller.
Grade: B+
This review is from the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Universal Pictures will release The Fabelmans on November 23 only in theaters.
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