The Fabelmans Review

Steven Spielberg makes his most personal with a semi-autographical film The Fabelmans.

Samuel “Sammy” Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle/Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord) is the oldest son and only boy in his family unit. His father, Burt (Paul Dano) is an in-demand computer engineer and his mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams) is a skilled pianist. Sammy becomes interested in filmmaking and develops his skills when his family move to Arizona.

The Fabelmans was the third film to be released in quick succession to explore the power of cinema. Empire of Light looked at the power of cinema on an audience and Babylon was about Hollywood’s Golden Age, looking at both the good and bad. The Fabelmans was about a boy gaining a love for the cinema and filmmaking. Spielberg continues a trend of filmmakers making semi-autographic films about their childhood. The last awards season saw the release of Belfast and Licorice Pizza.

The Fabelmans was a coming-of-age story, and a family drama and Spielberg attempting to cover a lot of material. It was a film that was set over a decade, and across three states. It was a film that explored amateur filmmaking, teenage problems and the relationship between a father, mother, and their son. All of this was anchored around Sammy as all these events and characters are seen through his eyes.

The heart of the film was the familial relationship. The first scene of the film set up how different Burt and Mitzi were. They tried to reassure Sammy in different ways because he was nervous about going to the cinema. Burt tried to use rational arguments and talk about the mechanics of cinema, whilst Mitzi was more nurturing and stated that going to the cinema is a magical experience and should be enjoyed.

The film sets up Mitzi as the more sympathetic parent, the one the audience was meant to route for. However, as the film progresses the picture becomes murky since her free-spirited nature had an underlying reason. Mitzi wasn’t the saint that she first appeared to be. There was slow reveal about Mitzi’s mental health issues which put some of her actions in a different light. Burt was shown to be a caring and devoted husband even if he was emotionally restrained.

Throughout the film Sammy’s family takes after his mother since they were both artists. Mitzi encouraged Sammy’s artistic pursuits. Yet Sammy did take after his dad as well. As well as being a storyteller, Sammy had to find solutions to problems, like how to make gun shots look more realistic and learned how to edit. It was painstaking work since the film needed to cut and assemble by hand. Sammy lived up to his surname, he was a ‘Fable-man.’

As a creative I can relate with Sammy and filmmaking endeavours. His early work was intimidation. The first film he made in Arizona was influenced by The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and when he was child, he was trying to replicate the train crash in The Greatest Show on Earth. He developed his own voice as his film career progressed, and his ambition grew. There was an evolution in Sammy’s skills like how he directed his actors to make sure their performances were better. The film projects were a marvel because of how difficult it would have been to make a quality project on a low budget. It was a time before the internet or filmmaking processes became digital.

The other part of the story was Sammy’s teenage struggles. When the family moved to California he suffered from antisemitic bullying but also finds love. Sammy’s relationship with Monica (Chloe East) did offer some comedy since she was an evangelical Christian who was excited to have a Jewish boyfriend.

The Fabelmans does give film fans an insight into what made Spielberg. Budding filmmakers will enjoy the craft being shown on screen, whilst most audiences will be compelled by the personal and family drama.