Steven Spielberg is someone who has become synonymous with cinema and the history of filmmaking. Everyone has that one film that the legend directed or produced that helped usher them into their love of the art of cinema. For me, those films were ET: The Extra Terrestrial (which he directed) and Back To The Future (which he produced). Spielberg’s filmography is massive and spans multiple decades. He has made some truly fantastic pieces of art, but there are also films that he has made that don’t entirely work for me.
When I discuss his filmography with others, i’m fully transparent with the fact that I have not entirely enjoyed his more recent offerings. The last film I truly loved from Spielberg would have been Catch Me If You Can in 2002 or The Terminal in 2004. The last film that had that Spielberg charm was almost 20 years ago. This streak of films that weren’t working for me had me worried going into The Fabelmans at TIFF this year.
I was excited to see the film, but I was worried that Spielberg would never get back to the magic that I felt for his older offerings. We were seated in the theatre and Spielberg came out to talk before the film started. He gave this heartwarming speech about how he’s gracious of everyone’s love for his films and that we were his family. It was pretty awesome to see this man who inspired me in public not once but twice in a span of a couple days. First getting to see him at the official premiere of the film on the red carpet as I was working the venue and the second being at my screening the morning after. After that fantastic speech, we sat there for a 2 and a half hours and witnessed “The Fabelmans”, Spielberg’s best film since Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park in 1993!
The Fabelmans follows Sammy Fabelman as he comes of age and discovers his love for film and filmmaking. As the film goes on and he begins to move into adulthood, he discovers that his filmmaking is much more than a hobby for him, it’s a way of life that be needs to commit to. This realization comes as we see Sammy’s family going through rough patches which leads to some fantastic scenes of realistic family drama (akin to his dramatic work in films like ET). The film’s dynamics work so well because of the fantastic performances that fill this film. Everyone from Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy himself to Michelle Williams and Paul Dano as his parents Mitzi and Burt to Seth Rogan as his pseudo uncle Bennie and Julia Butters and Keeley Karsten as his sisters. The film even has a cameo at the end that I don’t wanna spoil for anyone, but had the audience rolling when he showed up. When his name popped up in the credits, it led to a massive applause from the audience. Spielberg’s films have always worked the best when he was focusing on a family or a close knit group of people. When his character dynamics were deeply human even if the subject matter wasn’t necessarily humanistic, that was when his films shined.
Another element that I found excellently crafted in this film was the script. Like many of his older flicks, Spielberg wrote the script himself while Tony Kushner (his writing partner) also helped write it. That might be one of the reasons also why I haven’t clicked with Spielberg’s recent films. The last film that Spielberg wrote before Fabelmans was AI: Artificial Intelligence all the way back in 2001, the very year I was born. This film is also semi-autobiographical, so that adds a layer of Spielberg magic as he takes many elements from his childhood and injects it into this script. The best Spielberg films have a script that feels fresh, grounded while also being whimsical and unique to his voice and vision. That element is very present in this film and I definitely see this one being on the nomination list at least this year for awards season.
A very notable element of Spielberg’s films is the score, and this one is no exception as John Williams came out of retirement to score this film. The best Spielberg soundtracks usually have Williams’ name attached, so it was nice to see his name connected to this film. As always, Williams balances both sides of Spielberg, those being as stated before “the whimsical” and “the grounded”.
Some people might look at the runtime and feel that the film is too long, but I can confirm that it’s further from the truth. This film has a nice pace that keeps you invested though out the film. The 2 and a half hours feels like nothing compared to other films that I’ve seen this year.
The biggest point that needs to be made is that this film is both personal and universal. This is a film that everyone will find something they love about it, but it's also super personal to me. The film is all about a kid being inspired and wanting to make films while he's coming of age. As a filmmaker and writer who has wanted to make films since I was 5 and saw the Spielberg films I noted before, this film was one that hit multiple nerves for me. I saw myself in the character of Sammy and this film was a great reminder of why I love making films and the people that helped me get to the point that i'm at now (specifically my family). This film is one about the love of cinema, but also it's about the love one has for those who supported them getting to become the artist that they dreamed of being. That's the main reason why this film stood out to me in all of Spielberg's filmography.
Overall, The Fabelmans is Spielberg’s best film in a long time and it’s one of my favourite films that I got the pleasure to see at TIFF this year. This film is definitely one that will be popping up everywhere during awards season. This will be a huge player for all the major awards and everyone who sees it will agree. With all the right elements working together to bring the Spielberg magic to life, this is one film that you can not miss this year!
The Rating:
Comentarios