Heart and vulnerability weave through Steven SpielbergB次元官网网址檚 late-career offering B次元官网网址淭he Fabelmans,B次元官网网址� loosely based on the filmmakerB次元官网网址檚 childhood.
But more than just being about the beginnings of one of HollywoodB次元官网网址檚 most successful visionaries, this is a story about family, relationships and heartbreak.
The opening scenes are dedicated to a young, inquisitive Sammy Fabelman, played by Gabriel LaBelle, who develops an obsession with a train crash. After seeing it in a theatre, he becomes preoccupied with the idea of recreating it in toy form.
From here, Spielberg shows audiences what they need to know: the warmth of his motherB次元官网网址檚 smile as she offers him his fatherB次元官网网址檚 camera. Is this the exact moment the boy becomes the filmmaker heB次元官网网址檒l grow up to be?
Spielberg and fellow screenwriter Tony Kushner focus on family dynamics B次元官网网址� his two sisters are played by Julia Butters and Keeley Karsten, while hisparents are played by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano. Seth Rogen portrays a dear family friend, Uncle Benny. His mother, a former pianist and artistic maverick of the family, urges Sammy every step of the way but his father seems too preoccupied with career status to fully appreciate the budding filmmakerB次元官网网址檚 skills.
ThereB次元官网网址檚 an infectious sense of happiness in the way Spielberg presents the Fabelman family, whether it be humorous small talk at the dinner table, or their jubilant Hanukkah celebrations.
Through it all, thereB次元官网网址檚 also an illusion of happiness. Williams does a remarkable job with every gesture and gaze that reveal who she is versus who her husband assumes her to be.
It recalls some of SpielbergB次元官网网址檚 most celebrated films, which often explore the turmoil and wonder of adolescence. The link between parent and child has been a central motif of Spielberg works from B次元官网网址淓mpire of the SunB次元官网网址� to B次元官网网址淎.I. Artificial Intelligence.B次元官网网址� In B次元官网网址淓.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,B次元官网网址� the character Elliott played by Henry Thomas copes with grief over the divorce of his parents by adopting an alien from another world. In the case of Sammy, he finds solace in filmmaking.
Through each pained experience, Sammy finds ways to use film to distance himself, using his ingenuity and professional obsession as both a passion and therapy.
ItB次元官网网址檚 why B次元官网网址淭he FabelmansB次元官网网址� feels truest to Spielberg as an individual. ItB次元官网网址檚 ripe, without otherworldly metaphors to hide the fact that heB次元官网网址檚 speaking of his own experiences B次元官网网址� when the buildup of accomplishments, breakups, antisemitism and pain loomed large in his life.
If there ever were a message, it was painfully clear: An artist isnB次元官网网址檛 birthed within a vacuum.
B次元官网网址淭he FabelmansB次元官网网址� screens Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at TIFF.
B次元官网网址擭oel Ransome, The Canadian Press
