The Fabelmans * * * *

Spielberg demonstrates his mastery again with this very lovely, personal film.  The Fabelmans tells the story of the first eighteen years of a young man's life.  Set in the fifties and sixties it is loosely based on his own childhood.  The period recreation is impeccable.   

At six years old Sammy Fabelman is taken to the cinema for the first time.  The effect is overwhelming.  One scene in particular gets to him - a train crash.  How can such a thing be on the screen?  He's reassured that it didn't really happen, but he can't get over it.  He borrows Dad's super-eight camera, sets up his train set and reproduces it. Thus the obsession with making film commences. 

"One day I'll jump the shark"

Pretty soon he is recruiting his sisters and then his friends to make Monster,  Westerns, and later War, Movies. 

The Fabelmans are a  kind and caring family of Jewish origin. Mum (Mitzi) is a beautiful, somewhat disturbed woman, who is a very fine musician.  She has a hunger to artistically express herself. 

The family have to move around a bit because of Dad's career. He is a typical post-war hard-working  decent man, dedicated to his family and excited by what the future holds. Dad is doing well in the early days of computing. Dad's best friend Bennie works alongside him.  Bennie is almost part of the family and is invited to many family dinners and even family holidays.  

Young Sammy Fabelman  nearly always has a movie camera with him. He also has an editing unit and other paraphernalia.  He shoots most of the activities in the family, including their holidays - and that's when Sammy notices something with the interaction between his Mother and Bennie. He's old enough to pick up what's going on, but not old enough to handle it.  Blaming his own documentation for what he has discovered Sammy is almost ready to give up shooting film - but then a surprise visit from his mother's crazy uncle changes all that. 

Throughout the whole drama the relationship between Sammy and his family is beautifully portrayed. It's very real and touching.  The scene where he confronts his Mother about her indiscretions with Bennie is extraordinary as he puts her in an isolated space so she can watch the footage which he has spliced together.  Likewise the scene where his father acknowledges to young Sammy that something is not right between himself and Mitzi.

The family move again, to California. Bennie doesn't join them.  The new high school is hell for Sammy with bullying and racist taunts. But he's the man with the camera and in a powerful scene he shows how film can be a weapon, reflecting that which you do or don't want to be seen.  It's also in California that he meets his first serious girl friend a devout born-again-christian who loves Sammy because he is Jewish, just like Jesus.

The final section is Sammy post-school and wavering between determination and despair. An interview with a production company and a meeting with a great director is both hilarious and inspiring (as is the inspired casting of said director).

I was  impressed by Paul Dano who  plays the father in the Fabelman family. (Hard to believe that Dano is now in his late thirties).  Michelle Willams plays Mitzi, his Mother and she is magnificent in the role, invoking both our anger and deep sympathy.  Seth Rogen (minus the beard) is excellent as Bennie and a cameo from David Lynch is inspired.

I really liked The Fabelmans.  It is Spielberg at his best, giving us confident, uplifting cinema.