Fabelmans ★★★★ ½
DRAMA (2022)
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
InterpretationsCast: Michelle Williams, Paul Deino, Gabriel LaBelle

The 76-year-old director is simultaneously filming a coming-of-age film, a retrospective of his personal filmography, and a mini-American anatomy of the 1950s and 1960s.

Film great Steven Spielberg is back with his most personal yet arguably best film in two decades. In the center here are the Fabelmans – translated from English this name refers to fiction – a family of six in post-war America. Especially young Sammy, who fell head over heels in love with movies after his first visit to the darkroom and now has an unquenchable passion for moving images and their creation. At the same time as his first amateur works, we follow the family history and especially the relationship with his mother (Michelle Williams) and uncle (Seth Rogen), Benny, who deeply influenced him.

Spielberg is so heavily involved in writing the script for the first time — he’s co-writing it with his regular collaborator Tony Kushner — and rightly so, since it’s pretty much his own coming-of-age story. Sammy is clearly his alter ego as memories, real and imagined, fill the film: from the first cinematic experience, which is a homage to classic American cinema and the Lumiere brothers, to the final scene, which is simply amazing, two and half hours of running time flow effortlessly, like a story told by a great storyteller by the fireplace.

Of course, this does not happen by accident. Maintaining a pace of directing and editing with a precision that any young filmmaker would envy, the 76-year-old Spielberg manages to simultaneously shoot a coming-of-age film, a retrospective of his personal filmography (references to Aliens, Shark Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, and etc.), an ode to the magic of cinema, as well as a mini-anatomy of America in the 1950s and 1960s. And all this in a bittersweet package, with humor, but also a lot of drama, which we have obviously seen many times before, rarely with such consistency and authenticity.

Finally, a few words should be said about interpretations. The relatively unknown Gabriel Labelle does a good job in the title role, as does Paul Deino and Seth Rogen as the father; but the real standout character here is Michelle Williams, who plays a beautifully written female character – contemporary without much effort – and giving her life and substance. able to lead her to the first Oscar of her career.