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I have to tell you, I had such a wonderful time with this one. Having watched it I feel as though I want to go and give Steven Spielberg a hug because that is exactly what I feel he has done to me with this movie. It’s not just a warming hug though, it is a consoling and a reassuring one because while the story celebrates artistic vision, intelligence, passion and human connection, it does also acknowledge that life is not always easy.

It also serves as a reminder that the world of cinema has Steven Spielberg in it which is something that any lover of the medium is always going to be happy about. It doesn’t just do this because it is directed by him though, it is specifically about how and why the man ended up doing what he does.

In case you are not aware, this film is Spielberg’s memoir. He may have changed people’s names and the order of a few key events but this is largely, with some appropriate embellishment, an account of his younger years up until the point that he first got his foot in the Hollywood door. Based on this movie I would say that Spielberg had an interesting childhood rather than an extraordinary one, but he relays everything with such warmth and it is captivating to see the steps he took to becoming the exceptional film maker that he became. Within this there is a beautiful tale about how movies can distract you from trauma but it is never heavy or overplayed. No one is orphaned here, or blinded or sent into military service like in Cinema Paradiso. Rather the commonality of the trials he suffers; things like bullying, family breakdown and parental illness, just make the whole thing more identifiable.

Family comes first here though, before cinema. There is a reason why this is called The Fabelmans and not Sammy and his Cine Camera. (Yes, I know they’d have come up with something better than that.) In telling us about his family though, Spielberg tells so much about his past creative choices. It has always been fairly obvious that his parents’ relationship had fed into the portrayals of mother and father figures in his movies but now by making something so very personal he has shown us how personal many of his other films already were.

The other reason why this is called The Fabelmans, rather than The Spielbergs, is because he is saying that this is his life but through a slightly different lens. Yes, it is him but not entirely. This presence of that lens is always clear too; he never lets you forget you are watching a movie. On a couple of occasions he even comes close to breaking the fourth wall. What he makes wonderfully evident though, in a one key element of the narrative, is that sometimes film can show you the truths that real life had not exposed. There are two key scenes that play with this idea and they are both inspirational yet heartbreaking. Neither are my favourite moment though, this comes when Spielberg’s on screen cypher Sam needs some simple comfort and he just turns his 8mm home camera on and listens to the clicking. Anyone will appreciate the romance of this idea but wow does this ever play to any cineaste in the audience.

Some of the single images Spielberg creates through his lens are wonderful too, even for this director. There is a magnificent image of a six year Sam holding up his hands to catch a projected image; literally holding cinema in his hands, that is as beautiful an image as was ever available in Athena.

Of course Steven Spielberg has never made a duff movie (don’t come at me with Hook and Indy 4) but his best; Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Munich, are masterpieces. This one is definitely up there among them.

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The Ripley Factor:

As well as everything else the casting is also particularly strong in this film. I’m guessing the fact that he was selecting people to play friends and family, or versions of them at least, and indeed himself – meant the selection of his actors was always going to be a particular focus for Spielberg here. Gabriel LaBelle who plays Sammy for most of the film is really good but all around him are the most amazing performances. There are superb turns by Judd Hirsch and David Lynch, neither of whom are in the film for long but leave an indelible mark, and Paul Dano is excellent as the father Burt Fabelman/Arnold Spielberg.

The performances that really shine though are arguably those of the women. Michelle Williams is radiant as Mitzi, Sam’s mother. She is played with such affection and complexity, like a Hollywood leading lady (with all the glamour and temperament that comes with that) squeezed into a domestic box. It is a fascinating insight into Spielberg’s feelings toward his own mother Leah Adler, which is obviously precisely his intention. Mention also has to go to Keeley Karsten and Julia Butters as the eldest of his two sisters. Both have their moments but Butters is particularly good as she serves out some home truths toward the end of the story. Having now done superb work for Spielberg, The Russo Brothers and Tarantino, Julia Butters while still only thirteen is a figure who is making her own mark on cinema. Then there is Chloe East who is a bright adolescent force of nature as the most significant person Sam meets at a new school following a move to California.

Steven Spielberg is not particularly known for having the strongest female characters but there are some among his filmography that do really stand out; Marion in Raiders, Ellie in Jurassic Park, Kay Graham in The Post, the whole female cast from The Color Purple, and more recently Sophie from the BFG and Maria and Anita from West Side Story. The Fabelmans needs to be added to this list, which is fitting as it shows where the inspiration for all those others came from.

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