New story details and time period are revealed for Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical film, The Fabelmans. Spielberg is the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind such beloved classics as Jaws, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and countless others. He is currently nominated for Best Director and Best Picture at the 2022 Oscars for his latest feature, West Side Story.
The Fabelmans has thus far been described as a semi-autobiographical tale about the famed director, tracing his early roots as a budding filmmaker. The cast so far includes Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy Fabelman, who represents Spielberg, Michelle Williams as Spielberg's mother, Paul Dano as his father, and Seth Rogen as Spielberg's uncle. In addition, fellow acclaimed director David Lynch joined The Fabelmans cast in an undisclosed, "closely guarded" role.
Speaking to DiscussingFilm, Spielberg's longtime cinematographer, Janusz Kamiński, gives more insight into The Fabelmans story and setting, saying that, “It’s a very emotional movie that tells the story of Spielberg from the age of seven to eighteen.” He goes on to say that The Fabelmans will dig deeper into Spielberg's family life and what led to his desire to make movies, saying, “It deals with his family, with his parents, conundrums with his sisters, but primarily deals with his passion for movie-making.” Kamiński says the film will be a very personal movie, touching on things like "young love, parental divorce, and early formative relationships," saying:
It’s a very beautiful, beautiful personal movie. It’s very revealing about Steven’s life and who he is as a filmmaker.
Kamiński also says that The Fabelmans will explore not only Spielberg's passion for making films, but how he used that passion as a way to "go through that difficult period of being a teenager," as well as diving into more complex issues, such as Spielberg's conservative, Jewish upbringing and exposure to antisemitism. Both Spielberg and Kamiński won Oscars for their work on Schindler's List in 1994, which told the real-life story of Oskar Schindler, who saved over 1,200 Jews during WWII, a film on which Spielberg took no pay and has since sent the royalties to the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. Making that film was an endeavor that Spielberg struggled with, so it will be interesting to see how The Fabelmans deals with Spielberg's religious upbringing.
The Fabelmans sounds like a compelling project from Spielberg, and it's no easy feat when attempting to tell his own life story on film. Set pics from the film have revealed that the director is recreating the look of his parents with exactness, making the the film seem all the more personal. It's unclear how the film will play, however, be it more drama, comedy, or inspirational tale (or perhaps all of the above), but Spielberg has yet to approach any of his films with anything but a strong vision, for better or worse. It may not be a Jurassic Park or Indiana Jones sequel, but The Fabelmans has the potential to be a moving portrait of one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, directed by the man himself.
Source: DiscussingFilm
