Michael's Movie Grade: A+
A top-notch Steven Spielberg film.
Though films that pay tribute to the cinematic artform are nothing new, few of them are as passionate, personal or candid as The Fabelmans. The movie starts with our main character as a small boy taking his first trip to the movies. As he watches Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), he has a look of pure fascination on his face. This is the feeling we get watching this movie. As I watched this, I felt like I was falling in love with movies all over again. Not only is the passion for movies so heartfelt and genuine that we can't help but feel it, but the filmmaking here is simply top notch. Spielberg is a master filmmaker and here he makes his filmmaking feel completely effortless. Though the filmmaking may not call attention to itself, it tells the story perfectly and the scenes with our main character editing or screening the movies he made put us right in the moment with the characters as it is happening. We feel the same movie magic that he feels, and we understand why he feels compelled to make movies. Those who know anything about Steven Spielberg's life will recognize that this film shares a lot in common with his own life growing up. Perhaps that is why this movie perfectly captures the drive, passion and joy our main character feels when doing the thing he loves.
Yet as much as this film captures this feeling of lighthearted magic, it does not sugarcoat anything. Spielberg also incorporates the less happy times in his own time growing up and the hurt he felt. These scenes feel just as real and powerful as the joyous scenes. The fact that a filmmaker could be so open and candid about these times in his life is simply amazing. Yet he never turns the movie into a way for him to vent about anything that happened in his life. (In fact not a single one of the main characters comes off as an actual antagonist in this film but instead they are simply flawed human beings.) Rather he digs into his own complex emotions and comes out with something beautifully moving from them. As this movie deals with such heavy subjects as antisemitism, choosing between art and those you love, complex relationships with your parents, infidelity, martial hardships, bullying and much more, it looks it them in thought-provoking and emotionally powerful ways. Despite this movie having moments of pure joy as well as heavier moments, these elements don't ever work against each other. Instead, they work together. Life is full of both joy and sorrow and this movie balances those two feelings in a way that makes the film feel completely real and relatable at all times. It also keeps the film from feeling either being joyless or too idealized.
This is simply put a modern classic and a must see for any movie fan.
P.S. If you are a film buff, you will love the ending of this movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment