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The Fabelmans

April 16, 2024

The Fabelmans is a 2022 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, who co-wrote and produced it with Tony Kushner. The film is a semi-autobiographical story loosely based on Spielberg's adolescence and first years as a filmmaker. The plot is told through an original story of the fictional Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring filmmaker who explores how the power of films can help him see the truth about his dysfunctional family and those around him. It stars Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy, alongside Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch in supporting roles. The film is dedicated to the memories of Spielberg's real-life parents, Leah Adler and Arnold Spielberg, who died in 2017 and 2020, respectively.[7]

The Fabelmans
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteven Spielberg
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJanusz Kamiński[1]
Edited by
Music byJohn Williams
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • September 10, 2022 (2022-09-10) (TIFF)
  • November 11, 2022 (2022-11-11) (United States)
Running time
151 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[3][4]
Box office$45.6 million[5][6]

Spielberg had conceived the project as early as 1999, with his sister Anne writing a screenplay titled I'll Be Home. The project was withheld for 20 years, since Spielberg had reservations about exploring his family's story over concerns that his parents would be hurt. Spielberg revisited the project in 2019 with screenwriter and frequent collaborator Kushner while they were making West Side Story, and the screenplay was completed in late 2020. Development of the film officially began soon after, with casting taking place between March and May 2021. Principal photography began that July in Los Angeles and wrapped in September.[8]

The Fabelmans premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022, where it won the People's Choice Award. Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film opened as a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 11, 2022, and then expanded to a wide release on November 23, grossing $45.6 million against a $40 million budget. It received critical acclaim and was named one of the top ten films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. The Fabelmans earned numerous awards and nominations including seven nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Williams), and Best Supporting Actor (Hirsch). It also earned 11 nominations at the 28th Critics' Choice Awards, winning Best Young Performer (LaBelle), and five nominations at the 80th Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director.

Plot edit

On a January night in 1952, in Haddon Township, New Jersey, Jewish couple Mitzi and Burt Fabelman take their young son Sammy to see his first film: The Greatest Show on Earth. Dazzled by a train scene, Sammy asks for a model set for Hanukkah, which he crashes late one night.

Mitzi, understanding Sammy's intentions, allows him to shoot another crash scene using Burt's 8mm camera. Sammy begins filming regularly, sometimes involving his sisters. Burt is offered a new job in Phoenix, Arizona, where he and the family move in early 1957. At Mitzi's insistence, Burt's best friend and business partner Bennie Loewy goes, too.

Years later, teenaged Sammy makes films with his friends in the Boy Scouts, begins utilizing post-production effects and earns a badge in photography. Later, the Fabelmans, including Bennie, take a camping trip with Sammy capturing footage of their vacation.

Shortly afterwards, Mitzi's mother dies, leaving her distraught. Providing him with film editing equipment, Burt suggests Sammy turn the vacation footage into a film to cheer Mitzi up. Sammy objects over the scheduling of his next film, but Burt, who sees his passion for film as simply a hobby, argues that the home movie is more important. The next morning, the Fabelmans receive a surprise visit from Mitzi's uncle Boris, a former lion tamer and film worker. That night, he speaks with Sammy about compromising his family with art, telling him that both aspects will continue to be at odds with one another.

Boris leaves, and Sammy begins editing the vacation footage, during which he finds evidence of Mitzi and Bennie having an affair. Sammy and Mitzi get into an argument after weeks of him treating her and Bennie harshly. In a fit of rage, she slaps him across the back after he shouts that he wishes she wasn't his mother. Distraught, Sammy shows her the compiled footage and promises to keep their secret.

The following week, Burt receives another promotion, requiring another move to Saratoga, California. Bennie stays in Phoenix, but not before gifting Sammy a new camera. Sammy refuses it until Bennie lets him pay $35 for it. Despite purchasing the camera, Sammy decides to never use it.

Soon after arriving in his new neighborhood and school, Sammy becomes targeted by students Logan and Chad, who levy antisemitic abuse toward him. He also begins dating the devoutly Christian Monica. While having dinner with the Fabelmans, she suggests that Sammy film their Ditch Day at the beach, something he eventually accepts after Monica tells him her father owns a 16mm Arriflex camera that he would let him use.

After moving from a rental to their newly purchased home, Mitzi and Burt announce their divorce due to her extreme depression and his discovery of the affair. This leaves the family heartbroken.

At prom, Sammy declares his love for Monica and asks her to come with him to Hollywood after high school. Unwilling to throw away her own life's plans to attend Texas A&M University, she breaks up with him.

The Ditch Day film is played in front of Sammy's peers to a rapturous response. It glorifies Logan and vilifies Chad. When Logan confronts Sammy, confused over his positive portrayal, they reach an understanding, cemented when Logan fights Chad off when he tries to attack Sammy. The next morning, Mitzi and Sammy talk about their future together; just as she cannot give up her love for Bennie, she tells Sammy not to give up his love for filmmaking.

The following year, Sammy is living with his father in Hollywood. He wants to drop out of college but is unable to find work in filmmaking. Burt grudgingly accepts his son's passion and tells Sammy to keep on his path if it makes him happy. Sammy receives an offer to work on Hogan's Heroes.

Knowing he is more interested in filmmaking, show co-creator Bernard Fein invites Sammy to meet director John Ford, one of his greatest influences. During their brief meeting, Ford offers Sammy some pointers on framing such as never framing the horizon in the center of the frame. Newly invigorated, Sammy walks through the sunlit studio backlot. The camera first frames the horizon in the center, then suddenly tilts up to place it near the bottom of the frame, following Ford's advice.

Cast edit

 
The Fabelman family, from left to right: Sammy Fabelman, Mitzi Fabelman, Burt Fabelman, Natalie Fabelman, Reggie Fabelman and Lisa Fabelman
  • Michelle Williams as Mitzi Fabelman, Sammy's encouraging but tempestuous mother and a skilled pianist
  • Paul Dano as Burt Fabelman, Sammy's down-to-earth father and a computer engineer
  • Seth Rogen as Bennie Loewy, Burt's co-worker and best friend who becomes a surrogate uncle to Sammy
  • Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy Fabelman, the sixteen-year-old son of the family who aspires to become a filmmaker. He is based on Spielberg.
    • Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord as young Sammy
  • Keeley Karsten as Natalie Fabelman, Sammy's second younger sister
    • Alina Brace as young Natalie
  • Julia Butters as Regina "Reggie" Fabelman, the first younger sister of Sammy who has a strained relationship with him
    • Birdie Borria as young Reggie
  • Judd Hirsch as Boris Podgorny, Sammy's eccentric granduncle and a former film worker and circus performer
  • Sophia Kopera as Lisa Fabelman, Sammy's third younger sister
  • Jeannie Berlin as Hadassah Fabelman, Burt's mother
  • Robin Bartlett as Tina Schildkraut, Mitzi's mother
  • Sam Rechner as Logan Hall, a high school bully
  • Oakes Fegley as Chad Thomas, another high school bully
  • Chloe East as Monica Sherwood, a religious, boy-crazy high school student and Sammy’s love interest
  • Isabelle Kusman as Claudia Denning, a classmate and love interest of Logan's
  • Chandler Lovelle as Renee, a girl whom Logan cheated on Claudia with
  • Gustavo Escobar as Sal, a member of Sammy's Boy Scout troop who helps him make films
  • Nicolas Cantu as Hark, another member of Sammy's Boy Scout troop who helps him make films
  • Cooper Dodson as Turkey, another member of Sammy's Boy Scout troop who helps him make films
  • Gabriel Bateman as Roger, another member of Sammy's Boy Scout troop who appears alongside his family in his first films
  • Stephen Smith as Angelo, another member of Sammy's Boy Scout troop who helps him make films
  • James Urbaniak as Grand View High School Principal
  • Connor Trinneer as Phil Newhart
  • Lane Factor as Dean, another member of Sammy's Boy Scout troop who helps him make films
  • Greg Grunberg as Bernie Fein, the co-creator of Hogan's Heroes, who offers Sammy a chance to work on the show at CBS
  • David Lynch as John Ford, the famous film director whose work influences Sammy's filmmaking
  • Jan Hoag as Nona, a secretary who works at CBS
  • Crystal the Monkey as Bennie, the Fabelmans' pet monkey

Production edit

Development edit

"Everyone sees me as a success story... But no one really knows us until we're courageous enough to tell everyone who we are."

– Steven Spielberg, 2023[9]

In 1999, Steven Spielberg said he had been thinking of directing a film about his childhood for some time. Titled I'll Be Home, the project was originally written by his sister Anne Spielberg. He explained, "My big fear is that my mom and dad won't like it and will think it's an insult and won't share my loving yet critical point of view about what it was like to grow up with them."[10] In 2002, Spielberg said he was nervous about making I'll Be Home: "It's so close to my life and so close to my family — I prefer to make films that are more analogous. But a literal story about my family will take a lot of courage. I still think I make personal movies even if they do look like big commercial popcorn films."[11] Spielberg later revealed in November 2022 that his parents had also been "nagging" him to make a film about their lives prior to their deaths.[12][13] His mother died in 2017,[14] and his father in August 2020.[15]

Writing edit

 
 
Steven Spielberg (left) directed and co-produced the film, and co-wrote the screenplay with Tony Kushner (right).

In 2004, while working on Munich, Spielberg told screenwriter Tony Kushner his life story, with Kushner telling him in response: "Someday you're going to have to make a film about this."[13] The 80–90 page plot outline for The Fabelmans was worked on in 2019 during filming of Spielberg's 2021 film version of West Side Story. Work on the screenplay for The Fabelmans began on October 2, 2020, during the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and lasted for two months, ending in December 2020. Kushner reflected on the experience, saying, "We wrote three days a week, four hours a day, and we finished the script in two months: by leagues the fastest I've finished anything. It was a blast. I loved it."[16] Spielberg, at that time, felt that the climate caused by the pandemic convinced him that the time was now right to make the film, saying, "I started seriously thinking, if I had to make one movie I haven't made yet, something that I really want to do on a very personally atomic level, what would that be? And there was only one story I really wanted to tell ... My life with my mom and dad taught me a lesson, which I hope this film in a small way imparts ... Which is, when does a young person in a family start to see his parents as human beings? In my case, because of what happened between the ages of 7 and 18, I started to appreciate my mom and dad not as parents but as real people."[12] He gave drafts of the script to his sisters, Sue and Nancy, to ensure that their memories be included in the story and that the details in the film were portrayed as accurately as possible.[13]

On the meaning behind the family name "Fabelman", Kushner (who came up with that name) said, "Spielberg means play-mountain; 'spieler' is an actor in Yiddish, and a 'spiel' can be speech or can be a play ... I wanted to have some of that meaning, and I've always liked the German word 'fabel,' which means fable. And because the movie is autobiographical for Steven but it isn't an autobiography, it's not a documentary, so there's a fictional element as well. So I thought that 'Fabelman' was a nod to that."[17]

Pre-production edit

In March 2021, Spielberg was announced to direct the film, with his involvement as co-screenwriter marking his first writing venture on a film since A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001);[18] it was also reported that Kristie Macosko Krieger would produce the film with Kushner and Spielberg.[19] In March 2022, cinematographer Janusz Kamiński said the film would chronicle Spielberg's life from age seven to eighteen and deal with "his family, with his parents, conundrums with his sisters, but primarily deals with his passion for movie-making", while adding that it will touch on the themes of "young love, parental divorce, and early formative relationships ... It's a very beautiful, beautiful personal movie. It's very revealing about Steven's life and who he is as a filmmaker."[20] In September 2022, Spielberg expressed how personal the film was to him, saying that "This film is, for me, a way of bringing my mom and dad back. And it also brought my sisters, Annie, Susie, and Nancy, closer to me than I ever thought possible. And that was worth making the film."[21]

Casting edit

 
 
Gabriel LaBelle stars as Sammy Fabelman and Michelle Williams stars as Mitzi Fabelman.

In casting the film, Spielberg explained that "Part of it had to be organic, and it had to be authentic to me. It wasn't really about anything beyond who can I have the most profound connection with and that reminds me the most of the people that brought me into the world and raised me and gave me good values."[22] In March 2021, Michelle Williams was in negotiations to star as Mitzi Fabelman, the role inspired by Spielberg's mother Leah Adler, but with "an original voice". Spielberg himself had her in mind for the role after watching her performances in Blue Valentine (2010) and Fosse/Verdon (2019).[18][23][24] That same month, it was reported that Seth Rogen joined the cast to play Bennie Loewy, the role inspired by Bernie Adler, "the favorite uncle of young Spielberg", while Williams was confirmed to have been cast.[19] On April 8, 2021, Paul Dano joined the cast as Burt Fabelman, the role inspired by Spielberg's father Arnold.[25] Dano admitted that he felt intimidated by playing the role because "the stakes felt really high ... You're embodying one of the most important, influential, complicated figures in [Spielberg's] life. It was incredible to see how much of this was in his work the whole time. He's sharing a piece of himself that I find very moving. There's a real gift in it, when somebody of that stature and at that level of artistry is willing to do that."[26]

In May 2021, after a three-month search and over 2,000 contenders, Gabriel LaBelle entered final negotiations to portray the lead role, Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring filmmaker based on Spielberg himself.[27] He would be confirmed the next month in addition to the casting of Julia Butters as Reggie Fabelman, the role inspired by Spielberg's sister Anne.[28] Later that June, Sam Rechner was cast as well.[29] In July, Chloe East, Oakes Fegley, Isabelle Kusman, Jeannie Berlin, Judd Hirsch, Robin Bartlett and Jonathan Hadary were added to the cast. Hadary's character was supposed to be the spirit of Sammy's grandfather during a family conference scene where, after young Sammy makes a Christmas film, "his grandmothers [the characters played by Berlin and Bartlett] argue over whether he sees ghosts, and Sammy says he saw his grandfather after he died". He called it a "charming scene" and it was filmed. The scene was ultimately cut from the film for being "unnecessary", and to keep the runtime under two and a half hours. Kushner added "This is a kind of epic story, it travels across 12, 15 years of time — and in order for it to have momentum, we couldn't afford to have it linger anywhere."[30][31][32] In August, Gabriel Bateman, Nicolas Cantu, Gustavo Escobar, Lane Factor, Cooper Dodson and Stephen Matthew Smith were cast.[33] They were later followed by newcomers Keeley Karsten, Birdie Borria, Alina Brace, Sophia Kopera, and Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord.[34] In February 2022, it was announced David Lynch would also star in a then-undisclosed role, later revealed to be that of film director John Ford.[35] During the Q&A at an Academy Award-qualifying screening for the film on November 7, 2022, Spielberg revealed that it took three weeks to convince Lynch to be a part of the film, with Tony Kushner's husband Mark Harris taking credit for suggesting Lynch to Spielberg, and Laura Dern calling Lynch numerous times to get him to commit. In response, Lynch said he would take it as long as there were bags of Cheetos on set as refreshments.[36] He also requested that he be given his costume as Ford a week before filming his scene to break it in.

 
 
Paul Dano stars as Burt Fabelman and Seth Rogen stars as Bennie Loewy.

In September 2022, during the film's world premiere, LaBelle revealed that he initially did not win the part of Sammy following his first audition but did upon receiving a callback three months afterward. On finally reading the script and learning the details about his character being a fictionalized version of Spielberg himself as a teenager for mostly the entire film, he recalled "When I was auditioning, the character's name was Teenage Sammy – I thought as opposed to Adult Sammy ... I get the script and you're reading it for 30 pages and he's 6 and 8 years old. Page 35 or so Teenage Sammy comes along. OK, good! Now this is my part. It's going to be a three-act movie, it's going to be a Moonlight or something. I kept waiting for my exit but it never came." Spielberg himself revealed that the role of Sammy was the hardest to cast, saying "As a kid growing up, I always had a lot of reasons why I was always in the corner, why I was always not the center of conversation ... I needed someone who wasn't going to bring too much self-awareness to Sammy."[37] Upon casting LaBelle, casting director Cindy Tolan said "With Gabe, there was a poignancy. He could convey the pathos that was needed and also the humor," while Spielberg added, "I wasn't looking for what I see in the mirror, I was looking for a young actor who could carry a lot of story by being curious and honest and engaging and unpredictable."[38]

Filming edit

Principal photography began in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles on July 17, 2021, lasting for 59 days until ending on September 27, 2021. Additional filming took place at Zuma Beach in Malibu, California for the "Ditch Day" scenes, Susan Miller Dorsey High School for the high school scenes, and on soundstages in Santa Clarita, California.[39][40][41][42]

During the shoot, the cast gained access to home movies, photographs and recollections from Spielberg's family's past to learn what they were like and how to portray the fictionalized versions of them (the Fabelman family) on screen, while making them feel fresh and original. Paul Dano reflected "It was overwhelming and it was sort of a heavy cloak to bear because we were with someone who was having a big experience everyday, revisiting and reworking through a part of their life ... For somebody like Steven to share that much of himself with us – with the audience too – it was really a profound experience." In addition, Dano ordered and built a crystal radio set to get the feeling of how Arnold Spielberg was around electronics.[16][13] Seth Rogen described the experience as "emotional" and recalled that Spielberg was "...crying a lot on set ... As we were shooting, I'd be like, 'Did this happen in real life?' and the answer was 'yes' a hundred percent of the time."[43] Gabriel LaBelle also rewatched some of Spielberg's films, such as Empire of the Sun (1987) and constantly had conversations with Spielberg to learn more about his life in order to prepare for playing Sammy.[38] The jewelry that Michelle Williams wore as part of the costumes for Mitzi Fabelman were in fact some of Leah Adler's, including a charm bracelet that had pictures of all four of her children.[13] According to an interview she did for the Hollywood Insider at the TIFF premiere, Julia Butters was gifted with Anne Spielberg's high school ring to wear while she played Reggie Fabelman.

 
To look the part of Sammy Fabelman, Gabriel LaBelle straightened his hair and changed the way he stood, walked and smiled to make the character look more like Spielberg as a teenager.

For the scenes of Sammy filming his own 8mm films, Spielberg decided to have the character recreate the exact ones he made during his childhood, and worked with Kamiński to ensure that they were portrayed as accurately as possible, but with improvements in the camera angles. Spielberg remarked "It was joyful being able to recreate those films ... I shot a lot of films when I was a kid on 8mm. It was unique in those days. Not a lot of people were going out and shooting in 8mm. It was physical; it was a craft. You had to sit there with a…splicer, and then you had to scrape the emulsion off the film in order to get a seal so when you put glue on it, you literally glued the film together. And I must say, I miss it."[44] Gabriel LaBelle's first two days on set involved a scene where Sammy and his friends film a recreation of Spielberg's World War II short film Escape to Nowhere (1961). On the experience, LaBelle remarked "It was a cool way to see how Steven walked and moved around back then ... I asked so many questions about Saving Private Ryan, because we were doing a war film. For the first two days, it was me, Steven, Tony, and Janusz, just hanging out. Mitch Dubin, the A-camera operator, stormed the beaches of Normandy with a handheld camera for Saving Private Ryan – and now he's making this movie!"[45] The 8mm and 16mm camera props used in the film had real film inside them, with LaBelle being taught how to use the cameras so that what was shot with them on set could be developed for use in the film, as well as how to cut and splice film stock using the editing machines and film projectors of the period. LaBelle also got to keep the 8mm camera Sammy used to film the family camping trip and Escape to Nowhere short film as a souvenir after the completion of principal photography. To look the part of Sammy and make the character look more like Spielberg's teenage appearance, LaBelle had his hair straightened and changed the way he stood and walked, as well as retrained his muscles to mimic Spielberg's smile.[46][13][47]

 
David Lynch plays John Ford during the film's final scene, which fictionalizes and dramatizes the famous real-life encounter between Spielberg and Ford.

LaBelle was unaware of the casting of David Lynch as John Ford until the day the scene he had to do with him was filmed. He recalled that once Lynch came onto the set, it enabled him to embody Sammy and how he was feeling, recalling "[Lynch is] a great guy. But leading up to it, Sammy's nervous, so I'm getting nervous."[48] The scene itself was written to historically match how the actual real-life encounter between Spielberg and Ford occurred, with the latter's dialogue written exactly word-for-word, most notably Ford's advice to Sammy about framing: "When the horizon's at the bottom, it's interesting. When the horizon's at the top, it's interesting. When the horizon's in the middle, it's boring as shit!"[49][50] The scene itself received acclaim by critics and audiences and won the award for Best Scene at the 2022 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards.[51] The last shot of the film, where the camera breaks the fourth wall and re-frames the horizon on the image of Sammy walking on the studio lot, was already in the script prior to filming. Drew Taylor of TheWrap named it the best final shot of the year, saying that it leaves the movie on "such a happy, hopeful note" and it metaphorically represents Spielberg's "admission that he might be the most revered filmmaker in the history of the medium, but he still screws up and he's still got plenty to learn. The master is still a student. It's easy to forget what John Ford yelled at you all those years ago."[52] Matthew Jacobs of The Hollywood Reporter also called the moment one of the best closing shots of Spielberg's career.[47] The film's iconic shot of Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord as young Sammy projecting his first 8mm film onto his hands was not initially planned until during pre-production when "Spielberg happened to project something on his hand while they were watching old home movies." Upon witnessing this, Kaminski knew it had to be incorporated, calling it a visual "metaphor of the entire movie: [Sammy] can have the image in his hand and shape it."[53]

Judd Hirsch's couple of days on set involved filming a major monologue that his character Uncle Boris, inspired by Spielberg's real granduncle of the same name, gives to Sammy to inspire him to continue pursuing his ambitions while also warning him of the consequences that come with it. Hirsch compared his character to "a seer from Greek mythology, a soothsayer used by the gods to communicate with mortals." On acting alongside Gabriel LaBelle for the scene, he told Vanity Fair in November 2022 that on set "When I looked at it [the script] and I met Gabriel, I said, I'm gonna destroy this boy ... My part is to tell him that horrible things are gonna happen to him—even though it has to happen. So I walked out of there and I said, Who the hell am I...some oracle? You know, an oracle comes and stands in his room and takes him apart and tells him he has to be a director." Hirsch's performance and the monologue itself were met with acclaim from critics and viewers, which resulted in a huge round of applause from the audience during the TIFF world premiere.[54]

Production design edit

To recreate the three houses that Spielberg lived in during his childhood in Haddon Township, New Jersey, Phoenix, Arizona, and Saratoga, California, production designer Rick Carter worked off floor plans that the director sketched from memory and then took artistic license with the spaces to fit the emotional mindset of Sammy. More attention was paid to the set in Phoenix, "...because, as a filmmaker, he became more himself. So not only the equipment that was there is accurate, but all the storyboards that Sammy used to make his movies. And Steven drew all the storyboards, and he still draws his storyboards the way he did as a teenager."[55] Carter and set decorator Karen O'Hara also worked off photos and memories that Spielberg and his three sisters provided. All of the house interiors were built on soundstages. Carter also noted that the differences between the two houses had to do with him and his team having "the most pictures and home movies of the Phoenix house. The New Jersey [house] we had less, but we knew the rough plan and had a couple photos that at least indicated the tone of the paint color. It's not an exact re-creation, but the Phoenix house was especially close. My attempt the whole time was to have him to be able walk in and feel like he was close to being back."[56]

The Los Gatos rental house that the family moved to in California was entirely fictional, as the Spielberg family actually lived in various rental apartments and temporary homes. According to Carter, the house in the film "served the function of the script to have them be in this one place they were moving into while waiting for this other house to get made. He's moving to the promised land, but it doesn't turn out to be so promised in California. In the beginning, it's actually rainy and dark and gloomy, and all the kids at the school are a third bigger than he is".[56]

For John Ford's office at the end of the film, Carter and his team used the director's 1957 film The Wings of Eagles as a direct reference, which features Ward Bond playing a character inspired by Ford. "It's a much more elaborate office than the one we did, but we still got some of the sensibility from those images," Carter said. "We were able to take that and say, 'Let's now take the elements that are important—the Western-style furniture and the Academy Awards but, more specifically, these sort of [Frederic] Remington-esque paintings.' Some of them really are Remingtons. We got the rights to them and they have literally those horizons the way they are. But to really make the point of the low horizon, we painted a picture that is actually from a still frame of The Searchers to make it very, very clear that this is low horizon, this is high horizon. Then, he can make his point about, 'Those are interesting'. What I think everybody enjoyed about that was that it was such an emotional movie up to that point, and then you have somebody who takes all that emotion and reduces it to just 'Do a good shot'. I think that there's a kind of a release. If you want [the emotion] to be dramatic, you have to make the image dramatic, and that's what Steven Spielberg has become a master at over his lifetime."[56]

Visual effects edit

The film's tornado sequence was filmed using Industrial Light & Magic's StageCraft virtual production technology. Pablo Helman, who served as visual effects supervisor, suggested the idea to Spielberg and Kamiński after working with the technology on the Disney+ series The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi and described the process as shooting "background plates with an array of cameras driving through the scene and then stitching those into a 360-degree plate we could move around wherever we wanted." The background plates were filmed digitally with a rig containing six Red Monstro 8K digital cameras with Nikon Nikkor zoom lenses and the team spent three weeks adding the tornado and other digital elements to make the scenery more "cloudy" and threatening, followed by two days of camera tests in the StageCraft Volume.

The final sequence was filmed on the LED stage at Manhattan Beach Studios, using an ARRI Alexa Mini LF camera and Panavision PVintage lenses to complement and seamlessly match the 35mm cinematography of the rest of the film. Helman revealed that Spielberg enjoyed experimenting with the new technology and that "StageCraft is a different way of working, and of course, some directors are shy of working far in advance and making commitments ... Steven has never been that way. After you finish a movie with him, two or three weeks later, you have your cut. He knows exactly what he needs for the edit and has a very specific shooting economy."[57]

Music edit

Main article: The Fabelmans (soundtrack)
 
The Fabelmans - Main Theme
A 15-second sample of the film's main theme, composed by John Williams
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The score was composed and conducted by John Williams, marking his 29th film collaboration with Spielberg and approaching the 50th anniversary of their first film The Sugarland Express, released in 1974.[58] On June 23, 2022, Williams revealed that this and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny may be the last two films he will score before retirement.[59][60] Recording of the score began in March 2022, following Williams's concert performance with the Vienna Philharmonic at Vienna's Musikverein.[61] In July, stills from the recording sessions were revealed by one of the film's crew members, revealing that scoring of the film is underway.[62] Along with his usual orchestral style, Williams opted for a score mostly relying on piano, with Joanne Pearce Martin, principal pianist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, providing the piano solos.[63]

The film features source classical music selected by Spielberg himself, some of which are performed on piano in the film by the character of Mitzi Fabelman, from composers such as Friedrich Kuhlau, Erik Satie, Muzio Clementi, Johann Sebastian Bach and Joseph Haydn.[64] The film's soundtrack was released digitally by Sony Classical on November 11, 2022, and was released on physical CD on December 9, 2022.[65][66]

The film includes pop songs of the film's time period which are not featured on the soundtrack album, such as "Walk On By" by Dionne Warwick and "Goodbye Cruel World" by James Darren, the latter of which being used to accompany the montage sequence of Sammy Fabelman documenting his high school's Ditch Day on film.[7] Scott Joplin's "Elite Syncopations" (1902) also appears twice in the film. Music sampled from Elmer Bernstein's score to The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Alfred Newman's score to How the West Was Won (1962) respectively underscore the screenings of Gunsmog and Escape to Nowhere when Sammy plays them for his family and friends at the Boy Scout assemblies.[67][68]

Themes and interpretations edit

 
The moment where Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) sees a vision of himself in the mirror filming the announcement of his parents' divorce with his 8mm camera as it happens in front of him was widely analyzed.

The film has been characterized as focusing on the interrelationship and coexistence of family and passion, as well as the themes of trauma, control, the consequences of inaction and the importance of empathy and compassion. Kole Lyndon Lee of ScreenCraft analyzed how these themes were used in some of Spielberg's other films to relate to how Sammy used his filmmaking "to cope with his personal reality and trauma" in the midst of his struggles at home and at school.[69] Yoni Mayer of Yeshiva University's The Commentator noted the film's three-minute sequence of Sammy editing the footage of the camping trip and uncovering Mitzi's affair with Bennie, while Burt sits on the couch in the living room and listens to Mitzi play Bach's Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974: II. Adagio on her piano, as representative of the tension between "family" and "art," using the scene's cinematography, intercut editing and music to present that aspect visually without a single line of dialogue.[70]

Sarah Buddery of Little White Lies noted how the film ties in with the theme of technology and music in a similar way as Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), relating that although Mitzi and Burt separate in part due to their differences, Close Encounters saw those elements work together in "beautiful, communicative harmony".[71] Ronald Meyer of Collider added on the subject of how Mitzi and Burt see things differently by referencing the opening scene where they and younger Sammy are in line to see The Greatest Show on Earth and they explain to him the "majesty of cinema." Burt's teaching to Sammy is more technical and explains to him the "persistence of vision," while Mitzi re-frames it more on the artistic side and with simplicity when she says one of this film's most famous lines, "Movies are dreams that you never forget." This type of side to the character was implied by Spielberg in the 2017 HBO documentary Spielberg, where he likens her real-life counterpart Leah Adler to Peter Pan, saying "She was a sibling, not a parent."[72]

The scene where Sammy, while watching Mitzi and Burt announce their divorce to the family, sees a vision of himself filming this moment with his 8mm camera in the mirror over the mantelpiece, has been widely analyzed. Serena Irani of The Michigan Daily and David Sims of The Atlantic interpreted Sammy's emotional reaction in this scene as "transfixed as he is horrified by the notion, and perhaps the inevitable knowledge that he will one day make this film," relating it to how the divorce of Spielberg's parents in real life had a large impact on his work.[73][74] Kayla Laguerre-Lewis of Screen Rant called the scene the one that drives home why Spielberg's films connect personally to his past, specifically his parents' divorce, comparing it to how the theme was handled in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).[75] It was also noted how the divorce, both in real life and in this film, may have also reflected Spielberg's being drawn to make Catch Me If You Can (2002) due to similarities between Sammy's use of filmmaking to escape the problems in his family and con artist Frank Abagnale's use of his actions to escape his own reality as a result of his own parents' break-up.[72]

Release edit

The Fabelmans was sneak previewed on July 26, 2022, in Nanuet, New York.[76] It had its world premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022, where it received two standing ovations from the audience, one before the film when Spielberg took the stage to introduce it, and a longer one preceding the post-film Q&A. The crowd was also reported to have been loudly chanting Spielberg's name while outside waiting to get into the theater during the red carpet arrivals.[2][77][78] On the announcement of the premiere, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey remarked: "It's different from a typical Spielberg blockbuster, but it is just as easily impactful in terms of the emotional effect it's going to have on people. If you love movies, this is going to be a very powerful film for you to watch. I'm excited that it's launching in an environment that celebrates cinema."[79] Upon winning the festival's People's Choice Award, Spielberg remarked "I'm glad I brought this film to Toronto! This is the most personal film I've ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family ... a very special thank you to all the movie fans in Toronto who have made this past weekend one I'll never forget."[80] For his performance, Gabriel LaBelle was also named a 2022 TIFF Rising Star.[81]

It held its European premiere at the Rome Film Festival on October 19, 2022, which was followed by its United States premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on November 6, 2022, as the closing night film of the 2022 AFI Fest. It also closed the Miami International Film Festival on November 10, 2022, with Paul Dano virtually receiving the festival's Precious Gem Award.[82][83][84] The French premiere took place at the Lumière Film Festival on October 18, 2022.[85] It also screened as the opening night film of the 20th Morelia International Film Festival on October 23, 2022, the 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival on November 3, 2022,[86] and the 44th Cairo International Film Festival on November 13, 2022.[87][88] It also opened the 15th edition of "The Contenders" film series at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on November 10, 2022, followed by a conversation with the cast.[89] The film's United Kingdom premiere took place on January 18, 2023 at The Curzon Mayfair in London, with Spielberg, LaBelle and Krieger in attendance.[90]

It held its German premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2023, as part of the Homage section (where Spielberg's other films Bridge of Spies (2015), Duel (1971), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jaws (1975), Munich (2005), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Schindler's List (1993) were also screened) and at the awards ceremony, where Spielberg received an honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement. On the announcement, festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian remarked: "With an incredible career, Steven Spielberg has not only enchanted generations of viewers all over the world, but has also given a new meaning to the 'cinema' as the factory of dreams ... Be it in the everlasting magic world of teenagers or in the reality that history has carved forever, his movies take us to a different level, where the big screen becomes the adequate surface for our emotions to be fulfilled. If Berlinale 2023 represents a new beginning we couldn't find a better start than the one offered by Spielberg's great work."[91][92]

Theatrical edit

The Fabelmans was released by Universal Pictures in select theaters in Los Angeles and New York City on November 11, 2022, with a nationwide release on November 23 in the United States.[93] It became Spielberg's first film to be distributed by Universal since Munich (2005).[18][40] Universal also distributed the film in some international territories, but as part of Amblin Partners' deal with Mister Smith Entertainment, there are some exceptions, as the film has been sold to Entertainment One for the United Kingdom, StudioCanal for Australia, WW Entertainment for Benelux, Leone Film Group for Italy,[84] Reliance Distribution for India[94] and Nordisk Film for Scandinavia.[95]

Home media edit

The Fabelmans was released on video on demand (VOD) on December 13, 2022, and on digital January 17, 2023. It was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 14, 2023, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and grossed $1,586,785 in video sales.[96][97][6]

On VOD, it ranked #1 on iTunes Movies following the Oscar nomination announcements on January 24, 2023.[98] By March 9, 2023, according to Samba TV, it had been watched on VOD in 360,000 households in the United States since the announcements, over-indexing by the highest margin of any film in the Los Angeles DMA by 60%. By February 21, according to JustWatch, it topped the Canadian streaming charts following the announcements, ahead of Triangle of Sadness and Tár.[99][100]

Marketing edit

The poster to promote the film's world premiere at TIFF was released on September 7, 2022, with the official theatrical release version of it being released on September 29, 2022.[101] The trailer premiered online on September 11, 2022. The music for the trailer was composed by Felix Erskine of Cavalry Music.[102][103] Universal spent approximately $8.5 million on the film's advertising campaign.[104] Another trailer, set to Ben Folds' cover of The Beatles song "Golden Slumbers", was released on December 13, 2022.[105]

Reception edit

Box office edit

As of August 27, 2023, The Fabelmans has grossed $17.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $28.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $45.6 million.[5][6]

In the United States, the film made $161,579 from four theaters in its opening weekend for an average of $40,395 per-screen, the third highest average for a Fall 2022 platform release, behind Till and The Banshees of Inisherin.[106] The film expanded alongside Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Strange World, Devotion, and the wide expansion of Bones and All, and was projected to gross around $3–5 million from 638 theaters over the five-day weekend.[107] Variety called the projections "a disappointing result for a $40 million movie, especially one that hails from the most successful director of his time" and compared the situation to the poor $38 million domestic box office returns of Spielberg's West Side Story the year before.[104][108]

It made $400,000 on its first day of wide release, with an additional $480,000 on Thanksgiving Day and $880,000 on Black Friday, resulting in a 5-day weekend total of $3.4 million.[109][110] After four weeks in theaters, Spielberg's film grossed $6 million domestic, making it the worst financial performance ever for a Spielberg film, with the general public's trending lack of interest in prestige films, a muted reception from older audience demographics and the large decline in popularity and relevance of Spielberg and his filmography cited as the reasons.[111][112] The film crossed the $10 million mark worldwide during Christmas weekend.[113][99] Following the Academy Award nomination announcements, the film earned a 14% boost in grosses.[114] It performed better in the United Kingdom, grossing $1.3 million on its opening weekend, finishing fourth.[115] It was also a success in France, grossing $2.2 million on its opening weekend, also finishing fourth.[116]

Critical response edit

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 390 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Part memoir, part ode to the power of the movies, The Fabelmans finds Steven Spielberg digging at the family roots that helped make him a beloved filmmaker -- and proves he hasn't lost his magic touch."[117] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100, based on 65 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[118] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[119]

 
Critics singled out the image of younger Sammy Fabelman using "his hands as a makeshift screen, aiming the projector at his open palms" as the film's iconic shot.

Chris Evangelista of /Film called it "...one of Spielberg's warmest, funniest films" and highlighted Kamiński's cinematography.[120] Steve Pond of TheWrap wrote "The film shows a light touch that doesn't detract from the very real depths that are being explored. That The Fabelmans is one of Steven Spielberg's most personal movies was never in doubt; that it's also one of his most original and most satisfying in years is a welcome bonus."[121] Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood praised the performances of Williams, Dano, LaBelle and Butters, calling the former "gut-wrenchingly great", while saying that Dano was "terrific as the genuinely nice and loving father torn between following his own career and caring for his wife and family under increasingly difficult circumstances." He described LaBelle's performance as "sensational throughout, a young man with a love for movies, but tortured by growing pains and a family drifting apart." He also referred to David Lynch's cameo as being "worth the price of admission alone".[7]

Ross Bonaime of Collider wrote "For decades, Spielberg has shown us ourselves through the magic of his movies, and with The Fabelmans, he finally shows us who he is, the good and the bad, and pain and the joys, the magic and the mayhem."[122] Peter Debruge of Variety named it the frontrunner for the Academy Award for Best Picture, while writing "...this endearing, broadly appealing account of how Spielberg was smitten by the medium – and why the prodigy nearly abandoned picture-making before his career even started – holds the keys to so much of the master's filmography. More similar to Woody Allen's autobiographical Radio Days than it is to European art films such as The 400 Blows and Amarcord (the more highbrow models other directors typically point to when re-creating their childhoods), The Fabelmans invites audiences into the home and headspace of the world's most beloved living director, an oddly sanitized zone where even the trauma – which includes anti-Semitism, financial disadvantage and divorce – seems to go better with fresh-buttered popcorn."[123]

David Ehrlich of IndieWire was mixed about the film and gave it a B+, writing that Spielberg "...may not have been able to fix his parents' marriage, but for more than half a century his films have been reconciling the family that Arthur and Leah Spielberg made possible. 'The Fabelmans' doesn't do that as well as the director's best work, but it dramatizes his process of making peace with his dreams so beautifully that it almost doesn't matter. To me, this is a far cry from a magnum opus. For Spielberg, it feels like the greatest show on Earth."[124] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com praised the screenplay, calling it "...a graceful gem, moving through different chapters of the life of this relatively average family that would just happen to produce an unaverage filmmaker."[125] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian was mixed, saying that "There remains a remove though still, Spielberg giving us a slightly too stage-managed version of himself and his family, some gristle missing from the darkest moments."[126] Tomris Laffly of The Playlist wrote "It's Spielberg's most personal film, one that gorgeously revives the memories of his childhood and youth with a lavish sense of wistfulness and an aptly Hollywood-ized, fable-like touch."[127]

 
 
The performances of Michelle Williams and Judd Hirsch garnered critical acclaim, earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively.

John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it "...a vivid capturing of the auteur's earliest flashes of filmmaking insight and a portrait, full of love yet unclouded by nostalgia, of the family that made him."[128] Justin Chang of Los Angeles Times called it "A uniquely confessional work, in which a great artist freely and happily acknowledges the manipulation inherent in the art form he was born to master."[129] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "If it all feels a little sanitized and idealized, it's also consistently lovely – and after 75 years and 34 films, who more than Spielberg has earned the right to revisit his stardust memories?"[130] Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote that "Not all memoir is generous. It can be intriguingly solipsistic, or maddeningly vain. But because there's always been a curious blankness to Spielberg's public persona – cheerful and engaged but never quite known – The Fabelmans does feel like something of a gift."[131]

David Fear of Rolling Stone wrote that "If the movie does adhere to [Steven Spielberg's] signature beats, and feature so many recognizable Spielbergisms, occasionally to its detriment, it's still one of the most impressive, enlightening, vital things he's ever done."[132] Peter Travers of ABC News was positively overwhelmed by the film, saying "Bring out the Oscars for 'The Fabelmans,' a personal best from Steven Spielberg in no small part because it's a family picture about Spielberg's own family. Sentimental? Sure. Sappy? Never. No movie this year cuts a clearer path to the heart and the power of imagination."[133] Anthony Lane of The New Yorker praised the film, saying "'The Fabelmans' may look nice 'n' easy as it swings along, with a pile of laughs to cushion the ride, and a nifty visual gag in the closing seconds, but take care. Here is a film that is touched with the madness of love."[134]

Anna Swanson of Film School Rejects praised the film, saying "By laying bare indiscretions and frustrations, Spielberg is ostensibly airing out the dirty laundry and then treating it with the empathy that can only come from an adult perspective on childhood memories. As they're depicted in the film, Burt and Mitzi are far more nuanced and complicated than any kid believes their parents to be when they're young. It's a touching, mature gesture that ultimately flatters all involved."[135] Kyle Buchanan of The New York Times praised Michelle Williams' performance, writing that she "...really goes for it, attacking this part like someone who knows she's been handed her signature role."[24] In a later review for the paper, Manohla Dargis named it a New York Times Critic's Pick, calling the film "...somewhat of a fable and wonderful in both large and small ways, even if Spielberg can't help but soften the rougher, potentially lacerating edges."[136]

Alison Willmore of Vulture wrote that "Spielberg, an incredibly precise filmmaker, never seems certain as to what a movie about his life, or about that of a slightly outsize proxy, should look like, and that uncertainty is actually the warmest and most vulnerable quality The Fabelmans has."[137] Johnny Oleksinski of New York Post praised the film, calling it "...gripping, visually mesmeric, boasts an exceptional, grounded script by Tony Kushner and is acted to the hilt. A no-holds-barred Michelle Williams skyrockets to the front of the Oscar race with an unforgettable performance."[138] Todd Gilchrist of The A.V. Club praised the film, calling it "A measured and incredibly intimate look at Spielberg's upbringing as he developed his aptitude for storytelling through a medium that mesmerized him... as an extraordinary device that not only unveils powerful truths, but often shapes them as well."[139] David Sims of The Atlantic singled out LaBelle, Williams and Dano's performances and praised Spielberg's use of storytelling, saying that "Viewers expecting a stirring childhood memoir about the power of cinema may be surprised at how bittersweet and raw the story actually is. But that vulnerability is what makes the film a triumph."[74] Joyce Carol Oates, the author of the Marilyn Monroe biography Blonde, which was adapted into a film in 2022, slammed the film as "remarkably mediocre" and that it "discourages young filmmakers", criticizing every element of the plot, performances and screenplay, saying "By making a blonde-Aryan-antisemite the pseudo hero of his high school movie the young Fabelman disarms enemies & wins a pseudo friend. Is this an acknowledgment of the superficial triteness of the director's career as an entertainer?" She did however praise the scene with David Lynch. Her comments received online backlash for showing disrespect to Spielberg's work and to viewers who felt connected to the film.[140]

Stephanie Zacharek of Time ranked the film as the best movie of 2022.[141] Zacharek would furthermore praise Williams and Dano's performances as part of Time's Top 10 movie performances of 2022, describing Williams as "a portrait of a woman so full of life she doesn't know where to put it all…Williams captures Mitzi's all-encompassing incandescence and her isolation," and Dano "In him we see the sum of all the things that so many men of that generation just didn't know how to be; we also see a deep well of love, no less real for being left unexpressed."[142] Due to the film being released in the United Kingdom a year after its premiere, Time Out and Empire both ranked the film at number 16 on their respective lists of "The best movies of 2023," with Phil de Semlyen writing for Time Out: "It's been an era of filmmakers recreating their childhoods on screen, with Alfonso Cuarón, Paolo Sorrentino and Lee Isaac Chung all parlaying their own younger lives into Oscar-worthy dramas in recent years. But of all of these cine-reminiscences, Steven Spielberg's feels the most alive to the possibility that it might even be misremembering or misinterpreting events – and thus it feels like the most guileless and honest of the lot. With Spielberg's on-screen surrogate, Gabriel LaBelle's Sammy Fabelman, to the fore, its many moments of hurt and wonderment are dazzlingly realised."[143][144] The film appeared twice on Sight and Sound's annual polls for the "50 best films of the year," ranking number 20 on its 2022 list and number 26 (in a five-way tie with The Beast, Beau Is Afraid, The Delinquents and Rotting in the Sun) on its 2023 list.[145][146]

Adam Nayman of The Ringer named the frame of younger Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord) "projecting his own painstakingly captured Super 8 footage onto his outstretched palms" in the dark as one of the best shots of 2022, calling it "...a holy trinity that, as visualized by Steven Spielberg at his late-career image-making peak, signifies something deeply metaphysical about filmgoing and filmmaking — that the artist must imagine himself amidst the audience."[147] Christian Zilko of IndieWire called the moment one of the most "dazzling" shots from the 2023 Academy Award contenders, saying that it perfectly "captures the way the character [Sammy] saw filmmaking as a way to look for control in a chaotic world."[148] Pete Volk of Polygon and Marshall Shaffer of Slant Magazine named the "hallway scene" where Logan Hall confronts Sammy Fabelman over the way the latter portrayed him in the "Ditch Day" film and the two of them ultimately coming to an understanding, as one of the best movie scenes of 2022, with Volk calling it "...a powerful moment in a movie filled with them, and it gets right to the heart of Spielberg's story of the undeniable power of images and the responsibility of those who wield them."[149][150] The film has also appeared on a number of critics' lists of the best films of 2022, ranking first place on several.[151][152][153][154][155]

Upon the film's release in France, it received a 4.9 average from critics on AlloCiné from 43 reviews, with all but 6 giving the film 5 stars, making it become the highest-rated film of the 21st century in the country. Cahiers du Cinéma wrote that Spielberg, at age 76, had "come to represent like no other, the idea of cinema as wonder, at a time when the relationship to the spectacular and the cinema seems more tormented than ever" and declared that the film will "undoubtedly remain the most important and singular film of his career." The film would then ultimately rank number 4 on the magazine's list of the Top 10 Films of 2023, making it Spielberg's fourth film to make the annual listing following War of the Worlds (2005), Lincoln (2012) and The Post (2017).[156][157][158][159]

Legacy edit

Since its release, the film has been called one of Spielberg's best films, his "most personal," and one of the best films of the 2020s. Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve praised the film, calling it "...the best movie ever made about the power of cinema. It's a miracle. To say that I was deeply moved by this movie is an understatement. The Fabelmans is a pure act of artistic generosity made by one of the greatest filmmakers of our time."[160] Indian filmmaker S. S. Rajamouli also lauded the film, expressing how he was able to relate to the portrayal of the Fabelman family in the film by saying "Luckily for me, I keep my whole family in the film business, my wife, my son, my brother, my brother's wife – everyone is with me making movies, so I don't miss my family."[161] Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro called it "Beautiful, moving, healing – The Fabelmans is a superb work about three 'f"s: Family, Forgiveness and Film."[162] Producer Judd Apatow felt seen by the film and its portrayal of growing up in an ever-changing world and how it affects life itself, saying "As a child of divorce, I felt a deep connection to this story about a family struggling to hold together, how the traumas of a disintegrating marriage affect a young man and how it leads to him developing his creative muscles as a way to process his pain and interpret the world ... It's a terrifying endeavor to open up oneself and your family — to share the most personal details that shaped you. Personally, I related to so much of it, especially that feeling you have as a child when you realize your parents are not perfect and you need to learn how to survive in the world without them."[163]

In 2023, Collider ranked the film as the "Best Drama Movie of the 2020s, So Far," writing that Spielberg put "into beautiful words and images the issues that he's been struggling with for his entire life; he's desperately trying to piece together a broken family while pursuing his addiction to telling stories."[164] It also ranked number 2 on the site's list of the "10 Great Coming-of-Age Movies of the Last 5 Years," number 8 on its list of the "10 Best Period Coming-of-Age Movies & TV Shows," number 15 on its list of the "25 Best Coming-of-Age Movies of All Time" and number 19 on its list of the "25 Best Movies of the 2020s, So Far," writing that "Despite the movie having a few slow-moving parts, its masterfully made direction could at times seem like a fable."[165][166][167][168] CinemaBlend included it on its list of "10 Great Movies And Documentaries Highlighting Jewish-American History to Watch."[169] In September 2023, MovieWeb ranked the film at number 7 on its list of the "Best Modern Movies Shot on Film," writing that the decision to shoot the film on "Kodak 35mm, 16mm, and 8mm to display the various aspects of the evolution of filmmaking within the film" makes it "an emotional and technical triumph and shows that Spielberg is still one of the best."[170] The A.V. Club included the character of Mitzi Fabelman on its list of the "15 Best movie moms of all time," with Cindy White writing "She's not a perfect person, but the movie asks us to understand and forgive her (as, we assume, Spielberg forgave his mother) for wanting a fuller, more creative life than her scientifically minded husband could give her. Thanks to [Michelle] Williams' delicate performance, it's not hard to do."[171]

Accolades edit

Main article: List of accolades received by The Fabelmans

The Fabelmans received seven nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but failed to win any due to it receiving a divided reception by the Academy and strong competition from Everything Everywhere All at Once, which won the award.[172][173] It also received five nominations at the 80th Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director for Spielberg, and received 11 nominations at the 28th Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture, winning Best Young Performer for LaBelle, and two nominations at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards including Best Ensemble Cast of a Motion Picture and Best Supporting Actor (for Dano).[174]

It also received two awards from the National Board of Review, including Best Director for Spielberg and Breakthrough Performance for LaBelle (shared with Danielle Deadwyler for Till), making this the second Spielberg film to win both of these awards together since 1987's Empire of the Sun.[175] With his 53rd nomination for Best Original Score with this film, John Williams broke his own record as the most Oscar-nominated person alive at the age of 90.[176] Williams also received a nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for his work on the score, but lost to Ludwig Göransson for his score on Oppenheimer (2023).[177]

With his Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Judd Hirsch became the first actor to receive two nominations over four decades apart, with this being his second nomination and first since the 53rd Academy Awards in 1981, where he was nominated for Ordinary People (1980). It is also the first TIFF People's Choice Award winner to not win any of its Oscar nominations since David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises (2007) and Spielberg's first film to not win any since Ready Player One (2018).

Possible sequel edit

When asked about whether he would consider making a sequel to the film, Spielberg told W Magazine in February 2023: "I never say never, but I don't know what to do next. I was so emotionally invested in The Fabelmans, I left a vast body of water between myself and the next project. I didn't plan ahead at all. I haven't found my passion. And I can't work without passion. I won't."[178] During a virtual conversation with S. S. Rajamouli, Spielberg said that he will not rule out the possibility of a sequel, but confirmed that there are currently no immediate plans.[161]

See also edit

  • Spielberg, a 2017 HBO documentary film about Spielberg's life, most of which inspired the plot for this film.

References edit

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External links edit

  • Official website  
  • The Fabelmans at Universal Pictures
  • The Fabelmans at Amblin website
  • The Fabelmans at IMDb  
  • The Fabelmans at AllMovie  

April 16, 2024
fabelmans, 2022, american, coming, drama, film, directed, steven, spielberg, wrote, produced, with, tony, kushner, film, semi, autobiographical, story, loosely, based, spielberg, adolescence, first, years, filmmaker, plot, told, through, original, story, ficti. The Fabelmans is a 2022 American coming of age drama film directed by Steven Spielberg who co wrote and produced it with Tony Kushner The film is a semi autobiographical story loosely based on Spielberg s adolescence and first years as a filmmaker The plot is told through an original story of the fictional Sammy Fabelman a young aspiring filmmaker who explores how the power of films can help him see the truth about his dysfunctional family and those around him It stars Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy alongside Michelle Williams Paul Dano Seth Rogen and Judd Hirsch in supporting roles The film is dedicated to the memories of Spielberg s real life parents Leah Adler and Arnold Spielberg who died in 2017 and 2020 respectively 7 The FabelmansTheatrical release posterDirected bySteven SpielbergWritten bySteven Spielberg Tony KushnerProduced byKristie Macosko Krieger Steven Spielberg Tony KushnerStarringMichelle Williams Paul Dano Seth Rogen Gabriel LaBelle Judd HirschCinematographyJanusz Kaminski 1 Edited byMichael Kahn Sarah BrosharMusic byJohn WilliamsProductioncompaniesAmblin Entertainment Reliance EntertainmentDistributed byUniversal PicturesRelease datesSeptember 10 2022 2022 09 10 TIFF November 11 2022 2022 11 11 United States Running time151 minutes 2 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 40 million 3 4 Box office 45 6 million 5 6 Spielberg had conceived the project as early as 1999 with his sister Anne writing a screenplay titled I ll Be Home The project was withheld for 20 years since Spielberg had reservations about exploring his family s story over concerns that his parents would be hurt Spielberg revisited the project in 2019 with screenwriter and frequent collaborator Kushner while they were making West Side Story and the screenplay was completed in late 2020 Development of the film officially began soon after with casting taking place between March and May 2021 Principal photography began that July in Los Angeles and wrapped in September 8 The Fabelmans premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10 2022 where it won the People s Choice Award Distributed by Universal Pictures the film opened as a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 11 2022 and then expanded to a wide release on November 23 grossing 45 6 million against a 40 million budget It received critical acclaim and was named one of the top ten films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute The Fabelmans earned numerous awards and nominations including seven nominations at the 95th Academy Awards including Best Picture Best Director Best Actress Williams and Best Supporting Actor Hirsch It also earned 11 nominations at the 28th Critics Choice Awards winning Best Young Performer LaBelle and five nominations at the 80th Golden Globe Awards winning Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Director Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3 1 Development 3 2 Writing 3 3 Pre production 3 4 Casting 3 5 Filming 3 6 Production design 3 7 Visual effects 4 Music 5 Themes and interpretations 6 Release 6 1 Theatrical 6 2 Home media 6 3 Marketing 7 Reception 7 1 Box office 7 2 Critical response 7 3 Legacy 7 4 Accolades 8 Possible sequel 9 See also 10 References 11 External linksPlot editOn a January night in 1952 in Haddon Township New Jersey Jewish couple Mitzi and Burt Fabelman take their young son Sammy to see his first film The Greatest Show on Earth Dazzled by a train scene Sammy asks for a model set for Hanukkah which he crashes late one night Mitzi understanding Sammy s intentions allows him to shoot another crash scene using Burt s 8mm camera Sammy begins filming regularly sometimes involving his sisters Burt is offered a new job in Phoenix Arizona where he and the family move in early 1957 At Mitzi s insistence Burt s best friend and business partner Bennie Loewy goes too Years later teenaged Sammy makes films with his friends in the Boy Scouts begins utilizing post production effects and earns a badge in photography Later the Fabelmans including Bennie take a camping trip with Sammy capturing footage of their vacation Shortly afterwards Mitzi s mother dies leaving her distraught Providing him with film editing equipment Burt suggests Sammy turn the vacation footage into a film to cheer Mitzi up Sammy objects over the scheduling of his next film but Burt who sees his passion for film as simply a hobby argues that the home movie is more important The next morning the Fabelmans receive a surprise visit from Mitzi s uncle Boris a former lion tamer and film worker That night he speaks with Sammy about compromising his family with art telling him that both aspects will continue to be at odds with one another Boris leaves and Sammy begins editing the vacation footage during which he finds evidence of Mitzi and Bennie having an affair Sammy and Mitzi get into an argument after weeks of him treating her and Bennie harshly In a fit of rage she slaps him across the back after he shouts that he wishes she wasn t his mother Distraught Sammy shows her the compiled footage and promises to keep their secret The following week Burt receives another promotion requiring another move to Saratoga California Bennie stays in Phoenix but not before gifting Sammy a new camera Sammy refuses it until Bennie lets him pay 35 for it Despite purchasing the camera Sammy decides to never use it Soon after arriving in his new neighborhood and school Sammy becomes targeted by students Logan and Chad who levy antisemitic abuse toward him He also begins dating the devoutly Christian Monica While having dinner with the Fabelmans she suggests that Sammy film their Ditch Day at the beach something he eventually accepts after Monica tells him her father owns a 16mm Arriflex camera that he would let him use After moving from a rental to their newly purchased home Mitzi and Burt announce their divorce due to her extreme depression and his discovery of the affair This leaves the family heartbroken At prom Sammy declares his love for Monica and asks her to come with him to Hollywood after high school Unwilling to throw away her own life s plans to attend Texas A amp M University she breaks up with him The Ditch Day film is played in front of Sammy s peers to a rapturous response It glorifies Logan and vilifies Chad When Logan confronts Sammy confused over his positive portrayal they reach an understanding cemented when Logan fights Chad off when he tries to attack Sammy The next morning Mitzi and Sammy talk about their future together just as she cannot give up her love for Bennie she tells Sammy not to give up his love for filmmaking The following year Sammy is living with his father in Hollywood He wants to drop out of college but is unable to find work in filmmaking Burt grudgingly accepts his son s passion and tells Sammy to keep on his path if it makes him happy Sammy receives an offer to work on Hogan s Heroes Knowing he is more interested in filmmaking show co creator Bernard Fein invites Sammy to meet director John Ford one of his greatest influences During their brief meeting Ford offers Sammy some pointers on framing such as never framing the horizon in the center of the frame Newly invigorated Sammy walks through the sunlit studio backlot The camera first frames the horizon in the center then suddenly tilts up to place it near the bottom of the frame following Ford s advice Cast edit nbsp The Fabelman family from left to right Sammy Fabelman Mitzi Fabelman Burt Fabelman Natalie Fabelman Reggie Fabelman and Lisa Fabelman Michelle Williams as Mitzi Fabelman Sammy s encouraging but tempestuous mother and a skilled pianist Paul Dano as Burt Fabelman Sammy s down to earth father and a computer engineer Seth Rogen as Bennie Loewy Burt s co worker and best friend who becomes a surrogate uncle to Sammy Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy Fabelman the sixteen year old son of the family who aspires to become a filmmaker He is based on Spielberg Mateo Zoryan Francis DeFord as young Sammy Keeley Karsten as Natalie Fabelman Sammy s second younger sister Alina Brace as young Natalie Julia Butters as Regina Reggie Fabelman the first younger sister of Sammy who has a strained relationship with him Birdie Borria as young Reggie Judd Hirsch as Boris Podgorny Sammy s eccentric granduncle and a former film worker and circus performer Sophia Kopera as Lisa Fabelman Sammy s third younger sister Jeannie Berlin as Hadassah Fabelman Burt s mother Robin Bartlett as Tina Schildkraut Mitzi s mother Sam Rechner as Logan Hall a high school bully Oakes Fegley as Chad Thomas another high school bully Chloe East as Monica Sherwood a religious boy crazy high school student and Sammy s love interest Isabelle Kusman as Claudia Denning a classmate and love interest of Logan s Chandler Lovelle as Renee a girl whom Logan cheated on Claudia with Gustavo Escobar as Sal a member of Sammy s Boy Scout troop who helps him make films Nicolas Cantu as Hark another member of Sammy s Boy Scout troop who helps him make films Cooper Dodson as Turkey another member of Sammy s Boy Scout troop who helps him make films Gabriel Bateman as Roger another member of Sammy s Boy Scout troop who appears alongside his family in his first films Stephen Smith as Angelo another member of Sammy s Boy Scout troop who helps him make films James Urbaniak as Grand View High School Principal Connor Trinneer as Phil Newhart Lane Factor as Dean another member of Sammy s Boy Scout troop who helps him make films Greg Grunberg as Bernie Fein the co creator of Hogan s Heroes who offers Sammy a chance to work on the show at CBS David Lynch as John Ford the famous film director whose work influences Sammy s filmmaking Jan Hoag as Nona a secretary who works at CBS Crystal the Monkey as Bennie the Fabelmans pet monkeyProduction editDevelopment edit Everyone sees me as a success story But no one really knows us until we re courageous enough to tell everyone who we are Steven Spielberg 2023 9 In 1999 Steven Spielberg said he had been thinking of directing a film about his childhood for some time Titled I ll Be Home the project was originally written by his sister Anne Spielberg He explained My big fear is that my mom and dad won t like it and will think it s an insult and won t share my loving yet critical point of view about what it was like to grow up with them 10 In 2002 Spielberg said he was nervous about making I ll Be Home It s so close to my life and so close to my family I prefer to make films that are more analogous But a literal story about my family will take a lot of courage I still think I make personal movies even if they do look like big commercial popcorn films 11 Spielberg later revealed in November 2022 that his parents had also been nagging him to make a film about their lives prior to their deaths 12 13 His mother died in 2017 14 and his father in August 2020 15 Writing edit nbsp nbsp Steven Spielberg left directed and co produced the film and co wrote the screenplay with Tony Kushner right In 2004 while working on Munich Spielberg told screenwriter Tony Kushner his life story with Kushner telling him in response Someday you re going to have to make a film about this 13 The 80 90 page plot outline for The Fabelmans was worked on in 2019 during filming of Spielberg s 2021 film version of West Side Story Work on the screenplay for The Fabelmans began on October 2 2020 during the lockdowns caused by the COVID 19 pandemic and lasted for two months ending in December 2020 Kushner reflected on the experience saying We wrote three days a week four hours a day and we finished the script in two months by leagues the fastest I ve finished anything It was a blast I loved it 16 Spielberg at that time felt that the climate caused by the pandemic convinced him that the time was now right to make the film saying I started seriously thinking if I had to make one movie I haven t made yet something that I really want to do on a very personally atomic level what would that be And there was only one story I really wanted to tell My life with my mom and dad taught me a lesson which I hope this film in a small way imparts Which is when does a young person in a family start to see his parents as human beings In my case because of what happened between the ages of 7 and 18 I started to appreciate my mom and dad not as parents but as real people 12 He gave drafts of the script to his sisters Sue and Nancy to ensure that their memories be included in the story and that the details in the film were portrayed as accurately as possible 13 On the meaning behind the family name Fabelman Kushner who came up with that name said Spielberg means play mountain spieler is an actor in Yiddish and a spiel can be speech or can be a play I wanted to have some of that meaning and I ve always liked the German word fabel which means fable And because the movie is autobiographical for Steven but it isn t an autobiography it s not a documentary so there s a fictional element as well So I thought that Fabelman was a nod to that 17 Pre production edit In March 2021 Spielberg was announced to direct the film with his involvement as co screenwriter marking his first writing venture on a film since A I Artificial Intelligence 2001 18 it was also reported that Kristie Macosko Krieger would produce the film with Kushner and Spielberg 19 In March 2022 cinematographer Janusz Kaminski said the film would chronicle Spielberg s life from age seven to eighteen and deal with his family with his parents conundrums with his sisters but primarily deals with his passion for movie making while adding that it will touch on the themes of young love parental divorce and early formative relationships It s a very beautiful beautiful personal movie It s very revealing about Steven s life and who he is as a filmmaker 20 In September 2022 Spielberg expressed how personal the film was to him saying that This film is for me a way of bringing my mom and dad back And it also brought my sisters Annie Susie and Nancy closer to me than I ever thought possible And that was worth making the film 21 Casting edit nbsp nbsp Gabriel LaBelle stars as Sammy Fabelman and Michelle Williams stars as Mitzi Fabelman In casting the film Spielberg explained that Part of it had to be organic and it had to be authentic to me It wasn t really about anything beyond who can I have the most profound connection with and that reminds me the most of the people that brought me into the world and raised me and gave me good values 22 In March 2021 Michelle Williams was in negotiations to star as Mitzi Fabelman the role inspired by Spielberg s mother Leah Adler but with an original voice Spielberg himself had her in mind for the role after watching her performances in Blue Valentine 2010 and Fosse Verdon 2019 18 23 24 That same month it was reported that Seth Rogen joined the cast to play Bennie Loewy the role inspired by Bernie Adler the favorite uncle of young Spielberg while Williams was confirmed to have been cast 19 On April 8 2021 Paul Dano joined the cast as Burt Fabelman the role inspired by Spielberg s father Arnold 25 Dano admitted that he felt intimidated by playing the role because the stakes felt really high You re embodying one of the most important influential complicated figures in Spielberg s life It was incredible to see how much of this was in his work the whole time He s sharing a piece of himself that I find very moving There s a real gift in it when somebody of that stature and at that level of artistry is willing to do that 26 In May 2021 after a three month search and over 2 000 contenders Gabriel LaBelle entered final negotiations to portray the lead role Sammy Fabelman a young aspiring filmmaker based on Spielberg himself 27 He would be confirmed the next month in addition to the casting of Julia Butters as Reggie Fabelman the role inspired by Spielberg s sister Anne 28 Later that June Sam Rechner was cast as well 29 In July Chloe East Oakes Fegley Isabelle Kusman Jeannie Berlin Judd Hirsch Robin Bartlett and Jonathan Hadary were added to the cast Hadary s character was supposed to be the spirit of Sammy s grandfather during a family conference scene where after young Sammy makes a Christmas film his grandmothers the characters played by Berlin and Bartlett argue over whether he sees ghosts and Sammy says he saw his grandfather after he died He called it a charming scene and it was filmed The scene was ultimately cut from the film for being unnecessary and to keep the runtime under two and a half hours Kushner added This is a kind of epic story it travels across 12 15 years of time and in order for it to have momentum we couldn t afford to have it linger anywhere 30 31 32 In August Gabriel Bateman Nicolas Cantu Gustavo Escobar Lane Factor Cooper Dodson and Stephen Matthew Smith were cast 33 They were later followed by newcomers Keeley Karsten Birdie Borria Alina Brace Sophia Kopera and Mateo Zoryan Francis DeFord 34 In February 2022 it was announced David Lynch would also star in a then undisclosed role later revealed to be that of film director John Ford 35 During the Q amp A at an Academy Award qualifying screening for the film on November 7 2022 Spielberg revealed that it took three weeks to convince Lynch to be a part of the film with Tony Kushner s husband Mark Harris taking credit for suggesting Lynch to Spielberg and Laura Dern calling Lynch numerous times to get him to commit In response Lynch said he would take it as long as there were bags of Cheetos on set as refreshments 36 He also requested that he be given his costume as Ford a week before filming his scene to break it in nbsp nbsp Paul Dano stars as Burt Fabelman and Seth Rogen stars as Bennie Loewy In September 2022 during the film s world premiere LaBelle revealed that he initially did not win the part of Sammy following his first audition but did upon receiving a callback three months afterward On finally reading the script and learning the details about his character being a fictionalized version of Spielberg himself as a teenager for mostly the entire film he recalled When I was auditioning the character s name was Teenage Sammy I thought as opposed to Adult Sammy I get the script and you re reading it for 30 pages and he s 6 and 8 years old Page 35 or so Teenage Sammy comes along OK good Now this is my part It s going to be a three act movie it s going to be a Moonlight or something I kept waiting for my exit but it never came Spielberg himself revealed that the role of Sammy was the hardest to cast saying As a kid growing up I always had a lot of reasons why I was always in the corner why I was always not the center of conversation I needed someone who wasn t going to bring too much self awareness to Sammy 37 Upon casting LaBelle casting director Cindy Tolan said With Gabe there was a poignancy He could convey the pathos that was needed and also the humor while Spielberg added I wasn t looking for what I see in the mirror I was looking for a young actor who could carry a lot of story by being curious and honest and engaging and unpredictable 38 Filming edit Principal photography began in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic in Los Angeles on July 17 2021 lasting for 59 days until ending on September 27 2021 Additional filming took place at Zuma Beach in Malibu California for the Ditch Day scenes Susan Miller Dorsey High School for the high school scenes and on soundstages in Santa Clarita California 39 40 41 42 During the shoot the cast gained access to home movies photographs and recollections from Spielberg s family s past to learn what they were like and how to portray the fictionalized versions of them the Fabelman family on screen while making them feel fresh and original Paul Dano reflected It was overwhelming and it was sort of a heavy cloak to bear because we were with someone who was having a big experience everyday revisiting and reworking through a part of their life For somebody like Steven to share that much of himself with us with the audience too it was really a profound experience In addition Dano ordered and built a crystal radio set to get the feeling of how Arnold Spielberg was around electronics 16 13 Seth Rogen described the experience as emotional and recalled that Spielberg was crying a lot on set As we were shooting I d be like Did this happen in real life and the answer was yes a hundred percent of the time 43 Gabriel LaBelle also rewatched some of Spielberg s films such as Empire of the Sun 1987 and constantly had conversations with Spielberg to learn more about his life in order to prepare for playing Sammy 38 The jewelry that Michelle Williams wore as part of the costumes for Mitzi Fabelman were in fact some of Leah Adler s including a charm bracelet that had pictures of all four of her children 13 According to an interview she did for the Hollywood Insider at the TIFF premiere Julia Butters was gifted with Anne Spielberg s high school ring to wear while she played Reggie Fabelman nbsp To look the part of Sammy Fabelman Gabriel LaBelle straightened his hair and changed the way he stood walked and smiled to make the character look more like Spielberg as a teenager For the scenes of Sammy filming his own 8mm films Spielberg decided to have the character recreate the exact ones he made during his childhood and worked with Kaminski to ensure that they were portrayed as accurately as possible but with improvements in the camera angles Spielberg remarked It was joyful being able to recreate those films I shot a lot of films when I was a kid on 8mm It was unique in those days Not a lot of people were going out and shooting in 8mm It was physical it was a craft You had to sit there with a splicer and then you had to scrape the emulsion off the film in order to get a seal so when you put glue on it you literally glued the film together And I must say I miss it 44 Gabriel LaBelle s first two days on set involved a scene where Sammy and his friends film a recreation of Spielberg s World War II short film Escape to Nowhere 1961 On the experience LaBelle remarked It was a cool way to see how Steven walked and moved around back then I asked so many questions about Saving Private Ryan because we were doing a war film For the first two days it was me Steven Tony and Janusz just hanging out Mitch Dubin the A camera operator stormed the beaches of Normandy with a handheld camera for Saving Private Ryan and now he s making this movie 45 The 8mm and 16mm camera props used in the film had real film inside them with LaBelle being taught how to use the cameras so that what was shot with them on set could be developed for use in the film as well as how to cut and splice film stock using the editing machines and film projectors of the period LaBelle also got to keep the 8mm camera Sammy used to film the family camping trip and Escape to Nowhere short film as a souvenir after the completion of principal photography To look the part of Sammy and make the character look more like Spielberg s teenage appearance LaBelle had his hair straightened and changed the way he stood and walked as well as retrained his muscles to mimic Spielberg s smile 46 13 47 nbsp David Lynch plays John Ford during the film s final scene which fictionalizes and dramatizes the famous real life encounter between Spielberg and Ford LaBelle was unaware of the casting of David Lynch as John Ford until the day the scene he had to do with him was filmed He recalled that once Lynch came onto the set it enabled him to embody Sammy and how he was feeling recalling Lynch is a great guy But leading up to it Sammy s nervous so I m getting nervous 48 The scene itself was written to historically match how the actual real life encounter between Spielberg and Ford occurred with the latter s dialogue written exactly word for word most notably Ford s advice to Sammy about framing When the horizon s at the bottom it s interesting When the horizon s at the top it s interesting When the horizon s in the middle it s boring as shit 49 50 The scene itself received acclaim by critics and audiences and won the award for Best Scene at the 2022 St Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards 51 The last shot of the film where the camera breaks the fourth wall and re frames the horizon on the image of Sammy walking on the studio lot was already in the script prior to filming Drew Taylor of TheWrap named it the best final shot of the year saying that it leaves the movie on such a happy hopeful note and it metaphorically represents Spielberg s admission that he might be the most revered filmmaker in the history of the medium but he still screws up and he s still got plenty to learn The master is still a student It s easy to forget what John Ford yelled at you all those years ago 52 Matthew Jacobs of The Hollywood Reporter also called the moment one of the best closing shots of Spielberg s career 47 The film s iconic shot of Mateo Zoryan Francis DeFord as young Sammy projecting his first 8mm film onto his hands was not initially planned until during pre production when Spielberg happened to project something on his hand while they were watching old home movies Upon witnessing this Kaminski knew it had to be incorporated calling it a visual metaphor of the entire movie Sammy can have the image in his hand and shape it 53 Judd Hirsch s couple of days on set involved filming a major monologue that his character Uncle Boris inspired by Spielberg s real granduncle of the same name gives to Sammy to inspire him to continue pursuing his ambitions while also warning him of the consequences that come with it Hirsch compared his character to a seer from Greek mythology a soothsayer used by the gods to communicate with mortals On acting alongside Gabriel LaBelle for the scene he told Vanity Fair in November 2022 that on set When I looked at it the script and I met Gabriel I said I m gonna destroy this boy My part is to tell him that horrible things are gonna happen to him even though it has to happen So I walked out of there and I said Who the hell am I some oracle You know an oracle comes and stands in his room and takes him apart and tells him he has to be a director Hirsch s performance and the monologue itself were met with acclaim from critics and viewers which resulted in a huge round of applause from the audience during the TIFF world premiere 54 Production design edit To recreate the three houses that Spielberg lived in during his childhood in Haddon Township New Jersey Phoenix Arizona and Saratoga California production designer Rick Carter worked off floor plans that the director sketched from memory and then took artistic license with the spaces to fit the emotional mindset of Sammy More attention was paid to the set in Phoenix because as a filmmaker he became more himself So not only the equipment that was there is accurate but all the storyboards that Sammy used to make his movies And Steven drew all the storyboards and he still draws his storyboards the way he did as a teenager 55 Carter and set decorator Karen O Hara also worked off photos and memories that Spielberg and his three sisters provided All of the house interiors were built on soundstages Carter also noted that the differences between the two houses had to do with him and his team having the most pictures and home movies of the Phoenix house The New Jersey house we had less but we knew the rough plan and had a couple photos that at least indicated the tone of the paint color It s not an exact re creation but the Phoenix house was especially close My attempt the whole time was to have him to be able walk in and feel like he was close to being back 56 The Los Gatos rental house that the family moved to in California was entirely fictional as the Spielberg family actually lived in various rental apartments and temporary homes According to Carter the house in the film served the function of the script to have them be in this one place they were moving into while waiting for this other house to get made He s moving to the promised land but it doesn t turn out to be so promised in California In the beginning it s actually rainy and dark and gloomy and all the kids at the school are a third bigger than he is 56 For John Ford s office at the end of the film Carter and his team used the director s 1957 film The Wings of Eagles as a direct reference which features Ward Bond playing a character inspired by Ford It s a much more elaborate office than the one we did but we still got some of the sensibility from those images Carter said We were able to take that and say Let s now take the elements that are important the Western style furniture and the Academy Awards but more specifically these sort of Frederic Remington esque paintings Some of them really are Remingtons We got the rights to them and they have literally those horizons the way they are But to really make the point of the low horizon we painted a picture that is actually from a still frame of The Searchers to make it very very clear that this is low horizon this is high horizon Then he can make his point about Those are interesting What I think everybody enjoyed about that was that it was such an emotional movie up to that point and then you have somebody who takes all that emotion and reduces it to just Do a good shot I think that there s a kind of a release If you want the emotion to be dramatic you have to make the image dramatic and that s what Steven Spielberg has become a master at over his lifetime 56 Visual effects edit The film s tornado sequence was filmed using Industrial Light amp Magic s StageCraft virtual production technology Pablo Helman who served as visual effects supervisor suggested the idea to Spielberg and Kaminski after working with the technology on the Disney series The Mandalorian and Obi Wan Kenobi and described the process as shooting background plates with an array of cameras driving through the scene and then stitching those into a 360 degree plate we could move around wherever we wanted The background plates were filmed digitally with a rig containing six Red Monstro 8K digital cameras with Nikon Nikkor zoom lenses and the team spent three weeks adding the tornado and other digital elements to make the scenery more cloudy and threatening followed by two days of camera tests in the StageCraft Volume The final sequence was filmed on the LED stage at Manhattan Beach Studios using an ARRI Alexa Mini LF camera and Panavision PVintage lenses to complement and seamlessly match the 35mm cinematography of the rest of the film Helman revealed that Spielberg enjoyed experimenting with the new technology and that StageCraft is a different way of working and of course some directors are shy of working far in advance and making commitments Steven has never been that way After you finish a movie with him two or three weeks later you have your cut He knows exactly what he needs for the edit and has a very specific shooting economy 57 Music editMain article The Fabelmans soundtrack nbsp The Fabelmans Main Theme source source A 15 second sample of the film s main theme composed by John Williams Problems playing this file See media help The score was composed and conducted by John Williams marking his 29th film collaboration with Spielberg and approaching the 50th anniversary of their first film The Sugarland Express released in 1974 58 On June 23 2022 Williams revealed that this and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny may be the last two films he will score before retirement 59 60 Recording of the score began in March 2022 following Williams s concert performance with the Vienna Philharmonic at Vienna s Musikverein 61 In July stills from the recording sessions were revealed by one of the film s crew members revealing that scoring of the film is underway 62 Along with his usual orchestral style Williams opted for a score mostly relying on piano with Joanne Pearce Martin principal pianist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic providing the piano solos 63 The film features source classical music selected by Spielberg himself some of which are performed on piano in the film by the character of Mitzi Fabelman from composers such as Friedrich Kuhlau Erik Satie Muzio Clementi Johann Sebastian Bach and Joseph Haydn 64 The film s soundtrack was released digitally by Sony Classical on November 11 2022 and was released on physical CD on December 9 2022 65 66 The film includes pop songs of the film s time period which are not featured on the soundtrack album such as Walk On By by Dionne Warwick and Goodbye Cruel World by James Darren the latter of which being used to accompany the montage sequence of Sammy Fabelman documenting his high school s Ditch Day on film 7 Scott Joplin s Elite Syncopations 1902 also appears twice in the film Music sampled from Elmer Bernstein s score to The Magnificent Seven 1960 and Alfred Newman s score to How the West Was Won 1962 respectively underscore the screenings of Gunsmog and Escape to Nowhere when Sammy plays them for his family and friends at the Boy Scout assemblies 67 68 Themes and interpretations edit nbsp The moment where Sammy Gabriel LaBelle sees a vision of himself in the mirror filming the announcement of his parents divorce with his 8mm camera as it happens in front of him was widely analyzed The film has been characterized as focusing on the interrelationship and coexistence of family and passion as well as the themes of trauma control the consequences of inaction and the importance of empathy and compassion Kole Lyndon Lee of ScreenCraft analyzed how these themes were used in some of Spielberg s other films to relate to how Sammy used his filmmaking to cope with his personal reality and trauma in the midst of his struggles at home and at school 69 Yoni Mayer of Yeshiva University s The Commentator noted the film s three minute sequence of Sammy editing the footage of the camping trip and uncovering Mitzi s affair with Bennie while Burt sits on the couch in the living room and listens to Mitzi play Bach s Concerto in D Minor BWV 974 II Adagio on her piano as representative of the tension between family and art using the scene s cinematography intercut editing and music to present that aspect visually without a single line of dialogue 70 Sarah Buddery of Little White Lies noted how the film ties in with the theme of technology and music in a similar way as Spielberg s Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 relating that although Mitzi and Burt separate in part due to their differences Close Encounters saw those elements work together in beautiful communicative harmony 71 Ronald Meyer of Collider added on the subject of how Mitzi and Burt see things differently by referencing the opening scene where they and younger Sammy are in line to see The Greatest Show on Earth and they explain to him the majesty of cinema Burt s teaching to Sammy is more technical and explains to him the persistence of vision while Mitzi re frames it more on the artistic side and with simplicity when she says one of this film s most famous lines Movies are dreams that you never forget This type of side to the character was implied by Spielberg in the 2017 HBO documentary Spielberg where he likens her real life counterpart Leah Adler to Peter Pan saying She was a sibling not a parent 72 The scene where Sammy while watching Mitzi and Burt announce their divorce to the family sees a vision of himself filming this moment with his 8mm camera in the mirror over the mantelpiece has been widely analyzed Serena Irani of The Michigan Daily and David Sims of The Atlantic interpreted Sammy s emotional reaction in this scene as transfixed as he is horrified by the notion and perhaps the inevitable knowledge that he will one day make this film relating it to how the divorce of Spielberg s parents in real life had a large impact on his work 73 74 Kayla Laguerre Lewis of Screen Rant called the scene the one that drives home why Spielberg s films connect personally to his past specifically his parents divorce comparing it to how the theme was handled in E T the Extra Terrestrial 1982 75 It was also noted how the divorce both in real life and in this film may have also reflected Spielberg s being drawn to make Catch Me If You Can 2002 due to similarities between Sammy s use of filmmaking to escape the problems in his family and con artist Frank Abagnale s use of his actions to escape his own reality as a result of his own parents break up 72 Release editThe Fabelmans was sneak previewed on July 26 2022 in Nanuet New York 76 It had its world premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10 2022 where it received two standing ovations from the audience one before the film when Spielberg took the stage to introduce it and a longer one preceding the post film Q amp A The crowd was also reported to have been loudly chanting Spielberg s name while outside waiting to get into the theater during the red carpet arrivals 2 77 78 On the announcement of the premiere TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey remarked It s different from a typical Spielberg blockbuster but it is just as easily impactful in terms of the emotional effect it s going to have on people If you love movies this is going to be a very powerful film for you to watch I m excited that it s launching in an environment that celebrates cinema 79 Upon winning the festival s People s Choice Award Spielberg remarked I m glad I brought this film to Toronto This is the most personal film I ve ever made and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family a very special thank you to all the movie fans in Toronto who have made this past weekend one I ll never forget 80 For his performance Gabriel LaBelle was also named a 2022 TIFF Rising Star 81 It held its European premiere at the Rome Film Festival on October 19 2022 which was followed by its United States premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on November 6 2022 as the closing night film of the 2022 AFI Fest It also closed the Miami International Film Festival on November 10 2022 with Paul Dano virtually receiving the festival s Precious Gem Award 82 83 84 The French premiere took place at the Lumiere Film Festival on October 18 2022 85 It also screened as the opening night film of the 20th Morelia International Film Festival on October 23 2022 the 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival on November 3 2022 86 and the 44th Cairo International Film Festival on November 13 2022 87 88 It also opened the 15th edition of The Contenders film series at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on November 10 2022 followed by a conversation with the cast 89 The film s United Kingdom premiere took place on January 18 2023 at The Curzon Mayfair in London with Spielberg LaBelle and Krieger in attendance 90 It held its German premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 21 2023 as part of the Homage section where Spielberg s other films Bridge of Spies 2015 Duel 1971 E T the Extra Terrestrial 1982 Jaws 1975 Munich 2005 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 and Schindler s List 1993 were also screened and at the awards ceremony where Spielberg received an honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement On the announcement festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian remarked With an incredible career Steven Spielberg has not only enchanted generations of viewers all over the world but has also given a new meaning to the cinema as the factory of dreams Be it in the everlasting magic world of teenagers or in the reality that history has carved forever his movies take us to a different level where the big screen becomes the adequate surface for our emotions to be fulfilled If Berlinale 2023 represents a new beginning we couldn t find a better start than the one offered by Spielberg s great work 91 92 Theatrical edit The Fabelmans was released by Universal Pictures in select theaters in Los Angeles and New York City on November 11 2022 with a nationwide release on November 23 in the United States 93 It became Spielberg s first film to be distributed by Universal since Munich 2005 18 40 Universal also distributed the film in some international territories but as part of Amblin Partners deal with Mister Smith Entertainment there are some exceptions as the film has been sold to Entertainment One for the United Kingdom StudioCanal for Australia WW Entertainment for Benelux Leone Film Group for Italy 84 Reliance Distribution for India 94 and Nordisk Film for Scandinavia 95 Home media edit The Fabelmans was released on video on demand VOD on December 13 2022 and on digital January 17 2023 It was released on DVD Blu ray and Ultra HD Blu ray on February 14 2023 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and grossed 1 586 785 in video sales 96 97 6 On VOD it ranked 1 on iTunes Movies following the Oscar nomination announcements on January 24 2023 98 By March 9 2023 according to Samba TV it had been watched on VOD in 360 000 households in the United States since the announcements over indexing by the highest margin of any film in the Los Angeles DMA by 60 By February 21 according to JustWatch it topped the Canadian streaming charts following the announcements ahead of Triangle of Sadness and Tar 99 100 Marketing edit The poster to promote the film s world premiere at TIFF was released on September 7 2022 with the official theatrical release version of it being released on September 29 2022 101 The trailer premiered online on September 11 2022 The music for the trailer was composed by Felix Erskine of Cavalry Music 102 103 Universal spent approximately 8 5 million on the film s advertising campaign 104 Another trailer set to Ben Folds cover of The Beatles song Golden Slumbers was released on December 13 2022 105 Reception editBox office edit As of August 27 2023 update The Fabelmans has grossed 17 3 million in the United States and Canada and 28 3 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of 45 6 million 5 6 In the United States the film made 161 579 from four theaters in its opening weekend for an average of 40 395 per screen the third highest average for a Fall 2022 platform release behind Till and The Banshees of Inisherin 106 The film expanded alongside Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery Strange World Devotion and the wide expansion of Bones and All and was projected to gross around 3 5 million from 638 theaters over the five day weekend 107 Variety called the projections a disappointing result for a 40 million movie especially one that hails from the most successful director of his time and compared the situation to the poor 38 million domestic box office returns of Spielberg s West Side Story the year before 104 108 It made 400 000 on its first day of wide release with an additional 480 000 on Thanksgiving Day and 880 000 on Black Friday resulting in a 5 day weekend total of 3 4 million 109 110 After four weeks in theaters Spielberg s film grossed 6 million domestic making it the worst financial performance ever for a Spielberg film with the general public s trending lack of interest in prestige films a muted reception from older audience demographics and the large decline in popularity and relevance of Spielberg and his filmography cited as the reasons 111 112 The film crossed the 10 million mark worldwide during Christmas weekend 113 99 Following the Academy Award nomination announcements the film earned a 14 boost in grosses 114 It performed better in the United Kingdom grossing 1 3 million on its opening weekend finishing fourth 115 It was also a success in France grossing 2 2 million on its opening weekend also finishing fourth 116 Critical response edit On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes 92 of 390 critics reviews are positive with an average rating of 8 2 10 The website s consensus reads Part memoir part ode to the power of the movies The Fabelmans finds Steven Spielberg digging at the family roots that helped make him a beloved filmmaker and proves he hasn t lost his magic touch 117 Metacritic which uses a weighted average assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 65 critics indicating universal acclaim 118 Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of A on an A to F scale 119 nbsp Critics singled out the image of younger Sammy Fabelman using his hands as a makeshift screen aiming the projector at his open palms as the film s iconic shot Chris Evangelista of Film called it one of Spielberg s warmest funniest films and highlighted Kaminski s cinematography 120 Steve Pond of TheWrap wrote The film shows a light touch that doesn t detract from the very real depths that are being explored That The Fabelmans is one of Steven Spielberg s most personal movies was never in doubt that it s also one of his most original and most satisfying in years is a welcome bonus 121 Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood praised the performances of Williams Dano LaBelle and Butters calling the former gut wrenchingly great while saying that Dano was terrific as the genuinely nice and loving father torn between following his own career and caring for his wife and family under increasingly difficult circumstances He described LaBelle s performance as sensational throughout a young man with a love for movies but tortured by growing pains and a family drifting apart He also referred to David Lynch s cameo as being worth the price of admission alone 7 Ross Bonaime of Collider wrote For decades Spielberg has shown us ourselves through the magic of his movies and with The Fabelmans he finally shows us who he is the good and the bad and pain and the joys the magic and the mayhem 122 Peter Debruge of Variety named it the frontrunner for the Academy Award for Best Picture while writing this endearing broadly appealing account of how Spielberg was smitten by the medium and why the prodigy nearly abandoned picture making before his career even started holds the keys to so much of the master s filmography More similar to Woody Allen s autobiographical Radio Days than it is to European art films such as The 400 Blows and Amarcord the more highbrow models other directors typically point to when re creating their childhoods The Fabelmans invites audiences into the home and headspace of the world s most beloved living director an oddly sanitized zone where even the trauma which includes anti Semitism financial disadvantage and divorce seems to go better with fresh buttered popcorn 123 David Ehrlich of IndieWire was mixed about the film and gave it a B writing that Spielberg may not have been able to fix his parents marriage but for more than half a century his films have been reconciling the family that Arthur and Leah Spielberg made possible The Fabelmans doesn t do that as well as the director s best work but it dramatizes his process of making peace with his dreams so beautifully that it almost doesn t matter To me this is a far cry from a magnum opus For Spielberg it feels like the greatest show on Earth 124 Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert com praised the screenplay calling it a graceful gem moving through different chapters of the life of this relatively average family that would just happen to produce an unaverage filmmaker 125 Benjamin Lee of The Guardian was mixed saying that There remains a remove though still Spielberg giving us a slightly too stage managed version of himself and his family some gristle missing from the darkest moments 126 Tomris Laffly of The Playlist wrote It s Spielberg s most personal film one that gorgeously revives the memories of his childhood and youth with a lavish sense of wistfulness and an aptly Hollywood ized fable like touch 127 nbsp nbsp The performances of Michelle Williams and Judd Hirsch garnered critical acclaim earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it a vivid capturing of the auteur s earliest flashes of filmmaking insight and a portrait full of love yet unclouded by nostalgia of the family that made him 128 Justin Chang of Los Angeles Times called it A uniquely confessional work in which a great artist freely and happily acknowledges the manipulation inherent in the art form he was born to master 129 Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly wrote that If it all feels a little sanitized and idealized it s also consistently lovely and after 75 years and 34 films who more than Spielberg has earned the right to revisit his stardust memories 130 Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair wrote that Not all memoir is generous It can be intriguingly solipsistic or maddeningly vain But because there s always been a curious blankness to Spielberg s public persona cheerful and engaged but never quite known The Fabelmans does feel like something of a gift 131 David Fear of Rolling Stone wrote that If the movie does adhere to Steven Spielberg s signature beats and feature so many recognizable Spielbergisms occasionally to its detriment it s still one of the most impressive enlightening vital things he s ever done 132 Peter Travers of ABC News was positively overwhelmed by the film saying Bring out the Oscars for The Fabelmans a personal best from Steven Spielberg in no small part because it s a family picture about Spielberg s own family Sentimental Sure Sappy Never No movie this year cuts a clearer path to the heart and the power of imagination 133 Anthony Lane of The New Yorker praised the film saying The Fabelmans may look nice n easy as it swings along with a pile of laughs to cushion the ride and a nifty visual gag in the closing seconds but take care Here is a film that is touched with the madness of love 134 Anna Swanson of Film School Rejects praised the film saying By laying bare indiscretions and frustrations Spielberg is ostensibly airing out the dirty laundry and then treating it with the empathy that can only come from an adult perspective on childhood memories As they re depicted in the film Burt and Mitzi are far more nuanced and complicated than any kid believes their parents to be when they re young It s a touching mature gesture that ultimately flatters all involved 135 Kyle Buchanan of The New York Times praised Michelle Williams performance writing that she really goes for it attacking this part like someone who knows she s been handed her signature role 24 In a later review for the paper Manohla Dargis named it a New York Times Critic s Pick calling the film somewhat of a fable and wonderful in both large and small ways even if Spielberg can t help but soften the rougher potentially lacerating edges 136 Alison Willmore of Vulture wrote that Spielberg an incredibly precise filmmaker never seems certain as to what a movie about his life or about that of a slightly outsize proxy should look like and that uncertainty is actually the warmest and most vulnerable quality The Fabelmans has 137 Johnny Oleksinski of New York Post praised the film calling it gripping visually mesmeric boasts an exceptional grounded script by Tony Kushner and is acted to the hilt A no holds barred Michelle Williams skyrockets to the front of the Oscar race with an unforgettable performance 138 Todd Gilchrist of The A V Club praised the film calling it A measured and incredibly intimate look at Spielberg s upbringing as he developed his aptitude for storytelling through a medium that mesmerized him as an extraordinary device that not only unveils powerful truths but often shapes them as well 139 David Sims of The Atlantic singled out LaBelle Williams and Dano s performances and praised Spielberg s use of storytelling saying that Viewers expecting a stirring childhood memoir about the power of cinema may be surprised at how bittersweet and raw the story actually is But that vulnerability is what makes the film a triumph 74 Joyce Carol Oates the author of the Marilyn Monroe biography Blonde which was adapted into a film in 2022 slammed the film as remarkably mediocre and that it discourages young filmmakers criticizing every element of the plot performances and screenplay saying By making a blonde Aryan antisemite the pseudo hero of his high school movie the young Fabelman disarms enemies amp wins a pseudo friend Is this an acknowledgment of the superficial triteness of the director s career as an entertainer She did however praise the scene with David Lynch Her comments received online backlash for showing disrespect to Spielberg s work and to viewers who felt connected to the film 140 Stephanie Zacharek of Time ranked the film as the best movie of 2022 141 Zacharek would furthermore praise Williams and Dano s performances as part of Time s Top 10 movie performances of 2022 describing Williams as a portrait of a woman so full of life she doesn t know where to put it all Williams captures Mitzi s all encompassing incandescence and her isolation and Dano In him we see the sum of all the things that so many men of that generation just didn t know how to be we also see a deep well of love no less real for being left unexpressed 142 Due to the film being released in the United Kingdom a year after its premiere Time Out and Empire both ranked the film at number 16 on their respective lists of The best movies of 2023 with Phil de Semlyen writing for Time Out It s been an era of filmmakers recreating their childhoods on screen with Alfonso Cuaron Paolo Sorrentino and Lee Isaac Chung all parlaying their own younger lives into Oscar worthy dramas in recent years But of all of these cine reminiscences Steven Spielberg s feels the most alive to the possibility that it might even be misremembering or misinterpreting events and thus it feels like the most guileless and honest of the lot With Spielberg s on screen surrogate Gabriel LaBelle s Sammy Fabelman to the fore its many moments of hurt and wonderment are dazzlingly realised 143 144 The film appeared twice on Sight and Sound s annual polls for the 50 best films of the year ranking number 20 on its 2022 list and number 26 in a five way tie with The Beast Beau Is Afraid The Delinquents and Rotting in the Sun on its 2023 list 145 146 Adam Nayman of The Ringer named the frame of younger Sammy Fabelman Mateo Zoryan Francis DeFord projecting his own painstakingly captured Super 8 footage onto his outstretched palms in the dark as one of the best shots of 2022 calling it a holy trinity that as visualized by Steven Spielberg at his late career image making peak signifies something deeply metaphysical about filmgoing and filmmaking that the artist must imagine himself amidst the audience 147 Christian Zilko of IndieWire called the moment one of the most dazzling shots from the 2023 Academy Award contenders saying that it perfectly captures the way the character Sammy saw filmmaking as a way to look for control in a chaotic world 148 Pete Volk of Polygon and Marshall Shaffer of Slant Magazine named the hallway scene where Logan Hall confronts Sammy Fabelman over the way the latter portrayed him in the Ditch Day film and the two of them ultimately coming to an understanding as one of the best movie scenes of 2022 with Volk calling it a powerful moment in a movie filled with them and it gets right to the heart of Spielberg s story of the undeniable power of images and the responsibility of those who wield them 149 150 The film has also appeared on a number of critics lists of the best films of 2022 ranking first place on several 151 152 153 154 155 Upon the film s release in France it received a 4 9 average from critics on AlloCine from 43 reviews with all but 6 giving the film 5 stars making it become the highest rated film of the 21st century in the country Cahiers du Cinema wrote that Spielberg at age 76 had come to represent like no other the idea of cinema as wonder at a time when the relationship to the spectacular and the cinema seems more tormented than ever and declared that the film will undoubtedly remain the most important and singular film of his career The film would then ultimately rank number 4 on the magazine s list of the Top 10 Films of 2023 making it Spielberg s fourth film to make the annual listing following War of the Worlds 2005 Lincoln 2012 and The Post 2017 156 157 158 159 Legacy edit Since its release the film has been called one of Spielberg s best films his most personal and one of the best films of the 2020s Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve praised the film calling it the best movie ever made about the power of cinema It s a miracle To say that I was deeply moved by this movie is an understatement The Fabelmans is a pure act of artistic generosity made by one of the greatest filmmakers of our time 160 Indian filmmaker S S Rajamouli also lauded the film expressing how he was able to relate to the portrayal of the Fabelman family in the film by saying Luckily for me I keep my whole family in the film business my wife my son my brother my brother s wife everyone is with me making movies so I don t miss my family 161 Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro called it Beautiful moving healing The Fabelmans is a superb work about three f s Family Forgiveness and Film 162 Producer Judd Apatow felt seen by the film and its portrayal of growing up in an ever changing world and how it affects life itself saying As a child of divorce I felt a deep connection to this story about a family struggling to hold together how the traumas of a disintegrating marriage affect a young man and how it leads to him developing his creative muscles as a way to process his pain and interpret the world It s a terrifying endeavor to open up oneself and your family to share the most personal details that shaped you Personally I related to so much of it especially that feeling you have as a child when you realize your parents are not perfect and you need to learn how to survive in the world without them 163 In 2023 Collider ranked the film as the Best Drama Movie of the 2020s So Far writing that Spielberg put into beautiful words and images the issues that he s been struggling with for his entire life he s desperately trying to piece together a broken family while pursuing his addiction to telling stories 164 It also ranked number 2 on the site s list of the 10 Great Coming of Age Movies of the Last 5 Years number 8 on its list of the 10 Best Period Coming of Age Movies amp TV Shows number 15 on its list of the 25 Best Coming of Age Movies of All Time and number 19 on its list of the 25 Best Movies of the 2020s So Far writing that Despite the movie having a few slow moving parts its masterfully made direction could at times seem like a fable 165 166 167 168 CinemaBlend included it on its list of 10 Great Movies And Documentaries Highlighting Jewish American History to Watch 169 In September 2023 MovieWeb ranked the film at number 7 on its list of the Best Modern Movies Shot on Film writing that the decision to shoot the film on Kodak 35mm 16mm and 8mm to display the various aspects of the evolution of filmmaking within the film makes it an emotional and technical triumph and shows that Spielberg is still one of the best 170 The A V Club included the character of Mitzi Fabelman on its list of the 15 Best movie moms of all time with Cindy White writing She s not a perfect person but the movie asks us to understand and forgive her as we assume Spielberg forgave his mother for wanting a fuller more creative life than her scientifically minded husband could give her Thanks to Michelle Williams delicate performance it s not hard to do 171 Accolades edit Main article List of accolades received by The Fabelmans The Fabelmans received seven nominations at the 95th Academy Awards including Best Picture but failed to win any due to it receiving a divided reception by the Academy and strong competition from Everything Everywhere All at Once which won the award 172 173 It also received five nominations at the 80th Golden Globe Awards winning Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Director for Spielberg and received 11 nominations at the 28th Critics Choice Awards including Best Picture winning Best Young Performer for LaBelle and two nominations at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards including Best Ensemble Cast of a Motion Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Dano 174 It also received two awards from the National Board of Review including Best Director for Spielberg and Breakthrough Performance for LaBelle shared with Danielle Deadwyler for Till making this the second Spielberg film to win both of these awards together since 1987 s Empire of the Sun 175 With his 53rd nomination for Best Original Score with this film John Williams broke his own record as the most Oscar nominated person alive at the age of 90 176 Williams also received a nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for his work on the score but lost to Ludwig Goransson for his score on Oppenheimer 2023 177 With his Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor Judd Hirsch became the first actor to receive two nominations over four decades apart with this being his second nomination and first since the 53rd Academy Awards in 1981 where he was nominated for Ordinary People 1980 It is also the first TIFF People s Choice Award winner to not win any of its Oscar nominations since David Cronenberg s Eastern Promises 2007 and Spielberg s first film to not win any since Ready Player One 2018 Possible sequel editWhen asked about whether he would consider making a sequel to the film Spielberg told W Magazine in February 2023 I never say never but I don t know what to do next I was so emotionally invested in The Fabelmans I left a vast body of water between myself and the next project I didn t plan ahead at all I haven t found my passion And I can t work without passion I won t 178 During a virtual conversation with S S Rajamouli Spielberg said that he will not rule out the possibility of a sequel but confirmed that there are currently no immediate plans 161 See also editSpielberg a 2017 HBO documentary film about Spielberg s life most of which inspired the plot for this film References edit Rosen Christopher January 12 2022 West Side Story cinematographer Janusz Kaminski on his legendary collaboration with Steven Spielberg Gold Derby Retrieved January 17 2022 a b The Fabelmans 12A British Board of Film Classification Retrieved December 2 2022 The Fabelmans Projected to Make 4 Million in 600 Theaters This Weekend World of Reel November 30 2022 Retrieved March 3 2023 These Movies Babylon To The Fabelmans To She Said Bombed At The Box Office Can Awards Season Change Their Luck Forbes January 10 2023 Retrieved March 3 2023 a b The Fabelmans 2022 Box Office Mojo IMDb Retrieved August 30 2023 a b c The Fabelmans 2022 Financial Information The Numbers Nash Information Services LLC Retrieved August 30 2023 a b c Hammond Pete September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Toronto Review Steven Spielberg s Cinematic Memoir Becomes Glorious Tribute To Art And Family Deadline Hollywood Retrieved December 24 2022 The FabelmansProduction Notes DOCX Universal Pictures Getty Images Retrieved November 24 2023 Rubin Rebecca January 10 2023 Steven Spielberg Calls The Fabelmans an Act of Courage in Moving Golden Globes Speech Variety Retrieved December 2 2023 Stephen J Dubner February 14 1999 Steven the Good The New York Times Magazine Archived from the original on December 9 2021 Retrieved December 8 2021 a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Spielberg s future imperfect The New Zealand Herald June 21 2002 Retrieved December 9 2021 a b VanHoose Benjamin November 2 2022 Steven Spielberg Says His Parents Were Nagging Him to Make Movie About Them Before Their Deaths People Retrieved November 5 2022 a b c d e f Keegan Rebecca November 2 2022 Steven Spielberg The Origin Story The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 5 2022 Barnes Mike February 21 2017 Leah Adler Mother of Steven Spielberg Dies at 97 The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved March 7 2023 Moreau Jordan August 26 2020 Arnold Spielberg Father of Steven Spielberg Dies at 103 Variety Retrieved March 7 2023 a b Foreman Alison September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Screenwriter Tony Kushner on Adapting Steven Spielberg s Real Life I Freaked Out Chuba Kirsten November 7 2022 Seth Rogen on Emotional Filming of Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans I Saw Him Cry Dozens of Times The Hollywood Reporter a b c Kroll Justin March 9 2021 Steven Spielberg To Direct Untitled Project Loosely Based On His Childhood Michelle Williams In Talks For Role Inspired By His Mom Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on March 9 2021 Retrieved March 9 2021 a b Kroll Justin March 22 2021 Steven Spielberg Taps Seth Rogen For Major Role In Next Film Loosely Based On Director s Childhood Rogen Would Play Favorite Uncle Of Young Spielberg Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on March 23 2021 Retrieved March 23 2021 St Lawrence Chris March 20 2022 Framing the Magic of West Side Story with Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski Exclusive Interview DiscussingFilm Retrieved March 22 2022 Nolfi Joey September 11 2022 Steven Spielberg made his life story into The Fabelmans to bring his late mom and dad back Entertainment Weekly Retrieved March 22 2022 Soares Isabella September 20 2022 The Fabelmans Cast and Character Guide Who s Who in Steven Spielberg s Film Collider Retrieved September 20 2022 Kit Borys March 9 2021 Steven Spielberg Michelle Williams Teaming for Coming of Age Drama The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on March 9 2021 Retrieved March 9 2021 a b Buchanan Kyle September 11 2022 In The Fabelmans Steven Spielberg Himself Is the Star The New York Times Kroll Justin D Alessandro Anthony April 8 2021 Steven Spielberg To Direct Untitled Project Loosely Based On His Childhood Michelle Williams In Talks For Role Inspired By His Mom Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on August 23 2021 Retrieved April 8 2021 Keegan Rebecca March 2 2022 Paul Dano on His Terrifying Batman Villain and Why He s No Longer Scared of Going Hollywood The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved March 7 2022 Kroll Justin May 26 2021 Steven Spielberg Taps Newcomer Gabriel LaBelle To Star In Untitled Film Based On Director s Childhood Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on May 26 2021 Retrieved May 26 2021 Kroll Justin June 15 2021 Steven Spielberg Taps Julia Butters For Role Inspired By His Sister In Untitled Amblin Film Loosely Based on His Childhood Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on June 16 2021 Retrieved June 15 2021 D Alessandro Anthony June 18 2021 Steven Spielberg Amblin Pic Based On His Childhood Adds Australian Actor Sam Rechner Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on June 18 2021 Retrieved June 18 2021 Dawn Randee February 20 2023 Why these scenes from five best picture nominees didn t make the cut Los Angeles Times Retrieved April 16 2023 Kroll Justin July 14 2021 Chloe East Oakes Fegley And Isabelle Kusman Round Cast Of Steven Spielberg s Next Film Loosely Based on His Childhood Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on July 14 2021 Retrieved July 14 2021 Vary Adam B July 27 2021 Steven Spielberg Casts Judd Hirsch Jeannie Berlin Robin Bartlett and Jonathan Hadary in Film Based on His Childhood Exclusive Variety Archived from the original on July 27 2021 Retrieved July 27 2021 Vary Adam B August 12 2021 Steven Spielberg Adds Six Child Actors to Semi Autobiographical Film The Fabelmans Exclusive Variety Archived from the original on August 18 2021 Retrieved August 23 2021 Kroll Justin August 23 2021 Amblin Adds Six To Cast Of Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Loosely Based On His Childhood Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on August 23 2021 Retrieved August 23 2021 Murphy J Kim February 4 2022 David Lynch Joins Cast of Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Exclusive Variety Retrieved February 4 2022 Ellwood Gregory November 7 2022 The Fablemans Finally Lands in LA As Best Picture Buzz Grows The Playlist Retrieved November 9 2022 Coyle Jake September 12 2022 A big break comes with a big task Playing Steven Spielberg The Washington Post Retrieved September 19 2022 a b McHenry Jackson October 26 2022 Suddenly Sorta Spielberg Gabriel LaBelle beat out 2 000 actors to play a version of the famed director as a teen by embracing the meta ness Vulture Retrieved October 26 2022 The Fabelmans Variety Insight Archived from the original on March 9 2021 Retrieved August 23 2021 a b Couch Aaron March 22 2021 Steven Spielberg Enlists Seth Rogen to Play Filmmaker s Uncle in Coming of Age Drama The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on April 8 2021 Retrieved May 4 2021 Sakoui Anousha August 5 2021 Hollywood booms despite Delta variant as production surges Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on August 21 2021 Retrieved August 20 2021 How 5 Oscar Nominated Movie Sets Were Made March 11 2023 Richards Bailey Brody Lanae October 4 2022 Seth Rogen Says Steven Spielberg Was Very Emotional on The Fabelmans Set He Was Crying a Lot People Retrieved October 4 2022 Ravindran Manori September 11 2022 Steven Spielberg Mining Personal History for The Fabelmans Was Very Very Hard to Get Through Los Angeles Times Retrieved September 11 2022 Williams Owen October 24 2022 Steven Spielberg Recreated His First War Movie Escape To Nowhere For The Fabelmans Exclusive Image Empire Retrieved October 24 2022 Pond Steve November 9 2022 The Fabelmans Star Gabriel LaBelle on Playing Steven Spielberg and Being Spoiled The Wrap Retrieved November 9 2022 a b Jacobs Matthew December 22 2022 How The Fabelmans Star Gabriel LaBelle Perfected Spielberg s Smile The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved December 24 2022 Brady Erin September 16 2022 Steven Spielberg Recruited David Lynch To Terrify The Fabelmans Star Gabriel LaBelle Film Retrieved September 17 2022 Daniels Robert November 24 2022 The Fabelmans Brilliant David Lynch Cameo is All About Perspective Vulture Retrieved December 24 2022 Travis Ben December 19 2023 David Lynch Talks Playing John Ford In Spielberg s The Fabelmans It s True A Horizon In The Middle Is Boring As Shit Exclusive Empire Retrieved December 19 2023 Annual StLFCA Awards St Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Retrieved December 11 2022 The 9 Best Final Shots of 2022 in Movies December 28 2022 10 Behind the Scenes Facts You Might Not Know About The Fabelmans March 7 2023 Breznican Anthony November 18 2022 Judd Hirsch May Win an Oscar for This Scene Vanity Fair Retrieved November 18 2022 Gray Tim November 25 2022 Steven Spielberg s Fabelmans Production Design is Invisible Art Variety Retrieved November 30 2022 a b c Murthi Vikram December 15 2022 Houses in Motion Production Designer Rick Carter on The Fabelmans Filmmaker Retrieved February 21 2023 Kadner Noah April 24 2023 Virtual Production When The Fabelmans Met The Mandalorian Frame io Insider Retrieved April 26 2023 Burlingame Jon February 7 2022 As John Williams Turns 90 No Signs of Slowing Down With Fabelmans Indiana Jones and Birthday Gala in the Offing Variety Retrieved February 7 2022 Tangcay Jazz June 23 2022 Legendary Film Composer John Williams Eyes Retirement After Scoring Indiana Jones 5 Variety Retrieved June 23 2022 Coyle Jake June 23 2022 John Williams 90 steps away from film but not music Associated Press News Retrieved June 23 2022 Hernandez Javier C February 8 2022 John Williams Hollywood s Maestro Looks Beyond the Movies The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 8 2022 McCall Kevin July 6 2022 The Fabelmans Behind The Scenes Images Show John Williams Composing Film s Score Collider Retrieved November 8 2022 Linton Siena January 27 2023 What classical music is in Spielberg s The Fabelmans and does Michelle Williams really play the piano Classic FM Retrieved December 2 2023 Desowitz Bill November 2 2022 The Fabelmans Is a Best Picture Oscar Frontrunner but Spielberg s Latest Could Be a Crafts Player Too IndieWire Retrieved November 8 2022 Upcoming Soundtrack Albums Film Music Reporter The Fabelmans Soundtrack Album Details Film Music Reporter October 28 2022 Soundtracks of Cinema The Fabelmans January 12 2023 The Fabelmans 2022 Soundtrack Net The Fabelmans How Steven Spielberg Uses Filmmaking to Cope Screen Craft March 8 2023 The Fabelmans A Review and Analysis The Commentator December 25 2022 How The Fabelmans represents a culmination of Spielberg s cinematic interests Little White Lies January 17 2023 a b 8 Connections Between The Fabelmans and Steven Spielberg s Other Movies Collider January 17 2023 Spielberg s The Fabelmans through the looking glass The Michigan Daily January 22 2023 a b Sims David November 11 2022 The Fabelmans Is Steven Spielberg s Most Honest Movie Yet The Atlantic Retrieved November 11 2022 The Fabelmans Ending Explained In Detail Screen Rant February 10 2023 Ruimy Jordan July 27 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Screens to Positive Reactions Updated World of Reel Retrieved August 3 2022 Hipes Patrick July 22 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans To World Premiere At Toronto Film Festival Deadline Hollywood Retrieved July 22 2022 Lang Brent Sharf Zack Donnelly Matt September 11 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Scores Lengthy TIFF Standing Ovation Director Insists He s Not Retiring Variety Retrieved October 14 2022 Lang Brent July 28 2022 Toronto Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey on Landing Spielberg s The Fabelmans and Returning to Splashy Premieres Variety Retrieved October 14 2022 Rubin Rebecca September 18 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Wins Toronto International Film Festival s People s Choice Award Variety Retrieved October 14 2022 Weaver Jackson September 9 2022 TIFF 2022 is supported by young talent Here are some of the stars leading the charge CBC News Retrieved September 19 2022 Gardner Chris September 6 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans to Close AFI Fest The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved September 6 2022 Zee Michaela October 6 2022 Miami Film Festival to Open With Glass Onion Close With The Fabelmans Variety Retrieved October 6 2022 a b The Fabelmans di Spielberg in programma alla Festa e ad Alice nella citta Rome Film Festival October 7 2022 Retrieved October 7 2022 Steven Spielberg s 63 TIFF Curtain rise with Steven Spielberg s magic touch Thessaloniki International Film Festival October 10 2022 Retrieved October 10 2022 Vourlias Christopher October 18 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans to Open Cairo Film Festival Variety Retrieved October 18 2022 Gallardo Gustavo R October 23 2022 THE FABELMANS Steven Spielberg s Autobiography on the Power of Movies Is Presented Morelia International Film Festival Retrieved October 24 2022 Lang Brent October 25 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans to Open MoMA s The Contenders Series EXCLUSIVE Variety Retrieved October 25 2022 Gregory Claire January 18 2023 Steven Spielberg says antisemitism on the rise as new film The Fabelmans shows prejudice he faced as a teen Sky News Retrieved December 2 2023 Steven Spielberg to Receive Honorary Golden Bear at Berlinale The Hollywood Reporter November 22 2022 Berlinale 2023 Lauds Steven Spielberg with an Honorary Golden Bear and Homage D Alessandro Anthony June 22 2022 Universal Sets L A amp NY Runs For Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Update Deadline Hollywood Retrieved June 22 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Gets Prestige Drama Treatment in India Release by Reliance Entertainment EXCLUSIVE Variety January 12 2023 Retrieved January 16 2023 Wiseman Andreas March 3 2022 Amblin Partners amp Nordisk Film Renew Distribution Partnership Deadline Hollywood Retrieved June 29 2022 McClintock Pamela November 27 2022 Thanksgiving Box Office Black Panther 2 Feasts on 64M as Strange World Flops with 18 6M The Hollywood Reporter Tingley Anna January 18 2023 The Fabelmans Gets Digital and Blu ray Release Variety Retrieved January 1 2023 Brueggerman Tom February 20 2023 Three Different Movies Top VOD Charts as The Fabelmans Joins the Leaders IndieWire Retrieved June 7 2023 a b D Alessandro Anthony March 9 2023 Oscar Halo Effect Top Gun Maverick Most Viewed In Streaming Post Noms Elvis Most Watched Overall Avatar 2 Biggest At Box Office Deadline Hollywood Retrieved June 7 2023 Triangle of Sadness and the Fabelmans top streaming charts in Canada Cult MTL February 22 2023 Vlessing Etan September 7 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Releases New Poster The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved September 7 2022 O Rourke Ryan September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Trailer Embraces the Magic of Movie Making Collider Retrieved September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Trailer Music Felix Erskine Full Official Version YouTube a b Disney to Dominate Thanksgiving Box Office With Strange World and Black Panther Wakanda Forever Variety November 22 2022 Retrieved November 22 2022 2022 Movies The Fabelmans Trailer Song December 14 2022 Fuster Jeremy November 13 2022 The Fabelmans Earns Solid 40 000 Average at Specialty Box Office The Wrap D Alessandro Anthony November 21 2022 Disregard The Corporate Noise Disney Will Dominate Thanksgiving Box Office With Wakanda Forever amp Strange World Deadline Hollywood Retrieved November 22 2022 Even With Black Panther Don t Expect Thanksgiving Box Office to Improve TheWrap November 23 2022 Retrieved November 23 2022 Wakanda Forever Conquering 55M 60M Over Thanksgiving Stretch Strange World Thrown Out Of Orbit Knives Out 2 Slicing Through Adult Competition Box Office Update Deadline Hollywood November 24 2022 Retrieved November 24 2022 Rubin Rebecca November 25 2022 Box Office Strange World Struggling With 2 4 Million as Wakanda Forever Triumphs With 8 Million on Thanksgiving Variety Retrieved November 25 2022 Like Jaws Before It Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans May Rewrite Box Office History Deadline Hollywood November 24 2022 Retrieved December 10 2022 Eriksen Kaare December 1 2022 Fabelmans Fumble Points to Box office Blues for Prestige Films Variety Retrieved December 16 2022 Avatar sequel sails to 2nd week atop the box office NPR December 26 2022 Friedman Roger January 29 2023 Box Office Fabelmans Tar Women Talking All Oscar Movies Up Whale Beached Billie Eilish Bonanza Showbiz411 Retrieved January 29 2023 Avatar The Way of Water Shah Rukh Khan s Pathaan Rule U K Box Office January 31 2023 Box office 1er jour The Fabelmans seduit les cinephiles Boxoffice Pro February 23 2023 The Fabelmans Rotten Tomatoes Fandango Media Retrieved December 21 2023 nbsp The Fabelmans Metacritic Fandom Inc Retrieved January 28 2023 Lang Brent November 13 2022 Box Office Black Panther Wakanda Forever Rules With 330 Million Global Launch 180 Million Domestic Debut Variety Evangelista Chris September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Review One Of Steven Spielberg s Warmest Most Autobiographical Films TIFF SlashFilm com Pond Steve September 10 2022 The Fabelmans Film Review Steven Spielberg s Sweet Memory Piece Picks Up Steam As It Goes The Wrap The Fabelmans Review Steven Spielberg Crafts Another Moving Masterpiece With His Autobiographical Tale TIFF 2022 Collider September 11 2022 Debruge Peter September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Review Steven Spielberg Takes a Sweet Heavily Filtered Selfie of His Formative Years Variety Retrieved October 14 2022 Ehrlich David September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Review Spielberg s Heartfelt Biopic About Movie History s Biggest Divorce IndieWire Tallerico Brian September 11 2022 TIFF 2022 The Fabelmans Glass Onion RogerEbert com Lee Benjamin September 11 2022 The Fabelmans review Steven Spielberg s sweet but sanitised personal drama The Guardian Retrieved October 14 2022 Laffly Tomris September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Review Steven Spielberg Bares His Soul In His Most Personal Film TIFF The Playlist Retrieved October 14 2022 DeFore John September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Review Steven Spielberg s Deeply Moving Childhood Memoir The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved October 14 2022 Chang Justin September 11 2022 Toronto Film Festival launches two must see movies in The Fabelmans and Glass Onion Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 14 2022 Greenblatt Leah September 11 2022 The Fabelmans review Steven Spielberg raids boyhood memories for a tale of how a filmmaker is born Entertainment Weekly Retrieved October 14 2022 Lawson Richard September 11 2022 Spielberg Shares an Emotional Complex Self Portrait In The Fabelmans Vanity Fair Retrieved October 14 2022 Fear David September 11 2022 The Fabelmans Is the Steven Spielberg Movie We ve Been Waiting Four Decades for Him to Make Rolling Stone Retrieved October 14 2022 Travers Peter November 11 2022 Review The Fabelmans Michelle Williams delivers a career best performance ABC News Retrieved November 11 2022 Lane Anthony November 11 2022 Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans and the Madness of Love The New Yorker Retrieved November 11 2022 Swanson Anna September 15 2022 The Fabelmans is a Personal Journey Through Memories and Moviemaking Film School Rejects Retrieved October 14 2022 Dargis Manohla November 10 2022 The Fabelmans Review Spielberg s Own Sentimental Education The New York Times Retrieved November 10 2022 Williams Alison September 15 2022 Don t Worry The Fabelmans Doesn t Overdo the Magic of Movies Shtick Vulture Retrieved October 14 2022 Oleksinski Jonny September 16 2022 The Fabelmans review Spielberg s latest is the best movie of the year New York Post Gilchrist Todd November 10 2022 In The Fabelmans Spielberg chronicles his family s story and captures universal truths with his camera The A V Club Retrieved November 10 2022 Joyce Carol Oates The Fabelmans is Remarkably Mediocre and Discouraging to Young Filmmakers January 13 2023 Retrieved December 2 2023 The 10 Best Movies of 2022 Time Retrieved December 11 2022 The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2022 Time Retrieved December 11 2022 de Semlyen Phil November 20 2023 The best movies of 2023 so far Time Out Retrieved December 7 2023 The Best Films Of 2023 Empire December 7 2023 Retrieved December 15 2023 The 50 Best Films Of 2022 Sight and Sound December 19 2022 Retrieved December 23 2023 The 50 Best Films Of 2023 Sight and Sound December 19 2022 Retrieved December 8 2023 Nayman Adam December 19 2022 The Best Shots of 2022 The Ringer Retrieved December 19 2022 Zilko Christian March 4 2023 20 Dazzling Shots from This Year s Oscar Contenders IndieWire Retrieved January 9 2024 Volk Pete December 27 2022 The best movie scenes of 2022 Polygon Retrieved March 6 2023 The Best Film Scenes of 2022 Slant December 12 2022 Retrieved April 6 2023 Dietz Jason December 6 2022 Best of 2022 Film Critic Top Ten Lists Metacritic Archived from the original on January 2 2023 Retrieved January 22 2023 The Fabelmans Year End Lists Retrieved November 20 2023 The Individual Top Tens of 2022 RogerEbert com December 16 2022 Retrieved November 20 2023 Best Movies of 2022 First Viewings amp Discoveries and Individual Ballots Screen Slate Retrieved January 30 2023 Best Movies of 2022 CriticsTop10 Retrieved November 20 2023 The Fabelmans AlloCine Willsher Kim February 24 2023 What a film Spielberg s The Fabelmans stuns French critics and audiences The Guardian Raup Jordan December 1 2023 Cahiers du cinema s Top 10 Films of 2023 Includes Trenque Lauquen Fallen Leaves and Anatomy of a Fall The Film Stage Zilko Christian December 1 2023 Cahiers du Cinema Names Best Films of 2023 Including Anatomy of a Fall and Close Your Eyes IndieWire Retrieved December 1 2023 Denis Villeneuve lauds Steven Spielberg s The Fabelmans Cinema Express a b Ramachandran Naman February 10 2023 Steven Spielberg S S Rajamouli Talk RRR The Fabelmans Watch Video EXCLUSIVE Variety Retrieved March 6 2023 del Toro Guillermo RealGDT November 8 2022 Beautiful moving healing The Fabelmans is a superb work about three f s Family Forgiveness and Film Tweet Retrieved November 25 2023 via Twitter 20 Directors Praise 2022 s Best Films Guillermo del Toro on Elvis Wes Anderson on White Noise and More Variety December 19 2022 Retrieved November 25 2023 The 10 Best Drama Movies of the 2020s So Far Ranked Collider August 24 2023 10 Great Coming of Age Movies of the Last 5 Years Collider March 10 2023 The 25 Best Coming of Age Movies of All Time Ranked Collider July 7 2023 Gama Daniella May 17 2023 The 10 Best Period Coming of Age Movies amp TV Shows Collider Retrieved December 15 2023 Urquhart Jeremy December 31 2023 25 Best Movies of the 2020s So Far Ranked Collider Retrieved January 17 2024 Sledge Phillip May 8 2023 10 Great Movies And Documentaries Highlighting Jewish American History To Watch CinemaBlend Retrieved November 25 2023 McGrotty Andrew Raul Danilo September 7 2023 Best Modern Movies Shot on Film MovieWeb Retrieved November 25 2023 White Cindy May 12 2023 The 15 best and 5 worst movie moms The A V Club Retrieved December 10 2023 4 anonymous Oscars voters reveal brutally honest secret ballot picks for the Academy Awards Entertainment Weekly The Banshees of Inisherin TAR Elvis and the Fabelmans shut out of this year s Oscars The A V Club March 13 2023 Winners amp Nominees 2023 Golden Globe Awards Retrieved January 11 2023 National Board Of Review Announces 2022 Award Winners Nationalboardofreview org December 8 2022 Retrieved December 8 2022 Composer John Williams Breaks Own Record as Most Oscar Nominated Person Alive People Pedersen Erik November 10 2023 Barbie Scores 11 Grammy Noms Including Record Of Year amp Two For Song Of Year Deadline Hollywood Retrieved November 25 2023 Steven Spielberg Reunites Michelle Williams and Paul Dano in The Fabelmans Redux W Magazine February 23 2023 Retrieved March 1 2023 External links editThe Fabelmans at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Data from Wikidata Official website nbsp The Fabelmans at Universal Pictures The Fabelmans at Amblin website The Fabelmans at IMDb nbsp The Fabelmans at AllMovie nbsp Portals nbsp Film nbsp United States nbsp New Jersey nbsp Arizona nbsp California nbsp Los Angeles nbsp 1950s nbsp 1960s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Fabelmans amp oldid 1219189599, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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