Master of cinema and three-time Academy Award winner, Steven Spielberg returns for his lovingly crafted memoir, The Fabelmans, an undeniable late-career masterwork having won this year’s Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice Award.
The Fabelmans is the first of Spielberg’s illustrious career to play in the festival circuit and his most intimate film yet as he remarked in his full statement upon winning the TIFF People’s Choice Award,
‘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.’
The Oscar front-runner was received with a raucous standing ovation after it’s premiere and is being met with rave reviews from critics. This only confirms the auteur can dazzle just as well without the aliens, monsters, and grandeur of his beloved adventure film classics.
Directed by Spielberg, and written alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, the drama captures the wonder of his earliest experiences with film as well as delivering a touching portrait of his family.
The story centres around 16-year-old aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle playing a fictional version of Spielberg’s younger self) as he falls in love with the power of cinema and simultaneously witnesses his parents’ marriage running its course. His mother Mitzi (four-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams) is a pianist, unpredictable and emotional, a stark contrast to his scientific father Burt (Paul Dano) who is calm and logical.
Spielberg skilfully intertwines the storylines of the deeply personal narrative in a captivating journey through the notoriously private filmmaker’s life, refreshingly unclouded by nostalgia. Enthralling performances from its ensemble cast also further the story’s endearing vulnerability and warmth, marking it as an instant classic.
See the cinematic memoir from one of the world’s greatest filmmakers in cinemas on January 5, 2023.
