Cahiers du cinéma n°795 - February 2023 (2023-02)Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma's issue 745, published in February 2023, featured Steven Spielberg's film The Fabelmans on its cover. This highly autobiographical film is also an expression of the author's love for cinema.
An intimate portrayal
In The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg tells a story inspired by his own childhood, depicting his engineer father, his kind, free-spirited mother, the relationship between his parents, moving to Arizona, his first movies, and so on.
The Fabelmans (2023)Cahiers du cinéma
The movie opens with the awe felt by Sammy (Spielberg) when, at the age of five, he goes to the movies for the first time with his parents and watches Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth.
During a violent scene involving a train crash, Sammy understands two things: death, and the way cinema can avert it. He soon develops an obsession with control, devoting himself to compulsively filming death using an 8 mm camera, with his sisters, friends, and mother playing the roles.
The Fabelmans (2023)Cahiers du cinéma
The true power of cinema is revealed in his little closet. In this cramped space, with the images projected on his hands, Samuel's face lights up with both amazement and fear.
It evokes in viewers' minds the closet in E.T.—opened by the mother when she tries to uncover her son's secret hidden between the clothes—and is one of many references to his most famous works throughout the movie.
The secret
The second part of The Fabelmans shows Sammy's increased passion for cinema, fascinated by its creation, special effects, and big spectacles.
The Fabelmans (2023)Cahiers du cinéma
While editing images of a family camping trip, Samuel comes to the realization that his mother is in love with another man. His perception of moviemaking—which his father calls a hobby—takes on a new meaning: "He suddenly understands that movies always incorporate much more than first intended." Cahiers issue no. 795, p. 24.
The Fabelmans (2023)Cahiers du cinéma
The shock of this revelation also evokes thoughts of another movie, Brian De Palma's Blow Out. In a similar shot, Travolta realizes that his recording of an accident he witnessed has been deleted.
A tribute to his mother
The drama builds during a particular scene. The mother, Mitzi (played by Michelle Williams), spontaneously starts dancing during their camping trip, dressed in nothing but a white nightgown.
The Fabelmans (2023)Cahiers du cinéma
At first lit by the campfire, she soon finds herself illuminated by the car headlights, revealing the curves of her body. It's a sensual spectacle witnessed by three men: her son (who is filming), her husband, and her husband's friend (who is her lover, unbeknown to the audience at this point).
The Fabelmans (2023)Cahiers du cinéma
"His mother's dance is a turning point. It's a beautiful and terrible moment of realization, revealing the beginnings of a deep crack. The scene is reminiscent of a dance sequence in Catch Me If You Can, where the parents of the hero relive the story of how they met at the same time as announcing their impending separation. Spielberg's camera filmed the couple's bliss as much as the wine stain on the carpet at their feet." Cahiers issue no. 795, p. 33.
The Fabelmans (2023)Cahiers du cinéma
No sooner than Samuel exposes her, the mother appears to be forgiven by the movie, which Spielberg seems to dedicate to her.
The Fabelmans can be seen as a tribute to his mother, depicted as an "affectionate and unique person, a hindered artist, with her generosity and enthusiasm verging on despair, gradually leading the movie into more secret territory, abandoning the modesty that meant it was necessary for Spielberg to wait until the death of his parents before daring to make it." Cahiers issue no. 795, p. 12.
The Fabelmans (2023)Cahiers du cinéma
Spielberg's latest movie follows the trend of others from his peers released in the past few years that are also intimate and introspective, such as Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza, Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, James Gray's Armageddon Time, and Pedro Almodóvar's Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory).
"A lot of my friends have lost their parents these past few years and, when that happens, you know, you realize for the first time (because you never thought about it before) that you're an orphan, and so the camera becomes an orphan." Cahiers issue no. 795, p. 30.
To find out more, read Cahiers issue no. 795.
