by Norman Barry

This is the story of Steven Spielberg’s upbringing. Or, rather, it is the story of his Jewish parents in post World War 2 America. Their grandparents were from Ukraine. His father was an engineer involved in developing the first computers. His mother was a pianist who could have made it at concert level. They had four children of whom Steven was the only boy.

Steven is the most successful director of all time. His work ranges from Jaws which he made when he was only 29. He went on to make Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET and the Indiana Jones trilogy. He made Amistad (1997) any Saving Private Ryan and latterly The Post and West Side Story. The name ‘blockbuster’ hardly describes him.

He had thought of an autobiographical story for a long time but decided to wait till his parents had died. They loved each other but they divorced since the mother wanted to go back to where they had been. She married a colleague of her husband who had been almost a part of their household. Michelle Williams (as Mitzi Spielberg) and Paul Dano (as Burt Spielberg) are chalk and cheese. She is full of feelings. He is dedicated to his work. They are the epitome of art versus science.

We first see Steven as an eight year old being taken by his parents to a film: The Greatest Show on Earth. He is mesmerised. He wants to repeat the train crash until his father gives him a movie camera where he can watch it as often as he wants. His father encourages the boy’s “hobby” but the mother sees more of the artist in him. He gives up on school (where he is berated as the only middle class Jew among the WASPS) and applies for film and technology studies.

The star of the film is Gabriel LaBelle playing Sammi Spielberg. It is a long film but it ends suddenly, just after Steven meets John Ford (played by David Lynch, another film maker). He skips down a Hollywood film lot. His future is assured. Cinema reveals all but it always shapes the future. Sammi shows his mother beside Bennie, her eventual second husband, while her present husband tends the camp fire alone.

The sudden ending suggests there is more to come. Whether the rest of Spielberg’s busy life is amenable to the camera is a moot point. He has made 34 films and earned 3 best director at the Oscars. He has generated more than $10 billion dollars. Clearly he doesn’t need the money. The Fabelmans is in some ways an indulgence. A ‘fabel’ in German is a critical analysis of a plot. Without the parents it’s hard to see what Spielberg has to hang his coat on.