By: Miguel Ernesto Yusty
THE FABELMANS tells the story of a boy who discovers his passion for filmmaking and eventually lands his first job in television. It's a Steven Spielberg film, released in 2022, which garnered numerous nominations at various awards ceremonies in 2023. The director's intention to make the film dates back several years, and among its merits is the courage to approach it in an autobiographical, or at least highly personal, tone. If the boy's presence weren't so prominent, it could be described as a family drama, but while it remains a family drama, it is primarily a coming-of-age story, depicting the protagonist's maturation process as he discovers the meaning of his life through cinema. However, the film also possesses two additional elements that set it apart from other similar films.
The first of these is the power of cinema to affect the lives of viewers when they identify with the characters. As the protagonist begins by recording his daily life and encounters the actors in their most personal environments, the perspective of those being filmed regarding their own existence is drastically transformed. This leads to the other element that makes the film a brilliant work: the relationship the young director develops with his mother. She is revealed in her deepest intimacy through her son's camera, finding in him a friend with whom to share the true essence of her being.
THE FABELMANS is Steven Spielberg's manifesto on his art: cinema. In it, he makes it clear that film is an instrument for seeing human beings unveiled, in all their truth, while simultaneously creating new truths that are solidified the moment they are seen by the audience. In this way, the film becomes a defense of cinema and its importance in understanding humanity and allowing individuals to discover themselves. Cinema is a window into the viewer's inner world and a mirror in which society sees itself. Although television and new media also achieve this, the experience of the big screen makes cinema a ritual of greater impact.