We watched The Fabelmans last night. What a great film. I think Spielberg is a scarily inconsistent director, making some of the best films I've ever seen, like Munich, and some of the worst, like Ready Player One. This one was just directed and acted impeccably. Michelle Williams is truly a tremendous and underrated actor. Everyone in the film was great, which is a sign to me of great directing. The editing was delightful, as was the very last shot, which is by far the most optimistic and beautiful ending I've ever seen.
This film was autobiographical, so I'm sure that's what pushed him really to care about the characters in a way that made everything visceral. It was just pure magic and beauty.
I'm so grateful I had a chance to see something that filled my heart that much. It's funny, because I compare that to a similar coming of age film that tells a director's own story, James Gray's Armageddon Time, which had this darkness to it that the director can't shake. It's interesting to see how the psychology of two directors plays out in their own perspective as adults looking back. Spielberg deals with antisemitism with his talent and finds a weird way to move on, but Gray is trapped in a world of race and class that protects and separates him from his closest friend.
I love to see a director who is very hit and miss (Spielberg) be able to recapture a sense of wonder and deep beauty. Whereas James Gray's work had become to me colder and less filled with heart over time, Spielberg is all over the place. Many of his films do not interest me enough even to try. But some of them are so good as to be transcendent. My wife and I spent the morning comparing the careers of extremely inconsistent directors: Spielberg, Michael Cimino, and William Friedkin.
