This month, Steven Spielberg is going to tell the story of his youth in The Fabelmans. The work is deeply personal, represents a coming-of-age story, and, now, the acclaimed director has revealed one thing he wants audiences to consider after seeing the piece.
In a new article published by The Hollywood Reporter, the 75-year-old says that while the piece is a look at his life, it also examines when one begins to see the relatives they were raised by as human beings and not entities to be sometimes met with disdain or delight. Spielberg adds he saw his relatives as real before he officially became an adult and wants this to hit viewers in some small way.
“My life with my mom and dad taught me a lesson, which I hope this film in a small way imparts. Which is, when does a young person in a family start to see his parents as human beings? In my case, because of what happened between the ages of 7 and 18, I started to appreciate my mom and dad not as parents but as real people.”
Spielberg’s parents famously divorced and he often touches on the theme of broken homes and families in his work. Diving back into his earliest days was also emotional for him to the extent he had to leave the set at times and in the same article Spielberg adds he made sure to not put too much of a burden on newcomer Gabriel LaBelle, who plays his Sammy Fabelman analogue character.
“I didn’t want to put too much burden on Gabe because he’s new to making movies. Suddenly, he’s got a director that he can look over to, hoping for some kind of confidence and experience. And the director’s eyes are filled with tears and he’s just trying to keep his lower lip from bobbing up and down too much. And I felt bad for Gabe to have to throw him into that little bit of self-indulgence.”
The Fabelmans comes later this month. It has received critical acclaim and is a front-runner for Oscar wins. The latter has come about due to it taking home film festival awards which have often been a harbinger of what will win Best Picture at the ceremony. It also features a number of Spielberg’s recurring collaborators and will mark one of 90-year-old John Williams’ last outings as a composer after working with Spielberg for decades on a number of iconic projects like Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. as well.