In this section of our Colossus Movie Guide for The Fabelmans, we answer questions you have about the movie. If you’re curious about plot explanations, meanings, themes, lessons, motifs, symbols, or just confused by something, ask and we’ll do our best to answer.
Cast
- Gabriel LaBelle – Sammy Fabelman
- Michelle Williams – Mitzi Schildkraut-Fabelman
- Paul Dano – Burt Fabelman
- Seth Rogen – Bennie Loewy
- Julia Butters – Regina “Reggie” Fabelman
- Judd Hirsch – Boris Podgorny
- Jeannie Berlin – Hadassah Fabelman
- Robin Bartlett – Tina Schildkraut
- Keeley Karsten – Natalie Fabelman
- Sophia Kopera – Lisa Fabelman
- Sam Rechner – Logan Hall
- Oakes Fegley – Chad Thomas
- Chloe East – Monica Sherwood
- Isabelle Kusman – Claudia Denning
- Tony Kushner – Writer
- Steven Spielberg – Writer and director
The Fabelmans | Questions and Answers
How autobiographical is The Fabelmans?
This is a tough question to answer because, as we discussed in the Themes and Ending sections, The Fabelmans is a metafilm. Meaning that the audience is made aware it is watching a movie. To an extent, we’re not watching a literal recreation of Spielberg’s life, but instead an artful interpretation of several moments from his life.
With that said, Spielberg himself has confirmed several things that happen in the movie are factual. For instance, his mother (her name was Leah in real life, not Mitzi) really did leave Sammy’s father for his best friend. And in an interview with New York Times film critic A.O. Scott, Spielberg revealed that he did indeed discover the affair from camping trip footage. Essentially, most of Sammy’s family drama appears to be accurate of Spielberg’s real life.
Perhaps the craziest confirmation from Spielberg was that the meeting with John Ford really did happen—exactly as we see it in the film. “Word for word,” said Spielberg. “Nothing more, nothing less.”
One major divergence the movie has from Spielberg’s real life is that he did not temporarily give up filmmaking because of his mother—it happened after a viewing of Lawrence of Arabia. “When the film was over, I wanted to not be a director anymore because the bar was too high,” Spielberg said. “…I had such a profound reaction to the filmmaking, and I went back and saw the film a week later. I saw the film a week after that, and I saw the film a week after that, and I realized that there was no going back. This was going to be what I was going to do or I was going to die trying.”
What questions do you have?
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