If you grew up watching Spielberg, “The Fabelmans” will enchant you: this is the new film from the director of “Jaws” and “ET”

The relationship between trains and the cinema. It dates back to 1896, with one of the first recorded projections: “The arrival of a train at La Ciotat station”, directed by the pioneering Lumière brothers, a short film with which they made some viewers believe that the vehicle came out of the screen and came at them.

And he has continued with multiple examples: from Buster Keaton’s comedy “The General Engineer” to Richard Linklater’s romance “Before Dawn”, going through a ‘film noir’ like Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train”. , and the experimental audacity in Peter Tscherkassky’s “Train Again”. The link is not random: even the celluloid tape bears a reasonable resemblance to railway tracks.

Steven Spielberg You must be aware of that cinematic fascination with carriages and locomotives. His most recent film “Los Fabelman”, which hits our billboard this Thursday, begins with a reference to the subject: at the beginning of the 50s, the leading family takes their youngest son to a movie theater for the first time. The chosen film is “The Greatest Show On Earth”, by Cecil B. DeMille, and the spectacular scene of a train accident leaves little Sammy Fabelman captivated. From that epiphany, the boy will know that he wants to become a film director.

LIKE LIFE ITSELF

With “The Fabelmans”, Spielberg has rounded off a clearly autobiographical tape. Perhaps the one that, deep down, every filmmaker would like to do. A story of how he fell in love with the seventh art, how he learned to make movies, and how cinema ended up completely defining his life. With the logical licenses that fiction implies, the film also allows itself to address more issues: subtle family breakdowns, falling in love and friendship, the Jewish condition in the United States in the mid-twentieth century, among others.

Almost always with a camera in hand, we see the protagonist (played at two different ages by Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord and Gabriel LaBelle) as he consolidates his sentimental upbringing by constantly thinking of images, making stories that he can project onto a screen in a dark room. And if this story is particularly moving and significant, it is because Spielberg He himself embodies film learning for several generations of moviegoers.

“In the ’80s, Spielberg was always there. He became a kind of legend, a seal of approval”

Claudio Cordero, film critic

“In the ’80s, I was part of a generation of kids who grew up with a lot of movies for kids and teens that were terrific. –says the film critic Claudio Cordero–. And several of them were associated with the name Spielberg, either as a director, in the case of ‘ET the extra-terrestrial’ or the ‘Indiana Jones’ saga; or as a producer, with ‘The Goonies’, ‘The Gremlins’ or ‘Back to the Future’. So, Spielberg was always there. He became a kind of legend, a quality seal ”.

Indeed, as Cordero points out, Steven Spielberg He was the first director whose name could be made recognizable to the children and young people of his time. And as time went by, his work grew along with those early experiences of adolescent glare.

“Also in the 80’s Spielberg He directs ‘The Empire of the Sun’, a film that for him was a kind of transition towards more adult, more dramatic films with other ambitions. And also for us young moviegoers at that time, it was a transition. An overwhelming film, impressive to see in Lima. All those experiences, from ‘ET’ to ‘Empire of the Sun’, were decisive”, comments Cordero.

WALLS THAT TALK

Same as him Sammy Fabelmann that captures the 24 frames per second with dazzled eyes, a close case like that of Sistu from “Willaq Pirqa” makes us believe again in the great power of movies to change our lives. César Galindo, director of the successful Peruvian film, says that he has not yet seen “Los Fabelman”, but he is aware of the similarities between the two stories.

“Although ‘Willaq Pirqa’ is not autobiographical [como la película de Spielberg], also narrates the beginnings of a child’s passion for cinema. That could make one think of similarities, but of course keeping the enormous distances between a Hollywood production and one made in the Peruvian Andes with a lot of heart. Still, both are ultimately called cinema.”Galindo points out.

“Interestingly, Spielberg’s first film is the one I retain the most, ‘Duel’, from 1971. With very few elements, it shows us his enormous ability to handle suspense and intrigue, as he would do later in all his films”

Cesar Galindo, director of “Willaq Pirqa”

Regarding Spielberg’s work, the Peruvian director has a particular memory: “Curiously, it is his first film that I retain the most, ‘Duel’, from 1971. A low-resources ‘thriller’, in which he proposes innovative visual techniques for his time. With very few elements, it shows us his enormous capacity to handle suspense and intrigue, as he would later do in all his films.”.

A talent that has always been what critics and the public have unanimously praised for Spielberg. “One grows up and begins to see other things: auteur cinema, world cinema. And you kind of forget about Spielberg’s mastery, because he himself is busy making ‘blockbusters’ like ‘Jurassic Park’”, highlights Claudio Cordero. “But when you watch his films again, and you do it with different eyes, you realize his masterful technique. And you really enjoy the themes, the stories it tells, how they are made. Whether in his children’s movies or in more adult works like ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘Rescuing Private Ryan’, or many others. It is always a pleasure to see an artist of that magnitude”.

“This has been the shoot of my life“, has said Steven Spielberg about “The Fabelmans”, his thirty-fourth fiction feature film, winner of the Golden Globe, and nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, for which he starts as a favourite. And it’s hard not to think of the satisfaction of a 76-year-old filmmaker evoking his inner child on the other side of the camera. With an entire magisterial career involved, of course, but with the same astonishment as someone recording the derailment of a toy train. There are things that can never change.

“Jaws” (1975)

“Jaws” (1975) Classic ‘thriller’ in which Spielberg shows his wrist for suspense and fear. We also recommend: “Jurassic Park”.

“Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)

“Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) First installment of the saga with Harrison Ford, which became unforgettable. We also recommend: “The Adventures of Tintin”

“ET” (1982)

“ET” (1982) Only Spielberg could create the most endearing alien in film history. We also recommend: “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

“Schindler’s List” (1993)

“Schindler’s List” (1993) Painful and moving reflection on the horror of war. We also recommend: “The Empire of the Sun”.

“Artificial Intelligence” (2001)

“Artificial Intelligence” (2001) An astonishing exploration into science fiction with philosophical undertones and the legacy of Kubrick. We also recommend: “Minority Report”.

“Catch Me If You Can” (2002)

“Catch me if you can” (2002) Fast-paced comedy, inspired by a real case and with a luxury cast. We also recommend: “Bridge of spies”.

“Lincoln” (2012)

“Lincoln” (2012) A historical ‘biopic’ of enormous sensitivity and a fascinating cinematographic proposal. We also recommend: “Munich”.