Sunday night, Steven Spielberg premiered his highly personal new film Faberman at the TCL Chinese Theater, just a few steps away from where his hands and footprints were memorialized by cement. Co-written and directed by him, the film traces a slightly fictional version of his early life and his journey to become the world’s most famous filmmaker — and the family that helped him get there.
Michelle Williams and Paul Dano plays his parents’ version, while Gabriel LaBelle plays Spielberg himself, but is named Sammy Faberman in the film Fabelman).
“It took me a minute to realize what he was asking,” Williams told The Hollywood Reporter On the film’s premiere, which was the closing night of AFI Fest in Los Angeles, received a call from Spielberg to play his mother. “It still takes me a minute to realize where I am and what’s going on, it’s very dreamy.”
is surreal to everyone I know, and, with the added layer of it, is such a deeply personal film that no one will ever forget it,” Rogan continued. “At one point I walked up to Michelle and said, ‘You’ve worked with Scorsese, does this look different from that? ‘ She said, ‘Oh, it’s very different. It’s a unique experience. I’m glad she confirmed my feeling that’s what’s going on.
The iconic director digs deep into his past for this story, Williams says the daily production is very emotional, and Rogan confirms that
“He would cry a lot openly,” he said of Spielberg. “We would be on set and he would only see a certain wardrobe. Or a certain set [decoration], or everyone gets together to recreate something. I saw him cry dozens of times throughout filming and the movie was actually pretty beautiful and I think everyone wanted to really respect what he did. You saw how important it was to him, how honest he was.
Added LaBelle, “Sometimes we all have a group hug afterward or at the end of the day. You can get the sense that it’s a very personal project and it’s really special that everyone is involved, so everyone understands. This is actually really comforting. ”
Spielberg’s longtime partner Tony Kushner with him Co-wrote the screenplay, noting, “Never in my life have I enjoyed writing as much as I do now. I don’t usually have a lot of interesting writing. The two made the film via Zoom during the pandemic, initially just to de-stress. In splitting duties, Kushner said he came up with the name “Faberman,” but told Spielberg He had to name his sister and mother.
“Spielberg means play mountain; “spieler” is Yiddish for actor, “spiel” can It can be a speech, it can be a drama. I always thought how wild this guy was, and this once-in-a-century great storyteller would be called Spielberg, Game Mountain,” Kushner said of his thought process about naming the family. “I Would like to have some such meaning, and I’ve always liked the German word ‘fabel’, which means allegory. Because the film is Steven’s autobiography, but it’s not an autobiography and it’s not a documentary, there’s also an element of fiction. So I think ‘Fabelman’ is a nod to that. “
Sue Spielberg, Anne Spielberg, Steven Spielberg Greg and Nancy Spielberg 1439654942 Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images 1439654942 14396549421000
Spielberg’s three sisters also attended the premiere, participating in the Depiction of the family. “They were on set a lot, and they brought all these things that belonged to their parents into the set,” Kusher explained, while also helping the production designers recreate their childhood home.
“In that sense, it’s a family endeavor,” Kushner added.
Inside the screening, Spear Berg took the stage to a standing ovation and told the audience that after so many premieres in Chinese theaters, the “I feel like I left more of my body” part is not just my hands and the concrete footprints in front of this place, but today The night feels completely different and that’s because Fabelmans is a different experience for me,” while telling his own family’s story.
He said Kushner urged him to “tell a story based on real people and real events that affected the rest of my life,” which became “a character – I just wish the story would Resonates with anyone who grew up in a complex family – there is no uncomplicated family.”
Faberman will start in theaters in November 11 .
