🍿Movies about making movies
The Fabelmans
Hi pal!
I’ve been to the cinema two times in a row and seen movies about moviemaking. I had the same weird feeling after watching them both. This Friday I went to see the new Steven Spielberg movie “The Fabelmans.”
It’s a retelling of Steven’s youth, how he grew to love moviemaking and how he spent his teen years shooting films with his sisters and friends.
I tend to always enjoy films about the struggles of creative people. It’s probably the group I can relate to the most. A part of me is very conflicted about it though.
The point of being an artist or storyteller is to talk about life. When you make a story about what it’s like to be a creative person, you make a story about what it’s like to make things about what’s it like to make stuff about life. Such as sitting up late into the night, being accepted by people and how difficult it is to get noticed.
To me it feels like they’ve become so detached from normal life that they can’t resonate in any other way. It’s almost movie propaganda to convince us of how magical movies are.
Stories are not about what you see
(Spoilers for The Fabelmans in this section)
During one part of the movie, Sam’s (Steven’s) uncle comes to surprise visit the family. Only the mom knows him, they’re all terrified at first. He’s a strange man who tames lions at the circus.
The uncle tells Sam to be careful with his art, that it can consume him, it’s not that different from a drug. To which Sam asks, “Putting your head in a lion’s mouth is art?”
The uncle replies, “No, sticking your head in the mouths of lions was balls. Making sure the lion don’t eat my head, that is art.”
He grabs Sam’s face and warns him. “Art will give you crowns in heaven and laurels on Earth, but also, it will tear your heart out and leave you lonely. You’ll be shanda for your loved ones. An exile in the desert. A gypsy. Art is no game. Art is dangerous as a lion’s mouth. It’ll bite your head off.”
Sam’s dad asked him to make a clip for Sam’s mom, to comfort her because her mother died. But to Sam it’s more important to shoot another war movie. The uncle calls him “Mr Director.”
The movie making is just a tool for Sammy, he could use his talents to show love to his mom, who currently needs it the most. It’s his best way of communicating and providing comfort. For some people the best way could be to just talk. He’s just another human like anybody else.
If a movie about moviemaking is actually good, then it isn’t really just about making movies.
Recent Finds
📼 Movie/Documentary - Indie Game The Movie
The only game developers I knew of before seeing this movie was faceless entities like Nintendo. This movie played a huge role in making me realize game making was something that I could actually approach. I know it did for a lot of other people as well.
Sometimes I listen to the soundtrack and imagine what it would be like if a camera team came to document the making of Surmount. It would be pretty uneventful. Most things happen on the screen or in my head.
I think that just shows what a well made movie this one is.
🔴 Youtube video - The Snowball Effect of Zelda Journalism
This is a story about how a mistranslation or assumption about the art direction in Zelda: Wind Waker slipped by a bunch of game journalists without any fact checking. I think people just like the idea of the story and it sounds plausible. People want it to be true. It seems like the only misconception is the person who gets the credit, I guess any face will do unless we know the face very well?
🐞 Tweet - Tinykin concept art
SplashTeam did a little throwback tweet to some of the concept art I did for Tinykin (35% sale on Steam right now)! Still so happy about those pieces and how nicely the game turned out. Other people seem to like it too (according to Metacritic).
I’m so happy to have contributed to something like that.
Do you have any movies or stories about creatives struggling to do their thing?
Thank you for reading! Have a new week. :- )
I feel you. Sometimes, to me, it feels like artists are just making art for other artists or art aficionados. It can feel a bit like a suffocating echo chamber to me.
With that said, some of my absolute favorite films are "about" moviemaking.
"Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" (2019) is probably my favorite movie currently and I enjoyed the subsequent book version of it too.
"Ed Wood" (1994) used to be my favorite movie for a few years and is probably still in my top 5. The biography it is based on however tainted it a bit for me since it brought to light some ugly truths regarding a few of the people portrayed in it. The movie doesn't hide that it portrays a brighter version of reality though and it is kind of itself an open meditation on the ups and downs of living with rose-colored glasses - so in a way, you could say that the dark realities just add another layer to it...
Like you say, if these films are good it's because they are about other things than just filmmaking - which I feel is true for the two I mentioned. Another thing , - speaking of adding layers - is that by making the stories involved with the filmmaker's lifeblood, it can envelop the work in kind of a "meta-love story" ; the story of the love that the artist feels for the art itself - like an added aroma or aura surrounding the film. At least that's how I feel.
Between the lines of "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" it is like there is a love letter dedicated to the 1960's, to the city of Hollywood, to movies and moviemaking, to Tarantino's childhood growing up in the city and to the filmography he got to produce there.
The Fabelmans sounds interesting and I might go see it if it captures some of the rich depths that can occur when a movie like this is done right :)