Steven Spielberg's multi-Oscar-nominated The Fabelmans is many things. On the one hand, it's Spielberg's cathartic way of dealing with his parents' divorce. On the other, it's an ode to the magical power of cinema, and the camera's ability to both reveal and conceal important truths.
Spielberg uses his on-screen surrogate Sammy Fabelman (played as a child by Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord and as a teenager by Gabriel LaBelle) to lend a uniquely intimate insight into his artistic obsessions. The younger Sammy's imagination is fired when, at the start of the movie, he and his parents (played by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano) take him to see Cecil B. DeMille's spectacular The Greatest Show on Earth.
It turns out to be a formative moment in Sammy's life, spurring him to pick up a variety of cameras throughout his life as his ambition and passion for moviemaking continues to escalate. Given the themes of the film, we wondered, what were the important formative movies for Cineworlders? We put the question out on Twitter and we've curated some of the responses below.
Being absolutely terrified by the Evil Queen in Snow White! pic.twitter.com/W4ggKTWK0D
— Daniel Woodrow (@Daniel_Woodrow) January 28, 2023
Easy - Bugsy Malone at my local cinema when it was first released.
— Sp0rtz_F@n (@Sp0rtz_Fan) January 28, 2023
Who didn't love Splurge Guns??? pic.twitter.com/PwxTDvuvVs
'The Wizard of Oz', when films used to get re-released quite regularly. It was a family event, though I remember being terrified. I was 8.
— 😷💙🦇 Anita 🦇💙😷 (@Selvatica21) January 28, 2023
It is now one of my favourite films.
The first one I remember was the epic superhero story - am feeling old looking at some of the replies 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/gjsqWyLcNe
— adam henley (@HenleyAdam) January 28, 2023
Loved #TheFabelmans. My first memory of cinema was seeing Star Wars in 1977, it was the film that gave me a passion for the art of film, especially Sci-Fi.
— Karen Woodham - @[email protected] (@KarenNWoodham) January 29, 2023
My first memory from going to the cinema was when I went to watch Finding Nemo which actually helped me overcome my fear of going to the cinema. As beforehand I used to not like the idea of escaping from this world but in today's times I always love the idea of escapism 😁😁😁
— James Acraman (@JamesAcraman) January 28, 2023
The Sound Of Music. I was 2. My mum played the soundtrack a few weeks leading up to the trip to familiarise me with it. I remember the HUGE screen & the opening song, the stunning scenery making my jaw drop. I fell asleep before it finished, but it made me love cinema from day 1
— Steev Wells (@Steve1512Wells) January 28, 2023
My first cinema experience was at a drive-in near Melbourne Victoria in our 1964 Ford Falcon watching 'Duel', funnily enough a Steven Spielberg film.
— bigroo (@bigroo) January 28, 2023
You'll surely agree that's a varied line-up of masterpiece movies, ones that evidently exerted an important formative impact on the Cineworld audience.
Witness the power of cinema in motion. Click here to book your tickets for The Fabelmans and tweet us @Cineworld about your nascent cinemagoing experience.
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