The Fablemans Directed by Steven Spielberg

The main theme explored in Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans is storytelling. While many other themes appear in the film such as self-discovery, passion, and family, each of these come together to depict the strong pull to storytelling that Sammy Fableman possesses.

Being a film-maker, Sammy’s passion IS storytelling. As a teenager, Sammy organizes a film shoot with a group of his friends and the color and direction of each shot illustrates how film is his tool for self expression. The vibrant, bright colors of the backyard battlefield contrast with the subdued tones in the Fableman’s house, exemplifying Sammy’s escapism from his family issues through art. That along with the camera work itself, captures the excitement of the film set in comparison to his feeling of needing to tip-toe around his home and school life to avoid conflict.

As the conflict grows and comes to a boiling point in Sammy’s home life, he is shown to have filmed his parent’s divorce on his camera. However, his filming it was simply a figment of his imagination- but why? To use the art of storytelling to shield himself from the actual pain surrounding his parents' split.

Storytelling follows Sammy into high school, where he is appointed the videographer of his school's senior ditch day at the beach. Sammy shows his mastery of storytelling by manipulating the footage he took to highlight some of his peers in a positive light and others in a negative light. This montage and its very specific editing show the power Sammy holds through his storytelling.

In the closing scene of the film, the framing of the shot is adjusted slightly in accordance to the advice Sammy received from the American film director John Ford. This very last shot in the film and the transparent feel of it is the final punch that pushes the viewer to understand how they’ve been told a story about storytelling.