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Gabriel LaBelle. ©2022 Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, and Reliance Entertainment. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Capture Every Moment (Vizeit Reviews's One Year Anniversary!)
As a student filmmaker, this film made me laugh, cry, and fill me with joy. This is the film I have been waiting for and it's worth the wait. Every time Steven Spielberg directs a project, it will have something special waiting just for me and this film was 100% of it. I can't describe how much I adore this film and you will read why this film is another masterpiece from Spielberg. Join me into the 50s and 60s, exploring Spielberg's childhood and his mind of filmmaking. Story: Young Sammy Fabelman falls in love with movies after his parents take him to see "The Greatest Show on Earth." Armed with a camera, Sammy starts to make his own films at home, much to the delight of his supportive mother. Throughout the years, we get to explore his filmmaking life but also looking through his struggles including with his family and religion. From love, divorce, drama, and heart. It's all the genres into one story through the mind of Sammy. A semi-autobiographical story. This film is dedicated to filmmakers, especially young filmmakers and it works on every level. I feel so relatable with the main character. It's not just him but the entire family as well. It feels like I'm watching myself on screen with my strengths and weakness as a filmmaker. It's beautifully put well together with a consistent tone throughout each of the kid's projects and the filmmaking process. Spielberg knows how to capture scale and scope. Even with the small dramatic scenes, it feels huge with the support of the great cinematography done by Janusz Kamiński. I really loved the different perspectives on how film can affect family and it's so done really well that I felt like I was there for fucking real. Something about it made me cry twice and I wanted more of his filmmaking life. It's too good. I really loved how we stray away from the filmmaking side into the negative effects of the family and how the struggle of filmmaking heals the protagonist. It's beautifully done and even with the typical cliché bullying, the payoff is quite interesting. I love how this film is about a mother-and-son relationship but it ends with a father-and-son situation. I wanted to explore more of both sides and it's so done well. The uncle was pretty hilarious and great. His scenes are so emotional and with the weight of danger with filmmaking is pretty relatable. Balancing life and film is pretty hard and getting too attached might hurt the film itself as well. As a filmmaker, his scenes are more relatable to my recent short film which is Afterparty. I love the depth of realism in the filmmaking process and it helped a lot with the film's tone and theme throughout. Besides the passion and love for filmmaking in this film, it's more about family and dealing with the loss of breaking up and keeping up with personal struggles. The family dynamic is very strong in this film due to the performances of Gabriel LaBelle and Michelle Williams. They both gave outstanding performances and their chemistry felt very natural. Paul Dano as Sammy's dad was also fantastic as well and it was finally nice to see Dano in a calm role. The little sisters are pretty good as well and all of them together work as a functional and dysfunctional family together. Something within the family clicks together and it's the kid Sammy connecting everyone together through his films but also making everyone stand out to become the best of themselves. Even with the struggles at the end of the film, everyone feels like they are still connected to each other but are miles away instead. The tone of this film is so consistent with a hopeful yet epic tone while the realism is still intact in this story. While we don't the specific details of what is written for dramatic purposes, the epic tone of Spielberg's direction is present every second. It's fleshed out and purposely deconstructed to show the struggles of relationships and how film can affect a single person with love or damage. The family struggles are the biggest strengths in this film and as a filmmaker myself, I couldn't relate more to Sammy. I really loved the depth of this family but the filmmaking aspect really made this film truly special. The directing in this film is outstanding as always from Spielberg. He knows his craft very well and he can make a small important scene emotional and relatable. He lets his actors truly shine and give each character work together to make this family feel believable. Obviously, all of this was rehearsed through pre-production but even with the scripted lines, the small moments that feel improvised felt so natural between the son and the parents. Those moments spark the film a lot through Spielberg's direction. The way he even shot the film was very cinematic and the final cinematic shot was so creative and funny as well. The cinematography is very great in this film. While it's not the dazzling cinematography like his past film West Side Story, it's still very well shot and nostalgic. The score is very great in the film and I really liked how he uses past references from his older films in this film. The production design is fantastic, especially for a mid-budget film. I could see an Oscar nomination for costume and production design easily. Plus, the small cameo from David Lynch was so fucking special and funny. Nice use of the F-bomb. Technically, it's amazing and the pacing of this film is very great. I didn't feel the long runtime at any moment and it's a film that you can take a breeze. I didn't feel the Oscar bait like some of the hardcore critics is saying but I was sure at some point. I felt the Oscar moment that will make Academy members take alcohol shots while praising this film. While I loved Seth Rogen's character, I wish we could've got one more scene in the end but this is based on Spielberg's life so I can't change that. I would say this though, it's an easy film. What I mean by that is that this is an easy film for critics to love and praise and earn nominations. It's not a bad thing but I felt like it was pushing for that. While this isn't Spielberg's magnum opus, this is still a masterfully crafted film that every filmmaker would gush about all day. After getting out of the theater, I knew this is one of the best films of the year and easily on my top 10 of this year. It's a masterfully crafted film with fantastic performances, beautiful direction, and amazing production that every filmmaker would dissect the fuck out of it. If you're a young filmmaker like me in college or even in high school or barely learning about cinema, well, this is the film for you. It will take time to get it but if you felt so relatable to Sammy during this film, you experienced something truly special. I adore this film and it's a must-watch in theaters if it's still playing. Now Playing in Theaters and on VOD. Vizeit Score: "A+" (Share this review with your film friends and on social media! Thank you for your continue support.) Copyright © 2022. Vizeit Studios. All Rights Reserved. Review Written By: Everardo Garcia Jr.
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