The best movie about cinema, according to Denis Villeneuve: “Pure artistic generosity”
Hollywood loves to make movies about itself. There’s a particular fascination with its golden age, such as with Sunset Boulevard or Babylon, although the likes of La La Land and The Big Picture take a more contemporary approach. Then there are all the films about the making of specific pictures, such as The Disaster Artist and Shadow of the Vampire, and a whole bunch of biopics about directors, actors, and the like.
But which of the dozens and dozens of examples of this subgenre are the best? Denis Villeneuve thinks he has the answer.
The French-Canadian filmmaker knows a thing or two about the movie industry. After climbing the ladder of his local scene, he made the leap into Hollywood extremely successfully with two films in 2013, Prisoners and Enemy. Now, he is one of the most in-demand names in the business, thanks mostly to his triumphs in the science fiction genre.
Everybody knows his two Dune movies, as well as the legacy sequel Blade Runner 2049. He’s also set to lead the next ‘James Bond’ film, which has got everyone talking.
Having spent time as both an outsider to Hollywood and one of its hottest properties, Villeneuve is uniquely placed to comment on films made about it. He revealed his choice in a speech at the Directors Guild of America’s (DGA) annual award ceremony, where he was chosen to honour the icon, Steven Spielberg.
“The Fabelmans is the best movie ever made about the power of cinema,” Villeneuve announced, referring to Spielberg’s 2022 effort. “It’s a miracle. To say that I was deeply moved by this movie is an understatement. The Fabelmans is a pure act of artistic generosity made by one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.”
The most recent movie to be released by Spielberg (at the time of writing), The Fabelmans, is a fictionalised account of the director’s own childhood and adolescence, as he navigated both his growing passion for filmmaking and a difficult family environment. The main character, Sammy Fabelman, played by Gabriel LaBelle, goes from aspiring storyteller to certified Hollywood employee.
The final scene of the movie features Sammy having a conversation with legendary director John Ford, played by the equally iconic late David Lynch in his final acting role. The feature was nominated for seven categories at the Oscars, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’. Further proof that the film industry is obsessed with itself.
In most self-referential cinema, there is a lot of navel-gazing. Hollywood is usually presented as this magical land with a unique aura, even when it’s not. While there is some of this in The Fabelmans, a lot of it is offset by the story of Sammy’s family.
His parents, played by Paul Dano and Michelle Williams, factor into the story just as often as movies, preventing the narrative from becoming completely absorbed by itself. One of the highlights is a young Sammy watching the train crash from The Greatest Show on Earth and becoming enamoured with it. This mirrors a moment from the young Spielberg’s own childhood.
As a self-professed Spielberg-obsessive, Villeneuve is more than a little biased here. Still, he’s not wrong when he talks about the powerful way in which The Fabelmans presents cinema. Maybe watch it for yourself and make up your own mind.
