Steven Spielberg has never shied away from family drama, and this fall he's putting his own childhood under the microscope with The Fabelmans.
Likely to be a major Oscar contender, Spielberg’s latest will open around town Wednesday, Nov. 23, including at the Belcourt. To mark the occasion, the theater has programmed six of Spielberg’s films that, in some way, deal with family dynamics. Starting later this month, Belcourt attendees can check out The Fabelmans +6: The Fated Family Visions of Steven Spielberg.
The seminal Close Encounters of the Third Kind kicks the series off Nov. 18 and 22, with a 4K DCP that’s just too good to miss. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial will follow on Nov. 19 and 20. That classic just got a rerelease for its 40th anniversary. Critics often reference those two films as the best blueprints for understanding the director’s relationship with his parents. That is, before The Fabelmans was a thing, anyway.
The Belcourt has also scheduled a 35 mm print of 2002’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence, a Stanley Kubrick project that Spielberg picked up after that filmmaker’s death. Also on the slate: Spielberg’s debut The Sugarland Express (Nov. 30, Dec. 3), the Christian Bale war drama Empire of the Sun (Dec. 4, Dec. 6) and the phenomenal Leonardo DiCaprio/Tom Hanks caper Catch Me If You Can (Dec. 10 and 11).
Spielberg’s entire filmography is worthy of programming (yes, even Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). However, finding the familial elements in his earlier works should make watching The Fabelmans that much more emotionally resonant.
At the very least, it’s an excuse to watch the films of a true master the way they’re supposed to be seen. What better way to celebrate Spielberg than on the big screen?
Tickets and showtimes can be found on the Belcourt’s website.
