Seed NewsvineThe Soderbergh Syndrome
There was a little hub-hub going on here in Chicago years ago, when Soderbergh's production of "Ocean's Twelve" was shooting a scene downtown and some individuals from Columbia College weren't happy with the lack of their 'student as PAs' on set. But you know how rumors go. It would seem ever since the commercial success with outings such as "Erin Brockovich" and "Out of Sight" Steven Soderbergh has been viewed as a "big movie" Director. I mean, he's worked with BIG stars: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Matt Damn, Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones (do I attached a '-Douglas' to her name now?) etc, etc.
So I suppose it's fair to say that when a Soderbergh production rolls into town, people should listen up and get their resumes ready to apply for crew. But his bigger films (as in "Hollywood" type) don't paint the Soderbergh that many of us (at least my colleagues and I) often envision. "Sex, Lies & Videotape." "The Limey." "Bubble." These are the titles for which Soderbergh will be immortalized (oh and also the gargantuan "Che"--which for its scope, is still an enormously personal film). Read more about that film here.
Now this isn't some "Hey I'm cool because I don't like the commercial junk" declaration. I own "Traffic." For all its star power and money, Soderbergh keeps it grounded with his seal of approval. Even with these big budget movies Soderbergh sticks to his indie cavalier roots by breaking union and custom guidelines. For example, when he made "Traffic" he wanted the credits to read "Photographed and Directed by Steven Soderbergh." Of course, they wouldn't have it. The result (and it's been like this ever since) was that Soderbergh came up with fake names to cover his various work in production departments (e.g. Peter Andrews is his DP name).
But in the end, what spurred this entry was a podcast I was listening to on "Sound on Sight" which pretty much had circular whining about Soderbergh's lastest film, the masterful "Che." "Too long" was a phrase I kept hearing and the inane "Soderbergh wanted us to stare at [Che] for four and a half hours so that we learn a bit more about him..." along with other uninteresting banter. Instead of shaking my fist in the air, I thought I'd just say in Soderbergh's defense: He is an artist. Some works you'll like. Some you'll hate. But don't ever marginalize the work in its entirety in an effort to cope with your own disagreements.
And people always overlook that great Oscar speech Soderbergh gave in 2001. It's a cross-section of the filmmaker himself, showing his heart and his mind: SODERBERGH'S OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
