P E R S O NA L E F F E C T S
Soderbergh says goodbye but what exactly does he leave behind? A M A N A PA R T words by Jordan McGrath
A
t the time of writing, I’m the (not so) tender age of 26 – the same age Steven Soderbergh was when he stormed into film history in 1989 with Sex, Lies and Videotape. A lingering but elegant gaze into society’s oxymoronic sexual conflict, it’s a film that tapped into its characters’ (and perhaps some of the audiences’) voyeuristic fetishes while highlighting their ineptitudes in openly dealing with taboo subjects. A mightily impressive debut, it defined the era where American independent filmmaking exploded into the wider public consciousness. It’s been a long time coming, but seemingly – if you’re to believe the man’s word – Soderbergh’s much-publicised retirement from directing is upon us. It was back in early 2011 when the Oscar-winning filmmaker shocked the
industry by revealing his plans to fold away the director’s chair, and his latest film, Side Effects, is poised to be his final chapter. It isn’t often a filmmaker of Soderbergh’s calibre graces our screens, which is why, like a nervous pupil unprepared for an upcoming test, I’ve been dreading this moment since news of his retirement broke. In a career that’s seen many highs it’s strange that his biggest impact on the cinema industry is still that debut – even with a roster that boasts 26 films in 24 years. What might be stranger still is that it’s not the contents of Sex, Lies and Videotape that makes the film such an important landmark but how the film, nearly single-handedly, changed the landscape of cinema at the turn of the ‘90s. With a budget of just $1.2million, it revolutionised American independent cinema and gave Miramax and the Weinsteins their first real success, grossing $25million
VERITE MARCH 2013
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