Crash Course: Steven Soderbergh

Crash Course: Steven Soderbergh

The career of Steven Soderbergh illustrates the vicissitudes that Hollywood can throw at a smart lad intent on making movies. Think of the roles in which he himself has been cast in 12 short years: Boy Genius of Cannes (sex, lies and videotape, 1989), Artsy Poseur (Kafka, 1991), Self-Effacing Journeyman (1993's King of the Hill, 1995's The Underneath, 1997's Gray's Anatomy), Inscrutable Avant-Garde Flake (Schizopolis, 1997), Mainstream Player (Out of Sight, 1998), Uncompromising Indie Artist (The Limey, 1999), and, finally, King of Hollywood (Erin Brockovich and Traffic, 2000; Ocean's Eleven, 2001).

That's a journey to hearten and terrify anyone currently in film school, but the lessons, really, are simple. Don't let the bastards get you down. You're only as good as your next film. Be your own cinematographer (if you've got the chops). Most important, love what you do. To watch Soderbergh's films from earliest to most recent is to see a talented kid delight in picking up a skill set to match his passion, and only on one film--the overcontrolled sophomore slump of Kafka--does he seem not to be enjoying himself. Given what it takes to get a movie made these days, that may be his greatest triumph.

Soderbergh's films are few enough that, as with Kubrick, you can watch them all in a week if you're so inclined. I suggest you do: You'll have fun, occasionally scratch your head in bafflement, and come away impressed with how many bases the guy covers. You'll have your favorites (I vote for The Limey) and your disappointments (the fascinating, flawed The Underneath). Most are on DVD, too--although it's worth renting Kafka, King of the Hill, and Schizopolis on VHS, if you can find them--and, come on, is it too early to start thinking about a boxed set? There's a through line here, but it's not in any personal message or worldview that the director wants to impart. The constant is the sheer, glorious, confident verve with which Steven Soderbergh tells stories on film. That in itself puts him in the company of the men on the preceding pages.