THE SODERBERGH EXPERIENCE

An interview with THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE director, Steven Soderbergh

(Portions of this article are taken from CBC Arts Online and have been published here with their permission.)


I’ll admit to being nervous. I’m not above that. I had interviewed filmmakers before but I had never interviewed a director whose films were among some of my all time favorites. This was certainly a step up for me. This was the man who directed the technical masterpiece, TRAFFIC, and won an Oscar for it. This was the man who gave me one of my guiltiest pleasures, OUT OF SIGHT. This was the man whose latest film, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, is stimulating on a number of levels and one of the best films I've seen all year. This was Steven Soderbergh, people.

The day before my interview was scheduled to take place, I had been invited to see a special press screening of THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE. Shot over a period of 16 days in October 2008, GFE, as it was originally titled, is a week in the life of Chelsea (played by 21-year-old adult film star, Sasha Grey). Chelsea is strikingly beautiful, made even more impressive considering she is only seen eating at the finest Manhattan restaurants or leaving the most luxurious Upper West Side hotels or shopping at the priciest Soho designer shops. She keeps a meticulous account of all her appointments, noting the clothing she wore, the meals she ate or the movies she may have discussed. She is also insatiably unsatisfied with the goals she has attained and is always looking for ways to be better at what she does. What she does is charge people over $2000 per hour for not just the pleasure of her company in bed but rather the full experience of what it feels like to be her boyfriend.


For years, Soderbergh has gone back and forth between big studio pictures with big names and independent films that feature real people with real problems and only an outline to get from the start to the finish. THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE would fall into the latter of the two categories, if one felt the need to categorize it. Soderbergh doesn’t see the distinction nor this need to define his work quite so rigidly. “People seem compelled to divvy up my career into two parts,” he states. “They’re both like math problems; one has a different set of integers than the other but its still math.” Still, he is not so naïve to suggest that there is the same degree of financial risk between the two. “What is helpful about the small films is you’re closer to the ground if you make a mistake. If I fall off this rope, I’m going to sprain an ankle; I’m not going to die.”


Arguably, Soderbergh has been experimenting with realism on camera since his first feature, the then groundbreaking, SEX LIES AND VIDEOTAPE. The frankness with which sexuality was discussed would go unnoticed today (“It is like watching a movie that took place in world with gas lamps,” Soderbergh quips about watching it now) but the honesty with which the characters address themselves and each other is a form of realism that seems still difficult to achieve on film today. Realism is what makes THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE such a fascinating interaction. Not only was it shot amidst last year’s financial collapse and just before the elections but it is set then as well. As money exchanges hands between Chelsea and her clients, nearly all of them seem to be questioning whether they can still fit her into their budgets. “Since the design of the film is that people are speaking for and as themselves, that’s just where everybody’s head was.,” he says, knowing the situation added an extra level of intrigue to the film that may have been tricky to get less organically.


While Soderbergh’s indie projects tend to use non-actors, this one is different, mostly. Grey, has been working in pornography since she was 18 years old and THE GIRLDFRIEND EXPERIENCE marks her first foray into mainstream filmmaking. She didn’t get into adult film because of drugs or booze or a broken home; she simply saw a need and filled it. Soderbergh was drawn to her ambition and uncommon backstory, to say nothing of her baby doll beauty. He did not cast her for these reasons though. No, he cast her because she exudes control in situations that are otherwise fantastical to mainstream society. “Even though I knew it wasn’t going to be explicit, I wanted somebody who in sexualized situations feels totally in command and powerful. I feel like that’s a tricky thing to fake.” He’s right. On screen, Grey is always in control of what she allows herself to say and how she allows herself to be seen and treated. Detractors of the film have claimed that Grey’s distant, aloof demeanor leave the film feeling shallow but Soderbergh begs to differ. For him, the film would lose everything it has going if Grey had played it any other way. She is meant to be mystery.


Having done some unavoidable research of Grey’s previous work on film, Soderbergh knew he would have only one serious hurdle to get over. “What I noticed about her extreme stuff was her awareness of the camera. She is always aware of the lens, playing to the lens. I knew it was going to be interesting to put her in a situation where she would absolutely have to forget the camera because it seemed like she was obsessed with it.” And how will all of this play for Grey and her fans? Grey, who couldn’t believe it when she got home to find Soderbergh’s voice on her answering machine, appears naked only once on screen and is never seen having any actual sex. How will this new sensitive side of Sasha Grey affect the way her fans watch her adult work? “Fantasy is about something that you aren’t getting and that you want. We have the inverse here with Sasha. You can, on her site, within seconds, see her do anything imaginable with her clothes off. What you can’t see is what its like to be her boyfriend and hang out with her or be emotionally intimate with her. My whole theory is that this is the fantasy for the guys who have been double-clicking but would rather spend 77 minutes being her boyfriend.”


As for Soderbergh, he is already hard at work on his next feature, MONEYBALL, starring Brad Pitt and Demitri Martin. Having run around all day myself, from a movie to an interview then to this interview before another one immediately afterward that would be followed by industry drinks, I had only one more question. When is Steven Soderbergh going to take a well-deserved break? “What’s going to happen is at a certain point, I will just stop. I don’t have two speeds; I’ll just stop.” His answer was straightforward and succinct. You might even say it was Soderberghian. Well, I might anyway.

SOURCE: CBC Arts Online

Remembering the year 2000

When asked to look back at the year 2000, or more specifically, the year 2000 in film, I remember distinctly being torn between not just two films that year but rather being torn over what constituted the true value of a film worthy of the title, “Best Picture of the Year”. The first of the two films in question captured my mind. It is a distinctly cerebral experience in its carefully plotted design and intricate balance of several different stories told simultaneously and the serious nature of its subject matter. The other film captured my heart. It is achingly romantic in tone and theme but it never crosses over into the saccharine. Instead, it honours the emotion itself as the governing force of life. What holds more value when it comes to film appreciation? An interaction with your emotional core or the provocation of thought? An appeal to one’s intellect or a plea to the soul? Which film is better? Steven Soderbergh’s TRAFFIC or Ang Lee’s CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON?


The moment Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) and Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) appear on screen in the same space in, the attraction between them is undeniable. Yet, the same can be said for their restraint. And so CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON establishes its largest question; if love is the greatest gift that can bestowed upon man, so great that warriors such as these two fight in its name, why then deny this gift for yourself in favor of respect for social obligation? Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien cannot be together because she was once promised to his greatest warrior brother. The two bonded after his death but have never acted upon their feelings as not to disrespect his memory. In many ways, Li’s fallen brother brought he and Yu together but in just as many ways, he made it impossible for them to be together. Now, Li is debating leaving his battles behind him and pursuing that which his heart has longed for for so long but duty almost seems bent on stopping this from happening as no sooner does he hang up his sword, it is stolen, forcing him to confront his oldest nemesis. It would seem that love and honour go hand in hand but honouring love in this case makes it impossible to experience it.


The romantic core of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is certainly honoured by Ang Lee, who infuses the picture with fluidity and intensity, establishing a tone that can only be described as magical. (I suppose it could also be described as mystical, majestic or mesmerizing as well but you get my point.) The sword robbery prompts a sequence of battles that combine seamless excellence in cinematography, score, choreography and of course, performance (including breakout, Zhang Ziyi). Running on air across shingled rooftops or through towering treetops is visually stunning but also heightens the passion of an already fiery experience. When on the ground and engaged in combat or sword play, the actual fighting is so perfectly timed and executed against Tan Dun’s drum heavy score that it is often impossible to distinguish between what is fighting and what it dance. As usual, Lee’s gentle directorial hand allows for a vast canvas that takes on an enlightened stance all its own. In a film where all who have honour are bound by decorum and tradition, flying is possible and seems boundless but they are ultimately grounded by the same properties that make flight possible.


TRAFFIC is no less a technical feat. Based on the British mini-series, “Traffik”, writer, Stephen Gaghan, scaled down over 300 minutes of story to a scant 147. In it, he explores the war on drugs, from sales to distribution to border crossing to addiction and treatment. The severity of the situation is not glazed over in TRAFFIC and Soderbergh makes directing this enormous undertaking all look so easy. Considering the title, it is ironic that the film travels so easily back and forth between Mexico, San Diego, Washington and Ohio. The different locales and stories are all differentiated by color schemes – a yellow tinged Mexico stimulates our nervous systems while demonstrating a fragile city controlled by drug cartels and corruption and a blue Ohio allows us to dive deeper into the lows of addiction with a sedated effect. San Diego rather is painted in much more naturalistic hues, perhaps highlighting the normalcy of the drug sales in America. The action taking place in all these locations makes for its own contradictions as well, thanks to Gaghan’s delicate and precise screenplay. How else could one explain a film that is essentially anti-drug that exposes some of its more insightful musings during drug-addled hazes?


What is traffic after all but being stalled and surrounded by an endless see of obstacles ahead of you, stopping you from getting to where you’re going? It never feels as though it will ever let up or you will ever find a way to get through it all. While TRAFFIC is not entirely pessimistic, it is decidedly realistic. It never insinuates that the war on drugs is one that cannot be won but that perhaps the idea of winning needs to be modified. It seems almost naïve to think that drug usage will ever be irradiated from the human experience but with all the extreme violence that the trade creates, clearly the consumption needs to be scaled down significantly. Soderbergh is also careful not to suggest that he has all the answers. To him, it is clear that the Mexican drug cartels must be taken down; that the flow of drugs and firearms across the Mexico/US border needs to be cracked down on; and that we must no longer be afraid to look inside out own houses, at our own family members and friends to help bring them back to a place where they can truly see the world as it is. As Brian Eno’s “Ascension” plays over the film’s final frames, the idea of progress seems at the very least, possible.

Both films were released in December of 2000; both went on to earn roughly around $125 million at the box office; and both went on to win four Oscars each. It would appear that I am not the only one split on the two films. And as neither actually went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, perhaps the debate will never be settled as to which film truly deserves the crown. Of course, it is fair to say that neither film actually needs to be regarded as better than the other. I can love them both equally for different reasons as I’ve got plenty of love to go around. After all, I spend so much time trying to get my mind and my heart on the same page, why would not apply that same logic to these two beautiful pictures? And as GLADIATOR actually went on to win the title that year, perhaps brawn is more appealing than brains and beauty combined anyway.

Both films ...


Black Sheep’s Top 10 Films of 2000
(in alphabetical order)

Best in Show
Billy Elliott
Chicken Run
Chuck & Buck
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
In the Mood for Love
Requiem for a Dream
Traffic
The Virgin Suicides
Wonder Boys

SYRIANA

Written & Directed by Stephen Gaghan

As human beings, we are able to detach ourselves from injustices and hardships taking place throughout the rest of the world. Disassociation is not merely a capability, it is often a necessity for survival of the mind. Film going is often thought to be a primary means of exercising this need. Escaping into the dark of the cinema to avoid the world’s problems is both common and effective, even when dealing with more personal problems instead of the global variation. The whole theory is threatened by films like, “Syriana”, a film that makes sure you’ve been punched in the stomach and spit on while lying on the floor recovering before exiting the cineplex. The realism of the oil industry, from the US government corruption trickling all the way down to illegal workers on the verge of becoming suicide bombers in Iran is difficult to completely grasp, even more troublesome to digest, yet still a topic that needs more awareness brought to it. What becomes easy to forget when you’re trying strongly to focus on how vast this particular reality reaches is that this is actually not reality; it is still a movie after all. It is a reality shaped by the vision of director Stephen Gaghan.

Gaghan is the Academy Award winning screenwriter of “Traffic” and the construction of this new story comes together much the same way. There are three separate storylines that intersect each other throughout while becoming clearer as the end draws closer. As a director, this is only Gaghan’s second project and a definite step up from his previous effort, the Katie Holmes thriller, “Abandon”. He keeps the viewer engaged and affected throughout, showing as much strength and control as “Traffic” director, Steven Soderbergh. The difference between the two is Soderbergh’s ability to better balance the time spent on your toes and the time spent clutching your chest in pain. The scope of Gaghan’s script is too vast to be fully absorbed, leaving the viewer moved but not clearly understanding why. I respect Gaghan’s ability to pick up a scene at any given time without over explaining every tangent or spending too much time contextualizing the viewer but this can leave the viewer feeling removed … not the desired effect when your hopes as a director lie in educating the viewer on this poignant topic. Thank goodness for home theatre and multiple screenings.


What is missing is a more human element while at the same time, most of the human elements involved seem unnecessary. Again, going back to “Traffic” (as you will find yourself unable to resist comparing the two as well), the majority of the drug-related threats were personalized, tying the string between the drug lords mass-producing their product to the street kids and upper class privileged buying the junk. Here, the players’ humanity is incorporated to give them some characterization, depth. With so much happening in their professional lives, their personal lives seem superfluous and consequently lend nothing to their motivation, eventually being ignored and mostly unfinished. The most personalized focus comes from George Clooney’s portrayal of Bob Barnes, an agent with the CIA who seems just as lost and caught up in this cyclone of corruption, greed and power as we are. Clooney’s performance begins so quietly, so passively, and builds like a rumbling beneath your feet before a natural disaster strikes. Getting on in years and always well intentioned, Barnes no longer knows who controls his life, only that it is not himself. He has much to say but cowers when given the chance to say it. To a large extent, he has given up trying to make change. Clooney plays Barnes as exhausted, apathetic and frustrated without having the drive to change that. He has been telling the same lies and making the same deals for so long, he no longer questions to what goal they contribute. He has not been corrupted but he turns away his eyes to every command he executes under the moral armor that his decisions are not his own. Only they are.

Gaghan’s camera is constantly positioned either very close or very far from the action, sometimes within the same scene. The effect is a varied degree of understanding, that we are closer to the problem than we think one minute and then detached and removed, lost the next, with numerous obstacles obstructing our view. We try to piece together the connection between the American government, the Saudi monarchy, the corporate control, the legal whitewashing and the resulting racism that instills fear and lack of understanding of everything Arab and hatred of America by the Arab people. I walked in with a vague understanding of the interconnectedness of all these issues and left “Syriana” with the concrete knowledge that it is oh so much more complicated than I originally thought.