Steven Soderbergh

(book in English)

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by Aaron Baker

Type

Studies

Subject

Director > Steven Soderbergh

Keywords

Steven Soderbergh

Publishing date

2011

Publisher

University of Illinois Press

Collection

Contemporary Film Directors

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 152 pages • 22 €
5 ½ x 8 ¼ inches (14 x 21 cm)
Also available as an eBook.

ISBN

978-0-252-07796-8

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Book Presentation:
A Hollywood director who blends substance with the mainstream

Steven Soderbergh's feature films present a diverse range of subject matter and formal styles: from the self-absorption of his breakthrough hit Sex, Lies, and Videotape to populist social problem films such as Erin Brockovich, and from the modernist discontinuity of Full Frontal and filmed performance art of Gray's Anatomy to a glossy, star-studded action blockbuster such as Ocean's Eleven. Using a combination of realism and expressive stylization of character subjectivity, Soderbergh's films diverge from the contemporary Hollywood mainstream through the statements they offer on issues including political repression, illegal drugs, violence, environmental degradation, the empowering and controlling potential of digital technology, and economic inequality.

Arguing that Soderbergh practices an eclectic type of moviemaking indebted both to the European art cinema and the Hollywood genre film, Aaron Baker charts the common thematic and formal patterns present across Soderbergh's œuvre. Almost every movie centers on an alienated main character, and Soderbergh has repeatedly emphasized place as a major factor in his narratives. Formally, he represents the unconventional thinking of his outsider protagonists through a discontinuous editing style. Including detailed analyses of major films as well as two interviews with the director, this volume illustrates Soderbergh's hybrid flexibility in bringing an independent aesthetic to wide audiences.

See the publisher website: University of Illinois Press

See the complete filmography of Steven Soderbergh on the website: IMDB ...