Director Soderbergh Stephen: biography, best films

A good director can be seen right away. According to his imagination. By his work. According to his biography. Now on hearing the name of Soderbergh Stephen, and what do we know about this man, except his films? We will try to find out more about him. Perhaps, then the secret of his success will become clear and the reason for the infinite presence in all lists of laureates.

Childhood

In 1963, in mid-January, a boy was born in Georgia , who was named Stephen. His father, the professor, moved the whole family to Pittsburgh, and then to Baton Rouge, where he began working as a dean of the state university. As a schoolboy, Stephen Soderbergh enrolls in animator courses at his father's university and shoots the first short films (Janitor). The work of the guy captures, and after school he tries to realize the "great American dream" - to move to Hollywood. For a while he keeps afloat, working as a freelance editor, and then returns home to work in a video studio for the production of commercials and video clips. Along the way, Stephen Soderbergh continues to shoot short films and write scripts. In 1986, he shoots a documentary, for which he is nominated for a Grammy.

Successes and failures

The first directorial success of Stephen Soderbergh survives in alcohol captivity, but he does his best to solve the problem. In 1987 he shoots a short film with the study of sexual relations "Winston". Further, he works on a logical continuation - already full-length tape "Sex, lies and video." The premiere of his work is exactly at the film festival "Sanders", where Soderbergh Stephen becomes the owner of the "Golden Palm Branch" and is nominated for an Oscar for the best original script.

Personal life

For the next six years, Soderbergh Stephen is building his own life, divorcing his wife, actress Betsy Brantley. His daughter Sarah is born. He is working hard on the second full-length tape - the film "Kafka", on the shooting in which he invited Jeremy Irons himself to the main role. The film very ambiguously describes the life and work of Franz Kafka, relying on the works of the writer himself.

Next is the work on the film "King of the Hill", which tells the story of the boy's life during the Great Depression. Little by little Soderbergh reveals. Stephen shows a game with flowers and a love for non-linear narrative. It is especially bright in the criminal drama Noir "There, inside" 1995. In the center of the plot is a robbery of the machine of collectors. The next film, Gray's Anatomy, talks about experiments in the field of alternative medicine, conducted by a famous American actor.

Hard work

In 1996, the experimental comedy "Shizopolis" was released. It's a new genre in which director Steven Soderbergh tries himself. Here, he also plays a leading role, acts as a composer, cameraman, script writer. The film begins with an original introductory word, which says that the film is rather confusing, but it is even more interesting to watch it, since with each viewing it will become clearer. The film gives a reference to the filmic epic of the experimental film of the 70s. In 1999, the "Englishman" came out. Stephen Soderbergh films his films with a unique technique of editing, which he attracts cult American actors. For example, in this film Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda have starred.

In 2000, two films were released: "Erin Brokovich" and "Traffic". Both paintings receive several nominations for "Oscar", which makes Soderbergh the first director since 1939, nominated for the best directing of a two-work sruza. As a result, he received a prize for "Traffic", a crime drama in the script of Stephen Gahan. The tape described all stages of drug trafficking, ranging from international supplies and ending with the sale to end customers. For today this is the longest tape of the director. It took 147 minutes. The picture "Erin Brokovich" was based on real events. This is a social drama where in the center of the story is a single mother performed by Julia Roberts, who is in litigation with a company that releases waste into the groundwater. Perhaps at that time the film was too complicated for the Oscar, but he was interested in critics.

Working with Cluny

Acquaintance with George Clooney gave Soderberg a lot, but the actor did not stay in the loser. For the first time he was called to "Out of sight" by Stephen Soderbergh. Films with romantic overtones, he shot rarely, and Clooney was interested in the script. His partner was Jennifer Lopez, and the plot was based on the romance between the bank robber and the federal marshal.

In 2001, one of the most financially successful films of the director - "Ocean's 11 Friends" - was released. This is a stylized remake of the 1960 film of the same name. Starring a whole galaxy of stars - George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon. The fees amounted to more than 183 million dollars. The plot was simple, but incredibly original. A team of friends could furnish anyone and often used it. The film is a mixture of comedy, detective and film-robbery. In each scene there is a branded, slightly "relaxed" humor of Soderbergh's heroes.

In 2004, there was a continuation of "Ocean's 12 friends", where Soderbergh outplayed almost all the themes from the first film and even surpassed the original.

And in 2007 saw the light of the third part of the movie "Ocean's 13", where the characters gathered to take revenge on the owner of the largest casino, which was performed by Al Pacino. To do this, they need to ruin the casino. In the course there are all kinds of machinations.

Collaboration with Clooney was with Soderbergh and in 2005, when he filmed a pilot series of the series Unscripted about young people looking for work in Hollywood. The rest of the series he entrusted to shoot George Clooney in the script of Grant Heslov.

Development

Low-budget became a picture of the director "In all its glory," which is essentially the continuation of the tape "Sex, lies and video." And then Steven Soderbergh continued to work on the screenings again. His filmography in 2002 was supplemented by a fantastic drama "Solaris", based on the novel by Stanislav Lem. The screenplay was very different from the version of Andrei Tarkovsky, as Soderbergh focused on the relationship of a man and a woman and their love. The producer of the picture was James Cameron, and George Clooney was invited to the main role.

Next was a semi-documentary miniseries "To Street" about lobbyists in Washington. Again, the work was conducted with George Clooney. The 2004 film "Eros" became a collaboration between Soderbergh, Wong Karwa and Michelangelo Antonioni.

Soderbergh tried not to stay within the framework and in proof of that he shot an experimental low-budget film "Bubble" without a special script and professional actors. The whole film is shot on a digital camera and released simultaneously for cinemas and DVDs. This is the first such experience, but Soderbergh has planned six more such films.

To be continued

In 2013, the screen released the film "Side Effect." Stephen Soderbergh became its director. The film is made in the genre of psychological thriller. Perhaps this is Soderberg's latest work. At least he made such a statement. After working on the "Side Effect" he managed to stage 10 series of the project "Hospital Nierkerbocker", was the operator on the film "Super Mike XXL." He did not make full-length tapes yet. Well, maybe he really wants to leave the movie.