Directed by:
Steven SoderberghScreenplay:
Steven SoderberghCinematography:
Walt LloydComposer:
Cliff MartinezVOD (1)
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With his provocative feature debut, twenty-six-year-old Steven Soderbergh trained his focus on the complexities of human intimacy and deception in the modern age. Housewife Ann (Andie MacDowell) feels distant from her lawyer husband, John (Peter Gallagher), who is sleeping with her sister (Laura San Giacomo). When John’s old friend Graham (a magnetic, Cannes-award-winning James Spader) comes to town, Ann is drawn to the soft-spoken outsider, eventually uncovering his startling private obsession: videotaping women as they confess their deepest desires. A piercingly intelligent and flawlessly performed chamber piece, in which the video camera becomes a charged metaphor for the characters’ isolation, the Palme d’Or–winning Sex, Lies, and Videotape changed the landscape of American film, helping pave the way for the thriving independent scene of the 1990s. (Criterion)
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Already with his first feature film, Steven Soderbergh showed that he was a very capable filmmaker who could delve deeply into the human psyche and didn't mind tackling subjects that might not be pleasant for everyone or that some might not want to openly discuss. In this case, it's the sexuality that remarkably comes to life through the performances, essentially without the need to film the explicit act itself.
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Steven Soderberg is a very demanding director. But when his movies get under your skin, you’ll be duly rewarded. It took me a long time to get to this movie. Who would have thought that open discussions about sexuality could make for such a strong tension? James Spyder is absolutely incredible in this movie and I must admit that although I wasn’t expecting it at first, I was bating my breath by the end. Sex, Lies and Videotape is a very personal and private movie, but the actors themselves take it to new heights.
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It is a joy to find out that Soderbergh was already making fully grown-up films at the age of 26. Sex, Lies and Videotape is a less accessible affair than one would expect from a festival hit (and it shows well the direction taken by the Sundance Film Festival, which has recently raised the visibility of much more gratifying films). ___ Each character has a problem that can be perceived as a symptom of more far-reaching social ills, thanks to which the film is a multi-layered psychosexual portrait of a generation. Graham, a man who adheres to the philosophy of one key, fights his (emotional) impotence by parasitising on strangers’ lives. Despite his obscure hobby, which satisfies a certain need (YouTube fulfils a similar confessional function today), he is the most emotionally well-balanced character, which seemingly enables him to attract the emotionally distracted Ann. Thanks to his composure, Graham is also the sincerest character, which encourages greater openness in others. ___ In art films, a popular narrative formula is when a third person enters the relationship of a couple, a disruptive element that gradually casts doubt on all certainties. Soderbergh was able to make that formula special through the atypical redistribution of power. The marriage of Ann and John, an all-too-typical 1980s yuppie, is not idyllic, so Graham’s influence on him is not destructive, but liberating. ___ Though the absolute majority of Freudian dialogue scenes take place in interiors (exteriors serve only to separate larger plot segments), those scenes are very “filmic”, although that may not be too obvious at first glance (the only formal element revealing debutant enthusiasm is the “expression” of an orgasm by means of the vertigo effect). Just as in the dark relationship dramas of the 1970s (Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show), which served as Soderbergh's inspiration, the characterisation of the characters is aided by the mise-en-scène and slow camera approach. The increasing frequency of cuts increases the tension, the shots follow one another graphically or with the aid of sound transitions (overlapping dialogue), which create the impression of the fateful interconnectedness of the characters (without the convulsiveness found in some later dramas with a webbed narrative). The self-consciousness of the narrative is also outstanding. While the characters lie, the images create an ironic effect by “telling” the truth; some information is intentionally withheld to magnify the surprising effect of the revelation, some cuts are “invisible” to the point that they amount to confusing time-space connections (Ann only sits in cars and she is suddenly in front of Graham’s house, a long flashback with an interview between Ann and Graham begins without warning so that we are taken back in time). ___ Therefore, the maturity praised in the introduction to this review does not refer only to the film’s thematic maturity, but also its formal maturity. As early as with his debut, it became clear that Soderbergh ranks among those filmmakers who actually think things over for a long time before shooting anything. 80%
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"Sometimes I feel stupid babbling about my little problems while children are starving in the world." Steven Soderbergh pays close attention not so much to the sex itself, but rather the relationships associated with it. The four actors perform their roles as if they are experiencing the whole affair and do not notice Walt Lloyd's camera at all. The Golden Globe that Soderbergh took home for his screenplay is well deserved in this case, as the small-scale exploration of the mentality of people trying to break/resist/redeem themselves in a rollercoaster of infidelity, lies and therapeutic video sex talk is brilliant. This is thanks to the use of the static camera, carefully chosen editing, simple interiors, and unglamorous costumes. It's also pleasantly civil, making the line between film and everyday reality even thinner, and when one of the characters utters a line that gives you a sense of déjà vu from your own life, the emotional impact of the film becomes even more direct.
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Steven Soderbergh and his superb ability to reflect human feelings without being overwrought or theatrical. It takes wit, lightness and, of course, some life experience to make a drama about relationships in such a way that it feels natural and the viewers don’t have to shake their heads at the illogical and often inexplicable behavior of the characters. Considering that Steven Soderbergh wrote the script himself at the age of 26 (probably a little earlier), I have no choice but to give him a deep bow. A psychological study like crazy, topped off with excellent performances and absolutely perfect dialogue.
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