Soderbergh's Next Big Film Stars...A Porn Star?

Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh is one tough guy to figure out. Bouncing between mainstream Hollywood fare ("Out of Sight" and the Ocean's Trilogy) to weird little indie films ("Bubble" and "The Good German"). He's so strange that while he's on my list for my "Great Directors" feature, I'm putting off writing about him because he's just so off the wall. Normally he makes multiple films a year, but this year he released one film. Though, considering that film is the four and a half hour Spanish epic "Che," I think we can forgive him for focusing on one film. Apparently during the final editing phrase of "Che" Soderbergh decided to make another indie film. It's entitled "The Girlfriend Experience" and it's...well, this clip from an LA Times article:

The film stars porn star Sasha Grey as an escort in New York City. With a website to sell herself, she approaches her work like a job, and she spends much of her time when she isn't working taking meetings with various people who claim they can boost her business in various ways. She has a live-in boyfriend who works as a personal trainer, and their domestic discord becomes the film's dramatic throughline.

Soderbergh seems interested in exploring, as one character puts it, the "transactional," the exchange that occurs between people at all levels of interaction -- in business, in love, in everyday life. Everybody wants something.

It also must be noted that there seems to be a continuing subtext to the film that can only be read as Soderbergh's dig at critics and journalists, perhaps in the wake of the mixed reception to his film "Che." (And considering how the room was full of an august selection of them, his timing was impeccable.) Film critic Glenn Kenny shows up as a sleazy porn blogger -- his first appearance onscreen elicited something of a gasp of recognition from the crowd, and he also grabbed the film's biggest laugh line -- and his "review" of the escort's services is petty and an outright lie. His sequence ends with the camera on two street singers as they declare "everyone's a critic."

While some may be put off by the film's icy surfaces and exacting framing -- Soderbergh mentioned Antonioni's "Red Desert" as an influence -- it is exciting to see a major filmmaker in the middle of a staggering run of work continue to push himself at the prolific pace Soderbergh does. Even if he is only doodling or sketching or working out some latent hostility issues, it is thrilling to see, and provides insight on his mind at work.

Okay...whatever. I have to admit that this caught me by surprise. Of course, Soderbergh is honestly one of the few directors to consistantly surprise me. I was shocked when I discovered he was making "Ocean's Thirteen" a few years ago. Who knows if this will be good, as Soderbergh's stuff can be very hit and miss. Either way though it will most likely be interesting.

"Che" Get's Day and Date

In a shocking move, IFC Films, known for their day and date releases of many smaller films, have picked up Steven Soderberg's "Che." This means you will have the chance to see the movie either in a select number of theaters or on Video On Demand...on the exact same day. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. Releases like these for limited releases makes it harder for me to see in the theaters, and I don't want to miss an epic like this in the theater. Still no word on whether or not the film will be available as one or in split in two. Either way this is getting interesting (maybe too interesting, I can see Oscar voters passing this movie by due to release complications alone).

"Che" Will Be Twice As Much Fun/Money

According to Variety Magazine, Steven Soderberg's "Che" will be split into two films while the four hour long version will receive a "road show" release. For those who don't know what the term road show means it was basically a form of distribution for epic movies of the old days. See, back when three to four hour films like "Ben-Hur" and "Around the World In 80 Days" were being made, not all theaters had the surround sound and wide screens to make a mainstream release possible. Therefor these movies would open in select cities and then slowly move to other cities over the next couple of years. And since DVD didn't exist back then (heck, VHS wasn't even on the radar yet) this sort of run around could last a few years.

Now Oscar winner Soderberg, who is known for his experimental films, decided to make a four hour epic on the life of Latin Revolutionary Che Guevera, starring Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro as the the title character. It's a bold undertaking as the cinema hasn't seen a four hour epic released in theaters since Warner Bros. released "Gods and Generals" in 2003 (a major flop, though I blame that on the poor quality of the film and NOT the running time). While this would have been a hard sell to the public I think it could have been a success because people who are interested in this film expressed interest in sitting through a four hour film. By breaking it in two it feels like a cheap way to sell multiple tickets, and I'm not sure how many people are going to buy it.

This could also potentially effect the films Oscar chances (particularly Del Toro, who's an early favorite at a Best Actor nomination), because with two halfs of the film the votes this film receives could be split. Or maybe the Academy members won't vote for either. After all, how do you decide which half of the movie has better direction and/or acting then the other? In fact, chances are the road show release of the full movie is there to try and eliminate this confusion for the voters. Either way I'm less confident in the film now.