Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh's feature films present a diverse range of subject matter and formal styles: from the self-absorption of his breakthrough hitSex, Lies, and Videotapeto populist social problem films such asErin Brockovitch, and from the modernist discontinuity ofFull Frontaland filmed performance art ofGray's Anatomyto a glossy, star-studded action blockbuster such asOcean's Eleven. 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 oeuvre. Almost every movie centres on an alienated main character, and 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.