The movie that inspired Steven Soderbergh to become a filmmaker: “I wanted to know who made this”
Few directors can match Steven Soderbergh when it comes to prolificness and proficiency behind a camera. Since he made his debut with 1989’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape, he has churned out an ungodly amount of work, most of which has been of a very high quality. Alongside his impressive catalogue, Soderbergh is also an outspoken advocate for creativity within the film industry and a critic of the oppressive studio system.
Every great career starts somewhere, and for directors, their love affair with film usually begins with one fateful viewing of a classic. Soderbergh is no exception, as he owes his entire career to a fellow filmmaker with a very similar name – the legendary Steven Spielberg.
“I saw Jaws in 1975, and it so freaked me out that I wanted to know who made this, who was responsible for taking my head off in this manner?” he told Film Threat. “Luckily this book, The Jaws Log that Carl Gottlieb wrote, was released simultaneously with the film and I bought it. I just read it compulsively and reread it and became fascinated with the idea of how movies were made. That was sort of the germ of it. The following year, when we moved to Louisiana, I fell in with these filmmakers, because I happened to be going to high school on the LSU campus. As soon as I got my hands on some equipment I thought, ‘This is fun.'”
Carl Gottlieb is a comedian, actor, and screenwriter who was originally cast in a minor part in Jaws. He was friends with Spielberg, so the director asked him to touch up the script, particularly looking to inject more humour into proceedings. Gottlieb did a fantastic job, even sacrificing his own character’s scenes to elevate other areas of the movie. His work earned him several award nominations, including a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and a very special place in the hearts of film fans worldwide. The Jaws Log captures the famously troubled production process behind the ultimate shark movie. It’s widely regarded as the definitive text on the subject, as well as one of the best ‘making of’ books ever written.
It’s no secret that Jaws changed the game in many ways. Spielberg was only in his mid-twenties when he was given the unenviable task of shooting a movie on open water, something that had never been attempted before. His decision to obscure the shark for most of the film began as a practical one, as he was unhappy with how the animatronic looked on screen, but it transformed the way cinematic villains were presented. Jaws was so successful that it coined the term ‘blockbuster’, as people queued up across multiple streets (or ‘blocks’) to get tickets.
Soderbergh has spoken of his admiration for Spielberg many times and you can clearly see the latter’s influence in the former’s work. Much like his idol, Soderbergh rarely stays in the same genre or tackles the same subject matter for very long. He has proven himself adept at multiple strands of cinema, from slick heist stories to historical epics.
Like Spielberg, whilst some themes recur through his filmography, Soderbergh doesn’t have what you might call a ‘signature style’. He blends into his movies, taking himself out of the limelight and increasing focus on the end product. Some auteurs could really learn from this.
