Easy Rider is not just a significant American movie. It is also an exceptional example of independent filmmaking, one where, with the unwavering ambition of youth and a desire for something different, a film rises above and beyond the studio-beholden establishment to achieve a triumph all its own.
Following the release of Sex, Lies, and Videotape in 1989, Steven Soderbergh was poised for stardom as the darling of the indie scene. He sat at the head table in a push to change the face of cinema. Unlike contemporaries like Tarantino, his predicted rise didn’t happen right away. He followed the popular debut with …
A haggard voice breaks the darkness of the screen. “Tell me… “Tell me… “Tell me about Jenny.” If possible, the voice is simultaneously threatening and pleading. It’s demanding and mourning. Terence Stamp’s Wilson in Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey is a man out of place, a British ex-con in sunny Los Angeles trying to learn about his …
Steven Soderbergh became the poster child for new American independent cinema in the 90’s, after winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his debut feature Sex, Lies, & Videotape. Soderbergh spent the better part of the ensuing decade, directing small idiosyncratic films, and often wearing many hats including producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and …