Steven Soderbergh has been a busy man these past few years. In addition to directing every episode of one of T.V.’s most electrifying dramas, “The Knick” – which, if you are not watching, you absolutely should be – Mr. Soderbergh had quite the productive run from 2010 until now, churning out fine, challenging films like “Contagion,” his stripper melodrama “Magic Mike,” “Side Effects,” and his dazzling Liberace biopic “Behind the Candelabra” with remarkable efficiency.
READ MORE: Retrospective: The Films of Steven Soderbergh
One film from this post-2010 run that I haven’t mentioned is “Haywire," a light, goofy, globetrotting action-adventure flick. “Haywire” isn’t Soderbergh’s best film by a long shot, but it’s still a fun, entertaining and well-made thriller that was unjustly lambasted by many critics. The movie also made a sort-of star out of former MMA fighter Gina Carano, who plays a black-ops specialist trained in kicking ass first and taking names later. A new video essay is here to dissect one of the film’s more memorable scenes: a stylishly-lit fight sequence that unfolds between Carano and her co-star Michael Fassbender in a hotel bedroom.
“Haywire” is full of wild, kinetic fight scenes, but the one being discussed here is pretty brutal. Apparently, at one point, Fassbender slammed his female co-star’s head into the wall so violently that she saw white. Soderbergh also apparently tweaked Carano’s voice in post-production, so as to distinguish the fighter from her on-screen counterpart. Carano seems to have been cast for her physicality, and it’s a wise move on the director’s part: her entire body is a weapon, one that is put to fine use over the course of the film’s fleet 93-minute runtime. The video is filled with interesting tidbits and nuggets of trivia that will surely be catnip for any devoted Soderbergh fan. Check out the video below, and watch “Haywire” if you haven’t already.