If you don’t know the history between Steven Soderbergh and Christopher Nolan, then you should do a bit of Googling. The short version is this: being one of the early champions of “Memento,” before it was picked up by a distributor, Soderbergh was the go-to person for Nolan’s people to call to ask for a favor. One of those favors included getting a meeting for Nolan at Warner Bros. to pitch “Insomnia.” Of course, that happened and Nolan and WB enjoyed a long, very fruitful relationship for years after. So, it makes sense that Soderbergh would enjoy Nolan’s latest film, “Oppenheimer.” But his praise of the film also includes Soderbergh backing up the claims that this film is the best Nolan has ever done.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, in a delightful and thoughtful interview, Steven Soderbergh was asked if he partook in the “Barbenheimer” double-feature weekend shenanigans from a few weeks back. The filmmaker explained that he hasn’t seen “Barbie” (as of the interview), but did get to see “Oppenheimer.” And as you might expect, Soderbergh was really impressed.
“I’ve only seen ‘Oppenheimer,’” explained Soderbergh. “I’m halfway there. I couldn’t get into ‘Barbie!’ But ‘Oppenheimer’ is a real accomplishment. I read somewhere that Chris implied that this is the movie he’s been building toward, and I think he’s right. And I’m thrilled that it’s a massive hit.”
He continued, “This is such good news for the movies — both of them, really. You have two blockbusters from directors who came out of the independent world who were given complete control over these large-scale projects and they’re massive hits. This is exactly what Section Eight was trying to do twenty years ago, is hook up independent filmmakers with projects that could come out on 4,000 screens. That was our mandate. I’m so happy and just hope we can keep this momentum going.”
It’s interesting to see Soderbergh comment on the fact that these two blockbusters— “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” —have their roots in independent cinema. Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan both started with modest indie features. And through their skill and great opportunities, they’ve both been able to establish themselves as some of the biggest filmmakers working today in the studio system. Sure, this is newer territory for Gerwig than it is for Nolan, but it doesn’t appear that the “Barbie” filmmaker is going to leave the studio system any time in the near future.
So, if you needed yet another positive review for “Oppenheimer,” Soderbergh is here with the good news. Now, if you haven’t already, go watch “Command Z,” which is available on Soderbergh’s Extension765 website.