See what you fuckers in the press have done? You’ve dispirited the shit out of Steven Soderbergh with all this “Moneyball” stuff.
His two-part epic “Che” is available on DVD and Blu-ray now in the U.K. so presumably this is the reason why he’s doing press across the pond.
But don’t look for answers about “Moneyball,” either the U.K. press is not asking or he’s simply not talking.
This conversation is strictly about “Che” and the man sounds defeated and rather depressed at the mixed response he got from the film and the adventurous way they presented the film with the road show of two parts. “Everybody got scarred by [Che] a little bit. I don’t know how to describe it. It took a long time to shake off. It was just such an intense four or five months that it really … You know, for a year after we finished shooting I would still wake up in the morning thinking, ‘Thank God I’m not shooting that film.’ “
Did “Che” take that much out of him? It appears so. Asked if he wished he never shot the film he responds bluntly, “Yeah.”
Times are tough in cinema these days as the bottom dollar means more and more and art takes a backslide (and critics who write about the art of movies become a dying breed). It all seems grim to Soderbergh and he might be seeing the light at the end of his tunnel.
“I’m looking at the landscape and I’m thinking, ‘Hmmm, I don’t know. A few more years maybe,'” Soderbergh said. “And then the stuff that I’m interested in is only going to be of interest to me.”
Update: We have a sneaking suspicion these quotes are old and from the end of the “Che” press cycle. Be advised this is very possible. We’re looking into it. Update 2 (7.16.09): We spoke to the writer. This interview actually is recent and conducted last week, so much for our theory and we guess therefore these quotes are within context.
This is the key quote to us. It sounds like he’s planning his escape route and it sounds like he knows the obstacles up ahead for all the film’s he’d like to make and perhaps sees them as impossible, but he’s also talked about early retirement before (and note, none of the publications or bloggers even raised an eyebrow about it last time, but $100 says you see a lot of ALL CAPS and exclamations marks this time around, figures…). “In terms of my career, I can see the end of it. I’ve had that sensation for a few years now. And so I’ve got a list of stuff that I want to do – that I hope I can do – and once that’s all finished I may just disappear.”
The filmmaker says he has, “three or four years worth of stuff,” presumably he means, “Cleo,” “Liberace” and the other Spalding Gray doc he has in the works, all of which will come after this falls, “The Informant” with Matt Damon.
The climate out there is bleak, to be certain, but we’re hoping in a few more years, around the time Soderbergh plans to bounce for good, things will change for the better. There’s always ebb and flow. We’re not counting him out yet and encourage you not to be too sensationalistic about it. Dude has had a rough few weeks with the whole Sony/”Moneyball” imbroglio so he’s allowed a bit of pessimism.