We sit down with Hollywoods most versatile auteur.
This article appears in the new issue ofDEN OF GEEK magazine.
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Arguably, the only genres he hasnt tackled are Westerns and childrens movies.
Theres a larger chance of me doing a pure kids film than me doing a Western, Soderbergh admits.
If Im not excited to be there, then Im not going to be there.
The latter netted him the Best Director Oscar.
Ive known David a long time.
We both had movies at Sundance in 1989.
I didnt want to do one.
He was like, You have to do one.
I said, But they always suck.
Hes like, You have to explain why this is happening.
So we walked away but stayed friendly.
I wrote eight pages of an opening forPresenceand sent it to David.
He said, I know exactly what to do with this.
I read an unproduced script Koepp wrote about a supercollider.
Having no association with a finished film, you could see how airtight/precise his scripts are.
Your naturalism tends to mask a lot of those script mechanics in a complementary way.
Thats one of the reasons our collaboration has gone so well.
I trust his extremely high level of craft and gift with the architecture of pure movie storytelling.
She has this gift and is convinced to come to the house.
The audience doesnt view her as a kook or a flake.
Thats me wanting to keep it from being too caricatured.
A stealth Harold the Explainer scene… Terry Gilliam said he doesnt like shaky handheld shots because they dont present the way our eyes perceive things.
He prefers Steadicams or cranes or static wide angles.
How much were you thinking about the way human perception works while shootingPresence?
Technically, hes correct.
Our brains and our eyes have the worlds best stabilization technology.
During prep, I experimented with different cameras and stabilization devices.
Going up and down stairs was tricky, but I really enjoyed the demands that approach required.
Because Id seen the scene before, I instinctively anticipated it.
I would have to go, Cut, my fault.
I fucked that up.
It was fun, but it was tricky.
This POV concept gave you a great excuse not to do any conventional coverage.
Was that part of the appeal?
At the same time, theres no plan B.
If it doesnt work, youre screwed.
Theres no alternative way to shoot it.
The protagonist doesnt have any eyes.
You keep not only the visual perspective of the ghost but the aural perspective.
I talked to the sound team about that a lot.
The audience should never be struggling to hear this dialogue.
There was a very specific take on that material.
Visually, I was going to be a lot trickier than I am onBlack Bag.
Ours was a period piece; this is contemporary.
Thats hard to make cinematic.
It didnt feel like that kind of movie.
Whatever game I was building for that version ofMan From U.N.C.L.E.
got left by the side of the road.
I like to not waste things.
The feeling that comes across between the characters is legitimate.
That was a uniquely wonderful cast, and they had a great time together.
Hes a real leader in life, the way Danny is in the movies.
No guns to speak of.
Theyre not violent, except for a little language.
Your family can watch these.
I was really proud of those.
You make a good case.
It was taking me down a path that really didnt play to my core.
Oh my god, yeah.
It feels like a Jane Austen novel compared to whats going on now.
The ability we have now to re-experience and regurgitate something over and over again.
That impulse is understandable; I was just amplifying it.
The funny thing was the assumption that stuff in the movie happened to me.
There are very few genres that you havent tackled, but would you consider doing a childrens movie someday?
Yeah, I dont think Ive ever done a pure…
But yeah, that would be interesting….
I think you have still gotta be tapped into that ability to see the world in those terms.
Whats that line fromSix Degrees of Separation?
They dont even know what any concept of art is, and theyre just making this brilliant thing.
Spikes able to do that.
Its a real gift.
Youve talked about how when directors get together, inevitably, the idea of being in decline comes up.
A lot of early films by male directors are about older men in decline.
Even your second film,Kafka, is about a dying artist in his 40s.
You made that in your late 20s.
Is legacy an idea that gets into a directors head from the start?
With few exceptions, there tends to be a drop-off.
The earliest indicator is when a male director makes a movie about the restorative powers of a young woman.
I want to be scared.
Theres got to be something about whatever it is that scares me because it keeps me alert.
Presence opens in theaters on Jan. 24, 2025.
