Steven Soderbergh is a legend of independent filmmaking His latest, the HBO Max comedy “Let Them All Talk,” was shot in just two weeks and was largely improvised by its cast. The film stars Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, and Candice Bergen, who play longtime friends reuniting on an ocean liner in what is being dubbed as a dialogue-heavy film.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Streep revealed just how groundbreaking the
“I told [Soderbergh] he was gonna ruin everything for every director, and every production designer, and everything else, because he made the movie for 25 cents — I know that’s what I was paid,” Streep said. “Then it was made in two weeks, and it was a free ride on the boat.”
Bergen also said, “I think [Soderbergh]’s the most fearless filmmaker, and his intellect is so piercing. He was doing the camerawork, so you sort of watched his brain right behind the camera, spinning like a top. It was really interesting. And short.”
Wiest also revealed the film was shot with “no equipment. The only equipment was sound equipment. Steven held the camera in a wheelchair and just rolled along. None of the lights, and the trucks, all that stuff that goes into making movies, there’s none of it. There was Steven and this new camera.”
It’s arguable no director has transcended multiple genres the way the great Soderbergh has, especially over the last decade. The prolific has filmmaker has moved from psychological thriller, to drama, to comedy, all be it, never allowing the films to lose that unique Soderbergh touch. Soderbergh retired in early 2013, clarifying that he had a five-year plan that saw him transitioning away from making feature films when he reached his 50th birthday. And yet, here we are at the end of the decade, and, so much for retirement, the legendary filmmaker ended up releasing 11 movies this decade.
“Let Them All Talk” is set to launch on HBO Max in December.