#618: SODERBERGH, Steven: Gray's Anatomy (1997)
SODERBERGH, Steven (United States)
Commentary
None.
Interviews
With Soderbergh and monologue cowriter Shafranksy.
A Personal History of the American Theater
A ninety-five-minute monologue by Gray, originally produced by the Wooster Group in 1980 and videotaped in 1982.
Gray's Anatomy [1997]
Spine #618
Blu-ray
Blu-ray
One of the great raconteurs of stage and screen, Spalding Gray, came together with one of cinema's boldest image makers, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, for Gray's Anatomy, a spellbinding adaptation of Gary's 1993 monologue of the same name (cowritten with Renée Shafransky). In it, Gray, with typical sardonic relish, chronicles his arduous journey through the diagnosis and treatment of a rare and alarming ocular condition. For the monologist, this experience occasioned a meditation on illness and mortality, medicine and metaphysics; for the filmmaker, it was a chance to experiment with ways of bringing his subject's words to brilliant, eye-opening life.
79 minutes
Color/Black & White
Color/Black & White
5.1 Surround
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2012
Director/Writers
Written by Spalding Gray and Renée Shafransky.
Steven Soderbergh was 34 when he directed Gray's Anatomy.
The Film
Other Soderbergh films in the Collection:
#938: Sex, Lies, And Videotape (1989)
#698: King Of The Hill (1993)
#199: Schizopolis (1996)
#151: Traffic (2000)
#938: Sex, Lies, And Videotape (1989)
#698: King Of The Hill (1993)
#199: Schizopolis (1996)
#151: Traffic (2000)
The Film
An early effort from Soderbergh, the film reinforces Spalding’s brilliant monologue with black and white excerpts of interviews with ordinary people with eye problems and adds subtle visual touches and cool special effects, like the shadowy recreation of the Philippine psychic surgery, etc. However, he never gets in the way of Gray’s incredible performance.
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
Twenty-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin.
56
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twenty-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin.
“Similarly prolific, Soderbergh and Gray could be two sides of the same coin in terms of their creative processes. Gray always dug in the same hole, but from slightly different angles — or to put it less metaphorically, he discovered in each succeeding piece that new experiences inevitably churned up and were filtered through the same trove of childhood memories. Gray was the opposite of a character actor, although he could be an excellent mimic for a moment or two when he wanted to evoke an encounter between himself and someone else within a first-person monologue, in which he always played ‘Spalding.’ Soderbergh, on the other hand, is the ultimate anti-auteurist auteur, determined never to repeat himself, or anyone else.”
Commentary
None.
Interviews
With Soderbergh and monologue cowriter Shafranksy.
A Personal History of the American Theater
A ninety-five-minute monologue by Gray, originally produced by the Wooster Group in 1980 and videotaped in 1982.
A terrific extra — like getting two films for the price of one.
Swimming to the Macula
Sixteen minutes of footage from Gray’s actual eye surgery.
Swimming to the Macula
Sixteen minutes of footage from Gray’s actual eye surgery.
Comments
Post a Comment