STEVEN SODERBERGH
The Envelope asked this season’s standout directors what filmmakers influenced them. Here are Steven Soderbergh’s (“The Laundromat”) top picks.
LINA WERTMÜLLER ITALIAN WRITER-DIRECTOR
“It’s funny because when we were in Venice [for the 2019 Venice Film Festival] I wore a T-shirt that said “Written and directed by Lina Wertmüller.” Lina had an incredible facility as both a writer and a director. She knew how to move the camera, she knew how to fashion a beautiful screenplay, she knew how to work with actors, and she made this incredible stream of darkly comic films about very serious subjects. I was — and still am — fascinated by Lina Wertmüller.”
MIKE NICHOLS AMERICAN DIRECTOR
“My first movie [‘sex, lies and videotape’] was a complete ripoff of ‘Carnal Knowledge’ — a chamber piece with essentially four characters where it’s mostly talking. So Mike Nichols was a huge influence on me for that film in particular. He had a genuine interest in and fascination with people. His way into a project was the characters.”
RICHARD LESTER BRITISH DIRECTOR
“What I liked about Richard Lester’s work was the range, the intelligence that was always on display, the lack of pretension and the speed with which he worked. In ‘The Laundromat,’ in terms of tone and sense of humor, I thought a lot about a terrific movie Richard made called ‘How I Won the War.’ It’s a highly stylized comedic treatment of a deeply tragic subject. ‘How I Won the War’ rewards your engagement, but it’s a very dense and fast-moving object, so you really have to pay attention.”