A masterpiece that exposes the whole story of drug trafficking presented by the genius of ``Traffic'' Soderbergh. What makes it complicated but not difficult?

A genius director discovered the option of “I carry the camera”

Soderbergh won the Cannes Film Festival's top prize , the Sex, Lies, and Videotape . At only 26 years old, he is the youngest player in history, and news of a genius manager appearing suddenly spread around the world.

But then Soderbergh fell into a dark age. Due to his strong commitment to artistic tastes, he was unable to produce any box office hits, and in 1996 he released the completely independent film `` Schizopolis ,'' in which he directed, wrote, shot, edited, composed music, and starred. The extremely surreal content was criticized as ``I don't understand why,'' and it seemed like his career in Hollywood was over.

The above-mentioned `` Out of Sight' ' is where Soderbergh made a comeback. The film was adapted from Elmore Leonard's crime novel at a breezy pace, and at the same time achieved an edgy artistic taste, winning the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. They became such a great duo that they co-founded the film production company ``Section Eight'' with leading actor George Clooney (currently disbanded).

At this point, Soderbergh had found the balance between pursuing his own creativity while remaining within the bounds of commercial entertainment. In a past interview, he reminisced about ``Out of Sight,'' saying, ``I was surprised that a commercial film could be made,'' and it wasn't the path he had expected.

Riding the wave, Soderbergh achieved an incredible feat by releasing ``Traffic'' and `` Erin Brockovich '' in the same year. Both films received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, with Soderbergh winning Best Director for Traffic, Julia Roberts winning Best Actress for Erin Brockovich, and Benicio Del Toro for Traffic. He won the Best Supporting Actor Award.

Taking advantage of this tailwind, Soderbergh took on the role of director and cinematographer for ``Traffic.'' Since then, Soderbergh has also served as the director of photography on all of his films, and has also carried the camera as a camera operator. Aside from ultra-low-budget films like ``Schizopolis,'' it is extremely rare for the director himself to be in charge of the camera, even for an entertaining blockbuster like `` Ocean's Eleven .''

The footage in ``Traffic'' may seem incomprehensible if you break it down shot by shot, but it can be said to be an extraordinary feat that was made possible because it was shot by a director who understood the entire film. Soderbergh's films, not just ``Traffic,'' use unstable takes that sometimes seem crude, but they also allow you to visualize the finished product on set, so even takes that would normally be rejected are used. Because you can immediately give the OK. The ability to exquisitely process the enormous amount of information in ``Traffic'' is a result of the one-man system of director and cinematographer (who also served as editor).

However, Soderbergh is also 54 years old as of August 2017. I don't know how long I'll be able to carry a camera around. Now I just hope that as many as possible can be seen to see the results of this rare system.

Text: Akira Murayama

Born in 1971. Writes articles for magazines, newspapers, movie sites, etc. Representative of “ShortCuts,” a review site for distribution-based works.

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*Information as of August 2017 article publication.