Getting Away With It: Or: The Further Adventures of the Luckiest Bastard You Ever Saw [Paperback]

Steven Soderbergh (Author), Richard Lester (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0571190251 | ISBN-13: 978-0571190256 | Publication Date: November 1, 2000 | Edition: 1st

Getting Away with It is a hilarious, insightful conversation between two visionary directors, Steven Soderbergh and Richard Lester, about the manifold joys and hardships of being a filmmaker. Though a generation apart, both share the infectious passion of cinephilia and have had a wide impact on the world film community. Soderbergh's freshman effort as a writer-director, sex, lies, and videotape, inaugurated a movement in low-budget, independent American film that remains a vital part of contemporary cinema today. Lester's freewheeling films of the sixties and seventies (including the Beatles' movies Help! and A Hard Day's Night; The Knack; How I Won the War and Petulia) helped to create a "new wave" of British film-making. Together they discuss their respective adventures in motion pictures in a free-ranging and sardonically educational dialogue.

Interwoven with this dialogue is a similarly witty and insightful journal by Soderbergh, recounting an extraordinary twelve months in which he rejected the Hollywood system and ventured into "guerilla film-making" with the offbeat projects Schizopolis and Gray's Anatomy, before returning to the Hollywood fray with his acclaimed adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Out of Sight", starring George Clooney.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Too funny, too true, too sad to put down." --David Thomson, The Independent on Sunday

About the Author

Steven Soderbergh's latest films are Erin Brockovich and Ocean's Eleven. Richard Lester's last film was Get Back, a documentary of the 1989-90 Paul McCartney tour.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1st edition (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571190251
• ISBN-13: 978-0571190256
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lester interviews-okay, Soderbergh-hilarious procrastinator, January 1, 2001

By 

George B. Moise (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Getting Away With It: Or: The Further Adventures of the Luckiest Bastard You Ever Saw (Paperback)

Finally, a window into Steven Soderbergh, the eclectic director of Schizopolis and Kafka. But I guess most people will know him as (in big flashy capital letters) "THE DIRECTOR OF ERIN BROCKOVICH & OUT OF SIGHT" as he's being billed now. I find it funny that Soderbergh is now considered this "Hollywood" director when, upon reading this book (and viewing his entire filmography), you find him almost the antithesis of your typical "Hollywood" personality. He's moody, self involved (in a good way), and a hilarious procrastinator.

But that's just one half of the book. Intercut with Soderbergh's journal entries (which date from just after he finished 'Schizoplois' and 'Gray's Anatomy' to him helming 'Out of Sight)are a collection of interviews he has with Richard Lester, the groundbreaking director of "A Hard Days Night" and "The Knack" (which I just saw and absolutely loved). I have to confess I had not seen almost any of Richard Lester's work (not including the Superman movies of which I had no idea he was involved) and since all they talk about is Lester's films I found it uninteresting to read about movies I've never seen. I did though, through Soderbergh's praise, go and watch a number of Lester's movies and then went back and read the sections that discussed them.

But the real magic of this book, at least to me and to all the Soderbergh-ites out there, is Soderbergh. His journal entries are insightful, funny, and really honest. And his style is so casual it feels like reading over letters from an old friend. I absolutely flew through his journal entries and enjoyed ever one of them. The great thing, from a fan's perspective and people interested in the movie business, is the honest, tiresome, struggle he shows of just surviving in Hollywood and the toll it takes on him. And since 'Schizopolis' may be my favorite Soderbergh movie, his journal entries being written at the time of it's release is an extra treat. And if you're a fan of Richard Lester you'll like this book even more.

So I would absolutely recommend this book: it's funny, it's informational, it's inspiring, and it's refreshingly honest. Look forward to laughing a lot too; his musings on his own procrastination are comic gems.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting for film people and die-hard fans, February 12, 2001

By 

Christopher Conway (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Getting Away With It: Or: The Further Adventures of the Luckiest Bastard You Ever Saw (Paperback)

The majority of this book is a series of interviews between Stephen Soderbergh and Richard Lester that will mainly be of interest to fans of Mr. Lester, filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers. The first two-thirds of the book is basically a film-by-film discussion of Mr. Lester's ouevre, which too often (for my tastes) lapses into shop talk (lighting setups, film stock, etc.) and "I love it when Michael Crawford..."-type observations. I found myself skimming whole sections looking for more interesting and accessible anecdotes and discussions.

The other major part of the book is Soderbergh's journal c.1996 -- from about the time he finished editing "Schizopolis" and "Gray's Anatomy" through the months of trying to get them released, ending with his agreement to direct "Out of Sight". These sections are livelier and more amusing but get repetitive (negotiations fall through time and again, law suits drag on, procrastination is a never-ending theme) and too cute/clever (the wry footnotes get old after... well, pretty much right away).

I don't mean to be so down on this book -- I did enjoy it quite a bit -- but my expectations were higher and I know a lot of people who are not as interested in the technical side of filmmaking will find much of this material tedious. I would recommend it (highly) for those with that inclination, and also for fans of Mr. Lester's films (i.e., those who have seen and enjoyed at least "A Hard Day's Night", "The Knack", "Petulia", and one or two others). All others should approach warily.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and enlightening, July 16, 2001

By 

Kyle Carritt (Omaha, NE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting Away With It: Or: The Further Adventures of the Luckiest Bastard You Ever Saw (Paperback)

Being a fan of his work/output over the past few years, Soderbergh's book of interview and journal entries appeared to be a must-buy. It proved to be quite interesting and very revealing. The Richard Lester interview pieces may drag in some parts (being unaware of Mr. Lester's own filmography, this may seem destined), yet the two directors do contemplate a variety of subjects outside of filmmaking (the purpose of man, religion, and many other topics). The journal entries are hilarious bits and pieces of the Writer's Deliema/Writer's Block. Soderbergh constantly engages and his bizarre sense of humor peppers the book (all of the footnotes, for instance).

All in all, fascinating read, and it even turned me on to the films of Lester (bought "The Knack" the day after reading it).

Bravo, Steve.