Behind the Candelabra

Sex, lies and videotape. In Behind the Candelabra, Soderbergh takes the same ambivalent approach to the characters as he did in Magic Mike, his previous revealing commentary on the contradictory nature of the American Dream. He has sympathy for the emotional lives of the protagonists, who are rootless orphans in a certain sense. He doesn’t observe them from a distance as if they were two bizarre creatures, but rather delves into their private lives, taking an interest in the most intimate moments of their cohabitation, but without sensationalising (or ridiculing) the fact that he put Gordon Gekko and Jason Bourne in the same bed together. He raises his eyebrows at the extravagant lifestyle that Liberace represented in the 1970s and which today is regularly touted by many generally less talented celebrities. ___ The shots are bathed in artificial light and are dominated by warm colours, which recede only a few times when the “mask is removed” (a psychologically charged black-and-white flashback, scenes from the hospital and at the funeral of Liberace’s mother in shades of black and white). The excessively lighted mise-en-scéne in Liberace’s residence (unlike the more modest apartment of Scott’s surrogate parents) abounds with reflective surfaces, as if the same reflection of reality is also the life of Liberace, who hides his true identity behind outward splendour. Due, among other things, to the atypical (for an interior drama) filming in unbroken wholes, the characters literally get lost behind the props. It is necessary to point out that the jewellery and costumes, including the truly appropriate “peacock” shirt, are faithful copies of items housed in the museum of Liberace’s estate, so there is no exaggeration in the purely material sense. ___ The gleaming surface is a manifestation of the film’s self-aware campiness, which combines the extremes of 1970s fashion (i.e. the style of the Village People and David Bowie) with the glittery aesthetic of music videos by Madonna and Lady Gaga. Emotional turmoil on the inside, falsity and exaggeration on the outside. Altogether, a stimulating deconstruction of the phenomenon of camp. ___ The film also alludes to the 1970s with long Steadicam shots and the casting of the queen of camp, Debbie Reynolds, who began to shine on Broadway in the ’70s. We can understand this return to the “rebellious” period of New Hollywood as Soderbergh’s expression of disillusion over the direction of the current American film industry, which – like Liberace – is focused on the surface and short-term enjoyment, and is thus marked by a lack a genuineness. ___ Though the narrative has a less subversive structure than that of Side Effects, it is comparably sophisticated when it comes to drawing parallels (Billy as the first monster that Liberace created), using ellipses and changing the point of view, with the related redistribution of sympathies (the second half of the film, after a reprise of the Jacuzzi scene, this time with the characters sitting with their backs to the camera, is richer in subjectivising shots simulating Scott’s perception of reality). Mainly, however, Behind the Candelabra is a showcase for the magnificent acting of Michael Douglas, who after (or thanks to) his cancer performs as if his life depends on it. 80% (15.07.2013) (minder) (meer)