The dizzyingly eclectic CV of Steven Soderbergh covers a vast array of genres and mediums: indie favorites like “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” crowd-pleasing titles like the “Magic Mike” and the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise, and dramas like “Erin Brockovich,” “Traffic,” and “Kimi.” He’s ventured into television on several occasions, most notably as executive producer on “The Knick” and “The Girlfriend Experience.” In 2013, he made his TV-movie debut with “Behind the Candelabra,” a biopic of the performer Liberace for HBO.
Michael Douglas stars as the legendary showman, who died of complications from AIDS in 1987, with Matt Damon as Scott Thorson, a naïve entertainment industry hopeful who becomes Liberace’s lover. Given Liberace’s penchant for glitzy costumes and semi-camp performances, it’s easy to think that “Candelabra” will be a warts-and-all confessional, like the memoir by Thorson on which the film is based. But Soderbergh instead turns his project into an extended meditation on image and perception; Liberace, an openly gay man whose abundant charm wards off audiences’ concerns about his sexuality, sees Thorson as both his lover and his son, and attempts to literally make him in his likeness (via Rob Lowe’s creepy plastic surgeon). The confusion of images also fuels the film’s most dramatic point — Liberace and Thorson view their roles in each other’s lives in very different ways, which leads Thorson to sue the entertainer for palimony.
This depth of storytelling, combined with Douglas and Damon’s performances, make “Candelabra” a memorable and ultimately heartbreaking experience. The film swept the Emmys in 2014, claiming 11 awards, including outstanding movie, as well as trophies for Douglas, Soderbergh, costuming, makeup, editing, and sound.
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