Alternative Scriptwriting, 5th Edition

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Narrative and Anti-Narrative: The Case of the Two Stevens

In this chapter, we look at the work of two important film storytellers, Steven Spielberg and Steven Soderbergh. They represent two extreme impulses. Spielberg’s impulse is classic linear storytelling, clearly plot-driven, and very effective (so effective, in fact, that it underpins the most commercially successful career in film history). Soderbergh’s impulse is ambiguous, experimental, and quirky. We call it anti-narrative. The impulse of Steven Soderbergh is, above all, a strategy to opt for creative rather than overtly commercial narrative solutions. That is not to say that Steven Spielberg has not experimented or sought creative solutions in his own work. Nor is it to say that Steven ...