
sex, lies, and videotape. 1989. USA. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. With James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo. 35mm. 100 min.
After winning the Palme D’or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, sex, lies and videotape became a legitimate phenomenon, earning almost $25 million at the box office and almost singlehandedly ushering in the ’90s boom in American independent cinema. Soderbergh’s debut feature focuses on a trio of characters: John, a successful lawyer, is cheating on his wife, Ann, with her sister, Cynthia. Their lives are upended with the arrival of Graham, a free-spirited college friend of John’s who has a habit of videotaping women talking about their sexual experiences.