This filming method rockets the momentum by milking the question as to who the ghost is and what they want. It also is a situation that allows some great acting, as the long shots allow the performers to really inhabit their characters.
Soderbergh’s reputation in the indie sphere is well established, as he invented this gangsta s**t back in the day. Not as many are hip to Koepp, though, as he is more well-known for his Hollywood franchise work like Jurassic Park and the recent Indiana Jones pictures. However, Koepp also wrote a series of spooky smaller pictures that he directed as well. When working at a video store in Austin in the 90s, I was very impressed with Koepp’s directorial debut, The Trigger Effect.
“Soderbergh does the whole movie in long takes using a wide-angle steady-cam setup.”
I also liked how early on he portrayed Herbal Americans as regular people instead of idiot stoners, like Illeana Douglas’s character Lisa in A Stir Of Echoes. Koepp is also in an exclusive club of filmmakers who have made successful Stephen King adaptations, in this case, his superior Secret Window. It is here in Presence that we truly get to see a master screenwriter at his finest.
Koepp builds a world fast through a series of random details from overheard conversations, with just enough information given to get it but never over-defined. I love how the audience is clued into Liu being up to something illegal but never quite explaining what it is or how it works. To have her crimes be hidden like the glowing suitcase in Pulp Fiction works brilliantly. Koepp also manages to deliver completely gruesome horror without a bloodbath or a body count, which seems impossible until you see it.
It is a pleasure to see two cinema giants take another ride across the indie frontier with great results. Treat yourself to some Presence and put on your ghost goggles.
"…we truly get to see a master screenwriter at his finest."
