King of the Hill

365 Films

Entry #113

King of the Hill (1999)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Admittedly, this entry is going to be a little tricky because I have only seen King of the Hill twice and once was on HBO at a completely random viewing.  For some reason, the film is only available on DVD as a Korean import.  Don’t let that dissuade you, however, it is still completely worth seeking out.  Released in 1993 as Soderbergh’s third feature (following Kafka, which has also vanished from the face of the earth) it represented the beginning of an artistic malaise that seems to have followed Mr. Soderbergh throughout his career.  Luckily for him, and us King of the Hill was made at a time when a project like it could be financed and distributed theatrically.  The question that has dogged Mr. Soderbergh throughout his career in terms of his personal projects is, “does anybody want to see this?”  Sadly, they did not turn out in droves for King of The Hill and at a Q and A screening two years ago, Mr. Soderbergh remarked, when asked about a future blu ray restoration of this title simply said: “not enough interest.”  Which is a real shame because King of the Hill is one of the most genuinely touching coming of age stories ever put to screen.  The story of a mid-western, depression era boy forced to fend for himself when his Mother is locked away and his Father has to hit the road as a traveling salesman, is one that could have easily fallen into the realms of unearned sentiment or miserablist wallow.  The most astonishing achievement of the film is how subtle Mr. Soderbergh’s hand is in the proceedings, never forcing our sympathies one way or the other towards his characters.  It’s an intellectual distance that he is most often criticized for, but here it serves him well in that it creates an interesting environment through which, the very specific memories of a very specific time may flow.  It also pushes Mr. Soderbergh to work hard in bringing out the genuine empathy of his performers and note for note this is one of his most precisely acted pieces.  All in all, King of the Hill is a testament to when smart filmmakers take on risky material and it’s a real shame that it isn’t more widely available.