According to Emanuel Levy, In the Soup is easily Rockwell's best work, a playful film with darkly comic twists . The well-known critic wasn't alone in his enthusiasm, as evidenced by the Grand Jury Prize that In the Soup received at the Sundance Festival. It is difficult to say for sure just what constitutes the secret to the success of this story about a novice screenwriter who tries everything he possibly can to bring his latest project to fruition. Is it perhaps that the film is at the same time both a funny and a credible picture of the misery of an independent filmmaker? Or it is perhaps the result of the consequences that Rockwell has repeatedly discussed throughout his career of not being well suited to reality and of passion that can turn into madness at any moment? Might it be due to the outstanding cast, in which Steve Buscemi and Seymour Cassel (in the role of the slimiest film producer since Godard's Contempt) play the leads, with Jim Jarmusch himself making a cameo appearance? In the Soup marked a turning point in Rockwell's career, and although the director was later tempted by numerous Hollywood offers, he consistently refused, saying he would prefer a career as a gangster or a drug dealer. Fortunately, Rockwell did not have to take such offers and remained himself, a truly independent and original filmmaker.
Sundance FF 1992 – Grand Jury Prize, Special Jury Prize; Deauville FF 1992 – Audience Award; Chicago IFF 1992 – Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor
Born in Boston in 1956, Alexandre Rockwell is a director, screenwriter and producer and one of the leading representatives of New York's independent cinema scene. He is the grandson of Russian animator Alexandre Alexeieff, the inventor of the pinscreen technique. His most-acclaimed films include Somebody to Love and In the Soup. He also directed the episode The Wrong Man as part of the film Four Rooms.
1983 Bohater / Hero
1992 Ugotowany / In the Soup
1994 Pokochać kogoś / Somebody to Love
1994 Cztery pokoje (The Wrong Man) / Four Rooms (The Wrong Man)
2002 13 Moons
2013 Stópki / Little Feet