Toupee-wearing and more over-dressed than an audience has ever seen him - Michael Douglas takes on the role of gay, flamboyant pianist Liberace in 'Behind the Candelabra'.

The film tells the story of the American entertainer and his young lover, Scott Thorson played by Matt Damon.

Director Steven Soderbergh is taking a break, and this is his last movie, at least for now.

The film premiered during the Cannes Film Festival, where Soderbergh, Douglas and Damon spoke at a press conference.

'Behind the Candelabra' coincides with debates about gay marriage taking place in many countries.

'I always try to think, '50 years from now, what are we going to think of our attitudes right now?' Fifty years ago, we didn't even have the Civil Rights Act in the United States, but now, of course, it's part of our DNA,' said Soderbergh, explaining his choice to make a film about Liberace and Thorson.

'When this issue comes up of equal rights for gays, I always think, I'm hoping, 50 years from now, we'll look back on this and wonder why this was even a debate and what took so long,' Soderbergh added.

The movie tells the story of the relationship between the two men. Thorson, an 18-year-old, naive farm boy from Wisconsin, meets 58-year-old Liberace in Las Vegas in 1977. The young beefcake moves in with the entertainer, sha.