Spotlight on Robert Altman
A Criterion Channel celebration
Starting this month, the Criterion Channel is highlighting films by my favorite director, Robert Altman. Altman is one of only a handful of directors about whom I can put together a Top 10 Favorite Films and have #10 be a film I actually like (three others are Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, and, I hesitate to say, Woody Allen, although I haven’t revisited those films for a couple of decades, I wonder why…). When and if I ever put together a personal Top 25, Altman is one of three directors likely to be there at least three times (Wim Wenders is the second for Wings of Desire; Paris, Texas; and Perfect Days); Frank Capra is the other for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and It’s a Wonderful Life). Not all the Altman films on this list are on Criterion now, but on the other hand, a few of the Altman films I’ve never seen are there, so I should dig in and then perhaps revisit this countdown.
#10 - 3 Women
It may be fifty years since I’ve seen 3 Women, but I distinctly remember finding it haunting, with Shelley Duvall showing a different side from her earlier Altman efforts. The smaller the Altman cast, the less I tend to like the film, but 3 Women is the one major exception to that rule.
#9 - McCabe and Mrs. Miller
This revisionist western is one of Altman’s more critically acclaimed films. I respect it more than love it, but the combination of Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, plus Leonard Cohen’s songs and some unforgettable visuals are enough for it to crack this list.
#8 - Brewster McCloud
Brewster McCloud makes this list primarily because of how delightfully bonkers I found it to be when I first saw it back in the 70’s (upon a second viewing, I was a tad disappointed; I’m guessing I’d take to it again if I watched it again). For those who’ve never seen it, I’ll tell you nothing; I think the film works better when its oddities are a total surprise.
#7 - A Prairie Home Companion
Altman’s integration of songs within his movies is one of my four favorite things about his films (the others are his use of overlapping dialogue, his multiple plot threads, and, most notably, his sprawlingly diverse casts). Among those who take a turn at the microphone in this, Altman’s last film, are Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Lily Tomlin, John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson; other featured cast members are Kevin Kline, Tommy Lee Jones, and Mr. Prairie Home Companion himself, Garrison Keillor. The plot includes some supernatural elements, which for me only adds to the fun.
#6 - The Player
The Player marked a return to form for Altman in the early 90’s. He earned his third of five Best Director Academy Award nominations (alas, he never won a competitive Oscar, only a special award), and first in 17 years. Tim Robbins is The Player in this wicked Hollywood satire, noted for its opening eight-minute unbroken tracking shot, and its sixty-five or so cameos from some of Hollywood’s best, including Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts.
#5 - A Wedding
Critics differed on A Wedding and I suspect most Altman fans, asked to name as many of his films as they can think of, would not come up with this title among their first 15-20 films. But for me, this is classic Altman. Real life weddings feature a variety of guests with their own personal concerns that generally don’t relate at all to the happy couple, so this was prime territory for Altman to do his multi-plot, deep cast thing. While a group of actors appeared in many of his films, others appeared only once; among first- and only-timers here were Mia Farrow and Carol Burnett.
#4- The Long Goodbye
Here is Altman semi-regular Elliott Gould at his best as a disillusioned Philip Marlowe, with the director moving the Raymond Chandler novel to a Hollywood 1970’s setting. All Altman films have their quirks; a couple of interest here are the casting of former major league pitcher Jim Bouton as an unsavory character, and the use of a song by composer John Williams, itself called “The Long Goodbye,” that plays many, many times within the action of the film, but in wildly contrasting ways.
#3: Gosford Park
Like The Player, Gosford Park is referred to as a satirical black comedy mystery film. Because it’s set in England, and not Altman’s more typical America, the cast features a set of British All-Stars: Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas (Slow Horses is back this week for Season 5, yay!), Maggie Smith, Charles Dance, Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, Emily Watson, Derek Jacobi, Richard E. Grant, and Stephen Fry. among others (just typing out Altman’s cast lists is enough to make me want to watch the movie now). A highlight for me are the musical selections of real-life Welsh actor, singer, dramatist and composer Ivor Novello, played here by Jeremy Northam. Adding to the authentic feel is the screenplay by Julian Fellowes, thanks to whom the upstairs-downstairs worlds certainly ring true.
#2 - Short Cuts
Plot is never what an Altman film is about, and occasionally the lack of a strong plot (or plots) holds the film back. Short Cuts is great for many reasons, with another cast to die for (I’ll only name half: Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Waits, Frances McDormand, Lili Taylor, Madeleine Stowe, Lyle Lovett, Jack Lemmon), but what sets it above other Altman titles is the source text, the short stories of Raymond Carver. Here for once, the plot threads are both artful and riveting.
Drum role for #1, but first I’ll note some films not on the list because I saw them but they didn’t make the cut (such as M*A*S*H, Thieves Like Us, California Split, Popeye), or because I’ve yet to see them (such as Buffalo Bill and the Indians; A Perfect Couple; Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean; Secret Honor; Vincent & Theo). And now:
#1 - Nashville
I’ll let Pauline Kael tell you all you need to know:
Is there such a thing as an orgy for movie-lovers—but an orgy without excess? At Robert Altman’s new almost-three-hour-film, Nashville, you don’t get drunk on images, you’re not overpowered—you get elated. I’ve never before seen a movie I loved in quite this way: I sat there smiling at the screen, in complete happiness. It’s a pure emotional high, and you don’t come down when the picture is over; you take it with you.
Exactly. My favorite film ever, and dare I say it, the greatest American film of all time.