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Controversial, mercurial filmmaker Robert Altman famously described his life as being like ‘one long movie’. Here, a leading dance critic pays tribute to the man who refused to dance to Hollywood’s tune.
ctors all over Hollywtxxl — and more than a few
in Britain. no doubt — were probably counting
their retrospective blessings last week. or cursing
their bad luck. In the first category are those with the
good fortune to have appeared in a lilm by the late. great
iconoclast Robert Altman. many of them A—listers who‘d
gladly taken a pay cut for the privilege. and in the latter those who never had the chance and now never will.
Virginia Madserr offered a little insight into Altman‘s
brand of directorial magic in the summer of 2005. during
an intcryiew on the set of A Prairie Home ('onr/mniair.
The film. still to be released in the l’K. was written by
Garrison Keillor. Middle America's modern-day Mark
Twain. and shot entirely on location in his home turf of
Saint Paul. .Vlinnesota. Surrounded by a cast that included Meryl Streep. Woody Han‘elson. Lily Tomlin. Lindsay l.ohan. John (‘ Reilly. Tommy Lee Jones. Kevin Kline and Keillor himself. Madsen was practically glowing with pleasure. 'This is what it should be like to make a movie.‘ she said between camera set—ups. ‘I knew from the first day. Something about it was like. "Oh. it‘s gonna be all about creativity". And because Bob is so generous. we all want to go the extra mile for him.‘
Altman first hit the big-time in l‘)7() with the Korean- set (but Vietnam-conscious) war comedy iVI:*=/l*.8"5‘ll. Then in his mid-40s. he was already too long in the tooth to earn a place on the list of movie brats. headed by Lucas and Spielberg. whose nose for massive popular success would so impact the industry later that decade. Artistically Altman was neither naive nor calculated enough to qualify as mainstream. nor could his work ever be deemed profit-motivated. However playful his movies might be. they were also grown-up. with an unforced. organic style that marked Altman out as a quintessentially Yankee counterpart of liuropean directors.
'All those half-heard
conversations . . .
10 THE LIST 16—80 Nov .7006
‘I HAVE NO VISION FOR THIS FILM, IT'S MOMENT- TO-MOMENT FILMMAKING'
The string of films he made between M M *‘St‘H and his crowning achievement. the country-and-westcrn kaleidoscope Nashville. in 1975 — including Me('abe and Mrs Miller (a lovely. elliptical dark dream of a Western). The Long Goodbye (a hip update of Raymond (‘handler‘s Philip Marlowe and the whole private eye genre) and 'l'lriei'es I.in Us (a pearly. lyrical alternative to
Bonnie and Clyde) — are indelibly part of a golden age of
pre-Sundance independent American cinema. [1 was then that Altman first offered up his unconventional and collagist approach to character-driven storytelling. with large ensemble casts often obseryed by a roving camera and heard via overlapping. multi-track dialogue. As a cinema-loving friend of mine put it. ‘All those half-heard conversations . . . He turned us into eavesdroppers. onto a world we thought we knew.‘
slump in the l‘)8()s. the distinctive techniques Altman developed were employed to masterful effect in the ‘comeback’ films The Player (savvy Hollywood satire). Short ('uts (a tragi- comic epic a la Raymond Carver) and.
mystery set in lingland). He was an anti- institutionalist re-inveritor of genres whose films are populated by a stream of misfits and eccentrics. loners. lovers. losers and dreamers.
Naming Altman‘s best is easy. but there are lesser- known or unjustly neglected lilrns worth tracking down. ((‘onsider Vureeiit and Then. with Tim Roth an utterly compelling Van (it)gh.) Some flopped big. ((‘heck out the underrated live cartoon Popeye. shot on a purpose- built outdoor Maltese set that can still be visited and featuring songs by Harry Nilsson). ()thers badly
mislired. (Who remembers the anarchic teen comedy (K '
and Slides?) All of them are worth watching despite any
shortcomings or pretensions. Some day I can see myself
returning to the fascinating enigma that is .i llybmeir. the fragmented madness depicted in Images. the off-the-wall Brewster MeC/mal. the twisty nuptials of A Wedding. and the feverish Nixon portrait. Secret Hrmur. to name just a handful of titles. At some point I'd coast again through the often flat-footed fashion industry farce Ready to Hear. aka Prei a Porter. or the odd. off-kilter ballet world opus. The Company. Why‘.’ Because. even when not on top form. Altman can adopt an unexpected and revelatory angle on people and living.
The 80-year-old director that I met during the Prairie Home Companion shoot seemed both shrewd and utterly direct. gruff and yet easygoing. 'l have no vision for this film.’ Altman admitted. ‘lt‘s moment-to-moment lilmmaking.‘ ()nly someone completely secure within his craft could get away with that. Of course he knew what he was doing. And by doing it so well. he provided us with a wealth of moments to cherish and revisit.
After what appeared to be a career
latterly. (ins/int] Park (a period murder
PLUCKING fRUITS FROM THE CULTURAL BUSH
I Christopher Walken has played some pretty crazy guys in his time but he's in for the challenge of his career in The Dirt. Based on the book about motley Criie, Walken will make a cameo as Ozzy Osbourne while. equally as intriguing. Val Kilmer is tipped to play David Lee Roth . . . A very different member of rock's awkward squad is Mark E Smith who publishes his autobiography next April. The book is entitled Renegade: The Gospel According to Mark E Smith . . . The third version of sci- fi horror movie The Thing is set to go before the cameras. While cast and director are yet to be revealed. scriptwriting duties will be taken by Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ronald D Moore . . . Amy Winehouse has clearly been hanging out with some unlikely men of late and the results are an imminent duet with Pete Doherty and a new version of her tune ‘You Know I'm No Good' with Ghostface Killah on the studio knobs . . . Colin Firth will be getting smoochy with Uma Thurman in romantic comedy The Accidental Husband. The New York-set movie also features Sam Shepard and Isabella Rossellini . . . Speccy soloist Jarvis Cooker is rumoured to be appearing on Air's new album. The follow-up to Walkie Talkie from 2004. Pocket Symphony, is also tipped to include Divine Comedy front guy Neil Hannon . . . Eva Longoria and Beyoncé Knowles are in talks to play lovers in Sofia Coppola's forthcoming movie. Sarah Waters' ‘steamy' Victorian novel Tipping the Velvet has already been made for the small screen but the cinema version looks like it'll be a very different kettle of fish.