The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York has a tribute:

Altman is a fun director, but to rank him anywhere near Antonioni is a joke. He's derivative, philosophically lightweight and has had minimal influence (particularly internationally). Just because he's dead doesn't suddenly make him a pre-eminent genius. That said, I like almost all of his films, even the allegedly bad 90's stuff and "Prairie" despite the presence of that Keillor commie.

Glad to hear you're not just another right-wing snob.

I just wanted to say that Robert Altman is my favorite director. And that I wanted him to live forever. I've seen most of his films and own a lot of them, too. I don't know about his greatness in comparison to all of the confirmed canonical giants out there. I don't really care.

When I saw that he had died I think I stopped breathing for about twenty seconds.

Oh yeah, and I don't think A Prarie Home Companion is that great and my opinion of it hasn't changed now that he's dead. But, Robert Altman did create fifteen or so movies that I absolutely love.

Thanks for your proof of not reading my last post. You seem very much to be one of those people who try to be objective about art, ranking films in lists of historical importance and influence. What the fuck do I care about the influence a favorite director of mine had on others? De Palma possibly had even less influence on younger directors than Altman and I still thinks he's as great as Antonioni and Godard. Also, I have expressed my love for Altman's movies on many occasions and he has always been a genius for me, many many years before he died.

I'm not really responding to your post. I'm just expressing an opinion (that's all anyone can claim to be doing here) about Altman's relative importance, in response to what to me is an excessive outpouring of praise. His death doesn't make him a better filmmaker. It's perfectly fine to have the opinion that he's the greatest director ever.

Good. I tend to find Antonioni a big ol' bore half the time. Altman's films, even his most flawed are rarely boring.


Well, I think he made some truly great technological innovations in the '70s, in particular his use of overlapping sound. I also think that thematically he is extremely important in that most of films eschew traditional linear narrative in favor of exploring the behavior of his characters and the often tenuous relationships between them.

No, Barmy, you are not just expressing an opinion, you are deliberately trying to rile people up. And frankly your last comment is a cowardly falsehood. If you honestly thought that opinion was "perfectly fine," you wouldn't have outright called it a joke. If you're going to make provoking comments have the balls to stand by it and not cower under the "it's just my opinion!" banner when people are actually provoked.

I don't know how good your memory is, but Altman has been a favourite on these boards well before his death. The only thing his death has changed is the mood, not people's opinions of his work.

Let's keep this topic solely for mourning/appreciative purposes. If you want to be critical about Altman's films or have a discussion about his merits, make an appropriate thread about it and do it there.

It's always cute when somebody confuses an expression of alienation with philosophical density.

Barmy, or you?

So who all has seen Countdown?

Plenty of great artists have died in my time, but this news really took me unawares. It was hardly unexpected, but still, it was like a rush of air out of the room.

Now is hardly the time to be ranking the great living (or recently ex-) directors, but Altman's legacy has a richness and depth few could match - and surely no American director from the same period. Unlike the legacies of some of the canonical names being tossed around (which have already been generally settled), I think it's one that will remain alive and volatile for a long time to come, with waves of reassessment and reinterpretation. Just as the critical establishment is barely coming to terms with the totality of Fassbinder's output a quarter of a century after his death, so will Altman's gloriously unruly filmography be teasing us for some time. There's a wonderful lack of consensus about his body of work, and, as noted, even his strangest misfires have elements to recommend them. Maybe, in the fullness of time, they'll turn out not to have been misfires at all.

I still have little idea what my favourite Altman film is or will be, but the one I had to watch last night was Nashville. I was sort of shocked at how definitive that urge was.

This is certainly a contender for The Great American Movie, and it's a perfect demonstration of how innovative, precise and accomplished Altman could be, despite the carefully contrived illusion of chaos. Sorry Barmy, but there's a level of artistry on display here fully the equal of the less 'fun' directors you idolize. The film has one of the greatest soundtracks ever recorded (in more than one sense) - listen to how the sound segues from scene to scene, listen to how complex the organisation of sound is within scenes, and note how brilliantly naturalistic and non-naturalistic the sound can be at any given moment (not all sound sources are on-screen, and a particular sound source - Walker's truck is the most obvious example - can continue to dominate a scene long after it's passed through it). And while you're at it, apply the same attention to the visual side of things: the arrangement of multiple elements within a fluid frame; the orchestration of movement within the frame; the rhyming of movement and composition between consecutive shots belonging to different scenes.

And none of this is empty showmanship - all of these techniques tie in with a rich, complex, non-judgemental understanding of the world and characters he's depicting. The film is briliantly funny, and rollicks along in predominantly comic mode for an hour and a half or so, but in that final hour you get a stunning, intoxicating mixture of registers and emotions that opens up all sorts of ideas and questions about life, relationships, community, America.

A lot has been said about Prairie Home Companion being an ideal last film, but I'd also like to propose The Company as the perfect penultimate film for Altman: a beautiful, airy film that celebrates youth and creativity and sums up the perpetual youthfulness and curiosity of the director. Thanks Robert, it's been a blast.

That's right. I'm still in shock after reading the news, because those directors that are most dear to one's heart seem kind of immortal.

I have. It has a fair slice of suspense, but it's quite boring, though I wouldn't mind seeing it again - this time in a high-quality 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, as the panning and scanning made it look clumsy.

That cunt Jonah Goldberg wrote this on the National Review blog:

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Robert Altman

His passing is no doubt sad to his friends, family and fans. Though when an appropriate period has passed, we might have a fuller discussion of his merits as a director. Personally, I never saw the genius his fans saw.
Posted at 2:46 PM

Hahahaha!

The world's full of 'em!

Who the fuck is Jonah Goldberg and why should we care what he thinks and what exactly has he contributed to society? Beetles that live in shit have done more for society than this Jonah Goldberg.

Why are people reading National Review? Do they like being manipulated and lied to?

I know I do.

Altman's films reveal themselves to be richer and more valuable over time and repeated viewings, so...

is quite ironic in the overall context of his summation.

I have no idea who this guy is but in that I agree with him... does this make me a cunt too?

Hmmm...methinks both Altman and his similarly irreverent comrade Imamura are kicking back in some sort of afterlife, with a few drinks, and having a big laugh of approval over this cVnt-laden, Antonioni-bespoiled thread.

Jonah Goldberg - meanwhile - already lurks within our "where are they now" files, his liberal arts degree undoubtedly being put to great use. Maybe he's the right-winger who took Annie Hall to the infamous rock concert. Perhaps we should capture him and study his habits, or at least force him to watch A Wedding until he recants.

Sorta surprised the National Review is still being published in these tumultuous times in which we all live. Takes all kinds, I guess.

Is anyone irked by the many journalists who have written short bios of Altman's works without seeing these films (just a guess)? I'm sure this is common, but for some reason it's bothering me this time around. The AP's article names his Southern Trilogy (Gingerbread, Cookie, Dr T) and Popeye as being all bad films -- which they aren't -- and then talks about how wonderful his films like Nashville, Mash, Player, & Short Cuts are, but does so ingenuously. Maybe I'm being silly, but a blind overview of his films by someone who probably hasn't seen them is so frustrating me today.

I only fear what will happen when Godard dies. "His flops (Le Petit Soldat, Tout Va Bien, King Lear) and his masterpiece (The Stories of Cinema)..."

By the way, did anyone else watch McCabe & Mrs Miller on tuesday night?

Yep. Sadder than ever this time around....

Uhhhh, yep!