Robert Altman lets conversations overlap and gives us time to notice people beyond the leading actor. We rate him highly for that curiosity, though his fondness for a crowded scene can leave the story wandering.
Fi1m perspective
In The Player (1992), Jean Lépine’s camera keeps moving for eight minutes before the first cut. Altman gives us time to look beyond Griffin Mill, the studio executive played by Tim Robbins, and take an interest in the business around him. We were delighted by the freedom to look without an edit repeatedly deciding what mattered. It is an inviting way into a satire, because he lets us get interested in these people before asking us to judge them.
The breakthrough was M\A\S\H (1970), followed by the Western McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and the sprawling ensemble of Nashville (1975). His overlapping dialogue, recorded across multiple tracks, lets several conversations compete for attention; mobile cameras, zooms and long takes give us places to look while we listen. This can be absorbing, but it can also be hard to follow. He returned to prominence with The Player and Short Cuts (1993). The later Gosford Park* (2001) put his interest in groups to work on British class distinctions.
In The Player, Altman’s confidence in Robbins matters as much as his patience with the camera. Michael Tolkin’s screenplay supplies a thriller alongside the Hollywood satire, so the industry jokes need not sustain the whole film. Robbins makes Griffin’s charm seem practised without advertising every calculation behind it. Altman trusts him to hold our attention without promising a decent man beneath the agreeable manner. The reservation is that the famous guests sometimes attract more interest than the story can use, and the pleasure of knowing everybody softens the criticism.
The surroundings do useful work too. Stephen Altman and Ken Kaufman’s production design makes Hollywood feel like somewhere people go to work, which helps Griffin’s self-interest pass as ordinary professional conduct. Thomas Newman’s music keeps unease beneath the comedy without treating every joke as a warning. Altman can let a scene remain amusing without losing the possibility of trouble.
The risk elsewhere is that several conversations and several stories can leave us unsure which deserve our attention. His willingness to let people interrupt one another is worth that occasional muddle, but it does not make every loose end interesting. Begin with The Player; save the larger ensembles for an evening when following one clear story is not essential.
Biography
Robert Altman was an American film director and screenwriter. He directed The Player (1992) and Short Cuts (1993), for which he also wrote the screenplay. Other notable films include MASH (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Nashville (1975) and Gosford Park* (2001).
Altman received an Academy Honorary Award in 2006. Three of his films — MASH, McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Nashville* — were selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
