Remembering Robert Altman

Hollywood mourns the loss of movie director Robert Altman. The legendary film director died at the age of 81 on Monday night from complications stemming from a battle with cancer. Altman is most notably remembered for directing M*A*S*H and Nashville among a host of other Oscar-nominated films. The two celebrated films from 1970 and 1975 featured ensemble casts and intersecting stories and a style of filmmaking that has since spawned a legion of films and directors who have tried to duplicate the director’s success. The beloved director received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2006 Academy Awards. He directed more than thirty-five feature films.

Altman’s last film was this year’s A Prairie Home Companion, another critically acclaimed ensemble piece based on a screenplay by popular storyteller Garrison Keillor. The film’s all-star cast includes Garrison Keillor, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Virginia Madsen, Lindsay Lohan, and John C. Reilly. Like many of Altman’s films, the film only loosely relies on the script and contains several instances of the cast ad libbing lines. Altman’s proclivity for allowing actors the freedom to improvise earned him the reputation for being an “actor’s director.”

The widely-respected director never won an Oscar, despite being nominated five times. Altman received Oscar nominations for his work on M*A*S*H, Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts, and Gosford Park. Ten years after completing his work on Nashville, Altman continued to direct feature films with mixed success. Then in 1992 he directed a satire about the inner workings of the movie industry entitled, The Player. The film starred Tim Robbins and Whoopi Goldberg and included cameos from such major stars such as Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis. The film rejuvenated his directorial career and reestablished him as a favorite with critics. He followed this brilliant work with even more ambitious efforts in Short Cuts, a film based on a collection of Raymond Carver stories, and 2001’s popular drama, Gosford Park.

Entertainment Weekly recently named Altman the 17th greatest director. Altman’s other memorable films include Cookie’s Fortune, California Splits, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Long Good-bye, and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Film historians and industry experts generally regard McCabe and Mrs. Miller, the revisionist Western starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, as Altman’s best film.

Some of Altman’s films were great; others were good, and some were even bad, but none of them were dull or without imagination or risk. The director was highly regarded by stars and industry insiders and observers, and it is likely that his significant contributions to the industry will be recognized yet again at the 2007 Academy Awards. His A Prairie Home Companion was well-received by critics and the industry, and there is already wide speculation that the director just might receive his sixth Oscar nomination for Best Director for his last film.

Altman’s departure will be deeply felt, and his death leaves a significant void in the craft of film direction today. The director is part of the last breed of filmmakers who were so extraordinarily talented that even casual observers of film could readily identify the trademarks of his films. With more than forty years of industry experience, five Oscar nominations, and several lifetime achievement awards, Altman was the antithesis of today’s director, whose work too often fails to be marked by any distinguishing traits and who moves from one middling film to another. Altman will be undoubtedly be described and rightly so as groundbreaking, trend setting, revolutionary, passionate, and maverick. Even into his eighties, Altman steadfastly adhered to a successful formula that combined ensemble casting, overlapping stories, clever writing, and ingenious spontaneity with a deep desire to make audiences laugh and cry while offering commentary on various aspects of society and culture. We couldn’t have asked the one-of-a-kind director for anything more.