Altman (2014)

A look at the life and work of American film-maker Robert Altman.

Director:

Ron Mann

Writer:

Len Blum

Stars:

Michael Murphy, Robert Altman, Kathryn Reed

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Murphy	...	Himself
Robert Altman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Kathryn Reed	...	Herself (as Kathryn Reed Altman)
Sally Kellerman	...	Herself
James Caan	...	Himself
Donald Sutherland	...	Himself (archive footage)
Elliott Gould	...	Himself
Dick Cavett	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tommy Thompson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Vilmos Zsigmond	...	Himself (archive footage)
Matthew Reed Altman	...	Himself (voice)
Stephen Altman	...	Himself (voice)
Keith Carradine	...	Himself
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lily Tomlin	...	Herself

Storyline

The life of Robert Altman over the course of his career as a filmmaker is told in roughly chronological order. It is presented largely through archival footage, including of his interviews and of his and his longtime wife Kathryn Reed's home movies. It includes his rocky start in Hollywood as an aspiring screenwriter, which instead led to him working as a general filmmaker for an industrial film company. This work led to directing assignments for a number of television series back in Hollywood, where he butted heads with a number of studio executives and producers who did not appreciate his style of filmmaking in his desire to insert a sense a realism in whatever the project, that realism which includes hanging story-lines and overlapping dialogue, often in multiple equally important conversations in a single setting which forces the viewer to decide which conversation he/she wants to focus. This situation often led to him trying to achieve what he wanted either in not telling or ...

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Plot Keywords:

one word title | name in title | cameo | interview | husband wife relationship | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Όλτμαν

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sphinx Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Philip Baker Hall: What does Altmanesque mean? I would say it means, never giving up.

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Crazy Credits

No hippies were harmed in the making of this movie.

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Connections

Features Combat!: Survival (1963)

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Soundtracks

Feel It
Written by Art Mullin
Performed by Art Mullin with Kara Evelyn

User Reviews

Portrait of an Artist

I am fascinated by the artistic process, how things are created, what motivates the artist, what obstacles are encountered and how they are overcome. In this documentary, I think Ron Mann has succinctly put together the various factors that motivated Robert Altman and made his career so long and successful. I felt I learned a lot more about the movie making process and artistic creation in general.

Simple things we now take for granted are important. For instance, putting together a team of people that work well together, giving people a break and letting them shine. These were radical ideas in the era of C2C Command and Control studio structures, where the word was passed down from on high. How about two people arguing, both speaking at the same time. Adds to the emotion and conflict right? Altman pioneered the use of multiple soundtracks to get right into a dialogue.

What I found particularly interesting was how Altman dealt with career setbacks. Each time things did not seem to be going his way (at least by the standards of others), he simply reinvented himself by turning to a different genre of film or theatre or production. When confronted by harsh critics, he simply shrugged it off and kept on working with undiminished enthusiasm. What a wonderful role model for young people starting off on a career. Bravo, great doc!!