My lack of familiarity with Robert Altman's body of work was deeply troubling to me leading up to this little experiment, so he was one of the few directors I had chosen for the list right from the start. The only Altman I'd seen before the month of March 2015 was Popeye, and even that I don't remember at all (probably for the best). But Altman's big hits had always loomed over me begging to be seen, so of course I had to choose MASH, Nashville, and McCabe & Mrs. Miller. Beyond those three I wasn't quite sure- I had been reading a bit of Raymond Chandler so I threw The Long Goodbye on there and I confused Raymond Carver with him so I also added Short Cuts to my queue. Even after I realized my mix-up I was excited for that one but alas, Netflix did not have it available (even on disc! the horror!). I wanted one more so I chose The Player over Gosford Park, being a fan of Hollywood meta-strories and Tim Robbins and all.
Of course, I would soon find out that Altman is just as meandering as Wong Kar Wai or Terrence Malick on their slow days. The movies aren't plotless per se, but they do have an interesting "let's-just-see-what-happens" sensibility. I liked these better than the other guys' though, and I'm having a hard time articulating why. Perhaps it was the casting: Elliot Gould, Warren Beatty, Tim Robbins, and other effortlessly charismatic leading men can't help but enrapture an audience. Also, the dry humor and self-awareness sprinkled throughout these movies meant you could never quite get bored, even if the anti-story began to drag. At any rate, I can see why MASH, Nashville, and McCabe & Mrs. Miller are all pretty much universally lauded as classics, and I also enjoyed The Long Goodbye and The Player.
Unlike some of the other directors I've watched for this project, Altman seemed to have a lot more fun behind the camera. Certain elements are definitely carefully plotted, but a lot of the time it felt like he let the actors slip into character and then just rolled film. How much of the aforementioned films were actually improvised is unclear, but perhaps that's a testament to how comfortable everybody really was that I can't tell! Anyways, these movies have definitely aged a bit (MASH in particular has quite a bit of racism that I wouldn't want to expose my hypothetical children to) but Altman has made a strong case for himself and is my second-favorite director from this project (behind Godard) so far. Note to self: if I ever make a movie, make sure to cast a ridiculously charming and handsome lead. Other note to self: find and watch Brewster McCloud; that movie sounds totally bonkers.
- MASH (1970) - 8
- McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) - 8
- The Long Goodbye (1973) - 7
- Nashville (1975) - 7.5
- The Player (1992) - 6.5
For April: Fellini!
