David Kronke was appointed Mayor of Television after a bloodless coup in 2000. Since then, he has improved infrastructure, championed greater educational opportunities and fought for reforms that have utterly erased corruption and incompetence from the television industry. Since Mr. Kronke has ascended to power, Television is a far better place. The Late, Great Robert Altman
In a way, Robert Altman was a smidgen of a precursor to Borat. In "Nashville," still perhaps his greatest sweeping panorama of American dreams and their political nemeses, his fly-on-the-wall approach to filmmaking allowed city residents to interact with the actors playing the film's 24 main characters while the cameras rolled; afterwards, some professed to be displeased with the way Altman had depicted their city (Altman didn't become the victim of an avalanche of lawsuits, however). He pulled a similar stunt on Paris's fashion world in "Ready to Wear" far less successfully. And, of course, much of Hollywood was complicit in his evisceration of the film industry, "The Player."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences doesn't get a whole lot right, but at least their timing for Altman's Lifetime Achievement Award - he received it, gratefully, this past March - was astute. For most of his career, he was a pugnacious guy, railing against the system; only in the past decade did he soften. Accepting his Oscar, Altman declared, "I'm very fortunate in my career. I've never had to direct a film I didn't choose or develop." (Really? He wanted to do "O.C. and Stiggs?")
But Altman was much more than his sprawling, satirical multi-character visions of America. He also was pretty swell at subverting genre movies, as well. It's difficult to understand just how surprising and revelatory, even shocking, "M*A*S*H," "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" and "The Long Goodbye" were when they came out, offering brand-new takes on the war film, the Western and the detective flick. His recent "Gosford Park" wasn't nearly as revolutionary, but it offered a neat twist on the typical murder mystery.
We could also go into the camera work, his love of actors and a host of other attributes that made him unique as a director; instead, we'll direct you to a couple of obits that spare us the trouble.
"Nashville" was the film that seized me and probably led me to what I do for a living. So I don't know whether to thank Mr. Altman, or curse him, but he was that influential nonetheless.
Comments
RIP, Mr. Altman, and thank you for leading the Mayor to his calling.
Posted by: Suzy Q | November 22, 2006 11:29 AM