Multiple Storylines

Or I Multiple Storylines Victor Or Oakland Public Library Multiple Storylines Daniel O'Brien. RobertAltman: Hollywood Survivor. NewYork: Continuum 1995. (194 pages. $19.95) Director RobertAltman on the set ofthe FineLine Features release Kansas City. The re-emergence of Robert Altman, a filmmaker who is continually putting his career on the line with offbeat titles, offers an opportune time to re-evaluate his contribution to the American motion picture industry. Did Altman's photoplays in the seventies—which were critically acclaimed, yet financially unsuccessful—genuinely expose our suppressed desires and vulgarities, or were they simply out of touch with society? Did Altman shift to low-budget play adaptations because he lost studio support? Did that served to limit his artistic creativity, particularly his penchant for improvisation ? Since Altman's return, Hollywood has witnessed a profusion of films with multiple storylines and characters, reminiscent of Nashville and The Wedding. Does 108 I Film & History this suggest a regression to his old formula or is he charting new territory? Don't expect answers to these questions in Daniel O'Brien's chronological sketches ofAltman's teleplays and feature films. O'Brien chooses to ignore the psychological and childhood influences on Altman, though his complicated themes suggest they were strong factors, preferring instead cursory examinations of each work from production history to storyline. O'Brien commends Altman for his experimental overlapping sound tracks, his exploration of filmic space with an inquisitive camera, and his slow zoom innovation, a technique in which the lens continues past the main characters Regular Feature | Book Reviews to focus on background figures and objects. But he criticizes Altman for overindulging in "zany" humor and "offbeat" behavior , a practice he believes is vulgar and makes viewers despise the characters. Although O'Brien's remarks suggest that he considers Altman one of the most gifted and individualistic filmmakers in Hollywood, curiously, the remainder ofthis work paints a picture of aworkaholic who hastily turns out titles that are apparently not up to the author's expectations . Without acknowledging that the studios interfere with Altman's creativity, O'Brien is preoccupied with questioning the director's talent. Perhaps the high point of O'Brien's work is his detailed analysis of a few Altman films, such as Tie Long Goodbye. He discusses how this picture reflected its period when it was produced and how Altman's treatment differed from that of similar topics from classical Hollywood cinema. Unfortunately , most often O'Brien gives nothing more than a synopsis of the plot, interspersed with his trite, almost gossip -like comments. When he attempts to compare one Altman film with another, his conclusions are somewhat superficial , ignoring the thematic links between the titles that reflect the political or social statement intended by the director . For example, O'Brien seems oblivious to Altman's interest in the aura ofthe hippies, the struggles that face small entrepreneurs, the media's influence in shaping a celebrity, and the similarities between show business and politics. Furthermore , the author's complete disdain for contemplating any influencing factors affecting Altman's works results in ambiguous analysis. O'Brien claims Altman is guilty of misogyny —citing the director's treatment of female characters in M.A.S.H.—yet he credits Altman for his understanding of "the burdens and pressures ofwomanhood" in Image and Come back to Ue Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Exactly which point is O'Brien attempting to make? He writes that Altman explicidy condemns misogynist exploration in Nashville, but then states that Short Cuts reflects that attitude. Had O'Brien delved into what motivated Altman to create a film a certain way, we might gain a better perception of the director. Critics of mainstream Hollywood motion pictures look for tightly constructed stories that have a cathartic effect. It seems that O'Brien has subconsciously applied these criteria in evaluating Altman's work, ignoring the possibility that Altman's directorial efforts are more aligned with European filmmaking and are in the tradition ofTrauffaut and Fellini, whose inclination for improvisation and amoral behavior of the characters is well known. It would be difficult to singularly categorize Altman's titles, as the filmmaker's mastery has undergone transformation...