documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
about the life and career of film director
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...
. The film was directed and produced by
Ron Mann
Ronald Mann (born June 13, 1958) is a Canadians, Canadian documentary film film director, director.
His work includes the films ''Imagine the Sound'' (1981); ''Comic Book Confidential'' (1988); ''Grass (1999 film), Grass'' (1999) and ''Go Furt ...
. It features brief contributions by several actors who had appeared in Altman's films, such as
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...
,
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...
,
Julianne Moore
Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...
Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the most preeminent writer-directors of his generation, List of awards and nominations received by Paul Thomas Anders ...
, who served as a "backup" director on ''
A Prairie Home Companion
''A Prairie Home Companion'' was a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...
''.
Synopsis
The film focuses in part on the problems Altman faced over the course of his filmmaking career, including writing screenplays (he sold a script to
RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...
for the 1948 picture ''
Bodyguard
A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...
'') after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and working as a director and writer of industrial films for the
Calvin Company
The Calvin Company was a Kansas City, Missouri-based advertising, educational and industrial film production company that for nearly half a century was one of the largest and most successful film producers of its type in the United States.
Orig ...
, and for television. Altman rose to prominence in the 1970s with films such as ''
M*A*S*H
''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richa ...
'' and '' The Long Goodbye'', before commercial flops forced a flight to Europe in the 1980s with projects such as ''
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.The Player''. The film also features commentary from Altman's wife and children, discussing their relationships and memories of him, and is peppered with short segments with Altman collaborators, each giving a synonym for the term "Altmanesque", in reference to Altman's methods.
Reception
The film received moderately positive reviews.
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educat ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' praised the film, only saying that, "Ron Mann's terrifically warm and generous documentary tribute to Robert Altman is, for me, spoiled only fractionally by its gimmick of putting the director's famous collaborators on the spot, on-camera, and demanding a synonym for 'Altmanesque'."
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...
of ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' was, likewise, critical of Mann's choices, stating, " Home-movie footage and well-sourced TV/movie clips provide a tantalising patchwork upon which the narrative fails to build, with investigation of Altman's methods limited to platitudes about a script being little more than a blueprint, and fleeting descriptions of his sound-recording techniques."
Accolades
The film received a
Canadian Screen Award
The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...