Currently reading this oral biography of Robert Altman - very good read. Though sometimes I wish it were a biography proper - you can really get lost in those, journey with both author and subject - I'm happy with this; it suits Altman in a way that a regular biography would not: his affinity for having a lot of people talking at once works in this book, as it does in his movies.
Why is Altman a great director? Paul Thomas Anderson, his friend and back-up director on Prairie Home Companion, Altman's last film (the insurance companies would only insure the film of Altman had a back up on set in case he died), attributes it to the way Altman
" ...made films. Whether the films worked or not was inconsequential to the treatment of the undertaking, the fun and the seriousness and the endeavor. It's not overlapping dialogue; it's not zooms. These are just technical things, you know?...[T]he biggest thing is just the attitude. The attitude about them."
And having watched and loved Altman films - MASH, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, Nashville, The Player, Gosford Park, A Prairie Home Companion - I feel this. I feel it very much. The quality of the films - their being - is the result of what Altman's attitude when making his films.
Listen to this: as Altman and co. were making McCabe, the set - the American western town they were building - was growing as the film was advancing (they shot the film in sequence). The town grew as the film grew. The workers were all hippies and lived in the sets they were making. Eventually the construction of the set slowed because all the set workers didn't want to use power tools that weren't available circa 1900. The set director had all the drawers filled with items even if they never had to be opened on camera. At dailies, Altman - as he did on all his films - wanted - almost demanded - anyone and everyone that worked on the film to come and watch and to support and encourage one another so that the film became a communal experience. Everyone supported each other. (NOTE: Altman looooved to party. I love him for that alone. Daily screenings were parties.)
That's what made Altman great. The atmosphere he created that allowed everyone to do their best, AND to do their best IN EXECUTING THEIR OWN IDEAS. He let actors do what they wanted. He'd say that most of his work was done in just casting a film. Just let the actors do their thing.
I couldn't agree more. I had always wanted to be a director for many years, growing up. I thought it was what I would be doing, even though I am more naturally an actor, a writer. When I went to Syracuse to study the film business, I never handled direction, I was afraid of handling a camera because I was thinking of angles, of the technical. I thought I didn't know enough. But in reading about Altman and revisiting his films I realized that I have been directing all along. I may never have picked an angle and I get fucking nervous as fuck thinking about getting the coverage I need, but the key to directing has nothing to do with that. Presence on the set. Creating the atmosphere where a great movie could be made. Handling actors; picking the correct actors. These are the things that make a fabulous director. Leading by example. TRUST.
At the very least - or the very most - this is a director I could try and be like. Someone like Robert Altman.
This is not to diminish how he handled films visually. He was great at that too. But that was second, second to the atmosphere and the trust.
This is a great book for anyone who wants to read about a man whom people loved to make films with. And a man who made some of the greatest films in the latter half of the past century. More importantly though, watch his fucking movies. They're enjoyable as fuck.
For me, I've just been realizing that I can be a director, that I have been a director. Sure, I don't know how to handle a camera. But if I just get a DP who I trust, who knows that I trust them enough to be bold and to follow their own ideas and visions, then that's all. The movie will be great.
Go watch the movies. And read the book - you can just skim it, too!
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