Persistence of Vision: the Films of Robert Altman

PERSISTENCE OF VISION: THE FILMS OF ROBERT ALTMAN by NEIL FEINEMAN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNI\rERSITY OF FLORIDA 1976 To Jan, who somehow lived through it ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people to thank; you know who you are already. First, my parents who convinced me not to drop out; my grandmother, for caring more than I did; to Char- lotte, Tom, my sister Carol, and my other close friends who had to put up with my moods and who seemed to under- stand; to Dolores and Sid for their concern; to Joy Ander- son for being there when I needed her. Also, to Louise Brown and the rest of the English Department for getting the movies; to Diane Fischler for typing this from too many drafts and for forcing me to work; to Jim Flavin, David Dunleavy, and Mark Schwed for running the machines and forcing me not to work; to Russell Merritt for showing me what movies are all about; to my committee members. Dr. David Stryker, Dr. Sidney Homan, and Dr. Alfred Clubok for their time, interest, and signatures. Most of all, I would like to thank Dr. William Childers and Dr. Ben Pickard. You spent an obscene amount of time helping me and just listening to me complain. Your support has always been appreciated deeply; you deserve the credit for whate-/er polish and refinement the work has. I wish I could be more eloquent; I owe you both too much. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S iii ABSTRACT iv INTRODUCTION 1 Notes 5 CHAPTER 1: ALTMAN ON ALTMAN 6 CHAPTER 2: THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK 8 18 CHAPTER 3 : MASH CHAPTER 4: BREWSTER McCLOUD 31 Notes 43 CHAPTER 5: McCABE AND MRS. MILLER 44 Notes 77 78 CHAPTER 6 : IMAGES Notes 102 CHAPTER 7: THE LONG GOOD-BYE 103 Notes 125 CHAPTER 8: THIEVES LIKE US 126 Notes 145 CHAPTER 9: CALIFORNIA SPLIT 146 CHAPTER 10: NASHVILLE 172 Notes 187 CONCLUSION: THE AUTEUR 189 BIBLIOGRAPHY 209 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 211 XV Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy PERSISTENCE OF VISION: THE FILMS OF ROBERT ALTMAN by Neil Feineman August, 19 76 Chairman: John B, Pickard Major Department: English Robert Altman is one of the most prolific of all the contemporary American directors; since 1969, he has directed nine feature films. Although only I^IASH has enjoyed major commercial success, Altman has a cult following that includes many of our most respected film critics, actors, and technicians, as well as countless film scholars and students. Because he is so respected by his fellow artists and by visible film people, his influence undoubtedly will be much greater than his box-office clout. But even without the framework of his potential importance to film history, his movies are beautiful, complex, and unusual enough to deserve critical attention. In addition to being its own in- dependent entity, each film draws from and refines the other Altman films. Because they are so varied in genre and period but are so similar in style and theme, Altman seems each film as to be a true American auteur . By treating both an individual offering and a part of a collective body of work, this examination of Altman' s movies will capitalize V on the structure but avoid the doctrinaire biases of the auteur theory. Altman's first three films, That Cold Day in the Park , MASH, and Brewster McCloud are artistically uneven; as individual films, they are less successful than his later movies. These three film.s do establish Altman's basic values of the loneliness of the individual and his inability to succeed and hint at Altman's episodic, non-linear, and emotional way of telling a story. Although each is of some interest in its own right, they are more valuable as illustrations of Altman's as yet unrefined strengths and weaknesses. With his next three films, McCabe and Mrs. Miller , Images, and The Long Good-bye , Altman develops his visual style and thematic concerns. Each is a reworking of a film genre, but sees the genre through the perspective of the egocentric, isolated individual in a hostile, dangerous world. Each is also a beautifully shot and constructed film, obtaining its continuity and consistency respectively through the narrative and characters, through its editing, and through its music and theme. Thieves Like Us , California Split, and Uashville all directly relate to the earlier Altman films. Drawing from the other movies, these three reiterate, deepen, and darken Altman's world view and show Altman *s increasing skill as a film-maker. They also raise a question: after these nine films, which seem to be a com^pleted body of work, where vi 1 can Altman go? What can he do that he has not done? The answer lies, of course, with his next nine movies. VI " INTRODUCTION I was not prepared that August 1971 night for what I was to see at the Esquire Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin. After the movie was over, I did not know why I had been so moved; I only knew no other film had touched me so deeply. Hopefully, five years and many film courses since that first exposure to McCabe and Mrs. Miller , I am more articulate about my emotional reaction. And as of this writing, there have been eight other Altman movies, with more on the way, and other directors who have moved mie. Still, however, I will always owe most to Robert Altman and, deep down, will always belong to McCabe and Mrs. Miller . Unlike many analyses of contemporary auteurs, I have made no attempt to disguise my affection for the films or the personal biases behind the discussions. After all, one of Altman 's most appealing traits is his insistence on the viewer's emotional reaction. Even when his movies are cold and cynical, like The Long Good-bye and Nashville , he includes us in his design. As Joan Tewksbury, Nashville 's scriptwriter, says, "All you have to do is add yourself as the twenty-fifth character and know that whatever you think about the film is right, even if you think the film is wrong. , Once my response is added to the other characters then, my Nashville becomes complete. More importantly, since my response is different from anyone else's, it dif- ferentiates my film experience from everyone else's. Since the emotional experience is personal, the analysis must be, as well. After all, who can better explain my reaction than myself. Perhaps because Altman demands this personal and emotional response, rather than an analytical or rational one, and because his films stress the visual and subtle, little has been written about Altman ' s movies. Even after TSIashville , a full fledged media event, much of the belated attention focused on Altman has taken the form of mild gossip or superficial summaries of his career and person- ality. Had there been an extensive amount of research, however, I still would have concentrated on my reaction to the movies; Altman 's movies are too alive to reduce them to an academic cataloguing of other people's perceptions. Keeping this in mind, there have been several informa- tive articles and interviews that help explain Altman. These include the excellent article about the selling of Nashville in the June 13, 1975 issue of New Times , an interview with Altman in the Chicago Reader of July 5, 1975, and the reviews of Brewster , Images , and The Long Good-bye in various issues of Film Quarterly . Whenever a source like these has been helpful or pursues a point dif- ferently or more extensively, I have noted the source in the chapter notes. For the most part, however, this analysis does not pretend to be a scholarly compendium and re- view of the Altman literature, but deals more directly with the movies themselves. I have begun my discussion with That Cold Day in the Park. Because I did not have access to Altman' s television work, the James Dean documentary, and Countdown , his unsuc- cessful and mediocre first film, I can only write about the nine films since then. After viewing each of these several times, I found them conveniently grouping themselves into three phases of Altman' s development. The first three. That Cold Day , MASH , and Brewster McCloud, are uneven movies. Failing to develop themselves fully, they function more significantly as illustrations of Altman' s as yet unrefined strengths and weaknesses. As a result, my discus sions of these three films center on their potential and implications for Altman 's future work. The next three movies represent Altman' s first mature efforts; because each is a variation of a particular genre, I examine it against a classic of its genre. McCabe and of the Mrs. Miller , a complex social study of the settling West, a beautiful photographic essay, and an enduring love story, is compared to Stagecoach . Images is juxtaposed against a simpler subjective thriller. Repulsion . Although similarities exist between the tv70 films. Images uses the metaphor of schizophrenia to develop an abstract investiga- tion of the nature of the film experience that forces the viewer to feel Kathryn's madness and accept the film as its own reality. When Altman turns to The Long Good-bye , he amalgamates the essences of The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep so that he can present the private eye as he really is, a moralistic, egoistical vigilante.

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