Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMinett offers the most precise account we're likely to get of Robert Altman's unique contributions to the art of American moviemaking. Covering the broad extent of his career, including television work, Minett analyzes the achievement of this 'borderline' Hollywood filmmaker with sensitivity to the changing production contexts. While mounting original arguments, Minett revises, nuances, and challenges earlier work with persuasive arguments and careful documentation. This book is at once an in-depth study of a distinctive director and a revealing look at some unexpected cinematic horizons opened up by the New Hollywood. * David Bordwell, Jacques Ledoux Emeritus Professor of Film, University of Wisconsin *
Minett's impressively extensive background research in Altman's technological and industrial options is combined with precise, perceptive analysis of some of the director's most popular films — all in clear, mercifully jargon-free prose. Tackling topics like Altman's fondness for zoom shots and dense, overlapping dialogue, Minett achieves a convincing account of the flexibility of the classical Hollywood cinema and the ingenuity with which Altman exploited that flexibility. * Kristin Thompson, co-author of The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style & Mode of Production to 1960 *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments About the Companion Website Introduction Chapter One: Perverse Clotheslines: Altman and Narrative Elaboration Chapter Two: Quantifying the Subliminal: Altman and the Elaborative Zoom Chapter Three: Elaborate Chaos: Altman and Overlapping Dialogue Chapter Four: Improvisation, Transposition, and Elaboration: Altman Chapter Five: Institutional Elaboration: Altman's Training Grounds Conclusion Appendix: Zoom Context Films Bibliography Index
