Lifetime achievement for Robert Altman
2002-02-10 22:10
Berlin - The Berlin film festival pays homage to US director Robert
Altman on Sunday with a Golden Bear prize for lifetime achievement and
a gala screening of his latest film, the period mystery Gosford
Park.
The maverick filmmaker, renowned for ensemble pieces such as
MASH, Nashville and Short Cuts, will accept the statuette
with his wife Catherine.
Known for his keen social criticism infused with human empathy
and rich characterisation, Altman has won devoted fans among
critics and audiences who relish the swirling subplots and biting
dialogue of his films.
Altman has never won an Academy Award and fiercely protects his
distance from the Hollywood movie machine, which he savagely
skewered in his hit 1992 satire The Player.
Gosford Park, winner of this year's Golden Globe award and
co-produced by Altman, presents a stellar British cast in an
Upstairs, Downstairs style comedy of the classes peppered with a
murder mystery.
Altman, who will turn 77 on February 20, remains true to form in
exposing the cruel underbelly of baronial luxury of the 1930s while
blurring the seemingly impenetrable lines between the gentry and
the servant classes.
Stars including Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Helen Mirren
and Emily Watson take delicious advantage of the acerbic dialogue
and allow even those left scratching their heads at the tricky plot
and dozens of characters to just enjoy the fun.
The son of a successful Kansas City insurance salesman, Altman
entered filmmaking by way of failed stints as a salesman and
inventor after World War II, in which he served as an army fighter
pilot.
After a string of industrial films, documentaries and
commercials, Altman eventually gained a name as a screenplay writer
in Hollywood.
His first directing jobs were in television, including a handful
of episodes of the Western series Bonanza.
But it was his third feature MASH, a tragicomedy about the
Korean War which audiences quickly understood as an attack on the
US engagement in Vietnam, that won the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 1970
and sealed his reputation as an American director of considerable
talent and vision.
David Thomson, author of A Biographical Dictionary of Film,
called Altman the American Renoir in an article for the New York
Times in June 2000, describing some of his films during the 1970s
heyday of American cinema as "as good as any made in this country".
The director of more than 30 films is also credited with fuelling
the movie careers of stars including Shelley Duvall, Keith
Carradine, Lily Tomlin, Jeff Goldblum and Sally Kellerman.
Many critics considered the 1993 feature Short Cuts, a
contemporary drama based on the writing of American short-story
author Raymond Carver, to be Altman's last great film.
But the veteran director has remained prolific into old age,
with surprises such as the widely acclaimed Gosford Park up his
sleeve.
Gosford Park is appearing out of competition at the Berlin
festival, which runs through February 17. - Sapa/AFP
- SAPA