The cinema of Robert Altman : Hollywood maverick / Robert Niemi.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Niemi, Robert, author.

Series:

• Directors' cuts

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Altman, Robert, 1925-2006--Criticism and interpretation.
• Altman, Robert, 1925-2006.
• Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

• Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

x, 230 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Wallflower Press, 2016.

Summary:

In a controversial and tumultuous filmmaking career that spanned nearly fifty years, Robert Altman mocked, subverted or otherwise refashioned Hollywood narrative and genre conventions. Altman's idiosyncratic artistic vision and his propensity for formal experimentation resulted in an uneven body of work: some rank failures and intriguing near-misses, but also a substantial number of great films that are among the most accomplished and influential works of the New American Cinema. While Altman always professed to have nothing authoritative to say about the state of contemporary society, this volume surveys all of his films in their socio-historical contexts to argue for a reassessment of Robert Altman as a trenchant satirist and social critic of postmodern America: a lonely wasteland of fraudulent spectacle, exploitative social relations, and unfulfilled solitaries in search of elusive community. Book jacket.

Contents:

• 1 Three Dream Films: Explorations of Female Identity 12
• 2 Experiments in Genre Revision 23
• 3 Large Canvases 73
• 4 Falling from Grace 89
• 5 In the Wilderness 106
• 6 Return to Form 131
• 7 Final Phase: More Large Canvases and Minor Works 159.

Notes:

Includes filmography (pages 202-212), bibliographical references (pages 213-222) and index.

ISBN:

• 9780231176262
• 0231176260
• 9780231176279
• 0231176279

OCLC:

939689823