The Nashville chronicles: the making of Robert Altman's masterpiece / Jan Stuart.
New York : [Lancaster : Limelight ; Gazelle distributor], 2003Edition: 1st Limelight edDescription: 366 pages: illustrations; 23 cmContent type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volume001: 27825ISBN: 9780879109813Subject(s): Film | Dark comedy | ReviewDDC classification: 791.4372 STUItem type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
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Book | MAIN LIBRARY Book | 791.4372 STU (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 111351 |
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791.4372 SHA Shaft (screenplay) | 791.4372 SMI Bone and Beyond | 791.4372 STA The station agent : screenplay / | 791.4372 STU The Nashville chronicles: the making of Robert Altman's masterpiece / | 791.4372 TAX Taxi driver [screenplay] / | 791.4372 THI The thin red line [screenplay] / | 791.4372 THI The third man (screenplay) |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
(Limelight). The Nashville Chronicles is a fascinating journalistic tour de force of the movie that legendary film critic Pauline Kael called "The funniest epic vision of America ever to reach the screen." In writing this book, Jan Stuart enjoyed the benefit of full cooperation from Altman, who sat for many hours of interviews, as well as most of the motley crew of cast and characters. Illustrated throughout with behind-the-scenes photos.
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Library Journal Review
Robert Altman's early films (Brewster McCloud, McCabe & Mrs. Miller) are the perfect embodiment of the loose, improvisational, "let's try it on" spirit of the best American movies of the 1970s. In 1974, Altman assembled a huge cast for an epic musical and political satire that focused on the rapidly changing capital of country music. Some critics hailed it as the ultimate bicentennial film; Altman wryly called it his "grand motel." On the 25th anniversary of the film's release, film critic Stuart (Newsday) recounts the filming of this complex, multilayered tale, in which the lives of 24 characters intersect and collide over several days. The author enjoyed access to the director and most of the film's surviving talent, including Lily Tomlin, Keith Carradine, and screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury. Altman comes across as tough but dedicated and fully intent on realizing his vision despite a meager budget. Stuart concludes with the film's critical reception, its continued impact on new directors, and a "where are they now?" file on the Nashville company. Though he occasionally slides into publicity-agent puffery, Stuart also provides a melancholy reminder of an almost vanished era of Hollywood risk-taking. Recommended for large public libraries.DStephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Publishers Weekly Review
Rightly considered both a critical and popular masterpiece, director Altman's 1975 film, Nashville, is a sprawling, audacious and brilliant mixture of political analysis and soap opera that features 23 major characters, all on a collision course with the American dream. This love letter to the film, the director and the cast is based on Newsweek movie critic Stuart's interviews with all of the cast and crew members who are still alive. He ably evokes the artistic excitement that galvanized the set amid the chaos of the filming (Altman, a great believer in improvisation, told his actors to ignore the script on the first day of filming), as well as the tensions that surfaced when the exacting, often cranky director clashed with many of his stars. Highlights are the insights of performers like Lily Tomlin, who relates how feminism and lesbianism shaped her wonderfully tender sex scenes with Keith Carradine (who claims to have "just wanted to get laid" during the filming"), and Barbara Harris, whose insistence on relying on her improvisational training at the Second City put her at odds with Altman. Stuart is at his best detailing the strained and often painful relationships between the starsÄparticularly Ronee Blakley, who played the film's central characterÄand the director. More an overview of the film and its principal players than a sustained critical analysis or a day-by-day account of the filming, this amiable journalistic account will please the film's legion of fans more than it will film critics or historians. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reservedBooklist Review
Stuart, film critic for Newsday, gets up close and personal for this rewarding critique of Altman's well-known and affectionately remembered masterwork. There have been many discussions and serious critiques of Nashville; Stuart takes readers behind the scenes literally to reveal Altman's controversial way of working, although much of his approach was applied to film by Italy's neorealists, particularly Roberto Rossellini. There's much information here on Altman's flare at building film families and allowing actors lots of room for improvisation. Stuart includes juicy anecdotes featuring each member of the Nashville family--actors such as Henry Gibson, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine, and Lily Tomlin; screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury; and second assistant director Alan Rudolph. In tracing Altman's career and brand of filmmaking before and after Nashville, Stuart concludes that Altman declined, even though many of his films had critical acclaim. With The Player, Altman reemerged as a player, proving a director is only as good as his or her last film. At 75, unlike Orson Welles, Altman is still finding the money that allows him to work with the tools of his trade. --Bonnie SmothersThere are no comments on this title.
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