Altman Page #7

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It's a thriller.

It's all at once.

So, uh, what's the story?

Well I want Bruce Willis.

Mmhmm.

I think I can talk to him.

It's a story about a senator,

a bad-guy senator at first.

And he's travelling around the

country on the country's dime,

you know, uh, like that Sununu guy used to.

It's sort of a cynical,

political, thriller comedy.

Yeah, but it's got a heart,

uh, in the right spot

and anyways he has an accident.

An accident?

Yeah, and he becomes

clairvoyant, like a psychic.

Oh, I see.

Yeah.

So it's kind of a psychic,

political, thriller, comedy

with a heart.

With a heart,

and not unlike Ghost meets

Manchurian Candidate.

Go on, go on, I'm listening.

Anyway, he can start to read people's minds

and when he gets to the president's mind

it's completely blank.

Mr. Altman, is "The Player"

your revenge against Hollywood?

No, it's a very, very mild indictment.

Things aren't really like

that, they're much worse.

Mr. Altman, I have to ask you,

do you think Hollywood has

lost its' objectivity?

No, I think that Hollywood

has always maintained its' objectivity,

which is greed and making

as much money as it can

and trying to get rid of all the artists.

Of course they can't succeed in that,

so since they can't really get rid of us

we just keep popping up and going along.

And now we have the presentation

of the Palme D'or for Best Director.

The Palme D'or for Best

Director goes to Robert Altman

for "The Player".

"The Player" Robert Altman!

Thank you.

"The Player" was a huge hit in Cannes.

Everyone wanted to meet with him

and he finally found backers for a film

he had been wanting to do for years.

In "Short Cuts" Bob took a collection

of Raymond Carver's short stories

and adapted them into one

multi-layered story.

I think Bob connected with Carver's stories

because they were about the

lives of ordinary people.

The frailness of human behavior.

The randomness of things

that happen in life.

It's coming.

I know, I know, come here.

Jerry.

Okay, look, look it.

What's happening Howard?

Howard?

We have to get under the table.

Gene, earthquake!

Get under the door, come on!

Quick!

Get underneath the door!

This is Officer Gene Shepard

of the Los Angeles Police Department.

We are currently

experiencing an earthquake.

On Broadway I danced

For that Senator

They know me in London J

They know me in Paris

Ralph!

Jesus.

This is bigger than the one in '71.

Don't worry. Don't worry.

It's not the big one.

Earthquake!

Mommy, get over here, quick!

Get down.

Just lay down, Mommy.

Just lay down.

This is it, baby! We're going out together.

This is the big one, baby.

Wasn't the big one.

If we were able to explain

any of these characters

it's the very fact that

things happen to them

and they are inexplicable

because I think that's more truthful

to the way life really is.

Jerry!

Altmanesque, what does it mean?

How vulnerable we are.

Talking with Robert Altman.

Well what's left of you from

the success of your diet?

Thank you.

I'm glad that you mentioned

that, people think I'm sick.

He's ill, he's lost weight.

I've lost about 35 pounds and I'm,

I got about a few more to go.

I just figured it'll add

some longevity to the...

I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The doctor said you have an enlarged heart.

You shouldn't do this or that

and you shouldn't drink.

But it never stopped him

from doing anything.

I heard him yelling,

he's like, I think we have a problem here.

So I ran downstairs and he

couldn't remember my name.

I called the doctor and as I

was helping him get dressed,

he looks up at me and

says Konni if this is it,

it's been great.

It was a micro stroke.

He gave up drinking, that was hard.

He says the only thing I miss

about drinking is the alcohol.

He was great.

He was still fun and

funny, but he was thin.

Pret-a-Porter was difficult.

That he managed to make that

movie was an accomplishment,

but he kept on working.

Start the music and we're

bringing them through.

As soon as... As soon as these

kids who are going through

get right under here, as soon

as you lose sight of them

you're going to move on over.

"Kansas City" came out of his

memories of growing up there.

Especially of jazz music, which he loved.

But he barely made it through that film.

It was his heart, it was giving out.

The doctor said I think

you need a transplant.

And Bob said what are the odds?

He rested for a whole year.

Learning how to live with a new heart

and handle possible rejection,

and medication and a whole regimen.

I kept it quiet

because I was afraid nobody would hire me,

because there's such a stigma to it.

By his 71st birthday he looked terrific.

He was really with it and

excited to get back to work.

I love what I do.

I love the actors and what they do.

And it's just such a delight

to sit there and watch

people create something

and know that you're a part of it.

It's just... I don't ever want to stop it.

Storytelling.

Masterful storytelling.

All right, well, what do you want to do?

Should we just shoot one

and see how bad it is?

Let's shoot one.

I mean, see how good it is.

Let's waste film.

I have a lot of stock in Eastman.

All right, let's do it.

Action servants.

"Gosford Park" was one

of Bob's masterpieces,

but it almost never got made.

We couldn't line up the financing.

It just kept falling apart.

What scared the investors

were the exact things he loved about it.

Big ensemble cast, unresolved ending.

One guy said he'd finance the film

if Bob would rewrite the ending

to make it a traditional

murder-mystery, but Bob refused.

With zero funding and no investors

he called up every A-List actor in London

and said we're making this movie.

They were like absolutely

I'd love to work with you.

We were close to shooting, the

producers are freaking out

and Bob is totally cool,

like he knows everything

is going to work out.

And then we got the call.

The British Lottery fund

agreed to back the film.

He won the lottery.

Mr. Weisman?

Mmhmm, yes.

Tell us about the film

you're going to make.

Oh, sure.

It's called "Charlie Chan in

London", it's a detective story.

Set in London?

Well, not really, most of it

takes place at a shooting party

in a country house, sort of

like this one, actually.

A murder in the middle of the night,

a lot of guests for the

weekend, everyone's a suspect.

You know? That sort of thing.

How horrid.

And who turns out to have done it?

I couldn't tell you that.

It would spoil it for you.

Yeah, but none of us will see it.

Aha!

Isabelle? Isabelle?!

Jennings?

Robert Altman's film "Gosford Park"

is a virtuoso ensemble piece

to rival the director's

Nashville and Short Cuts,

that's masterly interweaving

of multiple characters

and subplots.

It is a contemporary equivalent

of Jean Renoir's classic

"Rules of the Game".

What makes the achievement

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