Robert Altman/USA/1993; R1 (2-disc)
Criterion, US$39.95 | Reviewed by John Spry

IT'S HARD to believe more than 10 years have passed since the Robert Altman-directed film Short Cuts – the mesmerising follow up to The Player (1992) – was released into cinemas and available on general release worldwide (and not just in art-house cinemas). I thought it timely to revisit this film released recently in the United States by The Criterion Collection. Over the past 12 months many classic Altman films have found their way onto DVD, and recently three films have received the "Director Approved" treatment on the Criterion label. Besides Short Cuts, the other titles are Tanner '88 (1988) and Secret Honour (1984), both of which were released in time for the U.S. general election, and timed quite appropriately so, although they probably did not have the effect that Altman would have liked.

Short Cuts is a film that consists of a disparate group of stories not so much interwoven, but at times overlapping each other in oblique and strange ways. This is a story (or stories) set in Los Angeles in the early 1990's, and follows many characters as they progress through three days in a lifetime. While watching the film it seems unthinkable that all these characters could be related in some way, and at other times it seems unlikely that they could be oblivious to each other's lives. The material that Altman has adapted from is noted author Raymond Carvers' short stories (from a variety of sources), and it should be noted that Altman has transformed Carvers work into a story (or stories) that suits the way he operates as a director. The film is not based around one storyline but arrives/leaves on characters the way one might overhear a conversation in a bar or café, interrupted by other experienced moments, but returning nevertheless to a central theme. In my interpretation of the film, the storyline I consider central to the function of the narrative is set around a married couple (Andie MacDowell and Bruce Davison) who share their lives with their 6-9 year-old son. Early on in the film, their son while on his way to school crosses a road without checking for traffic and is hit by an oncoming car driven by another of the central characters (Lily Tomlin). From this point onwards it seems that many of the other characters introduced have at least something to do with this family, or with the character driving the fatal car. Within the film, there are many other stories equally as affecting on the viewer as this one of a child in jeopardy, each using different emotions to invoke the participation of the audience.

All of the familiar Altman storytelling techniques are evident in Short Cuts, such as the long conversational takes, the roving camera that appears to move away from a central character whilst speaking or making important gestures only to return to that character in the same take, or the situational scenes that could happen to anyone but are highlighted by the macabre. One scene in particular towards the end of the film comes to mind where two characters are collecting different sets of developed photographs, and pick up each others up in a mix up. Once the photos are viewed, it is discovered that one set contains the holiday snaps of a fishing trip interspersed by photos of a woman's dead body discovered by the fisherman. The other set is of a woman seemingly beaten by her husband/boyfriend, who in actuality is the girlfriend of a make up artist, who in turn plays a game with her made up to look like she's been beaten. The scene ends with both people exchanging the pictures and making a note of each other's car registration. There are many other moments similar to this and handled in Altman's unique view of everyday life in a unique city.

There have been many films that appear to be in a similar vein to Short Cuts through multiple linear narratives, more dialogue than traditional action, and Altman himself has directed many of the same kind of film – most notably the 1988 film Nashville, as well as M*A*S*H (1971) and even the television mini-series Tanner '88.

Over the years, there have been directors that have used a kind of 'Altman template' as homage, as well as attempting to bring their own signature to their own unique projects. One immediately thinks of an Altman protégé and friend, Tim Robbins. Robbins' films such as Bob Roberts (1992) and Cradle will Rock (1999) have been influenced by the Altman model and work with different degrees of success. The most recent example of a direct Altman comparison came when Paul Thomas Anderson wrote, produced and directed his own L.A. opus, Magnolia (2000). With the film's release came inevitable comparisons to Altman's Short Cuts, but this I feel was unfair on both directors. Short Cuts is a meta-story concentrating on a possible wider picture for some clarification of its purpose and the purpose of the characters, with overlapping dialogue and stories giving a much larger sense of people's lives in a city that borders a vast desert, with nourish overtones. Anderson's Magnolia concentrates on the characters lives exposing secrets that threaten to tear down their fragile façade, built upon broken promises and a construction of self-reflexive lives that have been imagined by a psyche or psyches, and that have distorted through lives suffering from alcohol and drug addiction, eagerness to please partners, society, and even cases of molestation. Here, we are as viewers and witnesses to people's lives, asked to understand and question of our own lives and purpose.

Altman has used a core cast of over 30 central characters in Short Cuts, and has utilised actors and actresses he had previously worked with or that were emerging into modern popular culture, all since making their mark in both independent and studio films. The cast includes: Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Jack Lemmon, Julianne Moore, Matthew Modine, Anne Archer, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Chris Penn, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey Jr., Madeline Stowe, Tim Robbins, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Frances McDormand, Lori Singer, Lyle Lovett, Buck Henry, Huey Lewis and many others.


WHAT makes this edition of the DVD special and worth the purchase price is the attention given by Criterion to the film, the source material, as well as the two main driving forces behind each, Altman (director) and Carver (author). On the first disc there is the film itself transferred by Criterion and featuring a Widescreen picture (2.35:1 ratio) that does not lose anything from the theatrical print. The foreground and background sound is made up of both dialogue and jazz music heard throughout the film in subtle nuances, and both are crisp and clear.

The second disc features old and new interviews and documentaries on the film, book, Altman and Carver. There is an interview done midway through 2004 with Tim Robbins and Robert Altman that covers the film and specific topics related to the film. As usual, Altman speaks like a man who has through four decades been on the in and out with Hollywood and quite clearly remains an original and a maverick much like the interviewer, Tim Robbins.

The brief "Raymond Carver's short story 'Jerry, Molly and Sam'" is an excellent deconstruction of a scene as well as how it was altered to fit in the film. There are parts of the stories read by the actors throughout this 17-minute segment.

The centrepiece of the extra material is the excellent feature length "Making Of" doco, Luck, Trust, and Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country which explores the way in which Altman directs a film and the almost on-the-spot inspiration he draws from each scene as it is being filmed. This is a major bonus for Altman fans as it shows the director at his best, operating under his own unique conditions.