History Creator / RobertAltman

* ToughActToFollow: For a few years after its release, ''Film/{{MASH}}'' ranked as one the top grossing films of all-time, which led producers to place unreasonable expectations on Altman to replicate its success even as his filmmaking was become more idiosyncratic.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His pre-"Film/{{MASH}}'' cinematic films are all fairly conventional with few of his signature touches. ''Film/{{MASH}}'' was also his first attempt at comedy. And of course he didn't have much freedom to experiment in his industrial films or TV work.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His pre-"Film/{{MASH}}'' cinematic films [[note]] ''The Delinquents'' (1956), ''The Creator/JamesDean Story'' (1957), ''Countdown'' (1968) and ''That Cold Day In The Park'' (1969) [[/note]] are all fairly conventional with few of his signature touches. ''Film/{{MASH}}'' was also his first attempt at comedy. And of course he didn't have much freedom to experiment in his industrial films or TV work.

* LeFilmArtistique: Not as many as his reputation would lead you to believe, but ''Images'', ''Film/ThreeWomen'' and ''Quintet'' all qualify.

* TheDanza: Played with in ''Images'', where every major cast member plays a character with the same first name as ''another'' major cast member.

* ThrowItIn/ {{Improv}}: If you're in a Robert Altman movie, you better be prepared to make up most, if not all of your lines

A moviemaking maverick with little use for the Hollywood establishment, Altman was nevertheless nominated for the AcademyAward for Best Director five times, and was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2006.

Robert Altman (1925–2006) was an American film director and screenwriter.

* ''Film/TheCompany'' (2003)

** His movies deconstruct politics as a whole. With ''Tanner '88'' (an {{HBO}} {{mockumentary}} miniseries directed by Altman and written by [[ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}} Garry Trudeau]]) this is taken UpToEleven, giving us an accurate look at the demands of a Presidential campaign.

* RaisedCatholic: He was lapsed by his adulthood, and his films generally have an indifferent or irreverent attitude toward religion (exemplified by the LastSupperSteal in ''Film/{{MASH}}'').

* ''TheCompany'' (2003)

* ''Film/{{MASH}}''
* ''Film/McCabeAndMrsMiller''
* ''Film/TheLongGoodbye''
* ''Film/CaliforniaSplit''
* ''Film/{{Nashville}}''
* ''Film/{{Quintet}}''
* ''Film/{{Popeye}}''
* ''Film/SecretHonor''
* ''Film/ThePlayer''
* ''Film/ShortCuts''
* ''Film/CookiesFortune''
* ''Film/GosfordPark''
* ''TheCompany''
* ''Film/APrairieHomeCompanion''

Robert Altman (1925 – 2006) was an American film director and screenwriter.

** His movies deconstruct politics as a whole. With ''Tanner 88'' a {{Mockumentary}} taken UpToEleven, giving us an accurate look at the demands of a Presidential campaign.

* ''Film/{{Mash}}''

* {{Deconstruction}} : Of all kinds of American ideas, myths and imagery in general. His genre films like McCabeAndMrsMiller portrayed the most historically [[ShownTheirWork researched]] depiction of what TheWildWest was really like and the kind of characters that existed there.

* GenreBusting : All his films, to the point that he invented his own genre of HyperlinkStory that later critics called the Altmanesque film. His earlier films, TheLongGoodbye and McCabeAndMrsMiller deconstructed FilmNoir and TheWestern itself.
* HyperlinkStory: ''Brewster Mc Cloud'', MASH, Short Cuts'', ''Nashville'', ''Health'', ''GosfordPark'', ''Kansas City'', ''APrairieHomeCompanion'', ''CookiesFortune'' and his TV Miniseries ''Tanner' 88''.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Frequently, it's pretty much what he's best known for. Massively ensemble dramas like ''{{Magnolia}}'' and ''Film/{{Crash}}'' tend to get compared to his work.

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* HyperlinkStory: ''Short Cuts'', ''Nashville''

* ''CaliforniaSplit''

* ''SecretHonor''
* ''ThePlayer''

* ''GosfordPark''

* ''Film/ThreeWomen''
* ''Film/TheLongGoodbye''
* ''CaliforniaSplit''