Altman's Cinematography Saves the Day

After viewing three of Robert Altman's films I have been left with a very dissatisfied taste on my pallet. Since these three films were of such varying degree I don't feel as though I have truly grasped what Altman is all about, and because of this I don't think I'm as big a fan as I could be. There were a few specific things in all three films we watched in class that really bugged me and I'm going to vent about them right now: First, in The Long Goodbye, one song the entire movie?! Seriously?! Although the different variations were pretty cool for the first half hour, being a music person, it got to be very repetitive and altogether annoying. Second, Nashville, why? There were 500 billion characters (exaggeration I know), the plot was... nonexistent?, and then someone dies.. not to mention it revolves solely around country music, and bad country music if I may point out. Finally, The Player, the main character beat a guy to death.....yep. I was very excited to see how this film would turn out but after the murder there was never anything else that seemed to grab my attention. This film reminded me of Crime and Punishment, where the first 50 pages are really engaging and after that all you read is Raskolnikov going more and more crazy which is not too fun. So, those are some specific things I DIDN'T like about these films, but there are two aspects that have left me wanting to explore the work of Altman much more: his cinematography and editing. As a whole, the way he shot these films were remarkable. The duration of some of his scenes give the viewers the notion that they are watching the action unfold right before their eyes. Altman doesn't force viewers into situations, conversations, events, whatnot (cough Woody Allen), he allows the camera to subtly divulge into the world of his characters by itself. In Altman's films, the camera seems to act as sort of a worker bee, doing it's absolute best to catch every detail, conversation, etc. without having to break from the naturalness of it all. One unique thing that plays a very prominent role in The Long Goodbye is the fact that the camera is rarely still. Although this style may make some people feel nauseous, uneasy, or just annoyed, it seems to help keep the story going. Since the camera is never still I found myself subconsciously believing the plot/story line was never still even though there were times when the action was pretty subdued. Besides Altman's outstanding cinematography, I am a big fan of his editing as well. Instead of trying to spice things up with dramatic fades and weird transitions, Altman remains very simple with typical cuts placed only when necessary. These simple cuts also make the viewers feel as if they are truly "in" the film since the editing is how a normal person would view the scene (especially conversations) if it was happening right in front of them. Overall, Altman is on my "TBD" list of directors I love or hate. Some tiny details have turned out to be obtrusive annoyances in my eyes, but his overall camera work and editing style cover up the crapiness of some of his other choices.