Robert Altman - Interview

Robert Altman is a man of strong opinions and two phobias: George W. Bush and shopping. In Deauville to present his latest film, Dr. T and the Women, he certainly knew how to give voice to one of them. In fact, he would have been happy to talk of nothing but the state of American politics… Until Wilma Radar steered him back to more cinematographic concerns.

Wilma Radar: Do you think hat this year’s presidential election has moved beyond satire?

Robert Altman: I think we’ve moved well beyond satire. We’re on a very dangerous precipice; if George Bush gets elected president, it’s going to have a terrible effect. This George Bush character is a joke.

W.R: Let’s evoke the ending of your film for a moment, without revealing too much of it. The ending is visually very lifty. Is that a camera move?

R.A: Women have never what the ending evokes from that angle. And yet everyone came into this planet through the same door . The film doesn’t exist without that; it would seem misogynistic.

W.R: You’ve introduced many of your films in a festival form, rather than putting them straight out on the market. Could you tell us a little bit on how it’s helped your career?

R.A.: I think without the Cannes film festivals and MASH I might be doing sitcom television right now. I don’t think it makes a difference to my career. But I think it’s important for me to support film festivals, because it’s the only place that new filmmakers, new films, new ideas can be seen, and can be brought into a situation where they can survive.
I don’t care how small or how big a festival is: it’s important.

Wilma Radar