Requiem

One of my newfound heroes passed away last week. I discovered Robert Altman when I watched Gosford Park sometime earlier this summer. I was in love with the subtle plot, the beautiful and intricate characters and how deftly he was able to weave together so many storylines so beautifully. After that one, I went on to watch Nashville and The Player and I have several others on my queue. I also realized one of my favorite weird little movies, Cookie's Fortune, was directed by him as well. Losing him is truly a loss to the art of filmmaking. I can't think of many other directors who are so beloved by so many actors that their films can be made into a parlor game of name-that-actor with multiple cameos by actors of every strata.

I think I'm especially sad because I had just fallen in love. It's not like my love for Hitchcock or Orson Wells. They were long dead and safely ensconced as geniuses by the time I came around to them, and the new directors I love (Sofia Coppola, Zach Braff) are still so young and untested that their careers can't be judged yet. But Altman was such a force, was still working, and yet was somewhat proven as an artist. It's just not fair he was taken from us at the tender age of 81. I wasn't ready :-(

For a lovely eulogy, see this Slate article.