Capo
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Post by Capo on Apr 7, 2007 13:59:26 GMT
A Prairie Home Companion Robert Altman 2006 USA The last broadcast of a live radio show, as seen onstage and backstage, through the eyes of the participants and a mysterious woman. Reductive, perhaps, but an initial point of reference: Altman's Nashville (1975), another multi-character musical had a lazy ending which brought everything together, whereas this is very succinct and satisfying, at once implicit and ambiguous; but whereas Nashville's three-hour duration gave an epic weight and allowed Altman to give a wealth and depth to each of his characters' personalities, because it is only two hours, A Prairie Home Companion is at times a little imbalanced. Another half-hour or so would have ironed its narrative out into a much more consistent rhythm and flow - and the writing and acting are both excellent enough to have made it quite watchable at a longer length. It's a brilliant film, though, full of laughs, full of wit, full of energy and colour and confidence, unfolding finally as a film driven by nostalgic characters caught up in a world slowly drowning in melancholy. Altman's camera is less casual, less roaming than his other films, but is riveting all the same - various pans and simultaneous zooms, difficult to describe but lovely to watch, bring us in and out of this conversation and that conversation.
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