Robert Altman vs Paul Thomas Anderson
Altman vs. Anderson As studio directors, both Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson have an unlimited arsenal of equipment at their disposal to create movies with their own artistic license. ... While Robert Altman is nearing the end of his everlasting career, it seems as though his mark has been left on the film industry after amassing 75 films already during his lifetime, including films made only for television purposes. His legacy will also live on in a different form, as can be seen while viewing almost any of the young director Paul Thomas Andersons growing library of films. Though there are several crucial differences in their styles, it is apparent that Anderson has taken a great deal out of Altmans career and given birth to a new style which is just as entertaining yet more modern and admirable in some respects. While viewing any of the films Robert Altman decides to take on, one realizes that they are not watching just another typical Hollywood studio movie. ... This is because I felt that Paul Thomas Anderson did everything Altman did to create a complex array of characters in a given time, but managed it much better in his film “Magnolia. ... Another Altman film that has resemblance to Andersons Magnolia is “Short Cuts.” Again, Altman uses a vast array of characters, 22 or so, that for the most part do not overlap in plot and lack connection to each other whatsoever. ... Perhaps Altman simply cares less about his characters or does not see the purpose in watching them grow. In Anderson’s films, you see definite changes in the characters as the plot continues. ... In “Hard Eight,” Anderson takes several characters, as expected of him; they are jumbled together and then thrown into a trap in which they must fish their way out. Hard Eight is a good example of Anderson’s original style brought out in a semi-mainstream Hollywood style movie. The fatal flaw I see in both Altman and Andersons films generally appear in their endings. ... The film itself to me was one of Altman’s greatest with a well-balanced blend of drama and comedy, yet it all seemed to fall apart at the end.