Love how it's peppered with little comments and encounters that set up the entire plot - the pushy screenwriter who somehow got past security, the upcoming pressure on Griffin to perform in a time of "rolling heads", mistaken identity, interchangeability of personalities (replacing Julia Roberts with Goldie Hawn in the same breath), and finally the notion that in political thrillers someone always dies - and what else is a Hollywood studio but a huge political pinball machine? Brilliant.
Yeah it's great because it foreshadows that someone will die in this movie, comments on the fact that there's always a golden girl or man of the moment, (Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts) and it sets up their world and what they have power over. I also love that the producer chatting about Orson Welles says he's a master but when other directors are mentioned who were just as good he "hasn't seen it." The America centric view of Hollywood starts with the people at the centre who have no time to watch anything their friends aren't in.
This is a great, great movie. It kept me totally engaged from beginning to end. The first Robert Altman movie I saw was ‘M.A.S.H.’ in 1970. My parents took my brother and I to see it and even as a 17 year old High School senior I totally enjoyed it. Anyone who wants to see a really good subtle satire of the entertainment business would do well to watch this film. Everything about it says filmmaking at it’s finest.
@EclecticGlue Thank you for this. I love how Fred Ward keeps referencing Hitchcocks tracking shots. A truly great scene. I keep hearing about The Passenger shot but still have not seen the film. Other great long takes that immediately come to mind are the Goodfellas club scene and the Raging Bull fight entrance as well as the Boogie Nights club scene and the Magnolia studio entrance. Obviously, PT Anderson has seen a Scorsese movie or two...thanks again guy
they tell ya the reference point during the shot. check the dialogue at 1:30 into the clip "Cut, Cut Cut ...the opening shot of Welles's TOUCH OF EVIL was 6:30 long ..."
It's amusing how the opening shot from Touch of Evil is referenced here... while it's less than half the length of this sequence, it's twice as good. My problem with Altman's eight-minute shot is that the camera stays in kind of a hub; it never leaves the parking lot. The camera doesn't follow the action, Altman makes the action come to the camera.
I like that though, it gives the impression of voyeurism. And I'm sure it was a budget constraint too. You can also see a cut, when the postcard is revealed.
I've wondered if Altman did that close up and camera bump on purpose as a tribute to Rope, which is mentioned in this shot. Hitchcock had cuts in rope but always on a zoom in or other distraction and it's often not super clean in a charming way. I've watched this opening over and over and with Bonnie's shadow, I really don't see where they could have made a cut. @@catiline1
I just now realized that the note at 3:41 that reads "YOUR DEAD" is, in fact, grammatically correct: it's not supposed to be "YOU'RE DEAD" as in a direct threat to Mill, but rather that the audience on the postcard is "his dead." The audience is being killed by bad movies.
@morgantown1 That one in Magnolia is one of my favorites. Fucking Camera went from outside the studio through the halls to the green room through the halls again then gets into an elevator and then finally gets to Jimmy Gator´s office.. And thats not even the best one in the whole movie, the best one is when they Introduce the contestants for the game show! PT Anderson is the man..
This movie is subverting hollywood culture, it's commentary. You're not supposed to emulate the protagonist, and the movie does not paint him in a positive light. If you think the movie is teaching you to be like the main character, you've missed every bit of subtext contained in the film. I suggest you watch it again. And if that's the most 'negative' film you've ever seen, you've seen few films. Try Network, now that's dark. Dark, but deep commentary.
enough about the camera movement and the opening shot...this is one of the best commentaries about Hollywood and American culture and Southern CA society ever. Witty, suspensful, and of course deeply deeply cynical. I say that I really don't like Altman.
We're going to talk about legendary one shots, while doing one. Nice. This is an excellent movie regardless, but really rewards movie buffs/historians/whatever.
anyone else find it ironic that Tim Robbins kills a man in this movie and gets away with the murder, then 2 years later he plays a man who is innocent of murder and gets imprisoned for it?
Keep it on the DL. Watch very carefully when Jimmy falls off the bike and they tighten up on the postcard. It's not at all obvious, but it's definitely there.
Do you have any clips with shots of the Pasadena police station? It was a historic old building that's since been torn down. I can find zero pics on the net.
@@janlillielauritsen4791 6:08 clearly isn't Martin Scorsese. Also here's what Marty looked like in the 90s www.mentalfloss.com/article/60948/24-things-you-might-not-know-about-goodfellas
'radical political scares me, political political scares me' sums up Hollywood and its attitude to 'message movies'. Just edgy enough to say 'this stuff happens' then backtracks to a safe spot.
Sure, there were a lot of garbage movies made in the 80s and 90s that only had star power, but they were better than now, when superhero movies dominate.
I think they should make a horror film set in a hollywood studio and the nasty film execs are killed in grusome and inhumane ways by disgruntled employees.
@kingcaesar5 yeah. this is real porn. the movie teach us to be like main character: slippery, barefaced, evil. ok ull ask me "it is real live" ill ask u "i wanna watch movie to relax, to feel smth positive" this movie is absolute negative. its everywhere. this is the most negative movie ive ever seen.
One of the great opening shots in film history.
Way better than this new MTV cut cut cut stuff.
Love how it's peppered with little comments and encounters that set up the entire plot - the pushy screenwriter who somehow got past security, the upcoming pressure on Griffin to perform in a time of "rolling heads", mistaken identity, interchangeability of personalities (replacing Julia Roberts with Goldie Hawn in the same breath), and finally the notion that in political thrillers someone always dies - and what else is a Hollywood studio but a huge political pinball machine? Brilliant.
Yeah it's great because it foreshadows that someone will die in this movie, comments on the fact that there's always a golden girl or man of the moment, (Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts) and it sets up their world and what they have power over. I also love that the producer chatting about Orson Welles says he's a master but when other directors are mentioned who were just as good he "hasn't seen it." The America centric view of Hollywood starts with the people at the centre who have no time to watch anything their friends aren't in.
Still looking for that first piece of score that plays under the opening credits
Love this movie. RIP Robert Altman
❤Even 30 years later STILL one of my favourite opening scenes.
Great movie. I love it. I saw it in the theater back when it was new. Thank you.
They showed this in one of my college classes. I was amazed.
How's life?
This is a great, great movie. It kept me totally engaged from beginning to end.
The first Robert Altman movie I saw was ‘M.A.S.H.’ in 1970. My parents took my brother and I to see it and even as a 17 year old High School senior I totally enjoyed it.
Anyone who wants to see a really good subtle satire of the entertainment business would do well to watch this film. Everything about it says filmmaking at it’s finest.
Thanks for the upload!
Brilliant in so many different ways!
Fantastic movie -- So clever has it folds in on itself at the end.
So many of Altman's movies fold in and around - brilliant screenwriting
My favorite movie opening ever.
reminds me of Profession: Reporter. i love such long shots...
The best movement camera i have seen in my life on movie. Better than TOUCH EVIL openning.
No
I didn't see it
Thx for this upload. I'm going to be quizzed on this in Film 200.
@EclecticGlue Thank you for this. I love how Fred Ward keeps referencing Hitchcocks tracking shots. A truly great scene. I keep hearing about The Passenger shot but still have not seen the film. Other great long takes that immediately come to mind are the Goodfellas club scene and the Raging Bull fight entrance as well as the Boogie Nights club scene and the Magnolia studio entrance. Obviously, PT Anderson has seen a Scorsese movie or two...thanks again guy
That's Jeremy Piven (Ari Gold) that's talking around 4:10, lol.
they tell ya the reference point during the shot. check the dialogue at 1:30 into the clip "Cut, Cut Cut ...the opening shot of Welles's TOUCH OF EVIL was 6:30 long ..."
Thx, Captain Obvious! 👍
I would watch a movie with writers pitching: It's ghost meets manchurian candidate, out of africa meets pretty woman all day and name dropping stars
“What the hell’s that? Never heard of it.” Hahahahahaa
A superb opening shot. I'd love to see the behind the scenes for this.
They need to make the graduate 2 like they described!
All the principals aren't with us anymore, sadly
They'd have to put Julia Roberts in the Katharine Ross part and make Zendaya the ingenue
they already did the Graduate part 2. ITS CALLED "Rumour Has It..." . DAMN YOU ROB REINER!!
@clivetemple
this is actually the 10th take of scene 1; like it says at the start.
OMG this eight minutes tell more about USA and modern society than anything else ...
Oh wow I just got that Richard Linklater's first film Slacker draws so heavily from this opening.
It's amusing how the opening shot from Touch of Evil is referenced here... while it's less than half the length of this sequence, it's twice as good. My problem with Altman's eight-minute shot is that the camera stays in kind of a hub; it never leaves the parking lot. The camera doesn't follow the action, Altman makes the action come to the camera.
I like that though, it gives the impression of voyeurism. And I'm sure it was a budget constraint too. You can also see a cut, when the postcard is revealed.
I don’t see that as a problem at all
@@phoebexxlouiseI didn't notice the cut until you mentioned it. The Camara clearly acts disjointed and out of place when it resumes again
I've wondered if Altman did that close up and camera bump on purpose as a tribute to Rope, which is mentioned in this shot. Hitchcock had cuts in rope but always on a zoom in or other distraction and it's often not super clean in a charming way. I've watched this opening over and over and with Bonnie's shadow, I really don't see where they could have made a cut. @@catiline1
Writer tries to order a beer then a red wine for a morning meeting with a studio head. Never noticed that before.
...with a heart, all in the same place!
I just now realized that the note at 3:41 that reads "YOUR DEAD" is, in fact, grammatically correct: it's not supposed to be "YOU'RE DEAD" as in a direct threat to Mill, but rather that the audience on the postcard is "his dead." The audience is being killed by bad movies.
RIP Fred Ward
@morgantown1 That one in Magnolia is one of my favorites. Fucking Camera went from outside the studio through the halls to the green room through the halls again then gets into an elevator and then finally gets to Jimmy Gator´s office.. And thats not even the best one in the whole movie, the best one is when they Introduce the contestants for the game show! PT Anderson is the man..
ALTMAN, THE MASTER!
That's Joan Tewkesbury at 6.06, on the right.
The cut is on the magazine scene
Soo Dope!
This movie is subverting hollywood culture, it's commentary. You're not supposed to emulate the protagonist, and the movie does not paint him in a positive light.
If you think the movie is teaching you to be like the main character, you've missed every bit of subtext contained in the film. I suggest you watch it again.
And if that's the most 'negative' film you've ever seen, you've seen few films. Try Network, now that's dark. Dark, but deep commentary.
Modem64k Watch TV then, probably the best for all of us. Cinema cannot be reduced to entertainment and escapism. As an art form it seeks intensity.
enough about the camera movement and the opening shot...this is one of the best commentaries about Hollywood and American culture and Southern CA society ever. Witty, suspensful, and of course deeply deeply cynical. I say that I really don't like Altman.
I really like him for the same reason 🙂
Possible cut at 3:42
We're going to talk about legendary one shots, while doing one. Nice.
This is an excellent movie regardless, but really rewards movie buffs/historians/whatever.
@laprop we must be in the same film 200 class at BRCC.... are we????
I love the music at 4:47
anyone else find it ironic that Tim Robbins kills a man in this movie and gets away with the murder, then 2 years later he plays a man who is innocent of murder and gets imprisoned for it?
Nick Tokar Have you ever seen War of the Worlds remake? Tim Robbins digs a hole in the wall in that one too LOL. He's a man of tongue in cheek
that's exactly what i thought when i watched this
The postman always ring twice
Keep it on the DL. Watch very carefully when Jimmy falls off the bike and they tighten up on the postcard. It's not at all obvious, but it's definitely there.
I didn't know Aron Speilling produced, because I thought it mostly T.V. Work he did. But I was wrong.
Isn't the camera movement inspired from "Citizen Kane" instead of "Touch of evil"? I've seen both movies but some time ago so I might be mistaken.
the TrUtH is at 3:02 "who let Adam Simon on the lot?" .... Go Adam, Go !!!
i like the opening of John Woo's "Hard Boiled" ... that is some choreography!
Do you have any clips with shots of the Pasadena police station? It was a historic old building that's since been torn down. I can find zero pics on the net.
I saw the movie but I lost my patience after a few minutes. it is also hard to understand because there ar a few storylines in the beginning.
So this is where Ari Gold first job was in Hollywood
Thought the same thing when I heard Piven lol
I think that was part of the idea of Swimming with Sharks (1994), although that's not a horror film exactly.
5:33 a pitch meeting? Hmmmmmmm.......maybe Ryan George should be there!
4:10 a young Ari Gold.
"take ten!"
The Film Vault sent me
Orson Welles ... "Touch of Evil' . hell, they tell ya during the shot.
Of course what you fail to realize is this opening pokes fun at people who take those things seriously.
Don't mean to spoil your fun, but it's two shots. I promise.
@hawrnball you did see the end of this movie didn't you? i mean, that's the joke. right? get it?
They predicted Bruce Willis in the sixth sense.
I said the camera movemment, no the full movie.
Russian Ark puts all those films mentioned below to shame.
I haven't seen it, but there's a movie called Russian Ark that is one continuous 96 minute shot.
And don't you think I Am Cuba deserves kudos, too?
Charlie Day brought me here
6:10 that's not Scorsese lol
It is
He looked like that in the 90’s.
But he knows Harvey Keitel
@@janlillielauritsen4791 6:08 clearly isn't Martin Scorsese. Also here's what Marty looked like in the 90s www.mentalfloss.com/article/60948/24-things-you-might-not-know-about-goodfellas
What's so great about the camera movement in that Passender scene anyway?
It's just an unbearably slow and boring tracking shot.
I searched squid game and saw this
i guess it could be either way
@PleaseExcuseUs Small world! we actually are in the same class, I had to check your page to confirm it. I'll see you 2morrow for the quiz! haha.
'radical political scares me, political political scares me' sums up Hollywood and its attitude to 'message movies'. Just edgy enough to say 'this stuff happens' then backtracks to a safe spot.
Sure, there were a lot of garbage movies made in the 80s and 90s that only had star power, but they were better than now, when superhero movies dominate.
Planet with sons
Abulafia ... ah, so you don't pay attention.
I think they should make a horror film set in a hollywood studio and the nasty film execs are killed in grusome and inhumane ways by disgruntled employees.
Angela Hall!!!!!!!!!!
A slight jiggle of the camera is an obvious cut? Wow....good job failing.
very impressive shot but i lost interest around 2 mins
@kingcaesar5 yeah. this is real porn. the movie teach us to be like main character: slippery, barefaced, evil. ok ull ask me "it is real live" ill ask u "i wanna watch movie to relax, to feel smth positive" this movie is absolute negative. its everywhere. this is the most negative movie ive ever seen.
う(
@guzmanbatista67 Nope. Touch of Evil was better.
Just wish the opening music had been different, it's way too 80s & this was '92!!
Altman, the most annoying director of the 70s.