ReFocus: The Later Films and Legacy of Robert Altman

Director Robert Altman’s “golden period” of critically acclaimed films coincides directly with the age of New Hollywood, roughly the late 1960s through the late 1970s. Following this period, Altman would continue to work, albeit under much different circumstances than in his first decade directing films. This anthology considers post-1970s Altman as a way to rethink and reconceive his authorship. The goal of the book is not to minimize the impact of Altman’s 1970s work, but to think about how the under-analyzed post-1979 films can be explored alone, together, and in relation to earlier work in an effort to craft a more compelling portrait of Altman’s evolution as an artist. The anthology is composed of both scholarly chapters and original interviews with key Altman collaborators during this later period, allowing for the scholars’ hypotheses, theories, and insights to be in conversation with the collaborators’ remembrances. Throughout the book, three unifying themes emerge: the nature of Altman’s creative process; how the larger industrial framework shaped Altman’s output in this period; and new perspectives on key films. The book suggests that the later period of Altman’s career reveals a more complete picture of his auteurism and his innovations, both aesthetically and in business practice, than his early 1970s “golden era.” In fact, the consistency of the 1970–1975 period should be seen as exceptional, not illustrative of Altman’s key strengths, weaknesses, and areas of growth as an artist. A more nuanced understanding of Altman’s authorship requires assessing the underexplored second half of his career.