Terrill,
Re your comments below:
> I don't think Altman has ever made such a
statement
> about THE LONG GOODBYE. I believe the mandate he
was
> given by the studio and the producers was that
he
> make "A Robert Altman FILM", which he
did.
He made the statement by calling the film THE LONG GOODBYE,
crediting Chandler with the source material, and naming the
protagonist Philip Marlowe. All of that suggests a faithful
adaptation, the director's reputation notwithstanding.
Moreover, in the only previous novel adaptation he'd done
before GOODBYE (that I'm aware of, anyway), M*A*S*H, he WAS
faithful to the spirit, if not the absolute letter, of
Richard Hooker's book. And Richard Hooker ain't Chandler. So
there was not necessarily a clue to his unwillingness to
"play by anyone's rules" in his previous work.
> I'm not sure how Altman got around this
supposed
> "obligation" and slipped past the "ethics" police
to
> use his own creativity on this project and bring
us
> one of the most original and interesting films
of
> its era (and a fantastic time capsule to boot),
but
> I'm sure glad he did.
There's no need to make snide remarks about the
"ethics police." The original question was an ethical one. Is
an artist free to bring his own creativity to a work he
adapts? I was attempting to answer that question. If you're
glad that Altman felt free from the constraints of any
obligation to the source material he purported to be
adapting, so be it. If you feel ethics have no part in art,
that's fine too. But the original question seemed to be an
ethical one.
There's no need to be sarcastic because I offered an
opinion on an ethical question.
> It's certainly not a rare
> event when filmmakers don't "shoot the booK"
(it's
> more often the case than not), . . .
They may not "'shoot the book,'" but, more often than not,
they at least stay within the framework of the spirit, if not
the letter, of the source material. Even SATAN MET A LADY was
closer to the spirit of THE MALTESE FALCON than Altman's LONG
GOODBYE was to Chandler's novel. And what really irritate me
is that he strayed from the novel, not because of some
overwhelming artistic vision, but because he clearly disliked
the novel, the character, and the genre.
> And if you don't like his movie, you don't have
to
> watch it.
I don't, and if you check the archives you'll see that I've
refrained from comment on the film for the most part. Even
here, my comment was less about the film, per se, than about
a filmmaker's responsibility to the source material he's
adapting, with Altman's film
(since that was the topic) used as an example of failing,
deliberately failing, that responsiblity.
If Altman doesn't like the genre, and wants to show it up in
all its bourgeois phoniness, fine. It doesn't mean he's
ethically free (and his being an artist doesn't free him from
the restraints of honor, ethics, or morality) to take someone
else's work and trash it, under the guise of "adapting it,"
to make his point.
> It shouldn't be an insult that it exists.
You're right, it shouldn't be an insult. But it is. Moreover,
it's a deliberate, calculated insult. Insulting the book, the
character, the author, and the genre was Altman's entire
purpose.
> As the pros always say, "He didn't ruin the
book.
> It's still fine right there on the
shelf."
And they always say that when the film DOES, in fact, ruin
the book.
JIM DOHERTY
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