Alan Rudolph: The Lost American Filmmaker

When I mention Alan Rudolph to anyone under the age of 35, I get a blank stare.  Apparently, if a director's movies are not streaming on Netflix they never existed.  Such is the case with a true auteur who wrote and directed 19 movies between 1976 and 2002.  A disciple and collaborator of Robert Altman, Alan Rudolph has a diverse, compelling body of work that deserves both rediscovery and examination.  

An LA independent filmmaker through and through, Rudolph's jazzy, atmospheric films continue to entertain and educate.  They represent authentic American Independent Cinema, about outsiders living on the margins.  His films compliment Robert Altman's work, with his recurring repertory of actors, fighting for their American Dreams in the New West.  Mr. Rudolph's films are often about artists and writers and musicians - as real people.  He might even be the west coast version of Woody Allen.  His work is eclectic and unpredictable.  Yet taken together they comprise an unmistakably distinct oeuvre.  

Sure, he made some terrible movies along the way, including his career-killing adaptation of Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, but his high points more than compensate.  

One blog tribute can't do his work justice.  See for yourself what an American master looks like.  I suggest hunting down as many movies as you can find.  Start with old VHS tapes, dig through your local library's basement, and keep your eye on eBay.  

Here are my top 5:

5.  Trouble in Mind  (1985)

Equal parts Alphaville and Blade Runner, this idiosyncratic neo-noir is typical Alan Rudolph.  Set in a futuristic Seattle with hints of martial-law, Trouble in Mind features the underappreciated Kris Kristofferson as an ex-cop, and Keith Carradine as the Altman-Rudolph-esque loner.  Filled with unconventional casting, surrogate families, and a surreal party scene to put The Great Gatsby to shame.  Available on DVD in a great 25th Anniversary edition from Shout! Factory.

4.  Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle  (1994)

When Mrs. Parker was released in November of 1994, it was overshadowed by Quiz Show, Bullets Over Broadway, and Ed Wood - all show business period pieces released within the same 2 months.  Mrs. Parker, the least splashy of the four, holds up with the best of them.  Collaborating with Producer Robert Altman, Mr. Rudolph returns to the witty, boozy banter of troubled artists in the 1920s (see #2).  The difference, however, is this one focuses on one character - the writer Dorothy Parker played by the pitch-perfect Jennifer Jason Leigh.  Not a conventional biopic, Mrs. Parker is a fluid snapshot of how this particular band of misfits fought, played and imploded.

3.  Choose Me  (1984)

Another similarity with Robert Altman and Woody Allen is Mr. Rudolph's skill with female actors.  This is true for all the movies on this list, but most evident here with the excellent Genevieve Bujold and Lesley Ann Warren.  Choose Me was an independent hit, that manages to be both quirky and quintessentially '80s.  Another moody, jazzy tale of con-artists and loners, Choose Me brings the viewer back to a lost era of phone-therapy and radio call-in shows before the internet era.  At times, Bergmanesque, and other times absurd and surreal, Choose Me continues Mr. Rudolph's exploration of love, friendship, and alienation.  Featuring a great period score with songs by Teddy Pendergrass.

2.  The Moderns (1988)

Before Woody Allen went there in Midnight in Paris, Alan Rudolph dramatized Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and the rest of 1920s Paris in The Moderns.  Once again Keith Carradine plays a broken-hearted artist, surrounded by fellow misfits and liars.  Like Woody Allen, Mr. Rudolph draws parallels between present day creative circles and the highly romanticized days of the Lost Generation.  Only his Paris consists of forgeries, condom moguls, and boxing matches refereed by Hemingway.  Viewers may know Kevin J. O'Connor from There Will Be Blood when he played Daniel Day-Lewis's brother.  Here, Mr. O'Connor practically steals the movie as Ernest Hemingway because he makes Papa a fully realized, three-dimensional character, not a brooding caricature like we often see.  With yet another standout cast including John Lone and Linda Fiorentino, and brilliant quotable dialogue, The Moderns is a writer-director working at the top of his game.

1.  Afterglow (1997)  

"The hardest part of all is finding out too late that none of it lasts."  Spoken by Julie Christie's character - a burned out, B-Actress chaneling Norma Desmond.  But it could be referring to Mr. Rudolph, as this movie was his last popular and critical hurrah.  A talented cast led by Ms. Christie's Oscar Nominated performance, and possibly Nick Nolte's greatest work ever, Afterglow is an original, mature love story set in Montreal.  It calls to mind Leonard Cohen as it puts four lost romantics under the modern microscope.  Sure, it's mostly the exceptional Ms. Christie's show, but Mr. Rudolph wrote the character.  And his direction helped create the energized chemistry with Mr. Nolte.   A modest hit at the time, it's disappearance today is a travesty.  Produced by Robert Altman.