Balaban Presents: "Altman's Art" at Bay Street Theater

[caption id="attachment_37905" align="alignnone" width="300"] Actor and director, Bob Balaban.[/caption]

Bay Street Theater announced this week that it will host “Altman’s Art,” a screening of the acclaimed film director’s “Gosford Park” and a discussion of his work as one of the greatest American filmmakers on June 8 at 7 p.m.

The evening will also include a talkback hosted by actor and director Bob Balaban, with Guilia D'Agnolo Vallan, and Kathryn Altman—the widow of Robert Altman. Ms. Vallan and Mrs. Altman will have a book signing on the biography of Mr. Altman, which they co-wrote, after the talkback.

“Gosford Park,” is a British murder mystery satire that's drawn comparisons to Jean Renoir's classic “Rules of the Game” and “Ten Little Indians,” based on the novel by Agatha Christie. The scene is 1930s England, where an aristocratic family and their friends enjoy a hunting party weekend. But are there killers among them? The film features multiple storylines, showing the fairly boring lives of the rich and famous upstairs, and the more intriguing ones of the servants downstairs.

For decades, Mr. Altman fascinated audiences with pioneering films such as “M*A*S*H,” “Nashville,” “The Player,” “Short Cuts” and “Gosford Park”—that combined technical innovation with subversive, satirical humor and impassioned political engage­ment. His ability to explore and engage so many different worlds with a single, coherent vision changed the landscape of cinema forever. This signature "Altmanesque" style is, in the words of Martin Scorsese: "as recognizable and familiar as Renoir's brushstrokes or Debussy's orchestrations." Now, the Altman estate opens its archive to celebrate his extraordinary life and career in the first authorized visual biography on the iconoclastic director. "Altman," by Altman’s widow and film critic Ms. Vallan, brims with photographs and ephemera, many culled from private family albums, and personal recollections of the director. Alongside the intimate illustrated story is a complete visual, historical, and critical narrative of Mr. Altman’s films and his process. To honor the Altman trademark of using a wide cast of characters, “Altman” also features contributions from his collaborators and contemporaries including Frank Barhydt, E. L. Doctorow, Roger Ebert, Jules Feiffer, Julian Fellowes, James Franco, Tess Gallagher, Pauline Kael, Garrison Keillor, Michael Murphy, Martin Scorsese, Lily Tomlin, Alan Rudolph, Michael Tolkin, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Altman’s Art will be held on Monday, June 8 at Bay Street Theater, 1 Bay Street, Sag Harbor. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling (631) 725-9500 or by visiting baystreet.org.