TV REVIEW : An Illuminating Look at Robert Altman

Mike Kaplan and John Dorr’s illuminating and incisive 90-minute “Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country” (premiering on Bravo tonight at 8) is as much about the director as the making of “Short Cuts,” the film Altman and his co-writer Frank Barhydt wove so effectively from nine of Raymond Carver’s celebrated short stories centering on lives of ordinary desperation.

It’s no wonder Altman has so little trouble getting top actors to play small roles in his films. It isn’t merely a question of his mystique as one of the great living figures of the American cinema; it’s a matter of the warm, low-key atmosphere he creates on the set, inviting contributions from one and all.

Chris Penn puts his finger on it when he says that, although it “sounds contradictory,” Altman is “very spontaneous--and he knows exactly what he wants.” The man is both wise enough and secure enough to encourage input.

Trust and luck are two words that are uttered repeatedly throughout this engaging documentary--the whole question of the role trust and luck play in human relationships that is at the heart of “Short Cuts” in turn mirrors Altman’s methods.

Jack Lemmon remarks that the ability to inspire trust is the common quality that all the finest directors share. Film editor Geraldine Peroni observes that both Altman and Carver, who died at 50, “have a dark vision of the world”; interestingly, as large, bearish men, their physical resemblance is so striking that they could be brothers.

Moreover, if luck plays a key role in the lives of Carver’s people, Altman allows it to play a similar role in the making of his films--luck in the sense of having rounded up a cast and crew of gifted people and partaking of their inspirations.

Altman’s openness to the ideas of others ranges from letting Lemmon work in a trick with two shot glasses and an egg and Tim Robbins’ suggestion that Anne Archer’s character should be a professional clown to his production designer’s urging the use of a wall-size aquarium in an apartment set and his music supervisor’s idea of commissioning top songwriters to create songs especially for Annie Ross’ saloon singer. If you have seen “Short Cuts” you will understand how such details can be essential to breathing life into a film.

Indeed, you probably should see “Short Cuts” before you see this documentary. It’s not because it gives everything away but rather to have seen the film enriches one’s understanding of all that went into making it the landmark film that it is.

And if you haven’t yet seen “Short Cuts,” “Luck, Trust & Ketchup,” an EZTV/Circle Associates production, surely ought to encourage you to catch up with it--soonest.