American Cinematographer - June 2006 - 75

Now in his 80s,

Altman continues to

filmmaking

explore

see

new

as a way to
artistic terrain.

Shot

by Ed Lachman, ASC,

Prairie is set in the

near

future, when

the show, Keillor's troupe

and their

home, the Fitzgerald Theater in St.
Paul, Minnesota, are about to be shut
down for

good by a bean-counting
(Tommy Lee Jones).
Based on a screenplay by Keillor, the
plot also incorporates behind-thescenes
intrigue overseen by Guy Noir
businessman

(Kevin Kline),
about

as

well

as a

story arc

visiting angel (Virginia
Madsen) that only some characters
can see. "It's like a
variety show,"
a

Altman declares. "You

never

know

what's coming next, and

it's got some
star attractions. Just watching Meryl
Streep and Lily Tomlin sing their
numbers is worth the price of admis¬
sion!"
Lachman

with Altman

previously worked

the final sequences
of Dr. T and the Women and on some
on

commercials for Revlon. The cine¬

matographer

familiar with
Keillor's work when he signed onto
Prairie. "I knew him as a Will Rogers
kind of guy, sort of folksy, and then I
saw him perform at the Hollywood
was not

Bowl," recalls Lachman. "After that I
listened

to

several radio shows and

found them

This

meant

the filmmakers

had considerable

leeway in formu¬
lating a visual style, even though
they were treading upon Keillor's
creative ground. This freedom was
abetted by the fact that Altman likes
to be
surprised, according to
Lachman. "Bob

cares

about the

ideas behind the

images, but he also
encourages everyone to improvise
and experiment," says the cine¬
matographer. "Before many takes,
he'd say, 'Let's boogie!' I welcome
that

[freedom], but I also look for

my own structure to work within."
For Lachman, that structure

arose

from the

contrast

businessman's cold,

between the

impersonal atti¬

tude and the creative camaraderie
shared

by the Prairie troupe. In

abstract way, this sense of differ¬
ent values led Lachman to contem¬
an

plate the paintings of mid-century
artists Reginald Marsh, George
Bellows and Edward Hopper, whose
canvases

evoke

a sense

of isolation

and loneliness in

everyday settings.
These works inspired him to pursue
a
palette of rich greens and reds
amid areas of deep shadow.
Lachman notes that his goal wasn't
to

create

obvious

references

to

Garrison Keillor
looks

on as

Yolanda Johnson

(Meryl Streep)
and her daughter,
Lola (Lindsay
Lohan), sing a
duet during the
final broadcast
of A Prairie
Home

Companion.
This page, above:
Yolanda and her

sister, Rhonda

(Lily Tomlin),
entertain the

audience with

a

number. Left: A

businessman

(Tommy Lee

be

sharp and very
timely." As he immersed himself in
the world of Keillor's script and
began filtering it through Altman's
sensibilities, Lachman began form¬
ing ideas that would be the basis of
his visual approach.
For his part, Keillor claims that
despite creating Prairie's world on
to

Opposite:

Jones)bent on
closing down the
show is joined
by a mysterious

companion
(Virginia
Madsen).

the radio for decades, he went into
the film

production with no precon¬

ceived notions about what that

Pictuocrehuorfste.sy
Phot s

world looked like. He notes, "I don't
evoke pictures when I'm on the air,

audience does. Part of the secret
stories on radio is that you
don't exactly describe [everything].
You provide some interior voice and
a few visual clues so
people can make
their own visual pictures."
my

of telling

American

Cinematographer 71
American Cinematographer - June 2006

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 2006
