THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 28, 1994 TAG: 9412280059
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
LET THE HEMS fall where they may. With ``Pret-a-Porter'' (``Ready to Wear''), Robert Altman is dressing down the fashion industry.
The venerable director - adored by critics and often just as puzzling to audiences - chronicles the absurdity and mayhem at the annual Pret-a-Porter, the week in Paris when the world's foremost designers unveil their latest creations. The 32 stars range from legends Sophia Loren and Lauren Bacall to reigning divas Julia Roberts and Kim Basinger.
``It's a movie about nakedness,'' Altman said in an interview at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. ``It's about why we wear clothes and how we dress. What we are saying every time we go out is, `This is who I am.'
``Some of us are telling the truth. Some of us are lying. Some of us are using it as a disguise - uniforms.''
Altman's ``M*A*S*H'' (1970) is the classic movie about the absurdity of war, exaggerated to the point of comedy. ``Nashville,'' his masterpiece, introduced his ensemble style of telling dozens of little stories rather than one. After years of decline, he made a comeback two years ago with ``The Player,'' a satire of the movie industry, and last year's ``Short Cuts,'' which spoofed modern life in Los Angeles.
``Pret-a-Porter'' was expected to be scathing and hilarious. When it turned out to be merely funny, critics turned on it.
``It's not a serious movie,'' said Altman, who was in Charlottesville a few years back to receive the first lifetime achievement award from the Virginia Film Festival. At that time, he mostly talked about nudity - a subject still very much on his mind. The new movie ends with a nude fashion show, an event designed to draw all the characters together the way the assassination did in ``Nashville'' and the earthquake did in ``Short Cuts.'' He insisted that the ending be included in this story, adding that he never would have made the movie without it.
``Everyone will know about it anyway by now, and besides, it's not like it's a surprise ending,'' Altman said. ``The surprise is in seeing it, not in knowing that it's there.
``The scene is quite the opposite of sexiness. I congratulate the models. These were not porn stars; they were top fashion models, and we just sprang the idea on them at the last moment. The audience, out front, didn't know either. The point was to get as pure a reaction as we could.''
The point of the scene is the point of the movie - that we all put up false fronts; that we are a narcissistic society. It's the Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome. The message sounds like the familiar, cynical Altman, but his film is predominantly a good-natured farce.
``Without that nude show at the end, and the pregnant girl in it, I would not have made the film,'' he said. ``Without that, I would have just had a bit of fluff. With the scene, the movie makes a statement.''
The idea for ``Pret-a-Porter'' came to Altman 10 years ago when he was in Paris to publicize his military drama ``Streamers.'' Reluctantly, he attended a fashion show with his wife, and when the music began, he was transfixed.
``This is a circus, an amazing circus,'' he said. ``It's show business. It's more flagrant than show business. I knew right away that I wanted to make a movie about it.'' It took 10 years, and the success of ``The Player,'' to finally raise the money.
Now, the movie, which opened Christmas Day, is showing in the malls to the masses - a contrast with the art-house treatment Altman's films usually get. ``Short Cuts'' was released initially only in large cities; Mirimax is betting heavily that ``Pret-a-Porter'' will have wide box office appeal.
``If it isn't that kind of movie,'' Altman said, ``then it won't go. I've never been one to worry too much about box office. That's why I often have to worry so much about raising the money for the next one.''
Altman looks thin and gaunt, leading to rumors that he may be ill. The man many critics cite as America's greatest film director will be 70 in two months. He says his health is fine.
``I actually tried, and did, lose 60 pounds. It's true, though, that this is the least in-control film I've ever made,'' he said. ``It's good that I'm not prone to ulcers. This was tough, but I don't know any easy way to make a film like this.''
With more than 38 stars on the set, plus 75 designers and supermodels, you'd expect some major ego clashes. Altman said that didn't cost him much time.
``They policed themselves,'' he said. ``There were egos present, but no one wanted to be the bad guy. They were all there together, and no one wanted to be on display as the one that made trouble. The behavior was very good.''
The cast includes Marcello Mastroianni as a tailor who rekindles a romance with Sophia Loren; Tim Robbins as a sportswriter who gets stuck covering a murder at the show; Kim Basinger, who steals the movie as a TV fashion commentator, and Julia Roberts as a reporter from Houston.
Also appearing are Danny Aiello, Anouk Aimee, Rupert Everett, Teri Garr, Lyle Lovett, Stephen Rea, Tracey Ullman, Sally Kellerman, Linda Hunt and many more.
They were all asked to stay in character as they mingled with real models and designers at real shows.
``We had no idea what would happen,'' Altman said. ``They ask me what to do. I tell them, `You're the actor. React the way you want to react.' The fashion shows were not as I would have staged them. They were the way they really are. I covered the event.''
Since last year, though, the fashion industry has been trembling. After all, the country-music industry has never liked ``Nashville.''
``I was making a movie about an event, not an industry,'' the director said. ``I decided early on that this was to be a farce - a light thing - not an attack. Most of the designers cooperated and let me film.
``After a while, they got testy. Some people said they wanted to be seated out of camera range. Valentino was most miffed. He wanted us to film his show but we only had three days to do it, and he backed out, in a huff. It was expected that not everyone would cooperate.''
Altman is next off to make a movie called ``Kansas City,'' about his home town. He'll then make the movie version of the Tony-winning play ``Angels in America.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
by CNB