Search The Archive

Search the film archive

“Not since Woody Allen's Radio Days has anyone created such a cinematic Valentine to the wonderfully imaginative medium of radio as A Prairie Home Companion.
- Hollywood Reporter
Protean filmmaking veteran Robert Altman creates a rib-tickling and highly engaging yarn about a supposedly fictitious radio variety show that has managed to survive a healthy tenure in the age of television. Concocted from a screenplay by Garrison Keillor about a radio show similar to the one he's been broadcasting since 1974, the story picks up where the cast of the show prepares for its final episode before Texan tycoons demolish their theatre and long-time home.
With congeniality to boot and comedy in spades, the film oozes Midwestern charm, successfully avoiding artifice. It boasts a top-billing and eclectic cast - as has come to be expected from Altman - ranging from Woody Harrelson to Tommy Lee Jones, from Meryl Streep to Lindsay Lohan, from Lily Tomlin to Maya Rudolph. Ranks alongside Altman's best work.

Film editor Jacob Craycroft will introduce the session on Tuesday 8 August, 7.15pm at Regent Theatre.

---

D/P Robert Altman S Garrison Keillor Dist Magna Pacific TD 35mm/2005/105mins

Robert Altman was born in Missouri, USA, in 1925. His films include McCabe & Mrs Miller (1971), Nashville (1975), The Player (1992) and Gosford Park (2001).