Criterion Collection (series)

Short Cuts

DVD Features:

Audio:

• Dolby Digital 5.1 - English

Additional Release Material:

• Deleted Scenes
• Interviews - 1. Raymond Carver - Writer, Audio Only
• Electronic Press Kit
• Featurette - 1. REFLECTIONS ON SHORT CUTS, Robert Altman - Director, Tim Robbins - Star
                   2. LUCK, TRUST, AND KETCHUP: ROBERT ALTMAN IN CARVER COUNTRY
                   3. Episode of BBC's "Moving Pictures"
• Isolated Music Track

Text/Photo Galleries:

• Additional Text - 1. Reprint Of SHORT CUTS The Companion Collection Of Raymond Carver Short Stories
                          2. Essay by Film Critic Michael Wilmington

Product Description:

Using the short stories of Raymond Carver as a jumping-off point, American maverick director Robert Altman weaves a tapestry of interlocking tales set against the seedy backdrop of contemporary middle-class Los Angeles. Tracking the various stages of denial, rage, and despair in the lives of several couples--a philandering cop and his masochistic spouse (Tim Robbins and Madeline Stowe); a helicopter pilot who gets revenge on his ex by trashing her house (Peter Gallagher and Frances McDormand); a man and woman whose perfect life falls apart when they lose their son in a hit-and-run accident (Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell); a pool cleaner who listens in mounting frustration to his wife performing phone sex each day while tending her brood of children (Chris Penn and Jennifer Jason Leigh); a wealthy couple who are haunted by an incident from the past (Matthew Modine and Julianne Moore); an aging jazz singer and her suicidal daughter (Annie Ross and Lori Singer); an alcoholic limo driver and his waitress wife (Tom Waits and Lily Tomlin)--Altman reveals their common threads of family dysfunction and marital discord in the unforgiving glare of the Southern California sunlight. The result is a sweeping motion picture that also stands as an important sociological artifact of late 20th century Los Angeles life.

Plot Keywords:

All-Star | Character Study | Comedy | Drama | Essential Cinema | Racy | Recommended | Short Stories | Theatrical Release

Production Notes:

• SHORT CUTS was inspired by the voice and some of the characters in the short stories written by Raymond Carver. Altman even began referring to the film as "Carver Soup."
• SHORT CUTS was the opening film at the 31st New York Film Festival October 1, 1993.
• The film was the co-winner along with Krzysztof Kieslowski's BLUE of the Golden Lion Award at the 1993 Venice Film Festival, and it also won a Golden Globe for Special Achievement for its ensemble's performances.
• SHORT CUTS won three Independent Spirit Awards at the Independent Feature Project (IFP); Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
• The film also screened at the Virginia Festival of American Film, Friday, October 29, 1993.

Cast and Crew: