Geraldine Peroni

Geraldine Peroni (July 5, 1953 – August 3, 2004) was an American film editor who was best known for working with Robert Altman.

Life and career

Peroni was born in Manhattan, New York City and grew up in the borough of Queens.[1] Her notable collaboration with Altman extended over eight films.[2] Altman said of Peroni "I trusted her totally with everything, I was planning on using her in the next film. She and I saw very much the same way — we just read each other so well."[1]

She was nominated for an Academy Award for Film Editing and a BAFTA Award for Best Editing for her work on The Player (1992). In his obituary, Tony Sloman discussed this film's editing:[3]

The Player is a marvellous example of collaborative editing, Peroni matching Altman's tone with exactitude. Early on, a cut from a zoom-in to the gun in Humphrey Bogart's hand on a postcard sent to Tim Robbins is perfectly successively matched with what appears to be a black frame, in which a reveal shows that it's an open drawer in which the postcard has been placed. Another felicitous sequence is the one in the Pasadena police station, where the Robbins character is arraigned as Lyle Lovett swats a fly and Whoopi Goldberg and her associates ridicule Robbins with laughter. This is beautifully edited; well-shot, too, but the rhythm is built in the cutting.

Peroni's work on Short Cuts (1993) has been discussed by Krin Gabbard, who wrote, "Altman has invited his audiences to provide connections among scenes that float loosely about each other at the same time that he has benefited from the intelligent choices made by the film's editor Geraldine Peroni."[4]

She was found dead at her home during her work on Brokeback Mountain.[3] Her death was ruled a suicide by the New York coroner, a fact disputed by her family.

The Wire episode "Back Burners" was dedicated to her memory. The credits of Brokeback Mountain also read "In Loving Memory of Geraldine Peroni".

Filmography

The director(s) of each film are listed in parentheses.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Geraldine Peroni - Film editor, Altman collaborator". Variety. 2004-08-07. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  2. ↑ Sisario, Ben (2004-08-07). "Geraldine Peroni, 51; Film Editor Worked With Robert Altman". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sloman, Tony (2004-08-31). "Geraldine Peroni Obituary: Oscar-nominated film editor on 'The Player'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28.
  4. ↑ Gabbard, Krin (1996). Jammin' at the Margins: Jazz and the American Cinema. University of Chicago Press. p. 291. ISBN 0-226-27788-7.

External links