The legendary director Robert Altman — auteur of MASH, Nashville, and Gosford Park, among other inimitable ensemble flicks — has died at 81.

As MASH, his thinly veiled critique of the Vietnam war, proved, he was a deeply political man. Even in his later years:

"Nobody would have thought to commit an atrocity like that unless they'd seen it in a movie."

— Altman on Hollywood's contribution to 9/11

He was an American original, whose narrative style paved the way for films like Crash and Babel. He will be sorely missed.

Check out our review of A Prairie Home Companion, Altman's final film.