Nashville (1975)
Nashville (1975)
Director Robert Altman impressed me with this
two earlier directorial efforts M.A.S.H and McCabe and Mrs. Miller, but I believe he really comes
into his own with 1975’s Nashville. The way
he directed his movie and the way he made it a very intelligent movie with many
important themes but can be understood by the general public is just
outstanding. However, if you don’t keep up with the movie, you can be sure to
get lost in the overload of information Altman throws at you. On paper, the
film may seem like a mess but it’s really not. The film really does not have an
overall plot, but it has interwoven segments that are related with each other
and I’ll discuss a little bit later on. This film is full of unique
performances from an unusually large cast. It’s not unusual that there are many
characters, but how many major characters there are. There are approximately 25
major speaking roles, and that has to be some sort of record. But all the
performances are wonderful and unique and you feel for each character in the
country music setting of Nashville.
So what exactly is this film about? Well,
that’s really hard to pinpoint as there is no one big linear plotline. It is
essentially about a group of people living life in Nashville during a
political-happy time (kind of reminds me of the current 2016 political race). But
let’s break down the plot into the little segments. We have Barbara Jean (Ronee
Blackley) who is the current reigning country queen of Nashville, but health
problems is causing her to fall apart and she also later becomes a symbol for
political assassination. Then we have Delbert (Ned Beatty) and Linnea
Reese (Lily Tomlin) who live a rather sad life because of a failing
marriage and trying to take care of two deaf children. Delbert is involved in a
politics as he is trying to bring politics and country music together. Then we
have a British journalist named Opal (Geraldine Chaplin) who decides to get
into the thick of events within the Nashville scene. As the famed movie critic
Roger Ebert paraphrases what this movie is about, it’s many things. A musical,
a docudrama about life in Nashville, a political story that was influenced by
events like the Watergate scandal, and it is also a satire about country music.
With such a large ensemble, I was surprised
how much Altman was able to get from all of his characters. They were superbly
written and the performances were genuine. Many of the characters do their own
singing, and you can tell they are not professional singers. While the voices
may not be the best ones ever, I loved the raw, edgy sound with added to the
realism of the performances. The film is not composed of big stars (at the time
or even by today’s standards), but they often hit the spot. I loved Ronee
Blackley’s performance as the country queen, Barbara Jean. Her singing is
decent, but she brings a sensitive side to her character and she is involved in
a big political showdown at the end of the movie. She reminds me of a similar
real-life country singer, Loretta Lynn. Lily Tomlin delivered one heck of a
impressive performance as the mother of two deaf children. I relate to her
character because I suffer from partial deafness myself and I understand her
pains. She brings such vulnerability to her character. Ned Beatty does a good
job in playing the asshole husband who doesn’t care about his family but only
about his job. We have very early performances from future stars from the likes
of Jeff Goldblum, Scott Glenn, and Keith Carradine (who was impressive as a
rock singer). Henry Gibson does a solid job as another famous country star
named Haven Hamilton (and did have a good voice).
So there were many aspects to the plot I
thoroughly enjoyed. I enjoyed the rather brutal satire on country music which
gathered criticism from people within this industry. But my favorite was the
political aspect of the movie. Maybe its because history and politics go hand
in hand or maybe we are living in a political-happy environment at current
time, but I feel like the politics aspect hold up strongly. I like the random
scenes where we have this political party in support of a candidate named Hal
Philip Walker whom we never meet, but his presence is always known. His
politics and the country stars end up clashing in the end for a very powerful
ending.
Overall, I really enjoyed Nashville. I don’t think it’s good of a masterpiece of
Altman’s earlier McCabe and Mrs. Miller but this is
his more mainstream effort. But use that word “mainstream” lightly because
Altman brings his complicated style of directing to this movie. His use of the
actors and his political and social commentary is widely shown throughout the
film. As I say for most of Altman’s films, they are not for everyone. This film
has excellent performances from everyone with my favorite performance coming
from Lily Tomlin. There is an hour of music recorded for the film and despite
the inexperience of the singers, the music mostly works with the film.
Nominated for 5 Oscars and a 9 Golden Globes (a record that still holds today),
Nashville is a solid work of filmmaking.
My Grade: A-
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