Jeff M
Like many of Robert Altman's movies, we are presented with a virtual cast of thousands, or it seems pretty darn close. From main characters to real-life cameos, it's a treat to see the who's who of 1970s cinema. Ultimately this is a cinematic quilt, with patches of characters that attach themselves together, in big ways and small, to produce a truly amazing creation. Like a good novel, it may be long, but it's worth revisiting to give each character the attention deserved.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/26/24
Full Review
Alex P
Nashville is what you get when a Californian makes a movie about the South. The characters are cliches made by someone who likely never met, or liked, an actual Southerner.
It's also just a completely boring, wandering, and unstructured movie. It's praised as "broad", but it's just unfocused.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
12/31/23
Full Review
John E
Nashville was released in 1975 and I fear it is going to be near impossible to sum up all the many reasons why this film is spectacular. The story involves the lives of 24 central characters over a 5-day span in the city of Nashville in the mid 1970's. Amazingly, despite its enormous cast, one knows who every character is and what they've possibly been through. They are real, identifiable and flawed in one way or another. For some their existence is one of privilege, and for others it is an existence of yearning. Nashville is a city of elitism for some and a city of opportunity for others and through Altman's eyes it becomes a focused representation of America in general, with those in the city venturing to live their American dream.
The movie plays out in linear time as it juxtaposes differing experiences on top of each other. The musical performances in a reputable venue against performances in a dive bar; the swanky gatherings against the lonely homelife; the venerable celebrity against the naïve wannabe; the loving relationship against the hollow sexual encounter. The movie deftly fills in all the grays that are typically missing in tales focused on the black and whites.
Altman uses multiple tracks of sound that continuously play over each other. Multiple conversations are happening at the same time, just as they do in real life, so the dialogue has no hint of being scripted for the viewer's convenience. This overlapping of tracks starts the moment the film starts (with a hilarious opening credit parody of an old K-Tel record tv-ad) and continues through the film's closing musical performance.
Politics is a thin thread that weaves all the scenes together, yet that thread is always sewn into the background and never pulls attention from the characters. Political candidate Hal Phillip Walker is only heard through a megaphone from a van that travels the streets of Nashville throughout the film. He's never seen. This film was created during the era of Nixon so the nation's distrust of politicians is felt, and characters in the film often align with differing views of the period regarding gender norms (oh that long hair on men!), military efforts, and what constitutes patriotism. If that doesn't sound familiar, let's also mention that there is a gun shooting at a public venue and citizens are urged to quickly just get over it and get back to the music. Country singing legend Haven Hamilton tells the crowd, "Y'all take it easy now. This isn't Dallas, it's Nashville! They can't do this to us here in Nashville! Let's show them what we're made of." Altman's vision of America, and Americans, was not only representative of its time, but prophetic of our own.
The cast is perfection and includes name stars such as Ned Beatty, Lily Tomlin, Keith Carradine, Jeff Goldblum, Karen Black, and Shelley Duvall along with lesser established but equally effective actors including Barbara Baxley, Michael Murphy, Ronee Blakely, Timothy Brown, Allen Garfield, Keenan Wynn, and Gwen Welles. Two standout performances for me personally were Geraldine Chaplin as BBC reporter Opal, and Henry Gibson as the aforementioned Haven Hamilton. Gibson's portrayal could easily have crossed the line into camp, but he walks that satirical line right to the edge yet never crosses it.
I would address the plot… if the film actually had one. It doesn't. This is an examination of the messiness and the drive of the human experience from a multitude of angles. It compares and contrasts those experiences over a short period of time and then the film is over. Nothing is resolved, no one is a hero, no one is necessarily better off, and the world continues spinning. Because of that, or in spite of that, this film now sits near the top of my all-time favorite cinematic experiences.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
04/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This large ensemble cast includes David Arkin, Barbara Baxley, Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Timothy Brown, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Robert DoQui, Shelley Duvall, Allen Garfield, Henry Gibson, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Barbara Harris, David Hayward, Michael Murphy, Allan F. Nicholls, Dave Peel,Cristina Raines, Bert Remsen, Lily Tomlin, Gwen Welles, and Keenan Wynn. A giant musical drama directed by Robert Altman intersecting the lives of various people in a gospel country world of business in Tennessee all the while a Presidential election for the Replacement Party ticket is taking place. America was still reeling from the Vietnam War and Watergate, this film reveals our national obsession with entertainment and politics. Hal Phillip Walker gathers a bunch of acts together for a fundraiser. The musical numbers are pretty well sung yet it's a struggle to attach to any particular character since the movie keeps jumping from person to person so fast. A lot of the dialogue isn't bad it's just so cluttered it's hard to absorb one single line most of the time. 'Nashville' isn't a film I'll revisit again but I do admire the scope of it assembling so many people together expressing their love of music and their political views given the time period it has affected
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/06/23
Full Review
Shioka O
This has to be a masterpiece, but just not for me. Nothing really happen. Maybe well-captured the culture at that time. I recommend this for American country music fans.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
12/07/22
Full Review
red t
Phenomenal acting all around from all two dozen actors involved. The cinematography is very grounded, gritty, and unglamorous and all looks phenomenal with memorable scenes. The editing and pacing for the most part are very very well done. Finally the soundtrack is exceptional as well. The only issue I had with this was in the first half there was a lot of information to absorb with so many characters and symbolisms in each scene it was honestly overwhelming at times consistently for the first half. I was confused who was who and did what along with the recording from the election van making it difficult to understand everything. The final 30 minutes really did a great job bringing everything home though. Which is a testament to great directing and made me feel like the investment was well worth it. Once all the introduction of new characters slows down the films pacing gets better and better. This is a Classic Musical for sure and A New Hollywood Era Classic. I would say the only thing that holds it back from being an All Time is the uneven editing and character overload at first though it is still a good first half just not as amazing as the 2nd.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
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