Cincinnati Sun – City of Cincinnati News

Nashville [DVD]

Screenplay : Joan Tewkesbury

MPAA Rating : R

Year of Release : 1975

Stars : Barbara Baxley (Lady Pearl), Ned Beatty (Delbert Reese), Karen Black (Connie White), Ronee Blakley (Barbara Jean), Timothy Brown (Tommy Brown), Keith Carradine (Tom Frank), Geraldine Chaplin (Opal), Robert DoQui (Wade), Shelley Duvall (L. A. Joan), Allen Garfield (Barnett), Henry Gibson (Haven Hamilton), Scott Glenn (Glenn Kelly), Jeff Goldblum (Tricycle Man), Barbara Harris (Albuquerque), David Hayward (Kenny Fraiser), Michael Murphy (John Triplette), Allan Nicholls (Bill), Dave Peel (Bud Hamilton), Cristina Raines (Mary), Bert Remsen (Star), Lily Tomlin (Linnea Reese), Gwen Welles (Sueleen Gay), Keenan Wynn (Mr. Green)

When Robert Altman's "Nashville" was released in 1975, there had never been a film quite like it. At the time, Altman was already known as a critically celebrated, countercultural force with the war satire "M*A*S*H" (1970) and his deconstruction of both the Western in "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" (1971) and film noir in "The Long Goodbye" (1973). His style of long takes, naturalistic violence, and ensemble acting were already well-established. Still, nothing could have prepared Hollywood for the impact "Nashville" would have. Part comedy, part drama, part social commentary, and part musical, it is a film that truly defies categorization or simplistic descriptions.

A general rule of the Hollywood movie is to focus on a small set of characters. "Nashville" broke that rule wide open by following the lives of no less than 24 major characters over a period of five days. In two hours and forty minutes, Altman follows the narrative trajectories of all these characters, managing to make each one of them unique and interesting with only minimal screen time.

The screenplay by Joan Tewkesbury is an incredible piece of work, intertwining the lives of all these various characters against the backdrop of Nashville, Tennessee, the country music capital of the world, during an especially heated presidential campaign in the year of America's 200th birthday (overwrought patriotic imagery is everywhere). The problem with "Nashville" at the time was that it was too revolutionary (which is probably why Pauline Kael loved it so much and audiences didn't). When United Artists head of production David Picker first read the screenplay, he rejected it with a note that said, "This is not a script." UA refused to make the film, and Altman ended up making it on his own with ABC Pictures. And, according to Tewkesbury, after Picker saw the premiere, he sent Altman a telegram that said simply, "I was wrong."

While "Nashville" is primarily about the show business world of country music, it has the kind of scope and ambition that allows it to turn the music scene into a microcosm of the United States in the mid-1970s. The twin political upheavals of Vietnam and Watergate are written all over the film, especially in the scenes that focus on a radical third-party presidential candidate named Hal Phillip Walker of the fictional Replacement Party.

Walker, who is never seen physically, still becomes a thematic force, as one of his campaign vans constantly lurks in the background, its loud speakers blaring his platform based on taxing churches, changing the national anthem, and removing all lawyers from government. It is only appropriate that the film climaxes at a Walker campaign rally in front of Nashville's Parthenon where unexpected violence breaks out, completely disrupting any sense of narrative momentum and leaving the fate of every major character dangling in unresolved limbo.

That Altman was able to get away with such a radical reworking of cinematic narrative is amazing. That it worked so well that other filmmakers have followed in his footsteps (think P.T. Anderson's "Magnolia") is testament to his strength of vision and skill behind the camera. As much as "Nashville" is a pastiche--a pasted together assortment of narrative shards that give a sense of life, but not of story--it is still more compelling than most traditional three-act narratives that feature closure and resolution. Like life itself, nothing is resolved in "Nashville," nor should it be.

And, like life, "Nashville" is populated with a wide assortment of characters, all of who stick in your mind long after the film is over. From Geraldine Chaplin's aggressive BBC documentary filmmaker, to Lily Tomlin's unfulfilled gospel singer, to Keith Carradine's womanizing folk-rocker, each character is fascinating and memorable. Some of the saddest and funniest scenes involve Karen Black as a struggling singer whose desire for fame and fortune blinds her to the obvious fact that she is utterly untalented. Ditto the sequences involving Ronee Blakley as a country diva whose health problems are forcing her professional life onto shaky ground; the sequence in which she begins to have a breakdown on stage by telling pointless stories when she should be singing is both hilarious and gut-wrenching.

Altman will likely never equal "Nashville." He came close with 1993's "Short Cuts," a film that was very similar in tone and structure. Perhaps there will always be something a bit magical about "Nashville" because it was so unique at the time and it has had such a lasting influence on how movies are made. Over the past 25 years it has more than stood the test of time, and it will continue to be the bar by which other films like it are measured.

©2000 James Kendrick