Review of McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) by Viginti T — 07 Jun 2009

Altman's subversive take on the western laid down the path for the revisionist movement with it's perversion of genre tropes into an entirely unique production. I am a huge fan of western subversions but found this one to be somewhat lacking,the moody opening and seemingly tailored Cohen score are both superb but the film never really takes off from there, it just meanders through life on the frontier.

That is of course somewhat the point of the piece and in theory it works very well in presenting us with the realistic side of the times we don't often get to see. However as a film this leaves it to be rather drab and dull at times. It is still a masterful achievement and I film I can greatly respect but not one I can say I greatly enjoyed.