Review of Nashville (1975) by Ross C — 21 Jan 2010

Rarely is a moment in filmic time captured that is both engrossing on a dramaturgical level and metaphorically analgous to the world in which it inhabits. In 1975, upon the even of American bicentenary, Robert Altman's deliciously satircal yet heartfely piece is one of those moments. It's truly, truly timeless and completely unforgettable.

Based on a journal kept by its screenwriter, the film utilises a conservative town's ideals of fate, understanding and community as a metaphor for a jaded wetern world on its time, a world in desperate need of revision. The songs are sooth-saying revelations that allow us a brief window into the souls of the characters themselves, an insight that perhaps not even the characters have.Gibson's sel-affirmed and hipocritally hilarious opener 200 years and Carradine's hauntingly beutiful Im Easy are amongst the highlights. Of course, Altman's seemless and masterful ensemble work and trademark overlapping dialogue ensure that we invest in EVERY ONE of the ensemble's 25 key protagonists.

The finish is one of film's most distinguished and is the heart and soul of Altman's 60 years in the business surmised into ten minutes. As Gibson's haven Hamilton screams: "This isn't Dallas, its Nashville!" we feel that somehow, amidst tumultuous tragedy, the human spirit lives on scarred but unabaided. "You may say I ain't free, but it don't worry me," Indeed, the perfect anthem and/or eulogy for western life.