Review of Nashville (1975) by Jer M — 07 Mar 2008

The following phrase gets tossed around a lot but I think it fits for NASHVILLE because this film is awesome:

This is one of the best films ever made.

No kiddingeth here. Every fifth movie that comes out nowadays is either influenced by or ripping it off, but NASHVILLE was still the first and is still the best. It's part psychological drama, part dark comedy, part musical, part satire, and all Altman. It's the sort of movie that can't really be described because it's really just better seen.

One thing that I think really gets neglected in discussions of this film is its sound design. Perfectly combining hundreds of voices while layering it all over really loud country music is a hard fuckin' job. The sounds in this film tickle your eardrums like no other.

A lot of people are slightly "scared" of this film because of how completely dense it is. There is so much packed into every frame of the film that you feel as if it's going to fall off of its orbit. Yet, my advice would be to just let the film wash over you. You may have a bit of a problem getting used to the overlapping dialogue and the obscene amount of main characters, but if you go with it and allow yourself to surrender to the film's offbeat-ed-ness, you will find one of the most rewarding film experiences you'll ever have.

In addition, for non-country music fans, it must be stated that all of the music in this film (And there is a LOT of it) is meant to satirize mainstream country music both then and now. The entire Nashville country music community hated Altman and this film for this very reason.

Seriously, do not let any sort of misconception or fear dissuade you from watching this movie. It's not scary, it's extremely entertaining.