SummaryOver the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.
SummaryOver the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.
It is the masterful ways in which Altman weaves doubt, hard truths, and holds up a mirror to the hypocrisies of contemporary America, that elevates his 1975 film to be one of the decade’s greatest cinematic achievements.
I have no idea how it's possible to fully flesh out all of these characters in a film with such a free-roaming plot. I also have absolutely no clue how every plot-line that concerns a specific character, or a specific group of characters, kinda intertwined, or rather formed altogether a complete (and very impactful) picture by the end.
It took me some time to get invested, but once I found an interesting character, I gradually became fully immersed in what was going on. Also, I have to admit that I wasn't constantly, or equally, engaged with each story-line, but that will definitely change upon rewatch.
The songs are some of the best I've ever heard in a film. The well-deserved Oscar-winning song ,"I'm Easy" is simply brilliant! It's quite a refreshing experience to listen to songs played out in such a free-wheeling manner.
The performances are splendidly genuine. And you can't help relating to all of the (many) main characters when the film get to the personal dramas and moments of revelation by its second half.
Yes, I wasn't wrong when I said in my M*A*S*H review that I think Altman's other films will work for me pretty well, and here he has made a kaleidoscope of cynicism, wit and intimacy: he has made a sprawling mosaic of American society in a most effortless efficiency!
(8.5/10)
Watchable, mostly engaging comedy drama, Has some spot on satirical barbs, Best thing about this movie is Ronnie Blakely, so charming, with such a beautiful voice
Spacious, shrewdly detailed and conceived with compassion and wit, it unfurls at an unhurried walking pace, spreading itself across a very American urban landscape.
Altman's great kaleidoscopic ensemble comedy-drama about a frenzied few days in country music's capital, with an unlikely, quirky, explosive crowd of musicians, hangers-on and politicos all converging on a fateful concert crossroads.
I think that the power and the theme of the film lie in the fact that while some characters are more “major” than others, they are all subordinated to the music itself. It’s like a river, running through the film, running through their life. They contribute to it, are united for a time, lose out, die out, but the music, as the last scene suggests, continues.
A technical masterpiece replete with self-consciously allegorical overtones rising to a politically simpleminded din. A rare and puzzling movie: beautiful and cruel, passionate but strangely shallow.
Nashville has an approach that could give the impression of being presumptuous, but I don't see it that way. Sure, it has the intentions of looking epic, but ambition is not a negative thing in this context, let's just say that between musical numbers there's not much to absorb beyond the atmosphere of its setting. From what I saw, it captures a moment and captures it quite well, but the lack of a true destination, coupled with its excessive length, don't invite much of a revisit.