Nashville (1975)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Robert Altman

Writer:

Joan Tewkesbury (written by)

Release Date:

21 September 1975 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

Wild. Wonderful. Sinful. Laughing. Explosive.

Plot:

Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated individuals prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.

Plot Keywords:

Nashville | Candidate | Reporter | Assassination | Nashville Tennessee

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 20 wins & 23 nominations

Cast

David Arkin	...	Norman
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 (as Robert Doqui)
Shelley Duvall	...	L. A. Joan
Allen Garfield	...	Barnett
Henry Gibson	...	Haven Hamilton
Scott Glenn	...	Pfc. Glenn Kelly
Jeff Goldblum	...	Tricycle Man
Barbara Harris	...	Albuquerque

Runtime:

159 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:12 | West Germany:12 | UK:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Company:

ABC Entertainment

Trivia:

Original footage was so long, it was almost released as two parallel movies: "Nashville Red" and "Nashville Blue."

Goofs:

Continuity: In the conversation between Linnea and Opal in the car, Linnea is eating a popsicle while she tells Opal about her children. A moment later, the popsicle is nowhere to be seen.

Quotes:

Opal: I need something like this for my documentary. I need it. It's... It's America. Those cars smashing into each other... and all those mangled corpses...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

Soundtrack:

Rose's Cafe

An often-misunderstood masterpiece - full of life like no other movie

Much like some of the other comments about "Nashville" that are circulating around IMDB, the reviews I've seen of Robert Altman's 1975 Oscar contender have been completely adulatory or completely dismissive. Contrary to some comments I've read, "Nashville" looks as prescient and magnificent now as it appeared to some critics nearly thirty years ago. Dated? Absolutely not. "Nashville" is a movie about people more than anything else, but a political campaign van that appears throughout the movie shows the unavoidable nature of politics in people's lives in the 70's. Has that changed since then? It's even more true now, with our war in Iraq and all of the conflicting viewpoints that exist. Annoying overlapping dialogue? To dismiss this unique trait of "Nashville" is to hate the trademark of director Robert Altman. Do people wait their turn as if reading from a screenplay in real life? Muddy cinematography? Certainly not - to show a Nashville vibrant with colors that don't really fit (a crime that most visually overachieving movies commit) would distract from Altman's amazing focus on the relationships of the characters that he builds so well. And the characters....the dozens of cast members lend terrific support to a film that moves forward constantly while never seeming to move too fast, leaving time for moments of poignancy and heartbreak, as well as unintentionally hilarious moments (as every good pseudo-documentary film has). Who can forget Lily Tomlin gazing at her deaf children tenderly as their father completely ignores them as they speak? Or the moment Keith Carradine performs his Oscar-winning "I'm Easy" in front of a night club crowd? Really, "Nashville" is filled with great moments ALL the time that make the nearly three-hour film unmissable, but nothing in the world can prepare the patient viewer for the film's breathtaking finale which seems even more moving today in the midst of everything. Forget the "National Anthem" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." The gospel-esque strains of "It Don't Worry Me" make it the American song for the ages, in an American film that ranks among the best of its kind.