Robert Altman's Nashville

I love Keith Carradine. Saw him in my P.O. and almost fainted.

I always like to think that Rayette from Five Easy Pieces drove that car to Nashville and became Connie White.

Worst and most overrated piece of junk since Citizen Kane. Hard Pass.

I Never Get Enough

It Don't Worry Me

I just realized I never watched a Robert Altman film. Or a Ken Russell film. Or Or a John Huston film, though I did see him in Chinatown. Or Elia Kazan. I consider many “classic” films to be aimed at men, so they don’t speak to me like they do to men.

It's one of the two or three greatest films of the 1970s. It's endlessly fascinating, filed with incredible vignettes and vital performances. In short, it's a masterpiece and anyone who doesn't get it is a moron.

Classic scene.

R3 = worst most overrated poster since David Ehrenstein.

R6, movies are about people, human stories can speak to anyone because the human experience speaks to everyone, regardless of gender. Not being open to any movies about men makes you a closed minded bigot and obviously sub-standard intellectually.

It was one of those life-changing films I saw my freshman year in college. Still think it should have won Best Picture

Thank you, R8.

A truly brilliant film. I first saw it at a packed Westwood Theatre in LA the summer of '75. It was a thrilling experience. The audience stood and applauded at the end. I've seen it many times since. One of the top 100 films of all time, if such a thing exists. Bravo!

"You look jes' like a big ol' black butterfly!"

R6, I’m a woman and Altman films don’t seem to be aimed at men, IMO. I think they’re very palatable and have a meandering vibe. I think he’s in awe of women, actually. I’d recommend checking them out.

I was just thinking about “Cookie’s Fortune” the other day. I can barely remember anything about the male characters. I was thinking about the gal played by Liv Tyler and how liberated she was. And she had been raped but it didn’t destroy her at all.

They always seem to me to balance all the things in life: comedy, tragedy, rights and wrongs, mystery, fate. I always enjoy an Altman film.

R14, it is true that Altman films are often structured in what used to be thought of as a "feminine" way. The meaning is open, the focus is wide, and plot is fluid.

He has a lot more in common with Agnes Varda and Chantal Ackerman than any male Hollywood director.

Three of my favorite 70s films were directed by Robert Altman: "Nashville", "3 Women" (Sissy Spacek gives the best performance of her career, IMHO), and "The Long Goodbye".

Very disappointing that TCM is not airing "The Long Goodbye" as part of their neo-noir spotlight this month.

Are you goin' nutsy on me again, Barbara Jean?

I saw it when it came out in 1975 after all the hype - didn't like an instant of it.

Explain why this movie isn't a bloated self-indulgent balloon of clap trap.

[quote] In short, it's a masterpiece and anyone who doesn't get it is a moron.

I don’t not get it. I just don’t have any interest in watching it.

The premiere was held in Nashville . One reporter who covered the premiere was a young woman named Oprah Winfrey. Pictures of her in the link.

Some country and western musicians hated the film. Loretta Lynn was one who came out strongly against it and thought it was making fun of the Country and Western music industry.

ABC was considering showing the movie on the bicentennial and have Altman go back and direct extra footage so it could be shown over two nights, but it unfortunately never happened.

Altman wanted to do a sequel called Nashville 20 or 25 that reassembled almost everyone from the first film, but again, it never happened.

Loretta Lynn isn't exactly a brain surgeon. She didn't make it past 4th grade.

Love this film and the soundtrack. The Ronee songs are outstanding. "Dues" is incredible.

Stupidly, I neglected to buy the Criterion Blu-Ray, but thankfully Paramount Presents is releasing a remastered edition of Nashville. It would be nice to get deleted footage but don't think that's on the table.

And the one oscar it won almost never happened. Neither "Theme from Mahogany" or "I'm Easy" showed up in the initial nominations for Best Song. But there was such outrage from many in the industry, (Motown and Altman included) that the music branch had to go back and redo their nominations.

I love this movie, particularly the scene in the nightclub with Carradine and Lilly T as witless Shelley Duvall looks around trying to figure out to whom Keith is singing. I think you mostly either love Altman or hate him.

My favorite film of all time. Such a fine, messy, clever and well-edited movie.

R21 confuses brain surgery with the reflexive and somewhat understandable protectiveness of country-western business people - including artists - when confronted by the movie. The entertainment industry was more segmented at the time, and CW was sensitive to being seen as uneducated, greedy dolts.

Some CW people didn't see the respect given to every person appearing who actually was in the CW business wasn't a shock. The talent was pissed they weren't invited to be in the movie, which relied almost completely on outsiders mainly writing or co-writing all the songs. A double smack to the insiders.

The movie was flecked with greatness starting with the titles (Youtube: "Nashville titles")

I’m melting over “I’m Easy.” I remember so many people just lusting after him.

C'mon, who doesn't love...

R6 It may not prompt you to see "Nashville", but the screenplay was by Joan Tewkesbury.

It’s fun to do some sightseeing. I lived in Nashville during the 80s and 90s and much of the stuff Altman caught on film was still intact. RIP Opryland.

I get Altman and this is a messy movie but it still feels too long. I wasn’t as emotionally vested in Barbara Jean as I thought I’d be. Karen Black was amazing as Connie White.

Karen Black played Connie White and her sister is Gail Brown.

Tapedeck

I watched this again last night. I love it! It's one of my favorite movies.

Barbara Harris's character is my favorite.

R32: Ronee sang Tapedeck In His Tractor for me at a party. Accompanied herself on a keyboard.

I was and still am in love with her.

[quote]Barbara Harris's character is my favorite.

Same here.

Barbara Harris is just awesome in everything.

Loretta might not have liked the film because I've always felt Ronee Blakley's Barbara Jean was at least partly based on her, and ends up shot, bleeding, and probably assassinated at the conclusion.

R18, let's just take the Keith Carradine scene: He seems like a vulnerable, artistic type, right? He's been chasing the Tomlin character non-stop, like he can't live without her. He finally gets her to come see his show. She has ethics, but as he sings (to her, she thinks), she realizes she's fallen in love and is going to sleep with him. This is difficult for her. But the audience can tell there are other women in the room who think he's singing TO THEM. How did they get this idea? Cut to after the sex and he has obviously discarded Tomlin and is on to the next challenge. That's a well-written, well-acted and well-directed sequence. It's cynical, poignant (for the women he destroys) and human. Some of the humor/satire in the film is overly broad for me (I like Gosford Park), but how can you say it's crap?

Barbara Jean's breakdown on stage was something that actually happened to Loretta Lynn. Loretta also had a pill addiction and an asshole husband/manager.

Given how Barbara Jean is so clearly based on Lynn, I am surprised that anyone would bring up her objections without also mentioning that context.

I loved it. I'd like to see it again. Altman's films hold up so well.

Why is this movie never on cable? They play Altman's wretched Quintet all the time, but never Nashville.

[quote]but the screenplay was by Joan Tewkesbury

There may be a name on the screenplay, but no Altman movie was "written" by anyone other than the actors who improvise their dialog. Ring Lardner Jr complained that not a word in his screenplay for M*A*S*H made it to the screen. Then he accepted an Oscar for Best Screenplay.

It’s Elliot Gould!

R43, a screenplay is more than just the dialogue.

Altman treated different screenplays and even scenes very differently.

In Nashville there are some improvised scenes. There are some passages written by the performers. (Notably Barbara Jean's breakdown.) But often Altman did film as written--especially in his later years.

Nashville is a bit in the middle. But the structure, the incidents, and most of the dialog was indeed written by Tewkesbury. One of the reason the film holds up better than his more improvisational work is the solid structure of the braided stories. Drama is about structure more than lines, and Tewkesbury provided the bedrock that allowed the embroidery on the set. (And again, because the plot is surprisingly tight, that was limited.)

I'll watch anything with Karen Black. To me she's like an American Edwige Fenech, but kookier.

I always found it funny how Geraldine Chaplin plays a character while Julie Christie plays herself, and they were in Doctor Zhivago together.

R32 - the film version is a bit more perky & energetic

Thanks r48. That is probably my favorite song and scene in the movie.

One of the really great things about this film is that Altman included so many scenes of the audience during the musical numbers. You can see that they seem a bit confused by what they are watching and maybe even a bit afraid they are being mocked. But they still clap and holler on cue!

I forgot “Gosford Park” was Altman! I always have that in my DVR.

The one I didn’t love (but still find compelling) is “Dr. T and the Women”. Some DL favorites in that one, too.

Only movie I ever walked out on

Long but I love it. Henry Gibson was such a pleasant surprise. Ronee Blakley is so vulnerable and moving. I love her performance of "Dues," which she wrote and had previously recorded. I'd give that song an Oscar before "I'm Easy."

The ending is so creepy, when you think about what happened to John Lennon just a few years later.

Henry Gibson is an evil supervillain version of Roy Acuff, right?

R20 Keith Carradine is so hot in those pictures.

Geraldine Chaplin watched the film with her father. She said he cried during the "Dues" scene.

ah, bell bottoms

The model usually cited for Gibson's character is Hank Snow, R53

Originally it was going to be Robert Duvall in that role. And Louise Fletcher in Lily Tomlin's role. Susan Anspach as Barbara Jean. And Gary Busey in Keith Carradine's part.

She also wrote Tapedeck and My Idaho Home, r52. A friend and I went to see her perform at a club in Denver circa 197?.

Ronee was the mom in “Nightmare on Elm Street.” I thought she was terrifying.

"And Louise Fletcher in Lily Tomlin's role"

Interesting. That would explain the deaf aspect, r57.

R60 and Tomlin was offered Nurse Ratched.

(And yes, Fletcher is the reason for the deaf aspect.)

A work of genius, Period.

Brilliant...one of the great American films. The Carradine/Tomlin scene is transcendent. Tomlin def should have won the Oscar.

I agree, R63. I always enjoy Lee Grant, but I'm mystified as to why 'Shampoo' was so acclaimed.

I always think of the Pauline Kael review, where she mentioned the woman sitting next to her burst into tears during "My Idaho Home."

R65, I just looked at Kael's review and could not find any such passage.

And don't forget, Kael saw it before there was even a final cut. There were not even any other critics present at her screening. It was set up for her alone.

Was it ever explained why that guy wanted to kill Barbara Jean? During My Idaho Home he's seething with rage as he watches her sing.

Unpopular take here, I didn't get or like the Lily Tomlin character. Can someone explain her to me?

R68 is Dabney Coleman’s character from 9 to 5.

One of the greatest American films. Also recommend another look at Altman's Three Woman--Shelly Duvall and Sissy Spacek were perfect. And a too rare role for Janice Rule.

Can we take a moment to discuss A Wedding…..

I would never characterize Altman's films as being directed towards men. I think that description fits Scorsese better.

No.

[quote]Was it ever explained why that guy wanted to kill Barbara Jean?

In the dvd commentary, Altman didn't even have an answer: "I don't know why he killed her -- he just did, that's all."

I've always loved this film -many, many outstanding performances. More than anything, it is a snapshot of America during the middle seventies -the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was also terribly prescient, from the celebrity assassination to the divisive politician whose presidential campaign forces people to take sides. It's one of those rare films that reveals more with every viewing.

One of my favorite films thats not for all. I've lived in Nashville (Belle Meade) all my life and I'm amazed and saddened how things have completely changed since the simple days of the seventies. In those days, you saw Minnie Pearl (Mrs Henry Cannon) picking up her groceries in her yellow Coupe deVille or Tammy Wynette in her blue Mark IV tooling around town. I loved Mrs Cannon but even then I thought Tammy was a slut.

Do you feel Nashville was better in the 70s than now?

R71, A Wedding deserves it's own thread.

Jimmy Dean X2 20/20

I agree it's a great movie, but I have trouble getting people to watch it with me. They always want to bail in the 1st half hour.

And it's pushing credulity to imagine that someone who looks like Keith Carradine would pursue Lily Tomlin.

I think that was kind of the point r80. Of all the woman he fucked in the film, she was the only one guaranteed not to try to demand more from him. She was inaccessible and that suited him just fine. She played hard to get and was more than happy to leave after they fucked. The others all wanted something that he was not about to give them.

R80, sex addicts usually are not fussy about looks. It is more important to have sex than to have a hot partner.

Haven Hamilton=Roy Acuff

Connie White=Tammy Wynette

Barbara Jean=Loretta Lynn

Tommy Brown=Charlie Pride

Haven is more of an amalgamation than the other ones. There is a lot of Acuff in the character, but also Hank Snow and some others. The political aspect is Acuff though, many people forget that in 1948 he ran for Governor of Tennessee as the GOP nominee. While the state as a whole was still part of the Democratic "Solid South," Acuff came from the Appalachians which was the opposite of the rest of the South. They were as strongly Republican as the rest was Democratic, since the time of the Civil War, when they were Pro-Union. Acuff took 33% of the vote and the entire mountain region. No GOP gubernatorial nominee did as well as him until Winfield Dunn won in 1970 with 51%.

I do find it strange that out of all of the characters, there isn't a Minnie Pearl based one. But, I think it might have been wise not to, since she was probably the most well known and beloved of the Nashville icons at the time and acted as a bridge between the rest of entertainment and Country Music and also between Country Music and the Nashville establishment, with her mansion right next door to the Governor's Mansion.

I always thought Connie White was meant to be Lynn Anderson.......

Tammy and Loretta made a record together although I don't know about singing onstage together - but I don't think Lynn and Loretta ever appeared together.

One of favorite background scenes is at the racetrack. Haven and Lady Pearl are having a picnic in the stands. Tommy Brown is seated in front of them and Haven starts to offer him a slice of watermelon. You can see Pearl angrily tell him to put that down!

R86 I noticed that for the first time on my latest rewatch on Saturday! She hands him the grapes instead.

R86 I love this moment too! I love that someone pointed it out. It’s very quick and subtle. I didn’t notice until after seeing if for the umpteenth time, on the big screen in a theater. Now I can’t miss it. I noticed a lot when I finally saw it on the big screen.

Opal in the car junkyard with the school buses always makes me laugh at the pretentiousness of some folks.....being pretentious AND myopic should disqualify someone from making observations about the lives of others.......

Are you listening, GAYle King Winfrey?

R89 - funny, I just came here to say that I saw this movie decades ago and the only thing I remembered about it was Geraldine Chaplin trying to make something important out of all those buses. Not sure why we don't talk more about Geraldine on DL.

it was ok, but i'd rather watch airplane

It's threads like this one that remind me why I love Datalounge. The discussions of film - especially '70s film - are so thoughtful and engaging. Hearing all the personal experiences - such as r34 - make me appreciate this film even more.

I can't wait to see it again.

A singer should always have a bluebird song in their repertoire...

R80, I think Louise Fletcher would have been more reasonable, but I've known straight guys who pursue everything in a skirt.

Karen wows...

[quote][R65], I just looked at Kael's review and could not find any such passage.

Here:

[quote] This is Ronee Blakley's first movie, and she puts most movie hysteria to shame; she achieves her effects so simply that I wasn't surprised when someone near me started to cry during one of her songs.

R96, thank you. I did not see that.

However, it is worth noting that the person weeping was most likely connected to the studio or production. Kael saw an un-finished working print about six months before the film was screened for any other critic.

The review was controversial. Kael only wrote six months of the year and Penelope Gilliat wrote the other six. The film would come out during Gilliat's time, but the studio and Altman knew that Kael would like it better, so they arranged for her to write a review of the unfinished film.

The other critics were up in arms that Kael reviewed an unfinished film which was in a form that no audience would ever see.

Critics spend far too much time up in arms.

I met the writer once at a screening. I asked her why she had the guy shoot Barbara Jean.

She said she didn't have a specific reason in mind just that something was brewing in the guy and it finally came out. She told the actor to make up his own story in his head as to why he did it. (It was the era of RFK, JFK, MLK, shootings etc. and the attempts on Gerald Ford.)

Alan Rickman loved this film. He said it changed his life. He loved how Lily Tomlin did not move much during the song easy, but you could still see her falling in love.

Henry Gibson's yelling while bleeding from his wound that "this ain't Dallas, this is Nashville!!" Gives me goose bumps.

and then Barbara Harris' slowly taking the stage and gaining confidence...magical.

Ronee Blakely's breakdown is so greatly done. They'd never let that in nowadays. Short attention spans and everything.

R102, Nashville is not for those with short attention spans, period. It's a film that is greater than the sum of its parts, and the parts are individually fascinating. Gonna have to rewatch it after this thread...

yes you really have to hang in there and watch the whole thing and it slowly pulls you in and the end by the end it is quite thrilling.

Saw it at a TCM event and lots of people walked out. Their loss.

It's one of the great American films ABOUT America.

It's funny that the yutz up above who hated on Nashville also hated on Citizen Kane because they're both films about American obsessions with celebrity.

And, they're both brilliant, original, mesmerizing films.

I just started following Ronee Blakely on Facebook....she's arty and interesting.

Someone asked her what her thoughts were on Barbara Jean's fate and she said she didn't know but she hoped Barbara Jean survived.

I think it's clear Barbara Jean doesn't (she's probably already dead) when they carry her off the stage.

Ronee Blakley's bug eyes make me think of Joan Crawford!

Ronee Blakley was contracted to appear in a play at our local professional theatre. The first night she was in town, she fell asleep under a sun lamp and looked like a lobster woman for the first week of the show.

Maybe she IS a lobster woman r108.

She was married to Wim Wenders???????

R110 Yes

And she was a replacement on Broadway in Pump Boys and Dinettes.

Looks like she replaced Cass Morgan, r112.

For Nashville and Ronee Blakely fans, this was a syndicated TV special that showed Lee Grant, Lily and Ronee getting ready for the oscar show that year. Featuring a young Dinah Manoff.

Steven Spielberg is on it also.

Poor Ronee had a bad time at the Oscars. Her name is mispronounced and then they put up Susan Sarandon's picture instead of hers.

Another background detail, there's a signed photo of Haven Hamilton at Barbara Jean's bedside.

[quote]Poor Ronee had a bad time at the Oscars. Her name is mispronounced

How is it pronounced?

Row-knee r117

Aby Altman films streaming for free? TIA.

Poor Sueleen Gay breaks my heart at the end, leaning up against the pillar in shock as everyone else is singing.

And the end credits (the reprise of "It Don't Worry Me" by the gospel choir and Keith Carradine) is worth sitting through.

I wish there was an alternate cut where we only followed Albuquerque around Nashville.

❤️

I've just gotten back from the cinema, you guys didn't understand the Carradine/Tomlin relationship. She was truly decent, mature, moral, and caring, she had real meaning in her life in the form of her sons, she possessed all the qualities that he felt he lacked in himself and in his own life.

^ and in turn he gave her relief from having to bear the weight of being such a person, in the form of tenderness and sleaze and raw honesty - all the things she felt she lacked in herself and in her life with her husband

^ well a specific kind of tenderness and honesty

RB has said in many interviews that her character was based on Lynn Anderson, not Loretta.

I knew RB's brother Stephen who dated a guy I knew back in the day. Stephen died in the 90s of AIDS. Tragic blow to this very close family. At least he had a loving family around him when he died unlike most AIDS victims.