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 | Reporter | Candidate | Assassination | Country Music

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:

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #59 Greatest Movie of All Time. It was the first inclusion of this film on the list.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When attempting to interview Tommy Brown, Opal says that she is from the BBC. When questioned, she explains that this stands for the British Broadcasting Company. It actually stands for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Quotes:

Bill: You're supposed to wear the blue dress when I wear this.
Mary: I don't want to dress like twins anymore.
Bill: We're not twins. We're a trio.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Way We Were: Looking Back (1999) (V)

Soundtrack:

Let Me Be the One

a milestone in my filmgoing experience

I saw Nashville when it was first shown, billed as Altman's "birthday card" to America on the occasion of the bicentennial. The greatest tribute I can pay is that, despite its frequent shifts of location, many individual scenes and characterizations, as well as the overarching story line, remained vivid in my mind over the years before I was able to purchase the film on video. When I taught Film History at my college I used Nashville as the final examination for the course. After having viewed the film, students were instructed to identify the elements of film technique previously studied(such as overlapping dialogue, jump shots, widescreen, etc) in order to forward the narrative, as they were employed by Altman. In general, they did very well; even those who disliked the film. There are too many admirable performances for me to mention; however, those that remained most vivid in my mind over the years were those of Gwen Welles, Ronee Blakley, Henry Gibson, and Lily Tomlin. One last note of appreciation regards the fact that all the characters were introduced within the first twenty minutes at the airport; their personalities brought out in the highway scene;and their being brought together again, cyclically, during the last twenty minutes at the "Parthenon". It has been several years since I used Nashville for pedagogical purposes. When I purchased the DVD recently I found that, despite my numerous viewings and classroom analysis, the impact was virtually the same as when I first saw it in 1976. For me, it did not "murder to dissect" this personal milestone.