Without question, Robert Altman is one of the finest American filmmakers to produce features for the silver screen. Whether it was early classics such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, stage adaptations like Fool For Love, oddball detours like Popeye or late-career knockouts such as Gosford Park, the impressive auteur was in a league of his own. One film that always seems to stand slightly above the rest is his epic 1975 musical satire masterpiece Nashville. Notable for having a sprawling ensemble of 24 main cast members, the film delivers a deliberately messy look at American life which leaves you feeling as if you are closer to understanding the profundity of human nature. While this is a heavy order for any film, many felt similarly even upon its release as it garnered five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. The film does not seek to propel the notion that America is a perfect melting pot, but rather underline how difficult it is for people to truly connect. It is not a journey of narrative but rather experience.
As a resident of the titular city who was born and raised here, Nashville is not meant to be an accurate representation of the city but rather a canvas on which to dismantle the traditional Americana imagery between the coasts. The world has been sold a bill of goods as to what it means to live between the coasts, but the reality is that authenticity is not necessarily valued as much as our quaint nature would have you believe. Taking place over a five day span in the city, the main thrust of the film involves the intersection of a music festival and a presidential campaign. Replacement Party candidate Hal Phillip Walker has set a course for our fair city in order to hold a fundraising gala which leads to an integration of guests of the city and locals who get along to varying degrees. There are conflicting thoughts on if the publicity and attention Nashville is getting is ultimately a good or bad thing. With such a large ensemble and Altman’s overlapping style, getting engrossed in one particular storyline is a fool’s errand. You get key snippets of different conversations which cumulatively builds to understanding something about the most important ones.
The most fascinating aspect of this film is how it so deftly showcases how easy it is for individuals to not understand one another even when they are speaking the same language. The issues arise when people speak without listening, or fail to comprehend when they put forth the effort to listen. The Oscar-winning song “I’m Easy” as performed by Tom Frank (Keith Carradine) strikes a chord with certain women in the audience as they harbor the false belief he is singing just for them. The effort to appreciate what is in front of them is admirable but the misunderstanding is undeniable. Music is one of the fundamental building blocks of this story, and musical director Richard Baskin helped craft songs that distinctly worked within the fictional Nashville crafted by Altman. Do they represent the best that Music City has to offer? Absolutely not! Nor are they supposed to; many of the songs are meant to have a satirical edge to them. There is also the theme of authenticity as previously alluded to; Nashville is a music town but foremost it is in the music business, and business dictates that the artistry preserve the Americana imagery until the dam finally bursts at the conclusion of the film.
In this story Altman utilizes some of his frequent flyers as well as a litany of performers that were new to his world. The level of talent of staggering from the aforementioned Carradine to Karen Black, Ronee Blakely, Shelly Duvall, Ned Beatty, Geraldine Chaplin, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Murphy, Lily Tomlin, Bert Remsen, Gwen Welles, and so many more it will make your head spin. It is interesting to note that some of the performers even contributed to the writing of some of their songs, which may have contributed to the inconsistent quality of the numbers. All of these characters come together in unique ways which showcases contrasting beliefs. The microcosm of this country music town contains just as much ambition, greed and political maneuvering as the national political climate of the time and extending forward to today. By analyzing our weaknesses, Altman achieves something quite profound about society. It’s a sprawling text but it rarely lacks in keeping you transfixed. It is one of his great works.
Video Quality
Nashville gets a lovely Blu-Ray upgrade from a previous Criterion Collection Blu-Ray with a stellar 1080p transfer sourced from a 4K scan of the original elements. This presentation is a knockout that preserves the filmic look with proper film grain and texture throughout. The level of clarity and detail on this release is truly something to behold. There are very subtle details in the production design that are visible here for the first time from minute details on outfits to some of the complexities of the environments. The black levels are extremely deep and allow for true detail to come through. There are a lot of bold colors in the film that pop off the screen with an immaculate vibrancy. Skin tones are natural and lend themselves to showcasing an amazing amount of detail. Paramount has done an excellent job of restoring this, as all print damage has been cleaned up without messing with the natural look of the film. The only way this could have been improved is if Paramount had opted to go for a full 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that sonically represents the film perfectly. The activity focuses heavily on the front channels with layers of sound filling up the channels from various sources simultaneously. Music is the lifeblood of the presentation, but it never overpowers the dialogue or other important information. The classic Altman experience with dialogue comes through clearly and never falls victim to any digital anomalies. Rear speakers get a good deal of activity with ambient sounds from various bustling environments. There is not a lot to the low end support with this film, but it adds some nice texture at points. This track accomplishes everything it needs to do really well.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Director Robert Altman delivers a steady and entertaining track in which he tackles the themes of the story, the real-world influences on the film, the title sequence, the known and unknown performers in the film, the music and much more. Whenever you have a chance to listen to Altman, you definitely seize that opportunity. This is a great listen all around.
- 24 Tracks – Robert Altman’s Nashville: A new sixteen-minute featurette which explores the immense complexity of the script, the unique way in which the script was developed, the directorial style of Altman, the marriage of character with performer, reflections from the shoot, writing the music and lyrics, and much more. In addition to vintage interviews with Altman, there is a new interview with his son that supplements it quite nicely.
- Theatrical Trailer: A two-minute trailer is provided for Nashville. There are also trailers provided for Popeye and Urban Cowboy.
Final Thoughts
Nashville is among the best films that Robert Altman ever released, and it stands as one of the great films of the 1970s. This mammoth feature leaves you with a lot to digest, but it never ceases to be thought provoking with a relevance that is just as apparent today as ever. The sprawling ensemble put forth some really great performances that are key to making this material work so well. Paramount Home Entertainment has released a new Blu-Ray featuring a really stellar A/V presentation, but not quite as many special features as some previous Blu-Ray editions. At this time, this is the only version of this disc in print and it is quite the knockout. Highly Recommended
Paramount Presents Nashville is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
