Nobody made films like Robert Altman, and Nashville is the purest example of his crazy patchwork quilt style of filmmaking. It defines him as a filmmaker, one of the key projects of the 1970s, one of the most quintessentially American films ever made and a cinematic rite of passage, essential viewing for anyone serious about movies.
A portrait of a specific time and place, Altman’s microcosm represents all the hopes and fears, the underlying tension and paranoia embedded in the nation. His characters include the top (fictional) country, folk and gospel singers, all surrounded by a pack of wannabes, hangers on, political figures and a couple of movie stars. Some are there for the groove and good feelings. Others have more sinister intentions. Altman makes it impossible to tell one from the other, moving people in and out of each other’s lives like a complex game of musical chairs. The actors are well-chosen to make strong first impressions.
The film plays like a comedy, even though many of the people are cranky and/or miserable. It’s a cynical film, and like Alejandro González Iñárritu, Altman doesn’t love them so much as he loves to test them. Sometimes (like with the waitress who doesn’t realize what a poor singer she is) it feels cruel. However, more often it plays brilliantly.
In the middle of everything there is a scene, a moment that is among the greatest scenes in the history of cinema. A club where Keith Carradine’s character sings song entitled “I’m Easy”. It’s meant to be a confession of his failings, an explanation to all the hearts he’s broken. In truth, he believes none of it. The music is a ploy to gain sympathy. In the audience are four women he’s spent time with, and each one thinks he’s singing about her. The camera quietly isolates Carradine in the frame. Each woman reacts differently, but they are all deeply affected. Lily Tomlin in particular does very little but is devastating in this scene. Altman is able to let Carradine seduce us as well. Even though we know the truth, we want to believe the words and the beautiful way he sings them.
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