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Show "Nashville" Cats side world, meeting movie stars and political agents with aplomb, acting with grace in receivingtheir respects res-pects to his particular industry indus-try as he offers his to theirs. It is all played with an understated under-stated naturalness that makes us feel that Henry Gibson has probably been in the business, secretly, for years in order to offer such a portrayal. The cast of characters goes on endlessly, each blending his particular role into the general cuisine, like spices offering subtle tastes and blendings. Thus we have not only the country stars and emerging stars profiled, but the little people, desperately desper-ately wanting to be near the halo of their idols. We have the sexy would-be singer who is never going to make it on her voice revealing her body to find success. And the lost little woman declaring that if she does not make it, she can always sell trucks. Each offers his part in the structure, a structure struc-ture that at first glance seems scattered and haphazard haphaz-ard but progresses into a strong frame that not only holds the film together, but makes it structurally sound. Finally Altman has found a property that can beasuc- mccfnl film rmmorriallv The sound track opening in the credits delights our ears to that style of music marked "Nashville. But visually as well as aurally we know we are in for a delight de-light as Robert Altman cuts us between . the recording session of tradition country sound and the free wheeling studio performance of gospel. gos-pel. We know immediately that Nashville is not a town of singular style, merging many types of people as well as music into that alloy of successful country western music. Robert Altman first came blazing into attention with his irreverent look at the medical med-ical corps in MASH and found commercial success. But this film was followed by a diverse group of well executed cinema that failed to find a box office following. He was a critics' director, rarely finding that magic that would pull in the masses. In NASHVILLE, Altman has found the ingredients to please all. The film might deal with the city of Nashville, recording re-cording mecca of the United States, but, on a larger scale, it deals with the country itself, it-self, wrapped in political, social, and moral confusion. Thus Altman chooses to deal with a miriad of characters char-acters and situations, interwoven inter-woven into a tight, concise film. From a director who pioneered natural sound in films, allowing lines to be murmured in the background to give a realistic atmosphere, atmos-phere, we have a film that gives us this same feeling through its plots, visuals, and characters as well. NASHVILLE is also a conglomeration con-glomeration of emotions. We are taken from pure comedy and satire through our many feelings to tragedy and baffled baf-fled silence. Altman succes-fully succes-fully captures our attention to carry us on an emotional as well as visual and aural journey, touching down in many places to swoop us through this film. One gets the feeling of being be-ing on a ride in an amusement amuse-ment park, unable to control the events, being carried unprotestingly from one place and emotion to another. Only there is not the feeling feel-ing of fantasy there, for the film generates a natural realism that gives it a documentary doc-umentary feeling. However, documentaries usually are very subjective, while Alt-man Alt-man brings us a feeling so real that we think we have stumbled into a world watched watch-ed by a hidden camera. The scope of Altman's subject is dazzling, intertwining inter-twining plots and characters sans the usual confusion a director would find in attempting at-tempting such an accom-plishment. accom-plishment. From the arrival of Barbara Jean, fading country singingstar, through the personal lives of those many hopefuls, trying for their big singing break, we experience the trials and tribulations of a town that represents our country. Each character represents not just a type, that intangible intang-ible being that represents all of his kind, but also a very real person. Altman gives us not a slick blockbuster of a movie, but a personal look into many people and their ambitions. Woven into the music industry in-dustry is the political campaign cam-paign of a third party hopeful running on the "down home" ticket, promising social reform re-form and taxation. It is through the stars that he hopes to swing Tennessee, a large accomplishment for any presidential hopeful. Thus Altman intertwines the wheeling and dealing of the campaign manager to get the stars onto the stage for a fund raising concert. And this manager soon finds that Nashville has its own political pol-itical jungle, easily corrupt as the governmental one, but also on as large a scale. And for that look of in-nocense, in-nocense, fresh and spontaneous spontan-eous impressions, we have Geraldine Chaplin as the BBC reporter trying to form all her impressions into a documentary on Nashville. Thus Altman is able to stumble into many situations with this idealistic character, char-acter, socially naive enough to be blatantly obnoxious and touchingly unperceptive. This is how the world sees us, as a star-studded, dazzling, daz-zling, corrupt society that it would embrace as its own lifestyle if only the culture didn't prove so confusing. This character makes for many lights moments, but in reflection after the film, we can see her as a merging factor, tying together the many plots and crisis. What is so wonderful about Altman is the way he handles his actors, makingthem give performances fewother directors could wean from them. Here we have the likes of Henry Gibson playing the king of Country Music, and offering a performance' few would have suspected him capable of. He has that righteous right-eous demeanor that makes him believable as well as noticeable, pulling his kingdom king-dom together through all their conflicts and contradictions. con-tradictions. He also acts as the diplomat with the ont- as well as artistically. In watching it, you are struck by the vision of this man, so perceptive that he can draw out the essence and make it very real. Many of his other works have been beautiful little film, but here we have magnificence mag-nificence in not only style and esthetics, but in scale as well. It seems fitting that this director would do it up with a bang, and not a whimper, whim-per, to produce what will stand in the years to come as a classic in style and structure. He has produced a very big film, huge in its excesses, and large in its scope, to find his dream and goal. Here is a critic's dream come true as well, but, more important, proof that a film maker can produce a film of stunning artistic merit that is appealing to the mass audience. Hopefully he will start a trend toward quality films for the masses. But somehow we know that he is marching alone, carrying out a vision few could handle much less master. |