Nashville

Robert Altman, USA 1975, 160 minutes

Rating: R16

“The movie that best embodies everything that was so freeing and generous and deceptively casual about Altman’s art… one of the most revealing portraits of America ever made” – Slant Magazine

“Robert Altman’s masterpiece set in country music’s capital as America approached its bicentennial is now gloriously restored. A magnum opus offering a sceptical commentary on modern America, Nashville follows a host of credibly colourful characters – musicians, agents, fans, journalists, politicians, locals – over five days in the city’s busy concert schedule. The narrative, seemingly as chaotic as reality, is supremely subtle and complex in its interweaving of events, relationships, themes and moods: the tone is at once affectionate and scathing; the songs are musically spot-on; the film’s sheer scale, ambition, wit and intelligence are exhilarating. Beautifully performed, it’s one of the greatest films of the last 50 years – and one that could probably not get made now.”

– Geoff Andrew, BFI

“Nashville was the first film I really had total control over… everything was done on the spot, changed on the spot… we’d create events and document them… So it was very like a documentary, with a small crew moving fast.” – Robert Altman

Supported by Unity Books