Why aren't all Altman films like this? So many of the director's most respected films (M*A*S*H, Nashville, Secret Honor) are simplistic in their message and ugly in style. Then he makes 3 Women, one of the best films of the 70's, and it rates barely above a cult film.
The key to understanding the film is that it was inspired by a dream that Altman had while his wife was in clinging to life at the hospital. He dreamed the title, the lead actors, and the general tone, and that is the only way to understand the film- like a dream. It's appeal lies in its uniqueness, which also makes it hard to describe. It's kind of like a combintion of Persona and Picnic at Hanging Rock, but a lot more.
It's also the kind of movie that you want to know the absoulte miniumum about walking in. This is one of the first films in a long time where I did not know what was going to happen. The film starts at a retreat for the elderly, where a young woman named Pinky (Sissy Spacek) has just started a new job. She takes an immediatle liking to Millie (Shelly Duvall), and the two become roomates, even though Pinky is socially awkward. The two don't get a long very well, and the movie takes the first of serveral unexpected turns.
Like Picnic at Hanging Rock, the movie is creepy and disturbing, but in a spirtual kind of way. It's not scary like a horror film, but like a total eclipse of the sun. Altman manges to restrain his usual obnoxious style of continous zooms and he creates a really compelling atmosphere. There are also three great performances from Spacek, Duvall (maybe the most underrated actress ever) and by Janice Rule as the third woman- in one interpreation at least. This is a masterpiece.
3 Women (1977)