NASHVILLE (1975) C widescreen 159m dir: Robert Altman

w/David Arkin, Barbara Baxley, Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Ronee Blakely, Lily Tomlin, Timothy Brown, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Robert DoQui, Henry Gibson, Michael Murphy, Cristina Raines, Allan Garfield, Gwen Welles, David Hayward, Barbara Harris, Robert Duvall, Keenan Wynn, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, David Peel, Elliott Gould, Julie Christie

From The Movie Guide: "Robert Altman's triumph; one of the best American movies of the 70s and one of the most complex, expertly constructed narratives ever. Sprawling over two and one-half hours and never flagging, it successfully introduces and exposes 24 different characters, beautifully critiquing the country music industry as a microcosm of American society.

"NASHVILLE's songs, many of them written by the actors, are more integral to the storyline than is usually the case but, even if you do not cotton to country sounds, the effect is still overwhelming. Altman cuts back and forth between the characters with such aplomb that the audience never loses track of the narrative, which all takes place on one climactic weekend in the Country Music Capital of America. A huge music festival is taking place in Nashville, and at the same time a political rally is slated to promote the candidacy of the never-seen presidential hopeful Hal Phillip Walker, who leads a new entity known as the Replacement Party. ...

"Amazingly, the movie was shot for about $2 million in less than 45 days, with much of the dialogue improvised by the performers."

NASHVILLE won an Oscar for Best Song ("I'm Easy," Keith Carradine). It was also nominated for Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actress (both Blakely and Tomlin).