"
Nashville"
*** 1\2 (out of ****)
The very first shot in Robert Altman's "Nashville" (1975) is of a van pulling out of a garage. The van is part of the political campaign of a presidential candidate named Hal Walker. He is running for the Replacement Party's nomination. There is a loud speaker attached to the van blaring Walker's political ideology, the last words we hear before the audio is juxtaposed to the next scene is of Walker explaining how the people can make change. As these words are being spoken we hear a song being sung with lyrics stating we must have been doing something right to last two hundred years.
Within a few brief moments, Altman hits at one of the tensions in his often brilliant film; the (unfortunate) dance between art and politics. Both in their way offer a vision of America and her path forward. They each offer stories meant to interpret who we are as a people and define our expectations - We can create change! Stay the course, we are doing something right! From there Altman expands his story to hit on targets of celebrity, ambition, the media, religion, gender and the American Dream with effortless ease; weaving twenty-four characters in and out of a satire that captured the zeitgeist of the 1970s post-Nixon and Vietnam era.
Yet as "Nashville" celebrates its 50th anniversary we can see how relevant this story remains; given the ascension of celebrity in our politics - the man in the White House used to host a reality TV show - and constant media consumption on our smart phones. A poll conducted in September 2025, published in the Wall Street Journal found that 70% no longer believe the American Dream holds true. The comparisons between then and now are too many to enumerate. That is what makes Altman and screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury's approach to this material so sharp; they are able to slyly insert moments of dry humor. "Nashville" isn't a heavy-handed morality picture; it is somehow elevated to a kind of humanist, populist critique filled with country music. By some definitions you could consider it a musical.
The first time I saw Altman's film I didn't know what to make of it. Before a second viewing I decided to take film critic Roger Ebert's advice and would tell myself, the movie is about whatever it makes me feel. But that wasn't satisfying to me emotionally or intellectually. I had to dig deeper and look at the movie again and again until it made sense to me. Something wasn't clicking in my brain. Why couldn't I figure out this puzzle? Then a lightbulb went off in my head; the title! Why is the film called "Nashville"? What does the city of Nashville represent to everyday Americans? What did it represent in 1970s America? Nashville, I believe, is a city that has art as its identity through country music. What other city is so connected to an art form? New York has the theater; Los Angeles has the movie industry. Both could have been possible locations and titles but "Nashville" is also a city - at least as presented in this film - built on tradition, a respect for the past but also a friction between young and old artists.
That brings us back to the film's opening moments, which immediately establishes all of the film's central conflicts by contrasting them against each other; and so we see country music star Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson) in a recording studio; singing a song called 200 Years clashed against a Gospel group's recording session, introducing us to Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin); two songs representing God and country; thus showing us the different ways art can interpret society.
God and country are interweaved throughout the film as Altman leans in on a Bicentennial mood in "Nashville". The film is supposed to take place in 1976, which wouldn't have just been a presidential election year but the country's true Bicentennial year. It would be a time of great patriotic pride. A moment to celebrate the country's history, especially coming off of events from the recent past. But this is where Altman and Joan Tewkesbury sneak in their humor, in sometimes not-so-subtle fashion. "Nashville" ultimately shows us a country divided; a country with sexism, political violence, racial tension and differing cultural values. It is as if Altman is telling us, is this what you really want to celebrate? The following year Altman would continue this critique on the country's past with his film "Buffalo Bill and the Indians" (1976), a film that examines the mythology of America. Both films would make a powerful double feature.
One of Altman's best visual presentations to capturing this American gridlock in "Nashville" is to have a major traffic accident happen fairly early in the film, after all of the key characters have been introduced. The traffic accident occurs while a country music version of the Star Spangled Banner plays on the soundtrack. Is this Altman's way of saying America is this multi-car traffic accident, a chain reaction of messy conflicts? Notice which vehicle is directly in the middle of this accident; the political van. Are politics in the middle of our societal standstill?
In many ways it all comes back to that political van. Politics is at the center of "Nashville" and Altman's analysis of America's dilemma. Pay close attention to how Altman situations the van and people's reaction to it. Sometimes we see the van driving along the street. Other times we just hear the loudspeaker as the van drives out of frame. But what we never see is anyone interact with the van. No one stops walking to pay attention to the words. It is as if politics is a "noise" heard in the background of our society. People don't engage with it, they pay no attention to it, and yet it is all around us and because of that it seeps through. This becomes sadly evident when the film ends with an assassination attempt. In Pauline Kael's famous New Yorker review of the film she characterized it as "the insanity of a fundamentalist culture in which practically the whole population has been turned into groupies." This becomes another sad mirror to today's political violence.
Another early target in "Nashville" is the media. Whenever the media is shown in the film it is usually in relation to celebrity journalism. There is a long sequence that takes place at an airport where country music star Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley) is expected to arrive. A reporter stands by with a live report and proceeds to gives us a very detailed play-by-play of the plane arriving, Barbara Jean getting off the plane, walking to a podium...etc. This is news? In the opening scenes we are introduced to Opal (Geraldine Chaplin) a reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation. She is presented as celebrity obsessed and always missing the big story. She can be in a room where political wheeling and dealing is going on but all she notices is Elliot Gould is there. In Vincent Canby's New York Times review he described the character as a "reporter of such gross idiocy she'd probably have trouble getting a job on a shopping guide."
This leads to my main problem with "Nashville" - the treatment of women in the film. On one hand it is a critique of the time period and sexist attitudes that prevailed in the country and in the media but Altman doesn't give these women opportunities to overcome their obstacles and sometimes presents them as fools. The Opal character is a case in point; she never does break any major news. The brilliant movie critic Molly Haskell made reference to this in her 40th anniversary review of the film on the Criterion site. Haskell gave much needed praise and attention to Tewkesbury's screenplay, even referring to her as an "unsung hero" of the film. She noted Tewkesbury's keen perceptive grasp on the "fragility of women country singers, trying to keep their dignity in a world run by men." But I felt there were times Altman let the tide shift a bit and lost balance. Barbara Jean for example is always presented under the crushing force of her husband, Barnette (Allen Garfield) and then there is the most damning indictment against male treatment of women when we see a humiliating striptease performed by Sueleen (Gwen Welles); a young woman who had hopes of becoming a singer herself but is only valued for her figure and taken advantaged of. Even the gospel singer Linnea isn't spared indignity. She is a mother of two deaf children, married to a man, Delbert (Ned Beatty) that has no interest in his family, to the extent he doesn't even learn sign language to communicate with his sons. She falls for the "charms" of a rock singer and becomes a victim to his pettiness.
To be fair Altman doesn't present the men any better. While they aren't victimized the way the women are; Altman doesn't go to any great trouble to make them likeable either. The rock singer, Tom Frank (Keith Carradine) is the worse of them all. We see him multiple times disregard the feelings of female characters. Altman has the character sing a song called
I'm Easy (which won the Academy award for best song), about emotional vulnerability, as a way to present another side to him but it isn't enough. Barnette becomes overbearing, Haven is pompous and a bully and Delbert clueless. When you get down to it, Altman doesn't give us much to root for. The one character that shows kindness to everyone he meets is an elderly man, Mr. Green (Keenan Wynn) who in the end must face a personal tragedy.
This seems to have been a conscious choice made by Altman in his handling of these characters. It may represent a dichotomy within all of us; sinner and saint. Altman will show a character like Tom emotionally abuse women but then contrast that image by showing us he can be sensitive and write a lovely song. Somehow Altman does something remarkable here, he straddles both sentiments at once in this scene by adding humor. Multiple women Tom has deceived are all gathered to hear him sing this song and each believes it is secretly dedicated to them. In his original Chicago Sun-Times review (not to be confused with his later "Great Movies" review) Roger Ebert described Altman's approach to his characters in "Nashville" as " Altman sees them all with a judicious and ultimately sympathetic eye."
With so many characters in the film not all of them interact with each other but one character that remains a through line is John Triplette (Michael Murphy). He has been sent by the Walker campaign to wrestle up support from the country music singers. Each interaction John has with these celebrities is a power play. These celebrities don't seem terribly interested in the ideas of the campaign - John never discusses the candidate's platform - as much as they are about what they can get out of the deal and how it may affect their image. The most blatant example of this is John's dealings with Haven, who expresses possible political ambitions of his own. In one way or another art is politics. And as for the idea that it takes celebrities to make the public interested in politics; well that's just commonplace now. Remember the brouhaha over Taylor Swift in the last Presidential election and if she would make an endorsement? It is amazing; society would lean into the very things Altman satirized 50 years prior.
One of the most important "characters" in the film I would argue however is the "loudspeaker". When most critics review "Nashville" they look to the songs as doubling as commentary on the film. In a review Armond White wrote for example in 1998 for the New York Press, White highlighted the song My Idaho Home and called it an "all-American desire for harmony" believing the song evoked themes of sacrifice, school, army, heaven, children...etc. While there is truth to this, more attention I feel should be paid to the loudspeaker. "Nashville" doesn't have a narrator but if it did, it would be the loudspeaker. It is similar in a way to how Altman used a PA system in "M*A*S*H" (1970). In that movie the PA system was a kind of "authority figure" being used to contrast the zany behavior of the characters in cut-a-way shots. In "Nashville" the loudspeaker represents the heart of the film's ideas. It says the quiet parts out loud; all of the struggles the country faces. We hear it from the loudspeaker and than see it in action in the characters.
Those American struggles come to the fore by the end of film, which takes place at a Walker campaign rally. This is in many ways what the film has been building up to but notice some of the choices Altman makes here. Number one, we never do see Hal Walker. It is as if Altman is saying "the man" doesn't matter, it is the words that carry weight, the ideals that represent this country. Number two, an assassination occurs but a politician isn't the target, an artist is. It is as if there is an indistinguishable line between art and politics - the basic idea of the film. And finally, number three, notice what happens next. Within the chaos and confusion, someone needs to establish order and set the crowd the at ease. In theory it should have been John or someone from the Walker campaign but they are absent. It is a singer that steps in to do what art always does, bring us together. But again, its not just any artist, its Albuquerque (Barbara Harris), a woman. Here is Altman trying to restore order to what has proceeded this event. The people who were shown to have been the most abused by the system - the women - are the ones who are not only going to have to be there for the healing but will lead the way. The is a powerful statement on Altman's part. Some critics at the time either didn't see that message, ignored it, or simply didn't care. Take as an example the former
Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel, who wrote a very positive review but also commented on the film's final sequence as, "its least interesting and most banal element."
To end the film on an assassination is also a deeply revealing move on Altman's part. As soon as the incident happens, Haven, who was also on stage, cries out, "This isn't Dallas". The horrific event of President Kennedy's assassination transpired more than six decades ago. I wonder how many younger people know what the date November 22nd, 1963 represents? Sadly, I can tell you, my nieces and nephews aren't aware of its significance. In 1975 however Kennedy's death still loomed large over the nation as did Robert Kennedy's. The Kennedy name is spoken often in "Nashville". That's not by accident. Kennedy represented hope and great promise for the country. He was representative of all that was right about America. Nixon and Watergate signified what was wrong with politics. "Nashville" is a bridge between these two administrations and the assassination here brings attention to it.
When "Nashville" was released both Altman and the film were somewhat divisive. Some critics like Rex Reed at the
New York Daily News and Dave Kehr at the
Chicago Reader were very dismissive of the film. Kehr in particular listed the film as one of the worse of 1975; but the film had its defenders from Judith Crist to Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Andrew Sarris, Pauline Kael and Molly Haskell. Each and every one of them considered it among the finest American films made at that point. Perhaps because of that level of support, the film went on to earn five Academy Award nominations, including one for best picture and another for Altman's directing. It also scored an amazing 11 Golden Globe nominations including one well deserved one for its screenplay.
This year doesn't just mark the 50th anniversary of the release of "Nashville", it is also the bicentennial year of Altman's birth. In Chicago, at the Gene Siskel Film Center they had a lovely tribute to Altman screening many of his films. As I watch Altman's films I come away feeling the work still feels fresh and exciting and yet as I take a look around at the contemporary films being released, I often fail to see Altman's influence on the current crop of up-and-coming filmmakers. Twenty or twenty-five years ago many critics commented on Altman's influence on the work of Paul Thomas Anderson; in particular his film "Magnolia" (1999) but what other American films in the last five years or so have carried on in the Altman tradition?
Despite some flaws, "Nashville" remains a remarkable achievement in Altman's career. For some it represents his peak, in a decade when his creative powers may have been at their height. Fifty years later the film remains as insightful and perceptive on American culture and politics as it did in 1975. That is the mark of a true masterwork.
