My Favorite Robert Altman Film

There's a strong urge, when I'm picking films for this series, to choose the movies that best embody the work of the director. So for Robert Altman, my first instinct was to feature something very Altman-like, something with a big cast, interlocking stories, lots of realistic overlapping dialogue, and genre subversion. "Nashville" was the obvious one, or perhaps "MASH" or "The Player." However, if I'm being honest with myself, my pick for my favorite Robert Altman film is one of the least Altman-like in his filmography: the obscure 1977 psychological drama "3 Women."

A shy young woman named Pinky Rose (Sissy Spacek) comes to work at a small desert town's health spa and becomes friends with a co-worker, the much more outgoing and talkative Millie (Shelley Duvall). They decide to become roommates, and move into an apartment complex run by a former cowboy Edgar (Robert Fortier), and his pregnant wife Willie (Janice Rule). Willie is an odd figure, who keeps to herself and paints fantastic, unsettling murals. Pinky Rose and Millie settle in, but find living together is difficult. Tensions mount and their relationship deteriorates, until Pinky Rose does something drastic. Then a curious transformation occurs, one that reveals a strange connection between the two women.

"3 Women" has been compared to Ingmar Bergman's "Persona," for its existential themes and its two main characters who have a curious effect on each other's psyches. However, "3 Women" is far less experimental and more grounded in reality, with a straightforward narrative, conventional filmmaking techniques, and well fleshed-out characters. Spacek and Duvall are both excellent, and their performances drive the film. This was a year after "Carrie," and Spacek at first seems to be playing a similar character in Pinky Rose. She's timid and weak-willed, perhaps a version of Carrie White who got away from her mother and went out west, into the desert. And then, suddenly, without explanation, she is different. Is this due to Millie's influence? Is this due to her own actions, taken in response to their growing estrangement? The cause of the change is never explained, but the result is fascinating.

Duvall is easily Spacek's match, giving the best performance I've ever seen from her. Millie starts out the more aggressive and surefooted of the pair, who is more in control. However, once we get to know her better, Millie's outward facade is revealed to be all too fragile, and she's just as susceptible to whatever force is influencing Pinky Rose. Though less dramatic, the way she changes over the course of the film is no less impressive or unnerving. Spacek has generally been billed as having the supporting role, but I don't know how she and Duvall can be viewed as anything but co-leads. Their ever-changing connection to each other is central to the story, and it is impossible to think of one actress's performance without the context of the other's.

Altman places these two in an environment that is full of unseen primal forces and mysterious symbols. The story is reported to have come to Altman in a dream, and dreamlike imagery is everywhere. The desert town is stark and always feels empty. Willie's murals feature human figures with the heads of beasts. Colors and the presence of water are important, perhaps portentous. Sound is also vital. The score is lovely, and at times eerie. There's quite a bit of dialogue in the film, such as Millie's rambling chatter about fashion and cooking, but little of it carries any meaning. Rather, the strongest interactions between the characters tend to be the silent kind. And the key to the mystery of the story may be the one person who hardly says anything at all.

"3 Women" is dominated by women, so totally that it doesn't pass a reverse-Bechdel test. Edgar is the primary male member of the ensemble, but best described as a plot device who is barely distinguished at all. Then there's the scene where two men are heard talking indistinctly in the background, but if you listen closely, they're talking about someone's wife or girlfriend. It's not something you see done very often, and this heightens the otherworldly feel of the film. And it's easy to see why so many fans see hidden messages in the film, as it almost demands the viewer's interpretation. Is this some kind of feminist statement? A witchcraft metaphor? A political commentary?

Altman seemed to want to want to make every kind of movie possible, trying his hand at comedies, musicals, westerns, post-apocalyptic science fiction, detective noir, English murder mysteries, and political dramas. Still, "3 Women" stands out from the rest of his films, because it's hard to categorize. I suppose it's a Bergman homage, but Bergman never had a heroine who talked like Millie, and surely he never dreamed of a dusty desert town as beautiful and terrible as Robert Altman's.
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What I've Seen - Robert Altman

MASH (1970)
Brewster McCloud (1970)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Images (1972)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
3 Women (1977)
Nashville (1975)
Popeye (1980)
The Player (1992)
Short Cuts (1993)
Prêt-à-Porter (1994)

Gosford Park (2001)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

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