#33 - McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971, Robert Altman)

Had to go with an Altman this week. Proper obits can be found everywhere, so some shitty beginner's blog post ain't gonna do him justice but in the Best American Director 1970-now division, let's face it, Scorsese's probably his only real competition. A true original who leaves behind a body of work that will take years to fully digest. Now someone PLEASE release Brewster McCloud on DVD!!!!

McCabe & Mrs. Miller is probably the most major Altman I hadn't yet seen and it's an oddity in his oeuvre. One of two westerns Altman directed (Buffalo Bill and the Indians will never see its way into this blog if I keep this up until I'm seventy years old), it's one of the classic "anti-westerns" of the late '60s and early '70s. But rather than reinterpreting the violence and heoroes / villians mythology, McCabe attacks the institution of capitalism.

The film takes place a few decades later and a few hundred miles west of most westerns. John McCabe (Warren Beatty) is one of the founders of Presbyterian Church, a Pacific Northwest town. He is a gambler who hopes to open a whorehouse with the cunning prostitute-cum-madam Constance Miller (Julie Christie). They make a ton of money and a large corporation comes to town to buy McCabe out. He refuses their offer, a decision with dire consequences.

Manifest Destiny has been achieved geographically, so what is left of the American Dream but to buy and sell bits and pieces of what's already been conquered. It is fitting that the industries being established in McCabe are sex and gambling (the two most profitable web industries today until those damn puritans shut down the online casinos), with drugs thrown in for good measure.

Though I dig the themes, I gotta say this isn't among my favorite Altmans. My main gripe is with the soundtrack, which may seem superficial but as we all know, innovative sound design is one of Altman's trademarks. Dialogue isn't quite as big here as in his other films and the use of natural sound is distracting. Voices echo and are poorly mic'ed, the overdubbing that contributes heavily to the stoner fantasia of Brewster and 3 Women, not to mention "striaght" ensemble masterpieces like Nashville and Short Cuts, is sorely missed.

It's definitely a worthwhile film and Altman's films are always more rewarding upon multiple viewings. I wasn't that hot on Nashville the first time I saw it after all.

New #100: Floating Clouds