69 reviews
IMAGES (Robert Altman, 1972) ***
An arty horror movie is the last thing one expects from Robert Altman - although, apparently, he had already tried it out with his earlier, little-seen THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK (1969). The writer/director (itself an unusual combination for Altman, but it shows how strongly he felt about the project) himself does not think of it as such and, in any case, reviews at the time were decidedly mixed.
Even if he was "inspired" by Ingmar Bergman's PERSONA (1966), the film actually feels closer plot-wise to Roman Polanski's REPULSION (1965). Originally intended to be shot in Milan with Sophia Loren, the film definitely benefits from its picturesque Irish locations and Susannah York's fragile performance (which eventually earned her the Best Actress Award at Cannes) as a schizophrenic; she, too, was unusually committed and actually allowed a story for kids she had written - called "In Search Of Unicorns" - to be incorporated into the narrative!
The film features only five major characters and, interestingly, these are named after each of the actors themselves: so Susannah York plays Cathryn just as Cathryn Harrison (Rex's daughter, a very natural performer who later featured in another strange film - Louis Malle's BLACK MOON [1975]) plays Susannah; Marcel Bozzuffi's character is named Rene', Rene' Auberjonois is Hugh and Hugh Millais is Marcel! Of course, all this fits perfectly well with the film's theme and the characters' penchant to exchange 'faces' with each other in the mind of the disturbed protagonist; actually, this concept is pretty frightening because the lead character at one point decides to get rid of her 'ghosts' - but, not having a complete grasp on reality, one is never sure whether the victims are mere figments of her imagination or else real people!
Also essential to establishing the film's unique mood is Vilmos Zsigmond's stylish cinematography and John Williams' stark yet evocative score (interspersed with eerie sounds provided by Stomu Yamash'ta, a Japanese sound designer); even though his work here is galaxies away from Williams' renowned anthemic scores for the likes of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, he still managed to earn an Oscar nomination for it!
Even if he was "inspired" by Ingmar Bergman's PERSONA (1966), the film actually feels closer plot-wise to Roman Polanski's REPULSION (1965). Originally intended to be shot in Milan with Sophia Loren, the film definitely benefits from its picturesque Irish locations and Susannah York's fragile performance (which eventually earned her the Best Actress Award at Cannes) as a schizophrenic; she, too, was unusually committed and actually allowed a story for kids she had written - called "In Search Of Unicorns" - to be incorporated into the narrative!
The film features only five major characters and, interestingly, these are named after each of the actors themselves: so Susannah York plays Cathryn just as Cathryn Harrison (Rex's daughter, a very natural performer who later featured in another strange film - Louis Malle's BLACK MOON [1975]) plays Susannah; Marcel Bozzuffi's character is named Rene', Rene' Auberjonois is Hugh and Hugh Millais is Marcel! Of course, all this fits perfectly well with the film's theme and the characters' penchant to exchange 'faces' with each other in the mind of the disturbed protagonist; actually, this concept is pretty frightening because the lead character at one point decides to get rid of her 'ghosts' - but, not having a complete grasp on reality, one is never sure whether the victims are mere figments of her imagination or else real people!
Also essential to establishing the film's unique mood is Vilmos Zsigmond's stylish cinematography and John Williams' stark yet evocative score (interspersed with eerie sounds provided by Stomu Yamash'ta, a Japanese sound designer); even though his work here is galaxies away from Williams' renowned anthemic scores for the likes of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, he still managed to earn an Oscar nomination for it!
- Bunuel1976
- Aug 22, 2006
- Permalink
schizophrenic dream
This film does not represent what Altman is well-known for - community mosaic or documentary style films such as "MASH", "Nashville", and "A Prairie Home Companion". Instead, Altman extended what he tried in "That Cold Day In the Park (1969)" depicting the inner world of a psychopathic woman, but his approach here is more complex. In fact, the fragmented style of the film is quite appropriate to portrait the shuttered mind of heroine.
The use of sound and the twin image of the character somewhat reminded me of "Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)" by Maya Deren. However, the visual style of this film is distinctively the seventies - beautifully shot by Vilmos Zsigmond. A mesmerizing film.
The use of sound and the twin image of the character somewhat reminded me of "Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)" by Maya Deren. However, the visual style of this film is distinctively the seventies - beautifully shot by Vilmos Zsigmond. A mesmerizing film.
Challenging and compelling film
- rosscinema
- Mar 29, 2004
- Permalink
Altman's lost dream sonata
I have spent a grown lifetime seeking this 1972 Altman dreamscape, and lost all hope when a friend reported that the director told a Q-and-A audience that Columbia had mistakenly destroyed the negative. A specialty store in Santa Monica somehow found a video copy, and it was worth fifteen years' wait.
Suggestive of the tinkling, misted-over fugue states of QUINTET and THREE WOMEN, IMAGES riffs lyrically off Polanski's REPULSION. Where Polanski's film is pitched somewhere between sixties horror and the dry joke-telling of Bunuel, Altman's version is lush, druglike, sensuously baroque. Susannah York plays a children's writer in a remote Irish cottage who seems to be spending too much time indoors. (Were the movie not lost in obscurity, you might think her an antecedent for Jack Torrance and Barton Fink.) As she copes with the would-be-regular-guy puttering of her schmucky husband (Rene Auberjonois, in a role rightly intended for Michael Murphy), two other loathsome men flit into her life--the husband's buddy, an Irish lecher played by Hugh Millais, and a seemingly dead ex-lover, played by Marcel Bozzufi. As these men appear to bleed into one another in York's mind, so do they soon start bleeding into the cottage's Persian rugs.
IMAGES defines Altman as the freest and most fearless of all American moviemakers. Most critics only stand behind Altman's we-are-the-people movies--his community mosaics. But he clearly is as passionate about mapping inner worlds as outer ones, and these Expressionist chamber pieces are his most feckless works. The movie is also a reminder of what Altman lost when he stopped hiring Vilmos Zsigmond to shoot his movies. Almost no one on the planet has such an intuitively graceful and expressive shooting style, but Zsigmond's stunning work here--among his finest--reveals that it's a long walk downstairs from Zsigmond to the likes of Jean Lapine. And note should be made of the work of the youngish composer who wrote the elegant, sinewy, restrained score--a decidedly non-bombastic, anti-symphonic fellow whom we now know as John Williams.
Suggestive of the tinkling, misted-over fugue states of QUINTET and THREE WOMEN, IMAGES riffs lyrically off Polanski's REPULSION. Where Polanski's film is pitched somewhere between sixties horror and the dry joke-telling of Bunuel, Altman's version is lush, druglike, sensuously baroque. Susannah York plays a children's writer in a remote Irish cottage who seems to be spending too much time indoors. (Were the movie not lost in obscurity, you might think her an antecedent for Jack Torrance and Barton Fink.) As she copes with the would-be-regular-guy puttering of her schmucky husband (Rene Auberjonois, in a role rightly intended for Michael Murphy), two other loathsome men flit into her life--the husband's buddy, an Irish lecher played by Hugh Millais, and a seemingly dead ex-lover, played by Marcel Bozzufi. As these men appear to bleed into one another in York's mind, so do they soon start bleeding into the cottage's Persian rugs.
IMAGES defines Altman as the freest and most fearless of all American moviemakers. Most critics only stand behind Altman's we-are-the-people movies--his community mosaics. But he clearly is as passionate about mapping inner worlds as outer ones, and these Expressionist chamber pieces are his most feckless works. The movie is also a reminder of what Altman lost when he stopped hiring Vilmos Zsigmond to shoot his movies. Almost no one on the planet has such an intuitively graceful and expressive shooting style, but Zsigmond's stunning work here--among his finest--reveals that it's a long walk downstairs from Zsigmond to the likes of Jean Lapine. And note should be made of the work of the youngish composer who wrote the elegant, sinewy, restrained score--a decidedly non-bombastic, anti-symphonic fellow whom we now know as John Williams.
Imperfect, but fascinating, complex early Altman
This is a a film I'll definitely watch again. I have the feeling it could feel even stronger on repeated viewings. A character study of a schizophrenic from inside her subjective point of view, so the whole story is told by an unreliable narrator. Some fascinating moments, and good tense twists as we (and she) wonder what's real. The film isn't wildly stylized, so the line between hallucination and reality is truly, effectively blurry. On the other hand a lot of the style feels awkwardly dated, and some story elements feel manipulative and not easy to believe. For example, she's very obviously a potentially dangerously disturbed woman, but her husband seems to barely take that in. Even if he's the supercilious prig that Rene Abougenois plays him as, his complete ignoring of her state feels like a cheat. And some twists just feel like they were 'a cool idea' at the time, but not rooted in deeper character or story elements. A little like Nic Roeg, but not at his very best. All that said, certainly a must see for any Altman fans - it's not quite like anything else he ever did - although '3 Women' could be seen in some ways as a more mature follow up.
- runamokprods
- Aug 12, 2010
- Permalink
Brilliant, Chilling, Lost Treasure.
Under the assumption that Altman was creatively peaking between the years 1970 and 1975, (I realize this is debatable) I sought out every film that was made during that period. Surprisingly, I could not locate the brilliant, chilling lost treasure that is the film "Images" it seemed to have simply vanished into history. Although Susannah York deservedly earned best actress at Cannes for her performance, and it was sandwiched between "The Long Goodbye" and "Mccabe and Mrs. Miller" this film, like "3 women" and "California Split", remain mysteries. Luckily, "Images" was released on DVD this past September. I immediately bought it without a second thought. I am very thankful that I did.
Images is one of those gems that make you appreciate cinema, directors and the creative process in general, because of the exploritive potential within the medium. Dredging up the inner fears and archetypes of the subconscious and weaving together what comes to the surface synergistically is Altmans vision in this film. Sadly, lately, film is about loud bangs and shiny things and very few adroitly capture the lost art of character development.
"Images" seems to be one of those films that could only have taken place in the early seventies. During the era of psychedelic drugs, the film indubitably feels as though it is on some kind of mind altering substance. It is completely trippy and unnerving. Logic seems to have flown out the window from the onset of the story. I won't give anything away, because you need to go into this film knowing nothing, or little to nothing about it, and just enjoy the ride.
Images is one of those gems that make you appreciate cinema, directors and the creative process in general, because of the exploritive potential within the medium. Dredging up the inner fears and archetypes of the subconscious and weaving together what comes to the surface synergistically is Altmans vision in this film. Sadly, lately, film is about loud bangs and shiny things and very few adroitly capture the lost art of character development.
"Images" seems to be one of those films that could only have taken place in the early seventies. During the era of psychedelic drugs, the film indubitably feels as though it is on some kind of mind altering substance. It is completely trippy and unnerving. Logic seems to have flown out the window from the onset of the story. I won't give anything away, because you need to go into this film knowing nothing, or little to nothing about it, and just enjoy the ride.
- TheTwistedLiver
- Oct 8, 2003
- Permalink
An Awkward Attempt By Altman to Tackle the Psychological Thriller
Robert Altman applies the same widescreen canvas he had previously used to capture the chaotic communities of a Korean War MASH unit and a primitive Pacific Northwest mining town to the quieter but no less chaotic internal workings of a troubled woman's psyche in this unsettling and uneven psychological thriller.
Susannah York plays Cathryn, wife of a distracted husband (Rene Auberjonois), whose affairs with two men (one a family friend) and her inability to have children become obsessive memories that haunt her and drive her over the brink of insanity during a stay at a quiet country home (the country is never identified, though the movie was filmed in Ireland). She begins the film as a wounded and hunted animal, jumping at every sound and image she hears or sees. One of her past lovers appears as a ghost, the other arrives at the country home with his daughter and gropes Cathryn when her husband's back is turned. The two lovers are vaguely threatening and abusive; her husband is dismissive and treats her like a child. Cathryn realizes that she can take control and kill off her unpleasant memories -- but at the same time she loses the ability to distinguish between reality and her own feverish imaginings.
On a first viewing, "Images" is absorbing and oddly fascinating, but it doesn't hold up well. For one, Cathryn isn't a compelling character, and that dooms the project from the start, since there's barely a scene in the film that doesn't revolve around her. She begins the film unhinged and really has nowhere to go from there except more unhinged. We don't learn much about her, and her illness isn't placed in any context. Susannah York delivers a shrill performance, all screeches and irrational outbursts; the male characters all come across as asses. Altman seems to be trying his hand at a feminist text, but he goes about it in the clichéd way that male artists too often address "female" issues. I think he's making some point about the way movies objectify women, turning them into "images" for the consumption of male viewers. After all, Cathryn is little more than something for the men in the film to enjoy, and cameras figure prominently in the film's mise-en-scene (Cathryn's husband is an amateur photographer). At one point, she fires one of her husband's guns (that universal symbol of male sexual power) at the ghost of her dead lover, and finds that she has instead destroyed her husband's camera. Nice try Altman, but awfully heavy handed if you ask me.
I'm a champion of Robert Altman's films, and he's never failed to fascinate me with any of his experiments, but such is the nature of experimenting that some are going to succeed more than others. "Images" came on the heels of a marvelous trio of films ("MASH," "Brewster McCloud" and "McCabe & Mrs. Miller") with which Altman announced his arrival as an important figure in American cinema, and he would follow it with four more ("The Long Goodbye," "Thieves Like Us," "California Split" and "Nashville") that would reinforce that claim, but "Images" itself is a weak link in the chain.
The stars of "Images" are the mesmerizing production design and the sterling cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond.
Grade: B
Susannah York plays Cathryn, wife of a distracted husband (Rene Auberjonois), whose affairs with two men (one a family friend) and her inability to have children become obsessive memories that haunt her and drive her over the brink of insanity during a stay at a quiet country home (the country is never identified, though the movie was filmed in Ireland). She begins the film as a wounded and hunted animal, jumping at every sound and image she hears or sees. One of her past lovers appears as a ghost, the other arrives at the country home with his daughter and gropes Cathryn when her husband's back is turned. The two lovers are vaguely threatening and abusive; her husband is dismissive and treats her like a child. Cathryn realizes that she can take control and kill off her unpleasant memories -- but at the same time she loses the ability to distinguish between reality and her own feverish imaginings.
On a first viewing, "Images" is absorbing and oddly fascinating, but it doesn't hold up well. For one, Cathryn isn't a compelling character, and that dooms the project from the start, since there's barely a scene in the film that doesn't revolve around her. She begins the film unhinged and really has nowhere to go from there except more unhinged. We don't learn much about her, and her illness isn't placed in any context. Susannah York delivers a shrill performance, all screeches and irrational outbursts; the male characters all come across as asses. Altman seems to be trying his hand at a feminist text, but he goes about it in the clichéd way that male artists too often address "female" issues. I think he's making some point about the way movies objectify women, turning them into "images" for the consumption of male viewers. After all, Cathryn is little more than something for the men in the film to enjoy, and cameras figure prominently in the film's mise-en-scene (Cathryn's husband is an amateur photographer). At one point, she fires one of her husband's guns (that universal symbol of male sexual power) at the ghost of her dead lover, and finds that she has instead destroyed her husband's camera. Nice try Altman, but awfully heavy handed if you ask me.
I'm a champion of Robert Altman's films, and he's never failed to fascinate me with any of his experiments, but such is the nature of experimenting that some are going to succeed more than others. "Images" came on the heels of a marvelous trio of films ("MASH," "Brewster McCloud" and "McCabe & Mrs. Miller") with which Altman announced his arrival as an important figure in American cinema, and he would follow it with four more ("The Long Goodbye," "Thieves Like Us," "California Split" and "Nashville") that would reinforce that claim, but "Images" itself is a weak link in the chain.
The stars of "Images" are the mesmerizing production design and the sterling cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond.
Grade: B
- evanston_dad
- Apr 22, 2007
- Permalink
Idiosyncratic masterpiece, even for Altman
Early one morning about two months ago, I watched IMAGES for the first time; it's still a movie memory that haunts me. The empty house I was in seemed to grow more and more cavernous as I took in this unforgettable story of a woman whose guilt and grief are driving her further into a stark inner world of madness. Yes, there are similarities to Polanski's REPULSION and even to Antonioni's BLOW-UP (in shot composition); but that is not to say it lacks a feel all its own. Altman shows his typical good judgment as a filmmaker, employing Vilmos Zsigmond as cinematographer, shooting in Panavision with rich, saturated colors oozing through each frame. He was also wise to get John Williams to compose an even-then atypically noisy score, for which the film garnered (wrongly) its only Oscar nomination. How Susannah York escaped at least a nomination as the film's star and co-writer is beyond me; her performance is one of the greatest ever committed to film. She truly seems confused, horrified, and at her wit's end. Her screams will pierce your soul. I can say more, but I will leave it at this: IMAGES is Robert Altman's neglected masterwork, a film that will scar your mind, if you have the strong countenance to endure it.
- treadway237
- Jul 25, 2005
- Permalink
May have got good ratings, but it didn't do much for me!
Robert Altman isn't a director that you would usually associate with the horror genre - but that was what made this film all the more intriguing for yours truly. However, while Altman takes obvious influence from Roman Polanski's Repulsion - an idea good enough to spawn a good horror film and ambiguous enough to be given a different slant to the original - Altman's film really didn't do much for me. The plot concerns Cathryn; a housewife who visits a 'weekend cottage' with her husband. However, while at this tranquil location; she begins seeing various apparitions, and proceeds to kill them off one by one. The film slots into the 'slow burn horror' niche, and while this sort of film can often produce good results, this one doesn't generate a great deal of interest and as intrigue is key to the plot, it all falls down. The film deserves some plaudits for the fact that it's all of a very high quality; Altman's direction is generally strong and he gets good performances out of his cast, but this doesn't count for much when the film moves at a snail's pace. Images tends to get good ratings across the board, so perhaps I've missed something and my criticism is misplaced - but I doubt it!
The mirror crack'd
Altman's little-seen psychological thriller, "Images," takes on the plot of a woman working on a children's book. One night, she receives a series of mysterious phone calls from a woman who tells her that her husband is cheating on her. After the probability of this is dismissed, she retreats to a country farmhouse with her husband to work, where she is visited by a series of people from her past, as the line between reality and fantasy is continually blurred.
Perhaps less thick with dream fog than "3 Women" but ten times more unnerving, "Images" is a film that truly hasn't gotten the audience it deserves. It's two parts art film and two parts psychological horror, while Altman toes the line the entire way through. Taking cues from Ingmar Bergman as well as Polanski, it's an incredibly bizarre film, especially when taken as a cohesive piece; but the real strength of it lies in the effective cinematography and the successive sequences that could almost stand as monumental short films all on their own. Slick cinematography amplifies the reality (or unreality) of the film, with characters changing bodies between shots, and Cathryn's husband walking through a swinging door only to return as her dead ex-lover.
It's precisely this jarring technique that really make this work as a horror film and elicit true moments of shock and fear; we don't know what to expect from one moment to the next, just as Cathryn doesn't. It's a film of doubling, identity, and hallucination— Cathryn sits at the bottom of a waterfall writing, while the camera pans down river to Cathryn sitting on the edge of a bluff, watching herself write. Which Cathryn is the "real" Cathryn? Who is Cathryn? Is her ex- lover dead? Why have her husband's friend and his doppelgänger daughter come to visit? It's the these questions that haunt the audience throughout, and remain with you after the shocking final scene.
Many have referred to "Images" as a portrait, even Altman himself, and I can think of no more accurate description. In many ways, it is a series of portraits; shards of a broken mirror that are haphazardly put back together. It's one of the most haunting and obscure films of the '70s, brimming with atmosphere, lush cinematography, and truly effective recreations of the schizophrenic mind. Susannah York's performance as Cathryn is the icing on the cake here, full of vulnerability and incognizant power. Fans of bleak psychological films will be particularly rewarded here, as well as admirers of Bergman and Altman alike. 9/10.
Perhaps less thick with dream fog than "3 Women" but ten times more unnerving, "Images" is a film that truly hasn't gotten the audience it deserves. It's two parts art film and two parts psychological horror, while Altman toes the line the entire way through. Taking cues from Ingmar Bergman as well as Polanski, it's an incredibly bizarre film, especially when taken as a cohesive piece; but the real strength of it lies in the effective cinematography and the successive sequences that could almost stand as monumental short films all on their own. Slick cinematography amplifies the reality (or unreality) of the film, with characters changing bodies between shots, and Cathryn's husband walking through a swinging door only to return as her dead ex-lover.
It's precisely this jarring technique that really make this work as a horror film and elicit true moments of shock and fear; we don't know what to expect from one moment to the next, just as Cathryn doesn't. It's a film of doubling, identity, and hallucination— Cathryn sits at the bottom of a waterfall writing, while the camera pans down river to Cathryn sitting on the edge of a bluff, watching herself write. Which Cathryn is the "real" Cathryn? Who is Cathryn? Is her ex- lover dead? Why have her husband's friend and his doppelgänger daughter come to visit? It's the these questions that haunt the audience throughout, and remain with you after the shocking final scene.
Many have referred to "Images" as a portrait, even Altman himself, and I can think of no more accurate description. In many ways, it is a series of portraits; shards of a broken mirror that are haphazardly put back together. It's one of the most haunting and obscure films of the '70s, brimming with atmosphere, lush cinematography, and truly effective recreations of the schizophrenic mind. Susannah York's performance as Cathryn is the icing on the cake here, full of vulnerability and incognizant power. Fans of bleak psychological films will be particularly rewarded here, as well as admirers of Bergman and Altman alike. 9/10.
- drownsoda90
- Sep 8, 2014
- Permalink
IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD
- kirbylee70-599-526179
- Jul 8, 2018
- Permalink
A horror film by Robert Altman!
Altman's only horror film. It stars Susannah York as a woman suffering from schizophrenia. She's married but keeps seeing--and hearing--dead lovers from the past who torment her. Then she starts seeing people who are still alive and can't tell if they're real or not. What will she do?
Unsettling film. It's shot in stark, bleak landscapes and has a VERY unnerving score from a young John Williams. This is unlike anything Altman ever did. Him and York in fact wrote the movie together. The acting is excellent and the film has a satisfying ending. It was not a big success and Altman never tried another film like this. It's fallen into obscurity which is a shame--it's really not that bad. Worth a look.
Unsettling film. It's shot in stark, bleak landscapes and has a VERY unnerving score from a young John Williams. This is unlike anything Altman ever did. Him and York in fact wrote the movie together. The acting is excellent and the film has a satisfying ending. It was not a big success and Altman never tried another film like this. It's fallen into obscurity which is a shame--it's really not that bad. Worth a look.
Intriquing but mindnumbingly incoherent....intentionally.
I guess the disoriented feeling is part of its design. But I am mentally exhausted watching this film once. And I doubt multiple viewings in order to decipher it will prove fruitful or productive. The Irish countryside is resplendently quaint though.
Composite Images
"I think it's the unicorn's fault..."
What is life! By the time I write these lines, I find out that all the actors in this movie are dead. Cathryn Harrison, only 13, makes her film debut here. John Morley, the old man with the dog, appears instead in his last role in a film. The unique Marcel Bozzuffi and Hugh Millais, they both have some frustrating roles, they are both killed by Susannah York's character. The very prolific Rene Auberjonois, who has collaborated with Altman in several films, has a more consistent role. The image of the master Vilmos Zsigmond ("McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "The Sugarland Express", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "The Deer Hunter", to name just 4 of his many masterpieces), is exceptional. The music of John Williams and Stomu Yamashta (both great musicians), is also very special. The great Susannah York from absolute masterpieces like "A Man for All Seasons" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", also demonstrates to
Robert Altman (another unique filmmaker) and to all of us, what a great actress she is, in a difficult role, in a difficult film, a film that is not for everyone, but only for the stubborn enthusiasts of the 7th art. I don't consider it a masterpiece, but Susannah York's interpretation, the atmosphere created by Altman, the music and the image, make the film worth watching.
- RodrigAndrisan
- May 17, 2020
- Permalink
A brilliant and disturbing journey inside one woman's mind
"Images" is another great movie from the master of the living paintings, Robert Altman. It is a brilliant, scary, beautiful, and very disturbing journey inside one woman's mind that was leaving her as the movie progressed. What we saw was not a ghost story but a very real descent to the world of nightmares and monsters that would not stop torturing the struggling and guilty mind for a second.
Susannah York as Cathryn, a young, beautiful writer who tries to finish a children's book in a remote country home is simply breathtaking. She carries the movie (which only has five characters) almost by herself and being present in every scene, she is equally sympathetic and frightening. In his interview on DVD, Altman mentioned that he had started making the movie in Milan with Sophia Lauren. As much as I admire Lauren, I don't see anyone other than York playing Cathryn. While watching her, I kept thinking of her Alice in Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). Alice, one of the participants and victims of a killing dance marathon, loses her mind by the end of the movie and the scene where she breaks down mentally, was heartbreaking. Altman himself reminded me of the witches from Shakespeare's Macbeth that would throw all kinds of ingredients in their cauldron. The director mentioned how he would add the new details to the script as the real life situations changed: York was writing the children's book about Unicorns at the time - we can hear the long parts of her book in the background. I am not too crazy about the book but the idea seems to be brilliant. York had informed Altman that she could not make the movie because she was pregnant but Altman just decided to add her pregnancy to the script. There is some dry humor in the movie - all five characters have the first names of the actors who played them: Susannah played Cathryn and young Cathryn Harrison plays a girl named Susannah, Rene Auberjonois, Marcel Bozzuffi, and Hugh Millais played three men in Cathryn's life - Hugh, the husband, Rene - the neighbor, and Marcel, her dead lover (who was quite alive for a dead man, at least in her memory). John Williams wrote an absolutely unforgettable score for the film (it is not a melody, rather some strange, persistent, scary, and disturbing sounds - very experimental at the time, it is still quite unusual).
As for its visual site - the film that was made during one wet November in Ireland is brilliantly dark and hypnotizingly beautiful. I am jealous of everyone who was able to see it in all its glory on the big screen at the theater - it would be impossible to forget.
8/10
Susannah York as Cathryn, a young, beautiful writer who tries to finish a children's book in a remote country home is simply breathtaking. She carries the movie (which only has five characters) almost by herself and being present in every scene, she is equally sympathetic and frightening. In his interview on DVD, Altman mentioned that he had started making the movie in Milan with Sophia Lauren. As much as I admire Lauren, I don't see anyone other than York playing Cathryn. While watching her, I kept thinking of her Alice in Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). Alice, one of the participants and victims of a killing dance marathon, loses her mind by the end of the movie and the scene where she breaks down mentally, was heartbreaking. Altman himself reminded me of the witches from Shakespeare's Macbeth that would throw all kinds of ingredients in their cauldron. The director mentioned how he would add the new details to the script as the real life situations changed: York was writing the children's book about Unicorns at the time - we can hear the long parts of her book in the background. I am not too crazy about the book but the idea seems to be brilliant. York had informed Altman that she could not make the movie because she was pregnant but Altman just decided to add her pregnancy to the script. There is some dry humor in the movie - all five characters have the first names of the actors who played them: Susannah played Cathryn and young Cathryn Harrison plays a girl named Susannah, Rene Auberjonois, Marcel Bozzuffi, and Hugh Millais played three men in Cathryn's life - Hugh, the husband, Rene - the neighbor, and Marcel, her dead lover (who was quite alive for a dead man, at least in her memory). John Williams wrote an absolutely unforgettable score for the film (it is not a melody, rather some strange, persistent, scary, and disturbing sounds - very experimental at the time, it is still quite unusual).
As for its visual site - the film that was made during one wet November in Ireland is brilliantly dark and hypnotizingly beautiful. I am jealous of everyone who was able to see it in all its glory on the big screen at the theater - it would be impossible to forget.
8/10
- Galina_movie_fan
- Aug 13, 2006
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Probably needs watching more then once to make sense of it
Children's author Cathryn (Susannah York) Goes with her husband Hugh (Rene Auberjonois) to their remote cottage that is situated high up on moorland and nestled between mountains, here she experiences sexual and violent hallucinations involving Hugh and two ex-lovers. Firstly the positives - York, a British actress who I always enjoy watching, puts in a superb and believable performance as an attractive woman going crazy. The outdoor locations were shot in Ireland and the scenery is gorgeous, the indoor ones are good too. Composer John Williams provides an excellent and eerie soundtrack. There are several murder/death scenes, they are quite graphic, in particular a man being stabbed in the chest, very bloody. Susannah gets fully naked twice, though briefly. She speaks some memorable lines, for example "My my, the ghost bleeds" and "You're dead, now just stay dead!". Now for the negatives, for a start the plot is confusing at times and hard to follow, I confess that when the end credits rolled I didn't really understand what I had just watched. The movie is very talky, this slows it down and at 101 minutes it felt too long. Probably my biggest complaint is Hugh, I found this character incredibly unlikable and annoying. Rene Auberjonois who played him was an American but every other line was "Goddamn this" and "Goddamn that", I actually suspected that he was a British actor trying and failing to sound American, the fact that he actually was surprised me. Images looks and sounds superb, it has some very memorable moments but the plot makes it hard going, perhaps a repeated viewing might make it clearer, I certainly wouldn't rule out watching it again.
- Stevieboy666
- May 18, 2023
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Terrifying
Images is a disorienting and hallucinatory experiment in psychological horror, in which the audience is forced to share in the protagonist's confusion. In order to depict the world from her perspective, the camera becomes an unreliable narrator. The film is full of jarring editing: jumps and overlaps in time and abrupt changes in the actors in the scene. Its soundscape is a deliberate combination of realism and expressionist experience, including a recurring voiceover of the fantasy story the protagonist is writing in her head and a contrasting musical score that shifts suddenly from melodic to jangling, percussive, and eerie. Unlikely to appeal to everyone, Images is a conceptually terrifying film, effective in its execution.
- mrosesteed
- Mar 1, 2019
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Out of Her Head and No Where to Go
Robert Altman created the greatest film about madness ever made. It is called "M*A*S*H," and it is MUCH better a "head study" than this rather pretentious swill. Actually, "swill" is too harsh; "Images" is better than that. It boast fine performances, eerie sound effects and lots of atmosphere. It's just not very interesting. Like Jack Nicholson's doomed character in "The Shining," Susannah York's character is just too far gone in the beginning for either her or the movie to develop. This lack of development eventually becomes tedious, which undermines what could have been a shock ending. Wanta see something better along the same lines? Try "Mulholland Drive," which manages to be both compelling AND suspenseful.
I give "Images" a "6," and remind Altman he STILL hasn't made a better movie than "M*A*S*H".
I give "Images" a "6," and remind Altman he STILL hasn't made a better movie than "M*A*S*H".
A nice nightmare
I'm not really familiar with Robert Altman - I liked Gosford Park, but that's it. However, the plot summary intrigued me enough to check this long lost film.
Yes, like all the other reviews say, there are obvious parallels with "Persona" and "Repulsion". It's the kind of movie that messes with your mind, and I love movies like this. I would like to add that the eerie, bizarre atmosphere of this movie reminded me of David Lynch.
We see the movie through the eyes of a schizophrenic woman, and just thinking that someone in real life can go through this gives me shivers. It's also what I like to call a "hallucinogenic" movie, in which the dreamy scenery, the incredible camera work and the twisted dialogue play as if you were on a psychedelic substance.
Susannah York gives a strong performance, and the beautiful Cathryn Harrison also make this movie worth viewing.
If you like surreal movies, with a haunting atmosphere or psychological subjects, do yourself a favor and dig this good arty flick up. Others should not bother.
6/10
Yes, like all the other reviews say, there are obvious parallels with "Persona" and "Repulsion". It's the kind of movie that messes with your mind, and I love movies like this. I would like to add that the eerie, bizarre atmosphere of this movie reminded me of David Lynch.
We see the movie through the eyes of a schizophrenic woman, and just thinking that someone in real life can go through this gives me shivers. It's also what I like to call a "hallucinogenic" movie, in which the dreamy scenery, the incredible camera work and the twisted dialogue play as if you were on a psychedelic substance.
Susannah York gives a strong performance, and the beautiful Cathryn Harrison also make this movie worth viewing.
If you like surreal movies, with a haunting atmosphere or psychological subjects, do yourself a favor and dig this good arty flick up. Others should not bother.
6/10
a trend-setting thriller as a sound testament that Robert Altman is a virtuoso all-rounder
- lasttimeisaw
- Apr 8, 2016
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A Psychological English Fog
An audacious title for a film? But ultimately a playful rather than presumptuous outing. Well, as "playful" as a trickster god can be with one of his subjects, or as a filmmaker can be with the fragile psyche of his subject.
The "images" in the film often settle on glass objects, several times focusing the frame on a camera's lens to make the symbol as transparent as can be. We are reminded that how we see things, the medium we look through, is crucial. Thus how the main character, Catherine, here views the world is shown to be unreliable.
The suspense of the film mounted strongly for me in the first half, it avoids being a mere whodunnit in favor of whodonewhat, if anyone did anything. Susannah York I thought was excellent as the jittery lead, and having her cast as a children's fantasy writer was a nice touch. Somehow that made her seem more susceptible to madness and a break from reality. Her psychosis seems to have a sexual link, if that pushes your buttons.
Reading in bits of her fantasy over the film might bother folks (those who hate any sort of narration), but here the fact that the narration has nothing to do with what is on screen again underscores that sort of madness. We all have been doing one thing while thinking of another, but by and large the doing part is dominant. Here the dubbed in narration makes it feel like the thinking is eclipsing the doing.
The male characters all have a seventies stiffness, especially Rene Auberjonois who seemed like he was taken from a cassette on how to talk like and be a successful US businessman. Not sure if that bugged me as much as trying to place him as the younger version of the shape-shifting Constable Odo. Allegedly Altman wanted Sophia Loren once in the female role, but I think York was the better choice, as her sultriness unwraps itself more surprisingly. Sophia's genie would be hard to keep in the bottle.
Overall a pleasant surprise to me, the video quality of my rental from Netflix was not as splotchy as others' copies, but the idea of this being a good rainy day watch, I'll second. The first half was an 8, the second a 6...so...
7/10 Thurston Hunger
The "images" in the film often settle on glass objects, several times focusing the frame on a camera's lens to make the symbol as transparent as can be. We are reminded that how we see things, the medium we look through, is crucial. Thus how the main character, Catherine, here views the world is shown to be unreliable.
The suspense of the film mounted strongly for me in the first half, it avoids being a mere whodunnit in favor of whodonewhat, if anyone did anything. Susannah York I thought was excellent as the jittery lead, and having her cast as a children's fantasy writer was a nice touch. Somehow that made her seem more susceptible to madness and a break from reality. Her psychosis seems to have a sexual link, if that pushes your buttons.
Reading in bits of her fantasy over the film might bother folks (those who hate any sort of narration), but here the fact that the narration has nothing to do with what is on screen again underscores that sort of madness. We all have been doing one thing while thinking of another, but by and large the doing part is dominant. Here the dubbed in narration makes it feel like the thinking is eclipsing the doing.
The male characters all have a seventies stiffness, especially Rene Auberjonois who seemed like he was taken from a cassette on how to talk like and be a successful US businessman. Not sure if that bugged me as much as trying to place him as the younger version of the shape-shifting Constable Odo. Allegedly Altman wanted Sophia Loren once in the female role, but I think York was the better choice, as her sultriness unwraps itself more surprisingly. Sophia's genie would be hard to keep in the bottle.
Overall a pleasant surprise to me, the video quality of my rental from Netflix was not as splotchy as others' copies, but the idea of this being a good rainy day watch, I'll second. The first half was an 8, the second a 6...so...
7/10 Thurston Hunger
- ThurstonHunger
- Feb 15, 2008
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"I'm not going to be able to finish this puzzle...there are too many pieces missing."
Robert Altman wrote and directed--and misfired--with this psychological thriller about a wealthy female schizophrenic. Susannah York, an interesting actress (though not so interesting as to make this artistic jumble take hold), plays the future author of a children's book about unicorns who is upset one night by repeat calls informing her that her husband is having an affair; she begins imaging other lovers in her husband's place, splintering herself off from reality. Gorgeous cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, working the wintry landscapes of Dublin, Ireland with a painter's finesse, adorns the picture with prestige; however, enlightenment into our heroine does not follow. This is a rich person's prism, a slick fantasy of ghosts and musical chairs, the kind of which only seem to affect the well-heeled and bored. With two homes to vacillate between (and no pressing engagements), York's character begins to seem stultified rather than schizophrenic, and the scenario is underpopulated and lax. John Williams received an Oscar nomination for his percussive score, but nerves can hardly be jangled when the script is stuck in such a plushy muddle. ** from ****
- moonspinner55
- Sep 8, 2009
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