21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Robert Altman's ‘Nashville' made a noise louder than country music
Starts with a crash, ends with a bang.
In between, Robert Altman's 'Nashville' makes nearly every conceivable noise about living in an America where paranoia and hope commingle in an inseparable swirl. Does that make this masterpiece movie a gonzo comedy masquerading as dark satire, or is it the other way around? Either way, 50 summers after its theatrical release, 'Nashville' still feels vivid, vibrant and a little more resonant than we might wish. In the American right-now, our politics remain violently contentious. Our two-party system still feels woefully limiting. Society continues to repopulate itself with self-deluded strivers and clout chasers. The national mood is in the toilet. Plus, country music is more popular than ever. Is it 1975 again? Or have we been stuck in 1975 for half a century?