NASHVILLE

NASHVILLE, one of Robert Altman's most popular films, is an explosive drama and a human comedy that delineates and interweaves the lives of 24 major characters during five days in the country music capital of the world. Although its setting is Tennessee, NASHVILLE is a much broader vision of our culture, a penetrating and multi-level portrait of America at a particular time and place. Here Altman makes his most telling comment on American Society, and shows how our national entertainment media and national politics work constantly to distract us from the massive inequalities of our society and the violence of our recent national past. This film was Altman's Bicentennial birthday present to the United States. While made for the remarkably low price of $1.2 million, it returned only $8.8 million and was labeled a commercial failure. The film was originally released in a four-hour version, though six- and eight-hour edits had been prepared. It was soon reduced to 159 minutes, and released theatrically in that form. Much of NASHVILLE was improvised, with the stars preparing their own songs. However, few films have ever demonstrated a more fluid directorial style. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, and received one for Keith Carradine's song “I'm Easy.”