This film is so dreamy and organic I couldn't turn away from the TV during each of the fifteen times I've seen it, so far... This is film to me; when something that looks and feels like a dream can materialize directly onto celluloid. I'm dying to see it on the big screen someday soon! And that fascinating Altman commentary is just the cream on the cake!
shareOne of the happiest "accidents" of my life was when I went to a theater in the late seventies to see some movie, only to find that it was no longer playing there. In its place was a film I had never heard of....Robert Altman's "3 Women". I stayed and watch the film (I was on a date), and loved every second of it. The film haunted me for more than 20 years, until it finally turned up on late-night TV and I eagerly recorded it. I watched that tape many times over the next few years until "3 Women" finally was released on DVD. I discovered that the TV broadcast that I had recorded was an edited version (of course!), and the DVD has scenes I hadn't seen since 1977, such as the sequence in which we see Pinky staying at a dingy hotel prior to moving in with Millie. Also, the moment where Millie walks down to the pool in her yellow hooded robe was not shown in the TV version. I KNEW that had been cut, as I could still remember it from the 1977 release.
The best part about seeing this film in a theater with an audience, is that you can hear other people laughing aloud at the little moments that are so subtle they could be missed, such as the edge of Millie's skirt sticking out of the car door.
"3 Women" is one of those movies that lodged itself permanently in my head upon the first viewing, like "2001: A Space Odyssey" or "The Exorcist". You walk out of the theater thinking of nothing but the film, and keep coming back to it for days or weeks afterwards, and always look forward to a repeat visit.
Oooh Timboytx, that's a great story! I would love to have been walking down a southern California boulavard on a hot summer night in 1977 and stumble upon Robert Altman's 3 Women...I had to imagine and feel what this surreal Altman extravaganza was like for years before I finally got to see the DVD, and it's the first DVD I ever bought, and boy, what a masterpiece!
shareI've seen this film only once but images from it haunt me. I've got to see it again.
Somewhat off topic but I had a similar experience as timboytx. I went to the theater to see something (I think it was Amelie) but it was sold out. So I went down the street and saw Mulholland Drive in a nearly abandon old style ornate theater much like the one in Club Silencio. It was very creepy and very cool.
it is a great film. it's so unlike most of the altman films i've seen which are often hit or miss for me. it's a departure from the usual thing he does which is meanandering vignettes on a large cast of character with something in common or a subverted version of a popular film genre. it's dream like and more like certain polanski films in a way. i've never seen him do a film like this though from what i understand, "images" is somewhat in the same area but i haven't seen that film yet. my favorite altman film was "mccabe and mrs. miller" until i saw this film which blows that and everything else i've seen of his away. i almost think this film is a bit of a fluke unfortunately but it's a very fortunate fluke.
shareI miss him dearly!
Images is a MUST SEE film! Go rent it right this minute from netflix (probably the easiest way to find it!) Insightful and extraordinarily inventive, it's one of a kind, just like 3 Women
PEACE! Peace to Robet Altman for eternity!
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