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IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

I was first made aware of this film when I heard some of John Williams' score for it back in high school. It doesn't sound like anything he'd done before, completely atonal, abstract and horrific. Very 20th Century.

Then when Susannah York died and I watched They Shot Horses, Don't They? I say this on her filmography. And I saw that Robert Altman directed it. I haven't seen as many of his films as I should have. Which means that I can't quite be certain but this feels like a departure from his usual stuff too. It took a while to track down a copy. I couldn't find a trailer for the film either, so this scene will have to suffice.

I really had no idea what to expect. What I did not expect was this Lynchian schizophrenic nightmare. It's really more like a horror film, like the last 20 minutes of Black Swan slowed down and played over two hours. Every time she turns her back the person she was speaking to has changed into someone else, sometimes herself and she, along with the audience never really quite knows what's real and what's not. And as she begins killing off these "images" we start to worry if some of them might be real after all.

It's a very confusing and slow paced thriller. A woman slowly breaking down, having trouble keeping her relationship with her husband, filled with paranoia and Susannah York is absolutely riveting to watch. It was too slow for my tastes but I found plenty to enjoy nonetheless. A scary trip into a fractured mind.