Quintet
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Quintet
Plot
Perhaps the least seen but most talked about film of Robert Altman's career, Quintet is a somber science fiction tale that takes place after a nuclear holocaust has thrown the world into another Ice Age. A man named Essex (Paul Newman) and his pregnant wife Vivia (Brigitte Fossey) are wandering the desolate, frozen landscape and attempting to find Essex's brother, Francha (Tom Hill). They finally locate him in a frozen city, occupied by a number of apocalyptic survivors who who pass their time playing a mysterious game called "Quintet." No one is able to explain just how it is played, but Grigor (Fernando Rey) appears to act as the referee, and the stakes of the game are unusually high - losing means being thrown out into the snow and devoured by Rottweilers. Francha is soon killed, not as a casualty of Quintet per se, but for playing an assassination game on the side to relieve his own ennui. As 'collateral damage,', Vivia and the rest of Francha's family are soon extinguished as well. Essex is not happy with the way they've been rubbed out, but as he attempts to seek revenge, he is only drawn deeper into the lethal competition of Quintet. While this picture received negative reviews on its initial release, in retrospect it is worth noting that the photography (by Jean Boffety) and production design (by Leon Ericksen) are beautiful and striking, and that the film boasts one of Altman's strongest international casts, including Vittorio Gassman, Nina Van Pallandt, and Bibi Andersson, as befits its European-art-movie ambiance; the influence of the equally opaque, allegorical, game-playing Last Year at Marienbad (1961) is especially strong. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
Robert Altman's Quintet is a unique motion picture experience, although most viewers will not find it a particularly entertaining one. Purposely dense, yet built on a shallow foundation, Quintet confuses obscurity with profundity and at times is almost unbearably pretentious. It is also sluggishly paced -- which is undoubtedly Altman's intention, though there seems to be no real reason for this. The slowness does not reveal any greater depth of meaning, and while it may emphasize the nihilistic atmosphere of Altman's bleak future, it still becomes overpowering. Worse, it deadens the few "lively" sequences. The screenplay is also burdened with the wooden and flavorless dialogue and the intricacies of the "game" seem to exist only as something on which to hang plot points. Under the circumstances, the cast does the best it can, but not even Paul Newman's considerable star power and charisma can rise above the material. Yet in spite of all its flaws, Quintet exerts a certain strange fascination that keeps the viewer hooked; the hand is always poised to push the "off" button but it never quite gets there. Part of this is due to the haunting visual imagery in the film, with its "iris focus" cinematography and Leon Ericksen's production design. Altman does create some unforgettable moments, such as Newman's burial of Brigitte Fossey's body on an icy river. They're not enough to make Quintet a good movie, but they're flashes of illuminating brilliance in this somber, frozen corpse of a film. ~ Craig Butler, RoviCast
- Paul Newman - Essex
- Vittorio Gassman - St. Christopher
- Fernando Rey - Grigor
- Bibi Andersson - Ambrosia
- Brigitte Fossey - Vivia
Credit
Wolf Kroeger - Art Director, Allan Nicholls - Associate Producer, Tom Pierson - Conductor, Scott Bushnell - Costume Designer, Tommy Thompson - First Assistant Director, Robert Altman - Director, Dennis M. Hill - Editor, Tommy Thompson - Executive Producer, Tom Pierson - Composer (Music Score), Tom Pierson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Monty Westmore - Makeup, Leon Ericksen - Production Designer, Jean Boffety - Cinematographer, Jim Kaufman - Production Manager, Robert Altman - Producer, Thomas Fisher - Special Effects, John Thomas - Special Effects, Robert Gravenor - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank Barhydt - Screenwriter, Robert Altman - Screenwriter, Patricia Resnick - Screenwriter, Lionel Chetwynd - Short Story Author| Quintessence Saxophone Quintet: Vivaldi's Seasons (Film), Quintero: La Legge dei Gangsters (1969 Film) | |
| Quintets and Voices (Film), Quints (2000 Film) |
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Quintet (film)
| Quintet | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Robert Altman |
| Produced by | Robert Altman |
| Written by | Frank Barhydt Patricia Resnick Robert Altman |
| Starring | Paul Newman Vittorio Gassman Fernando Rey Bibi Andersson Brigitte Fossey Nina Van Pallandt |
| Music by | Tom Pierson |
| Cinematography | Jean Boffety |
| Editing by | Dennis M. Hill |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | February 9, 1979 |
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
Quintet is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film by Robert Altman produced in 1979. It features among others Paul Newman, Brigitte Fossey, Bibi Andersson, Fernando Rey, Vittorio Gassman and Nina Van Pallandt. The soundtrack was recorded by the New York Philharmonic.
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Contents
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Plot
The story takes place during a new ice age. The camera tracks a blank, frozen, seemingly deserted tundra- until two blurry distant figures can just be made out. They are the seal hunter Essex (Paul Newman) and his pregnant companion, Vivia (Brigitte Fossey), the daughter of one of Essex's late hunting partners. They are travelling North, where Essex hopes to reunite with his brother, Francha (Thomas Hill).
Essex and Vivia eventually find Francha's apartment, but the reunion is short-lived. While Essex is out buying firewood, a gambler named Redstone (Craig Richard Nelson) throws a bomb into Francha's apartment, killing everyone inside, including Vivia. Essex sees Redstone fleeing the scene and chases him to the sector's "Information Room"; Essex witnesses the murder of Redstone by a Latin gambler named St. Christopher (Vittorio Gassman). When St. Christopher leaves, Essex searches Redstone's pockets and finds a piece of paper with a list of names: Francha, Redstone, Goldstar, Deuca, St. Christopher, and Ambrosia.
Puzzled by the mystery, Essex discovers that Redstone had previously checked into the Hotel Electra, a gambling resort in another sector. He visits the hotel and assumes Redstone's identity. Immediately after checking in, Essex is given an unexpected welcome by Grigor (Fernando Rey), who is the dealer in the casino. Insisting that he means no harm, Grigor invites Essex (as "Redstone") to the casino, where gamblers are now heavily involved in a "Quintet" tournament (rules available here: http://ghostradio.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/robert-altmans-quintet-learn-the-rules/). While there he meets Ambrosia (Bibi Andersson), who always plays the "sixth man" in the game.
Essex is unaware that the current Quintet tournament is a fight for the survival of the fittest. Those who are "killed" in game are executed in real life. Grigor and St. Christopher are aware that Essex is not the real Redstone, so they ignore him and focus on the other players. Goldstar (David Langton) is the first killed, followed by Deuca (Nina Van Pallandt), until the only two players left are St. Christopher and Ambrosia. Ambrosia, however, insists that Essex be counted as a player in the game since he has assumed Redstone's identity. Grigor agrees and informs St. Christopher that he has to eliminate Essex before he can face off against Ambrosia.
Essex and St. Christopher have a showdown outside the city, where St. Christopher is killed in an avalanche. Essex returns to Francha's apartment and finds the same list that Redstone had. Ambrosia follows Essex to the apartment. Essex slits her throat just before she is about to stab him with a hidden knife. Returning to the Hotel Electra to cremate Ambrosia's body, Essex confronts Grigor to demand his "prize", since he was the winner of Quintet. But Grigor reveals that the only prize is the thrill of the game itself. Although Grigor insists he stays and participate in future tournaments, a disgusted Essex condemns Quintet and leaves the hotel for good. The film ends with Essex taking a long walk out into the barren Northern distance.
Cast
- Paul Newman as Essex
- Vittorio Gassman as Saint Christopher
- Fernando Rey as Grigor
- Bibi Andersson as Ambrosia
- Brigitte Fossey as Vivia, Essex's Wife
- Nina Van Pallandt as Deuca
- David Langton as Goldstar
- Thomas Hill as Francha
- Monique Mercure as Redstone's Mate
- Craig Richard Nelson as Redstone
- Maruska Stankova as Jaspera
- Anne Gerety as Aeon
- Michel Maillot as Obelus
- Max Fleck as Wood Supplier
- Françoise Berd as Charity house woman
Production
Quintet was filmed on the site of Montreal's Expo 67 world's fair.
External links
- Quintet at the Internet Movie Database
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