3 WOMEN

Altman’s dreamlike study of down-and-out women existing in a liminal state between reality and fantasy in a tiny California town shows the filmmaker at the summit of his powers as both surreal image-maker and humane storyteller. After having worked with the great Shelley Duvall throughout the decade, from MCCABE & MRS. MILLER to THIEVES LIKE US to NASHVILLE, Altman gifted her a role of astonishing depth and pathos in Millie, a gabby, self-involved health spa worker whose life intersects with — and inexplicably refracts — that of a mysterious new coworker named Pinky, played by the brilliantly mercurial Sissy Spacek. Altman’s oneiric vision, inspired by a dream (and reminiscent of Bergman’s PERSONA in its depiction of women’s lives doubling and taking on one another’s traits), is a singular mix of otherworldly and earthy thanks to the intensely grounding performances of his stars.

With all manner of twinnings haunting the edges of 3 WOMEN, Pinky’s infatuation with Millie takes an obsessive turn. Meanwhile, the “third” woman lurks in the background, expressing herself silently and potently through mythic paintings and mosaics depicting a domineering patriarchy. In this unpredictable hall of mirrors, Altman’s characteristic multi-track audio soundscaping creates a muffled, almost underwater effect, reflecting the film’s uncanny surreality, rather than the seamless naturalism for which he was known.