Robert Altman delivers one of his most startlingly enigmatic pictures with 3 WOMEN. Inspired by a dream Altman had in which he was shooting a film in the desert, the film tells the story of a shy, quiet girl named Pinky (Sissy Spacek), who starts working in a nursing home and strikes up a friendship with the talkative Millie (Shelley Duvall). The pair share an apartment and grow closer together, but a series of strange events cause their personas to change and morph in unexpected ways. Recalling the dreamy atmosphere of Ingmar Bergman's PERSONA, 3 WOMEN is Altman at his most deliriously inspired.
Review 1:
"This is a remarkable gem from the New Hollywood '70s era; it's hard to imagine such a daringly idiosyncratic movie being made by a studio today."
Source: Premiere
p.114 06/01/2004
Review 2:
"...Funny, witty....[Duvall's character] is one of the most memorable characterizations [Altman] has ever given us..."
Source: New York Times
p.40 04/11/1977
Review 3:
"A serenely terrific Duvall plays a delusional loner, and Spacek is the mysterious waif who latches onto her....[H]ypnotic..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.146-7 05/01/2004
Review 4:
"Forget about POPEYE: 3 WOMEN was the last gulp of spinach in Altman's Seventies career, and one helluva way to go."
Source: Film Comment
p.79 07/01/2004
Review 5:
"[T]his is the greatest of director Robert Altman's filmed 'experiments'..."
Source: USA Today
p.4E 04/23/2004
Review 6:
"[A] surprisingly sensual study of personality addiction....3 WOMEN is to Bergman's PERSONA what IMAGES is to Polanski's REPULSION."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.75 07/01/2004