McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

That was an excellent one.

A lot of fun.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

There is nothing that I would change in this. Nothing could have been done better. Spielberg, Scorsese, even Lean or Ford could not have made this movie better than Robert Altman. Robert Altman is one of the best directors in the history of cinema and this was his first crowning achievement and it remains my favourite of his. The year before he did M*A*S*H and Brewster McCloud, the former of which was his breakout film. But McCabe & Mrs. Miller is a visual and social marvel that almost never gets topped.Robert Altman has always loved exploring cinema. He always wanted to go above and beyond basic conventions. This led to him making anti-films. M*A*S*H was anti-war, The Long Goodbye was anti-film noir, 3 Women was anti-friendship, The Player is anti-Hollywood, McCabe & Mrs. Miller is anti-western. The most American movie genre has been given a twist: the costumes look different and the location is so muddy and wet and cloudy and snowy. I haven't read the book which this is based on, but I guarantee the whole anti-western aspect was Altman's idea. The massive change in the genre's look is the first thing people notice when they see this. Regular westerns such as The Searchers and Rio Bravo are colourful, taking place in dusty deserts with the sun beating down on the village. McCabe & Mrs. Miller was filmed in a small Vancouver town where it snows and it would be much easier to capture the look that westerns are not.McCabe & Mrs. Miller starts out with businessman John McCabe (Warren Beatty) travelling through and making a stop at the tiny mining community of Presbyterian Church (named after its only significant building). Legend has it that he is a violent gunslinger who recently killed a man. Is he really who people think he is? Presbyterian Church has literally nothing to it. When McCabe arrive and has some beers, it is so dark and damp. The village is presented like a cave. But McCabe has an idea: make prostitution the driving force for the town. McCabe's idea works as Presbyterian Church grows from nothing into something. Buildings are being built, and Altman got real construction workers to wear costumes as they build in real time. And it is great to see Presbyterian Church evolve thanks to driving force of John McCabe. He is a pimp who often wears the fur coat that 70s pimps wear. But he is very complex, something Beatty successfully tackles. Not far into his ventures, cockney Constance Miller (Julie Christie) offers to help McCabe's whorehouses grow as only she knows. McCabe doesn't want partners, but he reluctantly agrees. It is thanks to Mrs. Miller that prostitution empire grows into such a big deal. She is smarter than McCabe, but can he accept any of that? The main plot of the film (the first half is the titular characters building a community) happens about halfway through when McCabe is offered to be bought out by successful businessmen. The money is huge, but McCabe's personal pride shoots them down. Mrs. Miller tries to talk him into accepting the offer, but he disagrees with her. More businessmen come to Presbyterian Church and McCabe's ego may be the end of it all.Aside from the murky look of the film, the movie centring on prostitution may also put people off. The women in this film are treated as low-class people only good for one purpose: sex. While McCabe is the driving force, it is the hookers that provide the satisfactory. And it is Mrs. Miller who was the smart one of the titular characters. This movie shows that women actually ARE powerful, sometimes more than men. If women were in charge, Presbyterian Church would not have turned upside down. Altman's themes of pride and women and rumours are all phenomenal, and the anti-western shtick is great, but it is Altman's filming that gets this such a high honour. Despite such a reclusive place, the viewer is immersed in this tiny town just a few acres. And the the general look is surprisingly exquisite. It may not be as beautiful as Barry Lyndon or Dances With Wolves, but Altman is able to make many scenes look like paintings from National art museums. The whorehouses look like palaces. The cinematography is A-1. Each shot is carefully framed and set up. His lens choice packs everything needed for a scene and the zoom lens very effective in each shot. Some bits of dialogue are muddled (such as McCabe talking to himself), but it worth seeing why some bits are heard and some aren't. It is worth seeing all of Atman's cinematic choices.Lastly, Leonard Cohen makes a haunting soundtrack. There's only three songs used to perfection. I wish I could go on about this, but I can only write so much on this site.

Coming off the unexpected success of M.A.S.H, director Robert Altman decided to do a complete 180 in choosing his next project. As we all know, his first film was a black comedy with themes of war. His next movie, McCabe & Mrs. Miller strays very far from that field. This film is a combination of a Western and a romance film, but in ways you wouldn't expect. This is not a Western in a sense of cowboys and Indians, but about a man struggling to earn a living in the cold doldrums of the Old West. There are hidden themes about love, but this is not a love story although there is a heightened sense of romanticism in the movie. Altman introduced me to his style in the solid, if unspectacular M.A.S.H, but he comes through with this film in a big way.I very much enjoyed this film. It's one of those slow-burn dramas, but when the time is right, I do enjoy these kind of films that don't heavily rely on action, but instead upon our characters. Speaking of which, Altman delivers an interesting way of developing characterization. As the movie starts, we see the townsfolk whom plays a major role during the entirety of the film. But, we are not introduced to them in the normal sense. Altman wisely refrains from using any monologue with his characters (outside the two main ones) that tell us who they are, what they are doing, where they come from, etc. We, as the audience, must piece together the puzzle ourselves. It's clear the townspeople knew each other for a long time. Each individual is pivotal in the lives of others. It is a master technique that Altman inhibits not only in this film, but in the majority of his films.Another noticeable trait of the film is the look of the film. There is something about that snowy landscape that gives off a sense of beauty. The film was beautifully shot by legendary cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond (who unfortunately passed away only a few weeks ago). His work lives on in this film very much so. The film is beautiful to see with the snow-filled Canadian wilderness, but at the same time Altman gives an intentional dreary look to the film and his characters. The movie makes wonderful use of white, gray, and black to show how unspectacular life is for our characters. Everyone goes about their day in unspectacular fashion. Other than work, there is nothing much to do in this area.This film is about a businessman named John McCabe (Warren Beatty) who builds himself a whorehouse in this remote Western town. The town is predominantly male, and women are hard to come by so this is the perfect investment for McCabe. Soon after he builds his whorehouse and tavern, a mistress named Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie) arrives offering herself to become McCabe's business partner in his booming business. She promises to handle the business side of things because she has expertise in that field. Soon after her arrival, several businessmen arrive in town wanting to buy McCabe's business. The stake of the town and even his life depends on the answer of McCabe.There is a trend I've noticed in American films from the 1970's. They hardly ever rely upon a huge cast of big names, and that rings true in this film. The only big names at the time of this film's release were Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. This came out during an era where names led to a movie's success. Anyhow, they were both phenomenal in the movie. The chemistry shared between the two is excellent, and the aura they possess when it's only just one of them on screen magnifies their performances. McCabe is dim-witted when it comes to business, and I love how Mrs. Miller changes that.Another interesting item about the film is the music. Unlike films at the time, it doesn't have a score to use. Instead, it uses three haunting Leonard Cohen songs that helps with the story. The soundtrack is another reason why this film works. They are haunting songs, but at the same time they are beautiful songs.The film has a depressing feel though its duration, and sometimes I found myself searching for happiness in the movie. Right away, I knew what the tone would be as McCabe introduces himself to the town during a game of poker and finds he has a reputation of killing a man. Then there is the scene where this random kid (played by a young Keith Carradine) gets himself killed just because he couldn't stay out of trouble. He knew he was going to be killed and he tried to postpone his murder by adapting a cheerful attitude, but it didn't work. This town features a Presbyterian Church, which plays a prominent role in the plot and in the ending, where there is a cat-and-mouse shootout.McCabe and Mrs. Miller is an excellent film and one of Altman's masterpieces. I loved how the story took its time to get rolling and I got the feeling I knew these characters as if they're real-life people. That should be the goal of every single movie, no matter the premise. The movie is very beautiful to look at, but I also get a sense of sadness because there is no happiness to be found in the movie. There is a lot of dreariness, but it's important for the kind of story being told. I had a heavy heart at times, but I still liked this movie very, very much.My Grade: A-

McCabe and Mrs. Miller is another excellent film that helped define the era of film in the 1970's. The decade where "New Hollywood" is off and running. This movie has that authentic 70's feel and it's the slow burn western drama that you would expect to see in the late 1960's, early 1970's. The movie takes its time, but I found the film incredibly engaging because of the performances of Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. I loved the scenery shots of the film, and it really made the Pacific Northwest look beautiful. Another thing that stood out to me is the soundtrack made by the great Leonard Cohen, a gifted songwriter. His songs worked well with the film and it breathed more life into this western.Robert Altman's film is about a businessman named John McCabe who builds a whorehouse in a remote Western town. Soon after his new tavern is built, Mrs. Miller arrives and she offers herself as a business partner to McCabe's booming business. Soon after that, several businessmen arrives asking to buy McCabe's business, but his answer may bring consequences to himself, Mrs. Miller, and the whole town.Also prevalent in 70's movies are films that don't rely on big casts. This film is an example of that statement. The only two big name stars are Beatty and Andrews. They both are excellent, and both share on screen compatibility. I love how the film doesn't really push a romance between the two characters. There is no doubt a sense of affection and perhaps a tough love for each other, but no falling in love kind of thing. At least it wasn't obvious.Overall, McCabe and Mrs. Miller is a very impressive film. The film takes its time to tell the story and sometimes that is a cause of frustration. But I fell deeply in love with the characterization and I wanted to see what happens to both main characters. The tone is often gritty and dark, which I enjoyed. Once again, the film is just beautiful to look at, even without the technology used in today's film. Altman made himself noticeable with MASH, but he opened my eyes with McCabe and Mrs. Miller.My Grade: A-

A braggart and wheeler-dealer called Mr Cabe (Warren Beatty) arrives a in a remote Old West mining town , and he opens a bordello . His ambitious enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene . There then appears an ex-whore named Mrs Miller (Julie Christie) who offers to use her experience to help McCabe run his business, while sharing in the profits . Both of whom become business partners . Soon after , the mining deposits in the boom small-town attract the attention of a major enterprise , which wishes to buy out McCabe along with the rest . He refuses and then problems emerge .This stunning Western contains drama , thrills , a love story , wintry realistic vision , and shootouts at its ending . Life in the turn-of-the-century Northwest is given an awesome treatment in filmmaker Altman's visually splendid Western drama and including some brief touches of comedy . The biggest complaint against this film , as it seems to me , is that results a little bit boring , overlong and slow-moving . Being based on Edmund Naughton's novel titled ¨McCabe¨ and adapted by Brian McKay and the same Robert Altman . We meet a fantastic cast of roles, played by many of the best actors around giving marvelous acting . As top-notch acting by Warren Beatty as an ambitious small-timer businessman as well as two-bit gambler . However , Robert Altman's initial preference for the role of McCabe was Elliott Gould, whom the studio producing the film refused to accept . Nice performance from Julie Christie as as a prostitute with heart that beats to the jingle of gold . First-class support cast such as Rene Auberjonois , William Devane , John Schuck , Corey Fischer , Bert Remsen , Keith Carradine's film debut , Michael Murphy and Shelley Duvall , Altman's usual , in fact , this is second of seven films that actress Shelley Duvall made with director Robert Altman . Many of the people playing small parts, bit roles, and extras were allowed to create their own characters for the movie . Sensitive score plenty of wonderful as well as sad songs by Leonard Cohen . During post-production on this film, 'Robert Altman' was having a difficult time finding a proper musical score, until he attended a party where the album "Songs of Leonard Cohen" was playing and noticed that several songs from the album seemed to fit in with the overall mood and themes of the movie . Cohen, who had been a fan of Altman's previous film, Brewster McCloud (1970), allowed him to use three songs from the album - "The Stranger Song", "Sisters of Mercy" and "Winter Lady" . Colorful and evocative cinematography in Panavisión by classic cameraman Vilmos Zsigmond , giving a rich texture on the Western atmosphere .The motion picture was well directed by Robert Altman who offers an adequate image of Western period , as he deglamorizes ordinary mood with his realist sights . At the beginning Altman realized Shorts and he then went to Hollywood to direct Alfred Hitchcock's TV show . From here, he went on to direct a large number of television shows, until he was offered the script for ¨M.A.S.H.¨ (1970) in 1969 . This wasn't his first movie , but it was his first success . He was hardly the producer's first choice - more than fifteen other directors had already turned it down . Altman filmed another Western titled ¨Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson¨ starred by Paul Newman . After that, he had his share of hits and misses, but ¨The prayer¨ (1992) and, more recently, ¨Gosford Park¨ (2001) were particularly well . And this ¨Mr Cabe and Mrs Miller¨ that ranked #8 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Western" in June 2008.