3 Women

[antnield]

Maverick filmmaker Robert Altman continued a stunning run of celebrated work that included McCabe and Mrs Miller, The Long Goodbye and Nashville with 3 Women, a dreamy masterpiece that would fend off the titanic Star Wars as Roger Ebert’s best film of 1977.

In a California resort town shy and impressionable Pinky (Sissy Spacek, Badlands, Carrie) strikes up a friendship with her fellow nurse ‘Thoroughly Modern’ Millie (Shelley Duvall, Nashville, Thieves Like Us). As the two spend more time together Pinky becomes dependent on Millie, adopting aspects of her personality and appearance, things take an unusual and darker turn as Pinky discovers Millie with a man, a local bar owner whose wife forms the third of the title’s three women.

Based on a series of dreams and influenced by Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, Robert Altman famously cut the deal for 3 Women with 20th Century Fox in a matter of minutes and the remarkable faith of the studio would produce one of the most striking works of the period.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- New video interview with David Thompson, editor of 'Altman on Altman' and producer of the BBC’s 'Robert Altman in England'
- Archive interview with Shelley Duvall from the Cannes Film Festival - The actress describes working with Altman, his methods and how she started acting
- Galleries featuring behind-the-scenes photos, the Cannes Film Festival press conference and promotional images
- Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
- Booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic David Jenkins and excerpts from Altman on Altman, illustrated with original stills

[Randall Maysin]

David Thompson doesn't strike me as the most ideal commentator on Altman. The book of interviews is pretty dull, although that is Altman's fault as much as Thompson's. Altman is probably the least interesting interview subject of all the major filmmakers, judging by what I've read. But also the most interesting to watch directing/in action, strangely.

[domino harvey]

Is that speedy sell really so "famous"? I've never heard about it and Wikipedia suggests the studio would have greenlit anything Altman came to them with, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of this film if true

[bearcuborg]

The way Altman sold this was discussed on the Criterion disc I believe. If memory serves, Altman's wife was in the hospital and he often slept by her bedside, when pressed for his next project he may have told a studio exec his next project was written already. It had not been though, and the film he suggested was of course, 3 Women - which Altman dreamed up during his time next to his wife.

Personally, I love Altman - I felt like he and I shared a language, and while I can't explain what happens in all of his films, I've always been in sync with the way he said things. So I don't know if the origins of 3 Women really sell the film for anybody, but it does speak to how creative he could be - to go with something as simple as a dream and expand upon it for a movie.

As far Altman interviews, yeah - he pretty much said the same things over and over again. Filmmaking was like a sand castle... The script was only a blue print... Once casting was done, his job was basically over... He never had a studio cut his film... And he couldn't remember what filmmakers influenced him - because they were so bad, and he didn't want to make movies that way. While I loved all those answers, I've heard em in nearly everything written about him.

The real fault of the Altman documentary that came out a year or so ago is that it went over all that stuff, and wasted time by describing Altmanesque. It was best when we saw a glimpse of his private life - which last years Altman book did much better.

[Feego]

I'm really surprised neither Criterion nor Arrow managed to get an interview with Sissy Spacek. She is still very active in the business and participated in Criterion's Badlands release.

[Aunt Peg]

Would have been great to have a Duvall/Spacek commentary, though I understand Duvall may be somewhat of a recluse these days.

I'll buy this regardless though, great to have it on Blu Ray Region B at last.

[rapta]

Had a feeling this would be the most likely Altman title for Arrow to release next as there is already a decent master available. Glad to pick this up day one...only saw the film recently (Netflix) and really enjoyed it.

Will be the fourth Altman title to be available on Blu-ray in the UK, and the second one from Arrow...keep 'em coming!

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

• New 4K digital restoration by Twentieth Century Fox
• Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New video interview with David Thompson, editor of ‘Altman on Altman’ and producer of the BBC’s ‘Robert Altman in England’
• Archive interview with Shelley Duvall from the Cannes Film Festival – the actress describes working with Altman, his methods and how she started acting
• Galleries featuring behind-the-scenes photos, the Cannes Film Festival press conference and promotional images
• Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
• Booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic David Jenkins and excerpts from Altman on Altman, illustrated with original stills

I signed off on the edit of the David Thompson interview last week, which clocks in at a meaty 37 minutes and covers a huge amount of ground. Sensibly, aside from a brief scene-setting intro he doesn't waste time talking overmuch about Altman in general (let's face it, if you're interested in 3 Women, you're probably already a fan) - and so instead he favours a detailed account of the film's production plus a heavily illustrated critical analysis. I'm very very pleased with it.

And yes, this is a different and more recent master from the one that Criterion used.

[rapta]

Glad to hear it! Can't wait to get my hands on this one. Another astounding title for Arrow to have picked up.

[EddieLarkin]

And yes, this is a different and more recent master from the one that Criterion used.

I think that's a first for Arrow, using a superior master to something Criterion has already released on Blu-ray. This will no doubt be a definite double dip for me.

[tenia]

I think that's a first for Arrow, using a superior master to something Criterion has already released on Blu-ray.

Yes it is a first. Otherwise, either way, they've shared common sources (Sullivan's Travels, Time Bandits, etc).

[MichaelB]

Michael was Fox' Shawn Belston involved with the new 4K?

He runs the restoration department, so it's likely that he would have been involved at some stage, even if only tangentially. But we don't know for certain.

[britcom68]

I was recently given the dvd edition of this from a friend, it was his personal copy for about a year, and when I opened it there were fingerprints all over the face of the dvd, but no scratches. My blu-ray player is not playing this at all so far. Does anyone have a decent cleaning suggestion? I have not done anything to the dvd yet for cleaning, thought I would get some advice from the experts here at the forum.

[MichaelB]

For fingerprints, I use a microfibre cloth, wiping outwards from the central hole.

[tenia]

Dry soft clothes remain indeed the best for fingerprints. However, I admit that I also used lots of plain tissues, and that was also quite fine.

[Drucker]

Bluray.com.

Looks like:
1) Edges are better-defined.
2) But the colors have shifted.
3) Framing looks a little different. Criterion versus Arrow.

[Calvin]

Beaver also thinks that the look of the Criterion is closer to Altman's intentions

[feihong]

The Arrow captures on DVDBeaver look pretty blown out compared to the Criterion. I like the balance on the Criterion better based on that review.

[Drucker]

Here's caps-a-holic.

While the commenters are doing their usual Criterion-bashing, from these screencaps, it looks like the Arrow is noticeably brighter, and appears to have slightly less of a yellow/blue push in these caps.

Also, wouldn't it be entirely conceivable for less focus/defined edges being correct, given Altman's style? As someone who only got into him recently, I can't decide which one to pick up at all.

[Drucker]

I'm still digesting the film, but I wanted to chime in and say the transfer looks superb. I haven't seen the Criterion, but in motion there is no such artificial color-push that sort of comes off in the caps. Also, the Thompson interview is nice. As someone still a bit of a newcomer to Altman, it is actually a bit "career overviewy" way but also with lots of specific stuff about the film's production and some detail about the film. He even goes heavily into detail about the famous dream sequence near the end, which I appreciated a great deal.

[blueyes]

Hello to the forum

In dvdbeaver's comparison between Arrow's and Criterion's blus, it was mentioned that the proportions of the image are not quite the same in the two releases (the difference is small, but noticeable in the caps).

This has happened in at least another beaver comparison that I recall, for Kubrick's The Killing. In that case, to my eyes, the Arrow seemed right and the Criterion wrong, but in the case of 3 Women, the Arrow seems to be the one that is wrong (slightly stretched vertically).

It has always bothered me that a) something like this could happen; b) that beaver's comments have not merited further discussion. I personally hate distortions of this kind, but some are so small that I believe that a viewer may not notice or realize but still be somehow affected by it.

I just wanted to see if someone else has had thoughts about this matter. Thanks!

[Drucker]

Is this release out of print? Not showing up on the Arrow website and amazon Uk won't ship any copies to America. Could it be the Fox license expired?

[EddieLarkin]

That would make sense with it being over 5 years since its release (the typical length of a licensing period).

So many of these UK boutique Fox releases are disappearing now it sure would be helpful to have a list of them all!

[MichaelB]

Could well be - I forget the original licensing terms (if I remember rightly, I was heavily involved with this release but didn't actually produce it), but five years isn't at all unusual.

So many of these UK boutique Fox releases are disappearing now it sure would be helpful to have a list of them all!

Indicator has six: Dragonwyck, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Little Murders, The St Valentine's Day Massacre, The Snake Pit and The Third Secret. They're all 2018/19 releases, so they should still be around for a few years, but the assumption is that the licenses won't be renewable.

[Pavel]

Indicator has six: Dragonwyck, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Little Murders, The St Valentine's Day Massacre, The Snake Pit and The Third Secret. They're all 2018/19 releases, so they should still be around for a few years, but the assumption is that the licenses won't be renewable.

Meaning that even the standard edition of Dragonwyck will go OOP eventually? That hasn't happened with other Indicator releases, right?