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Quintet: Robert Altman's Dystopian Nightmare From 1979 |
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Quintet: Robert Altman's Dystopian Nightmare From 1979 |
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Quintet: Robert Altman’s dystopian nightmare from 1979
My mini-review:
Quintet: the plot (reprinted from Altman On Altman, David Thompson, editor): With the planet overwhelmed by a new ice age, and finding no more seals to hunt, Essex returns with his pregnant partner Vivia to the city he left ten years before. Outside, dogs feed on the carcases of the old and sick [sic]; inside, the population are absorbed by a board game called Quintet in which the object is to kill one's opponents. Essex's brother Francha takes him to a game which is interrupted by a deadly bomb blast. Essex survives and hunts down the man responsible, Redstone, only to find someone has already killed him. In the pockets of the corpse are the Quintet tokens belonging to Francha and a list of six names — Redstone, Francha, Deuca, Goldstar, St Christopher and Ambrosia. Assumed to be Redstone, Essex visits the Hotel Electra and finds a game in progress but being played for real. Goldstar and Deuca are the next victims, and in spite of Essex's protestations, Ambrosia refuses to give up her role as 'sixth man', the person who arranges the killing order in the game. She in turn fails to dissuade St Christopher from trying to kill Essex, who ignores her warnings. But St Christopher dies in a natural disaster, and Essex kills Ambrosia before she can make her move. In spite of Grigor suggesting that he might make a great player, Essex leaves the city, following the trail of wild geese. Quintet: the mise en scène essay coming soon... Quintet: the stills
Essex and Vivia taking shelter just before reaching the city.
The frozen train.
Entering the city.
Essex and Vivia arriving at the city. Scott Bushnell's wardrobe ideas were absolutely spectacular.
Vivia, entranced by urban life.
Quintet, best played with a little boocha/booza in your system.
*boom*
Chasing Redstone.
Essex carrying the slain Vivia to the water. Quintet's most moving scene.
St. Christopher questions Essex at the city information center ("It doesn't transmit, but the information is still there"). The two scenes at the information center are among the most stirringly beautiful in cinematic history. No shit.
Playing Quintet at the Hotel Electra.
Deuca: "Weak roll, Redstone. You'll never make Sixth Man like that."
Grigor entering Essex's room at the Hotel Electra: "I'm afraid I've been playing 'The Sixth Man' with you."
Grigor and St. Christopher, contemplating the intent of Redstone's imposter.
The dogs, looking for a nice bite.
"Hmm, maybe I shoulda stayed down south after all."
A little down-time at the Hotel Electra.
Essex 'round Ambrosia's crib.
A suspicious Grigor.
Essex showing St. Christopher the killing order: "Your name's on the list". "Tell me something I don't know!" St. Christopher no doubt thinks.
St. Christopher and Essex continuing their little tête-à-tête.
Ambrosia, waking from the dream of her mother.
St. Christopher sermoning the downtrodden at his charity house.
Essex.
Essex.
St. Christopher ready for the kill.
"I've won. What's the prize?" Quintet: the soundtrack The soundtrack of Quintet provides a rich tapestry of aural images that greatly enhances the awful bleakness of a world in its final throes of death, exploiting a broad range of the sound spectrum. The highs are punctuated by the intermittent tinkling of glass, evocative of the crystallized snow and ice that cover this frozen world. We hear this especially in the main casino as we hover around the wholly incongruous glass chandelier that hangs above the set. Indeed, the chandelier could easily be mistaken for icicles when we see it for the first time, before it comes into focus. We also hear high squeaks and creaks as Essex searches the city directory, the cracked ice-like glass panes that swivel on rusted metal piping again evoke ice and cold. In the midrange, footsteps during the deathly quiet chase scenes are often accompanied by the muffled crunch of packed snow underfoot, so evocative of a frozen winter setting bathed in a quilting silence. Somehow, the role of the Quintet dice onto the wood or fabric playing board seems to enhance this effect: the role of dice--which may mean life or death for the players--has never sounded so bleak and helpless as in the world of Quintet. We finally come to the lower frequencies: the aching, rolling groans of the glacial ice are constant reminders that this is a world in its final stages. Mention should also be made of the wild dogs feeding on the abandoned dead, the awful sounds of human flesh being shredded, and tooth-on-bone, along with the low growl of the savage beasts, can only be described as horrific. Quintet: the score By my Uncle Paul: Rarely does one encounter a movie score that can stand alone as a substantive composition, yet also be so finely wedded to the cinematic material. The remarkably talented Tom Pierson accomplishes both, however, in his score to Quintet, which uses off-kilter orchestral effects freely, that contribute to the icy, eerie, and brooding mood of this film. Minimalism, at times reminiscent of Philip Glass, nevertheless contains enough surprises and variation to sustain interest. Composed largely in quintuple meter, and sometimes with pentatonic scaling, Pierson thus not merely remains faithful to the title of the film, but keeps the listener off balance, consistent with the mystery and uncertainty that abounds in Quintet's story line. Dialogue is sparse in Quintet, and without Pierson's brilliant hour-long symphony of howling wind, drums, horn, and sundry other instruments and devices, Altman's film could not stand among the better mood movies of the era. Quintet Symphonic Suite, composed by Tom Pierson:
Quintet: the legacy Quintet endured an awful reception upon its release, and the few who actually saw it in 1979 basically ran away from it as quickly as they could. It was, by most accounts, a hopelessly boring, muddled, pretentious, mess of a movie, with Altman’s tricks of muddy sound and muddy lenses (or in this case, Vaseline-covered lenses, as if we’re peering through an iced window) in evidence to the hilt. It was an embarrassment to all but Altman himself, it seemed. Consequently, there were unlikely to be many conscious decisions to emulate the look, the feel, or anything else of it. Quintet: the credits Production Company: Producer: Screenplay: Cinematography (Panavision): Sound: Editor: Music: Production Design: Cast: 118 mins Quintet: the game The game of QUINTET (reprinted from Altman On Altman, David Thompson, editor):
Object of game: Equipment: Background of the game: As in the film, each player participates with a distinctive token: Redstone (Paul Newman), the mushroom-shaped token; Grigor (Fernando Rey), the starfish; Christopher (Vittorio Gassman), the scalloped cross; Ambrosia (Bibi Andersson), the red amulet; and Deuca (Nina van Pallandt), the ice crystal. Because the Quintet players in the film exist at a time in the future the earth and its inhabitants are near total devastation from a new ice age, they live in constant presence of death. People all around them are freezing to death every day, and it is just a matter of time before death will strike each one of them. So why wait passively for death to strike? The Quintet player lives to challenge and taunt death. In the film Quintet, the most daring of the players expand their board game rivalry to compete with each other at a level of reality: the game's capturing order becomes a real-life killing order. The game becomes so real that in order to win the players must kill or be killed. In the film, successful Quintet players are forced to look out solely for themselves. They form alliances which are broken when they are no longer self-serving. As the capturing order changes, friendships and loyalties change. All of life, particularly mankind's feelings and motivations for survival, is contained in the game of Quintet. For the true Quintet player, life becomes a game, and the game is all there is to life. The Quintet game described here is, of course, a non-lethal versionof the one in the film. Nevertheless, the ingredients of intrigue, plotting and deceit remain to make it a thrilling contest for every player. But remember, wIhen you play to cheat death, be prepared for death to cheat you! Capturing Order: The Capturing Order follows the arrows. The player can capture the piece Ahead but in turn can be captured by the piece behind. Strategy Points: BARRICADE: A Barricade is formed when both of a player's Tokens occupy the same space. No other Token can land on that space or pass it. SAFETY SPACE: The spaces numbered VI (6) are Safety Spaces. If you roll a six on one diie, you may either move six spaces or enter the nearest Safety space. If you roll double sixes, you may move both Tokens into Safety Spaces, if you still have both Tokens. If you roll six and another number, and you have only one Token left and you wish to move into safety, you must take the other number first. You can remain in SAFETY as long as you roll a six or you can use the numbers you roll with your other Token. Let's Play Quintet: 2. To continue, the first player rolls again. He may move either piece the
total number shown on the dice. Or he may split up his move and move one Token the number shown on one dice and the other Token number shown on the other dice. MOVES MAY BE TAKEN IN EITHER DIRECTION. When a player rolls double fives, they complete the moves and get an additional turn. 3. There can never be more than two Tokens on any space at any time. 4. During each other player's turn, he tries to capture one or both Tokens of the player directly after him in the capturing circle. NOT NECESSARILY IN THE ORDER IN WHICH PLAYERS ARE SEATED AROUND THE BOARD. You capture a Token by landing on that Token's place at the end of the move. 5. Each time a player's Token is captured, the captured piece is removed from the board. After a player loses both pieces, he is out of the game and his Token is removed from the Capturing Circle. IMPORTANT: At this time there is a new capturing order. 6. If a player has only one piece remaining, he must move according to the numbers of both dice with the one piece (see rule 2.). 7. If a correct move lands a player on a space occupied by the Token that is trying to capture you, you are captured and your piece is removed from the board. 8. ALLIANCES can turn into captures! If a new Capturing Order happens and an old neutral piece that is sharing a space with you can now capture you, you are captured. 9. If a player is trapped between two BARRICADES and cannot move the full amount shown on the dice, he must forfeit that move. 10. If a player has a BARRICADE on one side and moving the other direction would make him land on someone who wants to capture him, he is captured! Getting Out of Safety: 12.. Example: A player has a space in SAFETY and he must move out. If the only correct moves causes him to end his turn on a space occupied by a Token that wants to capture him, he is captured! 13. Example: A player has only one Token left and it is in SAFETY. If that player rolls a six and a four, he must go to space four on that side before returning to SAFETY. If space four (IV) is occupied by a Token that wants to capture him, he is not captured since he did not end his turn on that space. 14. IN THE CASE OF ROLLING DOUBLE SIXES: When a player has two Tokens
and one Token is in SAFETY, one six may be used for that Token to remain in SAFETY. Then the second six is used by the second Token to move six spaces or to go into SAFETY. Got that? Cool. So let's play... Simplified version of the rules, from the original publicity materials:
Quintet: the Altman interview In-Depth interview with Robert Altman about Quintet by James Delson, from Fantastic Films magazine, June 1979:
Quintet: the Altmans' NYC Apartment
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Altman’s third masterpiece of the 70s, Quintet is a visually and sonically spectacular study of a world in its final throes of death, both spiritual and physical. Requiring multiple viewings to fully appreciate, even a first-time viewer will languish in the unparalleled cinematic splendor of a darkening frozen world where life has lost all meaning. Unbelievably, Quintet was released the same year as Tarkovsky’s Stalker, making 1979 one of the greatest years ever in cinematic history. 
