In between the genre busting classics McCabe and Mrs. Miller (western) and The Long Goodbye (noir), Robert Altman took the time to make the little seen, under-appreciated Images. Influenced, by the director's own admission, by Bergman's Persona (1966), Images is an attempt to "visualize the schizophrenic mind" and it is in these moments that the film is most effective. Altman said that the initial idea for Images center around a scene that sprang to mind one day while he was eating lunch. In it a man in woman are have a discussion/argument, the woman is in a bedroom and the man is moving in and out of an enjoining bathroom. At one point during the conversation the woman looks up and the man appears as someone she has never seen before. It's a creepy idea and when it happens early in the film, it sets the psychological tone for the whole film. It's also one of my personal favorite cinematic moments.
As the narrative progresses we discover that Altman didn't use his original idea completely; the man who suddenly replaces the woman's husband is not a stranger but a former lover of the woman, Cathryn, played by Susannah York. She is schizophrenic and has a variety of symptoms including her husband suddenly appearing as someone else. During the entire film some variation of this is taking place. Either she sees her husband as someone else or she sees that someone else in the same room as her and her husband. Altman was wise and intuitive enough to throw in some other symptoms as well (though he claims he did no research for the film, relying on instinct), like Cathryn suddenly not liking the taste of an apple and having an irrational fear of a local dog.
We never learn anything about Cathryn's history; has she been in therapy, been violent before, when did the symptoms first originate, was there a stressor involved? Personally I think the film is better off not bringing up these questions. Instead, we're left to decode the reason(s) for her break based on what Altman gives us. As far as I can tell the primary reason for her psychotic break is guilt over her own infidelity; we are given evidence of two affairs and, I believe, a third is hinted at. This guilt is coupled with the almost constant presence of her husband Hugh's (Rene Auberjonois) camera. Altman uses the camera to symbolize Cathryn's paranoia and to create a sense of the inescapable. No matter where she goes the camera seems always to be watching her, as if the eyes of her cuckolded husband. Simultaneously Altman allows the camera to stand in for the Cathryn's lonliness and the very reason she cheated in the first place; it represents one of the many distraction that keep Hugh from giving Cathryn the attention she needs. Though he seems to care for her, Hugh spends more time with the camera, hunting, or (seemingly) at his job, then he does with Cathryn. It's an interesting case of dual representation that mirrors Cathryn's state of mind.
The film was shot by the great, great cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and was the second of three collaborations with Altman (The aforementioned McCabe and Mrs. Miller and The Long Goodbye being the other two) and for my money it's the best looking of the three. Shot in Ireland in the winter, the film has a damp and foggy look to it, perfect for it's subject matter. It looks both natural and oneiric in a way that is specific to Zsigmond's work in the 70's and early 80's (he worked with many of the great directors from the period). Very beautiful.
One can't talk about images without mentioning the amazing score by John Williams (yes that John Williams). Williams had the brilliant idea of hiring Stomu Yamashta to created unique sounds to incorporate through out the film. Make no mistake though, the score belongs to Williams, who wrote in ever instance of these sounds in his original score. It's a really remarkable piece.
Ignored at the time of it's release (despite being nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes), Images has yet to get the attention it deserves. It's by know means a perfect piece (Altman even admits that it can be a bit heavy handed at times) but there is so much that is interesting that it easily overcomes it's flaws. You wouldn't think that a film from a master like Altman, originating in his most productive and innovative years, could fly under the radar for so many decades but here it is. Hopefully more people will find it, it's worth it.
