3 Women

UPC: 715515015127

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Mild Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children]

Summary: Robert Altman's Three Women takes a surreal, improvisational and rather eerie look at the lives of three women in a western desert town. The plot centers around the youngest of the women, Pinky (Sissy Spacek), an eccentric, withdrawn woman trying to begin a new life. She finds work as an attendant at a hot springs spa catering to the elderly and infirm. There she befriends her co-worker Millie (Shelley Duvall), an equally strange but more outgoing woman; the two bond, and are soon sharing an apartment. Pinky becomes increasingly dependent on Millie, eventually adopting aspects of her personality and appearance. This obsessive attachment is threatened when Pinky discovers Millie with a man -- Edgar (Robert Fortier), the macho, faux-cowboy husband of local artist Willie (Janice Rule), the last of the title's three women. Pinky's subsequent, desperate actions precipitate the film's enigmatic conclusion, involving an unexpected series of confrontations and role reversals amongst the three women. This story tends to take a backseat to the elliptical, spooky imagery, particularly the desert landscapes, and the quirky performances -- not surprising, given that the film was reportedly shot without a full screenplay and inspired by Altman's own dreams. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Actress – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Actress – Cannes Film Festival Best Supporting Actress – New York Film Critics Circle

Features: ccNew high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound and enhanced for widescreen televisions
Audio commentary by director Robert Altman
Stills gallery of rare production and publicity stills
Original theatrical trailers and television spots
English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

3 Women

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 04/27/2004

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 124 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Opening Credit Sequence [2:27]
2. Pinky's First Day [11:23]
3. Punching Out [3:44]
4. "I Sure Do Miss Her" [3:43]
5. Roommates [5:56]
6. Dodge City [8:28]
7. "The Most Perfect Person" [11:51]
8. A Hot Date [4:18]
9. Friday [5:44]
10. Dinner Party [7:49]
11. Millie and Edgar [9:34]
12. Mr. and Mrs. Rose [9:27]
13. Concussion [4:27]
14. Home [4:20]
15. Discrepancies [5:37]
16. The Third Degree [9:46]
17. Willie's Baby [8:10]
18. A Terrible Accident [6:47]
1. The Dream [2:27]
2. Lost Souls [11:23]
3. "All Kinds of Accidents" [3:44]
4. Cinematography [3:43]
5. Peeping Tom [5:56]
6. "See the Giant Snake" [8:28]
7. Desert Colors [11:51]
8. Shelley Duvall [4:18]
9. Bodhi Wind [5:44]
10. Influences [7:49]
11. Gerald Busby [9:34]
12. John and Ruth [9:27]
13. Dreamlike Characters [4:27]
14. The Time of the Filmmaker [4:20]
15. Undertakers [5:37]
16. Identity [9:46]
17. The Males [8:10]
18. No Real Answer [6:47]

Mark Deming

Few filmmakers short of Luis Bu?uel have made better onscreen use of dreams than Robert Altman, and 3 Women is the film in which he most successfully (and disturbingly) captured the hazy logic and off-kilter visual perspectives of the unconscious state. Shelley Duvall delivered the best work of her career as a woman so shallow that it never occurs to her that people are laughing at her behind her back, and Sissy Spacek is brilliant as Pinky, the naive girl who worships her; their emotional give and take as they begin to exchange personalities exemplifies the kind of risky but satisfying performances that Altman knows how to draw from actors. Gerald Busby's quietly troubling, discordant score and Bodhi Wind's surreal artwork are singularly appropriate aural and visual backdrops, while Charles Rosher Jr.'s cinematography layers the images in intoxicating washes of yellow and blue. While Altman has made a career out of endings that don't spell themselves out, the conclusion of 3 Women is both vague and provocative -- have we witnessed the aftermath of a tragedy, a descent into insanity, or a quiet but defiant call to arms? Altman isn't telling, but one can read 3 Women in a number of ways and still walk away convinced that it's a work of singular vision and emotional power from one of the most gifted American filmmakers of his generation. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Leslie Ann Hudson  Actor 
Belita Moreno  Actor 
Patricia Ann Hudson  Actor 
Robert Altman  Director 
Robert Altman  Producer 
Robert Altman  Screenwriter 
Scott Bushnell  Producer 
Shelley Duvall  Actor 
Sissy Spacek  Actor 
Janice Rule  Actor 
Robert Fortier  Actor 
Ruth Nelson  Actor 
John Cromwell  Actor 
Sierra Pecheur  Actor 
Craig Richard Nelson  Actor 
Maisie Hoy  Actor 
Beverly Ross  Actor 
John Davey  Actor 

Country: USA