McCabe & Mrs. Miller (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

McCabe & Mrs. Miller has never looked or sounded better. A new 4K restoration, commentaries, new documentaries and interview with cast, crew, cinematographer, essay. Criterion has outdone themselves once again, with this Robert Altman classic. What else can be said about the film? It's fantastic. It's funny, bleak, exciting, violent, poignant, evocative. The music is great: featuring songs from the late Leonard Cohen, which are anachronistic to the time the film depicts, yet seem to fit the images perfectly. It contains a wonderful ensemble cast, in addition to its stars, Warren Beatty and Julie Christy. If you have any interest in the New American Cinema movement (70's Cinema), then this is an absolute must-see! The last twenty minutes feature a gun battle in a snowstorm. I recommend watching this movie on a very cold, snowy night. That will really bring home the ending for you! Thanks for reading.

Robert Altman's films did not always come together as they should, his style of film-making depending on large groups of actors and loose plots, but when they did they were marvels to behold and this is one of his very best. It's a mood piece and character study and not the action picture some people expect in a nineteenth century Western setting., and so the film has its detractors. If you are willing to settle for what it offers it's very rewarding.The film is set in the Pacific Northwest, largely in winter, which is one of the reasons I have difficulty thinking of it as a Western, though many praise it as one of the greatest Westerns or anti-Westerns. I don't see many of the big Western tropes in the film (though there are some) and feel Leone's films are the real anti-Westerns, but that's just about labels and not all that important anyway. This is brought up enough in discussions of the film to merit comment.McCabe thinks he is a gentleman. smooth and clever, a shrewd businessman and gambler who doesn't deny a possible reputation as a gunslinger. He comes to the small town of Presbyterian Church which is beginning to grow because of a profitable nearby mine. He has come to literally build a house of gambling and prostitution. He knows nothing about running such an establishment, but into the town comes Constance Miller, a woman who does. She convinces him he needs her expertise by asking, "What do you do when one girl fancies another?" Together they thrive with Mrs. Miller basically Chief of Operations and McCabe a good ol' boy front man for the customers. They get along despite big differences in character but there is no big romance or anything like that. Life goes on and you begin to feel familiar with this group of people and the day to day events that go on. Then a big corporation sees an opportunity to buy up all the town's establishments to profit on the miner's paychecks and make it a company town. McCabe thinks he can make them up their offer and thing get complicated from there.The film is beautifully shot from the snow and evergreen outdoors to the dark and cozy interiors that keep the cold out. Every actor is spot on, from the two principals to the most minor locals. The soundtrack includes moody Leonard Cohen songs brooding and existential, his deep voice intoning, "You chose this journey long before you came upon this highway". Together these create a unique and special place unlike any other film you've seen.The film splits audiences with the very factors that some see as its greatness the things that others don't like. There is little plot beyond the basic setup and a major decision or two. This is a slice of life film that audiences used to plot-driven vehicles simply don't get. It can often seem like nothing is going on when what is going on is in the small daily actions and conversations of the characters.There is a casualness to the manner of acting that makes it sometimes feel like a documentary rather than a traditional film. The really dark and dirty interiors seem simply murky to some and the Leonard Cohen songs seem anachronistic as well, either too new for the setting or too much of the seventies for today. Some find none of the characters admirable and want a more heroic drama and others find the whole thing too bleak. i am of the opposite opinion, but I think it's useful to point out what some see as negative aspects of the film. I feel it's one of the greatest films of the seventies and certainly worth checking out.

McCabe is a professional gambler who takes over a small mining town. Mrs. Miller is a prostitute who goes into business with him. This film is about their relationship. First, it's strictly business, but eventually they fall for each other--as much as two egoists can. Neither of them can commit to the other, but they show their love in small ways--like not wanting each other to be murdered. Their principal business is prostitution. This is an anti-western western: it aims to show how inglorious and crude the west was. As such it is parallel to Altman's "The Long Goodbye," a take down of noir crime films. Both films were hailed when they appeared--for reasons that seem mysterious now. "McCabe" is really slow. It is hard to care about the characters. I found myself counting the minutes until it would be over. The film is intentionally blurry and the sound intentionally muffled. I didn't like the Leonard Cohen soundtrack musically, and I don't think it really fit the film. Great director and great actors somehow managed to produce a dud. Altman's Short Cuts is much, much better.

The film remains an iconic masterpiece from the early 1970s. So many brilliant elements from art direction, editing, production design and, of course, Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography, Robert Altman's direction and the acting ensemble headed by Warren Beatty and Julie Christie plus the time juxtaposition of songs written and sung by Leonard Cohen.The added elements in the Criterion Collection all add to and enhance the viewing experience of the film. The transfer from the original 35 mm camera negative brings back a quality viewing experience reminiscent of my first encounter with this film at a large (very large) screen in the suburbs of Denver. That, at the time, I was visiting and trekking into mountains enhanced, for me, the environment created for the film of the mining town of Presbyterian Church.

At the opening of the film, the smoky mining town and Leonard Cohen singing The Stranger Song. Need I say more? Well, then there is the scene when the ladies arrive to The Sisters of Mercy. Giving the entire soundtrack to Leonard Cohen creates an understatement that is rare and stays. It's a quiet storm throughout, complex characters lives smouldering under a blanket of snow and mistrust. Heartbreaking and beautiful, a treat in these times of boisterous over-played characters and CG explosions, falling ladders and heartless story lines of most films in the offing from big studios.

I will keep this short since so much has already been said, but I was recently making my own lists and realized that this film is in my all time top 5. This is the film where style MEETS substance, or perhaps where style DETERMINES substance.Altman is arguably the most important American director after Welles. His use of panorama and flow---every tv show today uses Altman's flow through technique---make you want to watch this film over and over. Once for the story, once just to appreciate his fluid camera motion, once to appreciate how he maintains large groups and then focuses on one person in the group, and once again to watch how it all works.Even Altman's failures, and he had his share of those, are still interesting to watch. I would rather watch a bad Altman film than films by most other directors, and that especially means directors like Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, who i think are highly over rated.But this is one of Altman's best.

A Robert Altman classic and one of my all-time favourite Westerns. In fact, one of my favourite films period. Filmed in Squamish, BC with a set/town that was being built as the film was shot sequentially around it, giving an incredibly authentic feel to the entire production. Fantastic use of Leonard Cohen songs/music, which suits the tone of the film perfectly. Great performances from Warren Beatty and Julie Christie who was nominated for best actress for her role. Keith Carradine in his first film performance has a comic turn as a young wannabe cowboy very enthusiastic about the newly established brothel.It is an Altman film, so there is lots of use of his signature layered, overlapping dialogue throughout. If new to his work some may find it a bit frustrating at first, but if you approach the dialogue more like a collage than traditional structure it works on an entirely different level. Altman referred to the film as an "anti-Western", partly due to it's unglamorous portrayal of frontier life but for me the climax of the film strays the most from convention. It is fantastically choreographed, with no heroes nor happy ending. The antithesis of typical Western "showdown" scenes.The new Criterion transfer on Blu-ray made it a must have for me. As always with Criterion, it looks fantastic. A huge upgrade from the old DVD version I had previously. Highly recommended for Altman fans in particular, but also for anyone who enjoys a quirky and authentic feel to their Westerns.

This is a great movie! A true masterpiece by Robert Altman. But don’t buy this version. The audio is so muffled (no matter how I fiddled with the settings) that the dialogue is completely incomprehensible. Instead, I bought another one from the Criterion collection and the music and sound are of much better quality.

This is my all time favourite movie. Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller is a perfect movie.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller illuminates (and debunks) what life was like on the frontier in the late 1800s-early 1900s. Interwoven with songs by Leonard Cohen's (which seem like they were written for the movie), this film shows Warren Beatty at his best in addition to another outstanding performance by Julie Christie. It's Robert Altman's (director) at his best!