Quintet (Robert Altman, 1979)

The first thing a viewer notices about Robert Altman’s science fiction film is how dirty the camera’s lens is. The edges of the frame seem smeared, lending the film a dreamy, flashback quality. However, Quintet is not from the past but the future. It’s a post-apocalyptic film starring Paul Newman as Essex and Brigitte Fossey as the pregnant simpleton Vivia, and their world is a bleak, icy wasteland populated by packs of roaming dogs and human bands obsessed with an elaborate board game.

Not just a pastime for some, the chess-like game of the film’s title is taken to extremes in a high stakes tournament of life and death. After a series of assassinations, Essex takes the place of a deceased Quintet player and becomes embroiled in a cloak and dagger championship that puts his life on the line in a quest to stop his overzealous competitors.

The cast, clad in hand-me-downs from Dr. Zhivago, often seems as disinterested in performing as the viewer might feel trying to stomach the drivel on screen. Obtuse to the point of being obscure, Quintet moves at a snail’s pace, as if this were enough to give the film credibility. In a career filled with hits and misses, Quintet was not quite as wrong-headed as Altman’s Ready to Wear, but it certainly was close. — Mike White

Tags: Quintet, Robert Altman, Paul Newman, Brigitte Fossey