Early one morning about two months ago, I watched IMAGES for the first time; it's still a movie memory that haunts me. The empty house I was in seemed to grow more and more cavernous as I took in this unforgettable story of a woman whose guilt and grief are driving her further into a stark inner world of madness. Yes, there are similarities to Polanski's REPULSION and even to Antonioni's BLOW-UP (in shot composition); but that is not to say it lacks a feel all its own. Altman shows his typical good judgment as a filmmaker, employing Vilmos Zsigmond as cinematographer, shooting in Panavision with rich, saturated colors oozing through each frame. He was also wise to get John Williams to compose an even-then atypically noisy score, for which the film garnered (wrongly) its only Oscar nomination. How Susannah York escaped at least a nomination as the film's star and co-writer is beyond me; her performance is one of the greatest ever committed to film. She truly seems confused, horrified, and at her wit's end. Her screams will pierce your soul. I can say more, but I will leave it at this: IMAGES is Robert Altman's neglected masterwork, a film that will scar your mind, if you have the strong countenance to endure it.
Review of Images
