When one thinks of Robert Altman, science fiction
isn't generally the genre the springs to mind. But like any
artist as prolific as he was, he dabbled in just about everything
from time to time, and Quintet was his experimentation
with the post-apocalyptic science fiction genre which was so
popular in the Seventies. It's not as original or stylish as
Altman's best, but it certainly holds it's own among the overcrowded
competition.
Set in the distant future, during Earth's final
ice age, Quintet tells the tale of Essex (Paul Newman),
a man who returns to the city after years on the frozen steppes
hunting seals. With his pregnant wife, we returns to find his
brother and his family, and discovers that the whole culture
has seemingly been hijacked by a backgammon-like game called
Quintet. Shortly after arriving in the city, Essex's whole family
is killed by a bomb, and he begins a fateful investigation to
get to the bottom of the murder. He discovers that there is
much more to Quintet than he had originally suspected, and more
than anyone lets on publicly.
In pacing, the film resembles the more intellectual
movies of the era, like Silent Running, while the human
sacrifice element of Quintet brings memories of films
like Logan's Run or even Soylent Green. Altman
sets his film apart from the rest with a bleaker representation
of the world, not only in terms of set design and art direction,
but in the scoring and cinematography as well. Composer Tom
Pierson's score is hardly there, and when it is, it's anything
but melodic, reminding one of Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated
score for Planet of the Apes. French cinematographer
Jean Boffety lights and frames the film to accentuate the desolation,
and combined with the ubiquitous white fo the snow and ice,
provides a near monotone image to further heighten the ruination.
Altman is adept at creating a world that not only
seems plausible in thousands of years, here on Earth and not
in space. Though an ice age seems like a faint possibility for
the near future, the images of packs of roaming Rottweilers
feasting on the corpses of people who were unable to stand the
harsh conditions or were murdered are disturbing and don't seem
quite as distant as they might in some science fiction movies.
This could be because he seems to direct the film as a mystery,
set in our own time, simply using elements that are from a different
reality. Though the film begins slowly, Altman skillfully adds
intrigue throughout, until the end has the viewer on the edge
of their seat. And while the religion of the people may be based
on a board game, parallels to modern-day religious fervor and
the deeds it makes man do are not hard to find.
Quintet isn't a film for everyone, but
for fans of Altman or of post-apocalyptic science fiction films,
it's a classic. Successful on just about every level, it's a
surprise it hasn't had the long-lasting recognition other films
of the genre have (as mentioned above.) If you can get your
hands on a copy, it's well worth the time, and will make you
think twice about what role you play in society and how much
of a pawn everyone is in the game of life.
