‘Well that’s you, Marlowe. You’ll never learn, you’re a born loser…’
Robert Altman is a weird one. He’s one of the most respected directors of all time but the average man on the street, even the average cinema savvy man on the street, would struggle to pick one of his films out of a line up. Nashville, perhaps his most acclaimed film, is little known in the UK, and I suppose that is because it is so quintessentially American. It doesn’t translate over here. The Long Goodbye has a similar problem. It seems to be probing the underbelly of a time and place that I struggle to connect with. That being said, there are wonderful moments here. Of that there can be no doubt…
Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) is a schlub and a private dick who somehow becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. In trying to solve this enigma, Marlowe will encounter violent thugs, an alcoholic writer (Sterling Hayden) and a variety of femme fatales.
As with all of Altman’s work, The Long Goodbye is dripping in authenticity – so much so that some scenes drift by under the impression that we are watching a couple of guys talking in the street and not an actual film with an actual script. Luckily, Gould is utterly fantastic throughout and Mark Rydell more than matches him as the psychotic gangster Marty Augustine. Elsewhere, keep an eye out for the first cinematic appearance of a certain Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger – who appears silent and shirtless in his uncredited cameo.
Aside from his usual gritty style, Altman’s use of sound here is mesmerising. Whether it be the soft lapping of distant waves or the repeated use of the theme song (ingeniously using both diegetic and non-diegetic sound), Altman uses every inch of the soundscape available to him in order to build a world that feels lived in and real. A master at work.
The Long Goodbye is a captivating and strange film that demands the viewer’s attention almost in spite of itself. Another Altman great.