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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great 70s horror classic, October 8, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Images (DVD)
I have not seen IMAGES on DVD so I cannot honestly comment on the DVD's quality, but I saw this film last year at a film archive screening, and I have to say I was genuinely freaked out by it. Again, to be honest, a number of my friends found it to be a bit silly, but I was genuinely disturbed by it, in much the same way that I was disturbed by ONIBABA, ROSMARY'S BABY, DON'T LOOK NOW, and DEAD RINGERS. Putting the spectator in the position of a mentally unbalanced person (a la DR. CALIGARI), IMAGES masterfully creates the effect of being trapped within an unstable subjectivity. By the way, the acting and the cinematography are flawless...
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Psychological Portrait, August 15, 2004
This review is from: Images (DVD)
Susannah York gives a fantastic performance as Cathryn, a wealthy English woman who may be mentally unstable. Alone in her home writing a children's book, she is interrupted by the apparent appearance of an old lover. Or is she? When her husband (Rene Aberjonois) arrives home and sees her distress, he whisks her away to their country home - a strangely drab cottage that seems to have been spray-painted black and gray. Her deterioration and inability to distinguish fact and fantasy continue unabated, particularly when her husband has to return to the city. What happens from there is highly open to interpretation.
"Images" is a strange, unsettling film, even for director Robert Altman. The initial pace is glacier-like and will undoubtedly leave many viewers bored and frustrated. However, you need to stick with it, as the film gradually gains momentum and climaxes with almost unbearable tension. The film has been compared to Roman Polanski's "Repulsion"; that film is superior to "Images," but the comparison is not completely inappropriate. Both chronicle a young woman's descent in madness when left alone; however, "Images" is less chilling and somewhat more convoluted, although with many merits of its own.
Filmed on location in Ireland, the film looks absolutely stunning, and the cinematography is so superior that it alone merits a viewing of "Images." Altman's direction is also first-rate and masterful, so much so that it somewhat detracts from the film - I was sometimes too busy watching his directing flourishes to pay attention to small plot details. Overall, "Images" is an intriguing movie-going experience that will likely appeal to many fans of Altman and viewers who appreciate films that can be obscure in nature.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
most exciting psychological triller!, December 14, 2003
This review is from: Images (DVD)
This is the most exciting psychological thriller ever made,I thought.Director Robert Altman's unique style on this film magnificiently presents the see into tormented woman'madness, same as Altman's other film like "that cold day in the park('69)"and "three women('77)". The music on this film(by John Williams) is still more exciting, espesially for the percussion of Stomu Yamash'ta(the famous japanese percussionist known by Red Buddah Theatre of '70s).To my regret, this film isn't released on theatre in Japan.
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