“New York itself is a character” has become such a cliche, that it has lost the impact that it once had. 

You can also substitute any other city in that expression, and you’re probably going to get eyerolls in return. It is almost an empty platitude because of course the setting is a major part of almost any story.

But sometimes the city becomes so much more than just a backdrop or a catalyst for things to happen. Sometimes how a city functions is a metaphor for something even bigger. So maybe in this case, calling it a character isn’t quite right but calling it a statement is. And this movie is named after a city that comes along with so many statements of its own.

Here we are with 1976’s Nashville, written and directed by Robert Altman.

This might be a wild statement, but this movie’s statement has a lot in common with the show, The Wire. You might be wondering how.

And true to the prior platitude, many people will say that in The Wire, Baltimore is a character. And I will take it one step further and say that Baltimore is more than that: it’s a symbol. A symbol for what, though? 

America as a whole.

Much of the series is looking at how crime, politics, blue colored jobs, the educational system, and the media are broken in Baltimore, but much more it’s looking at how all those things are broken within America.

This does the same, but with, well Nashville.

And instead of it being just about the ways in which America has become broken, it’s more about the ways that America is full of spirit and opportunity, while also needing to do a lot of work to be better.

And as a sappy patriot who also believes we can do a lot better, this does resonate with me.

This is a town where so many people are living out their dreams but also there are so many people doing ugly things.

There’s songs full of life and hope with also darkness beneath it.

There’s a Hal Philip Walker who’s trying to change things whose face we never see.

Right at the beginning, in two side by side recording rooms, one is full of the idea of an older America directly next to one pushing for a newer America.

This battle runs constantly through the film and makes it boldly wear it’s statement through an unconventional style.

And the style is one of the most interesting aspects of Nashville.

In what will become Robert Altman’s signature style, the overlapping dialogue, dozens of intersecting characters, and focus from one thing to the next to the next, bringing the viewer along for the ride, makes this an experimental approach.

On the list there’s not a lot of art movies that play with form and the way a movie is made, like this one. Even many of the great movies play it safe, but Nashville does not. It almost dares the viewer to not get lost throughout it. 

But having groundbreaking art plays right along with the theme of the movie. It’s not nearly as much as the Haven Hamilton as it is Linnea Reese, recording gospel next door.

Its Barbara Jean proudly taking the stage.

Nashville, itself, is a city where art is created. Yeah, country and Americana are music of the country’s past. But like that, the movie plays to plenty of conventions of classic filmmaking.

But Nashville, the place, is also a city that doesn’t have to get stuck in the past, and new art can come forward. And Nashville, the movie does that as well, taking chances with the way a story can be told and filmed.

It’s taking the best of what made America what it is and also pushed it forward at the same time.

So Nashville, the city, is as much of a character as America is a character. It’s a flawed place that also has plenty of opportunity.

And Nashville, the movie, capitalizes on it.

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