A movie to remember

Three Women' bare emotions

By Donna Chernin

A couple years ago, Robert Altman Had a dream:

"Two young girls from Texas, dreaming of the good life, meet in a desert community, come to terms with the undercurrents in their lives and undergo a metamorphosis."

Altman meshed that vision into.""Three Women," a film of bizarre fascination.

An ominous but enveloping intrigue looms over the picture from its first moments and never lets go. While the pace

languid as is often the case in an Altman endeavor there is a reason for each scene and every portion of what seems like spontaneous dialog.

Ostensibly, the movie concerns the interconnection of three females all brilliantly portrayed by Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule all of them strange in their own way yet none of them unlikable. However, underneath the top layer of characterization, there is ➡ probing exploration of the interplay of power and vulnerability in relationships and the subtle, shifting and merging of identities.

Pinky (Sissy Spacek) has just begun work, aiding elderly patients at a rehabilitation and geriatric center, where Millie (Shelley Duvall) has been employed for some time. Initially, interest focuses more on Pinky, depicted as a childlike innocent creature who can't resist making gurgly sounds as she drinks cokes and Skipping a beat as she walks. Alone and vulnerable, she begins to have an unnatural fixation upon Millie, whom she sees as the most perfect person she ever met: Intrigue lies in the suspicion that perhaps Pinky has lesbian feelings for her new friend.

When Millie needs a roommate to. share her apartment and Pinky moves in, interest begins to shift more to the character of Millie, who reveals herself to be a totally unique individual.

She is a person with a soul and heart encompassing her entire being, a woman who gives love and freely shows interest to people who totally ignore, if not ridicule of her. Millie counters the rejection with more sunshine in her life and by insulating herself in a fantasy world. She offers to prepare lavish dinners "I'm. known for my marvelous parties for male friends who fail to even show. A touching character."

Miss Duvall won the Cannes Film Festival Award for best actress for this performance and deservedly so. It is purported that she wrote some 80% of her dialog. The actress has a naturalness in the role and a believability that makes her ingratiating to the viewer, if not the people she encounters in the film.

Tension accelerates as Pinky's preoc cupation with her roommate increases to the extent that she steals Millie's diary and reads it with an almost religious fervor. At first Pinky appeared unassuming, but now she begins to seem sneaky, perhaps even diabolical.

A new woman (Janice Rule) is sporadically introduced, a taciturn pregnant lady who paints grossly distorted murals of male and female creatures on the bottom of pools. The three women's fates become further meshed through the brutish boyfriend of the pregnant lady.

Flashing through the interrelation of the three females are haunting scenes that seem to foreshadow violence: the boyfriend teaching all three women how to target shoot at an austere desert ranch

There is a probing exploration of the interplay of power and vulnerability in relationships.

where macho men ride dirt bikes; murky shots of the mural shimmering under the water; and discordant music that seems to jarringly interrupt at various intervals. There is a dream sequence near the film's conclusion that is a cinematic feat.

Throughout the two hours, there are considerable visual images and strange statements that stick in your mind but that you can't quite figure out. But it all fuses with with stunning impact by the conclusion.

"Three Women" is a film that engrosses you thoroughly while simultaneously making you uncomfortable. It's a powerful picture of suspense and character meshing. Though it may not have universal appeal, those who relate to the film will remember it long after they leave the theater.

'Three Women'

Written, produced and directed by Robert Altman. Music by Gerald Busby, mural by Bodhi. Wind. 20th Centrpury Fox. Adult. 123 minutes.

Pinky Rose Millie Lammoreaux Willie

Sissy Spacek .............................................. Shelley Duvall Janice Rule