Quintet (1979; Robert Altman)

I recall first being introduced to Altman’s Quintet (1979) is an advertisement for a showing of it on the Sci Fi Channel way back in the late 90s. But when I was a teenager this rare Altman science fiction effort is more of a “climate goes bad and is sure to get worse” ice age kill game apocalyptic picture did not secure my interest despite attempts to try. It was the kind of film Sci Fi might show on a lazy weekday while most of us were at work or in school. I do kind of miss this Sci Fi, though. They did have plenty of B-films that you really don’t see turn up on cable/satellite unless on premium movie services. I thought about why this would work for October, and I tell you this Quintet has plenty of elements of horror in it...its apocalyptic setting, the unpleasant violence and willing participants in the death game, and the dogs always around to get their fixings are examples. One scene has the dogs following Newman as he carries the body of a victim in his arms to an active river so that they wouldn't feed from her.

Newman cast in the lead is particularly noteworthy considering he was not the kind of actor you ever see in this type of film. In fact, this is considered his only sci-fi film he ever starred. This “frozen tundra” setting, depressing and very fucking cold, features laid-out bodies of the starved-to-death variety being munched on by hungry dogs (and those who don’t follow the bodies and eat are frozen to ice themselves!) as Newman’s Essex and dead friend’s pregnant daughter, Vivia (Brigitte Fossey), are traveling to a gambling hub where Essex’s brother lives. What he soon realizes, when his brother’s home is bombed by this sneaky creep named Redstone (Craig Richard Nelson), Vivia killed as collateral damage in the process, that the game, Quintet, includes six people selected by Fernando Rey’s “overseer”, Grigor, to participate involves a “stay alive” fight for survival. Altman, although there are victims stabbed, with a neck slit and another killed by avalanche, really cares more about the place, its portrayal of the earth in a state of an inescapable frost as the cold overtakes structures and the folks who still find ways to defy the odds others aren’t so lucky to avoid (those ending up dog chow), and the worsening conditions in atmospheric ways, including long camera takes that pull back and show us a future that might appear idyllic if not for the fact that eventually humankind will cease to exist. Rey’s jovial Grigor loves the game, often telling Essex that with each “victory” (kill) the thrill to survive is what makes Quintet such a vital part of living. Essex just wants to know why Vivia and his brother were killed, soon becoming an inadvertent participant in Quintet as he claims the identity of Redstone in order to infiltrate this gambling world and get closer to the truth. The participants include Vittorio Gassman as St Christopher, often speaking Latin when slitting a throat or monologuing about life, death, and the unknown, Bib Andersson (of many classic Bergman Swedish films) as the oft-lucky “sixth player” who is able to be spared until the final victor meets with her and Grigor before the final death match takes place. Nina van Pallandt, (as the operations manager of “Hotel Electra”), as Deuca and David Langton as the “all talk, no action” Goldstar, make up the other participants. A dagger through a face and a knife sticking out of a victim as he pleads for help only for the killer to grab the handle and sink it in deeper are grisly results of this “highly thrilling” game that Grigor revels so much. Newman’s face is always serious, one single expression the entire way through…his eyes intense and mind always focused on getting answers for the death of Vivia, a young woman he clearly loved. The pace is excruciatingly draggy, but I must confess, while I can see how the many critics who ganged upon Quintet (including Siskel & Ebert, Pauline Kael, and Variety, among others), I didn’t dislike it. But Altman was just not concerned with getting on with it. And despite the complexities of the game itself, by and large Quintet is still a game of death within an atmosphere of ice-encroaching decay. I think 80% of viewers will have a hard time getting through it, but I did find it for the most part a fascinating curio in Altman’s oeuvre.**½