Images (Schizo - Den kluvna verkligheten, 1972)

US MGM DVD edition - region 1

R.I.P. Susannah York (1939 - 9/1 2011) and Robert Altman (1925-2006) and Vilmos Zsigmond (1930-2016)

This great and lovely actress died in cancer 72 years old

A very good, complex but underrated or forgotten Robert Altman-film. A Psychological drama thriller with a brilliant
Susannah York as the schizophrenic Cathryn, a portrayal for which she was awarded the Best Actress prize at the
1972 Cannes Film Festival. The film was shot in Ireland and Susannah York was pregnant during the shoot, says
Robert Altman in the extras, and she can be seen briefly in a full frontal nudity scene, a glorious sight.
(Of all the reviews i've seen on IMDB i'm the only one mentioning this fact. Am i a creep ? Should i be ashamed ?)

The film takes place in an almost magically beautiful Irish autumn landscape with fantastic cinematography from
Vilmos Zsigmond. "Images" is an artmovie with a Unicorn puzzle and inspired by Ingmar Bergman's 1966 masterpiece
"Persona".

The Story:

Cathryn (Susannah York) , a writer of Children's Books is trying to write a book called "In Search for Unicorns"
when she receives a phone call from an anonymous woman telling her that her husband Hugh (Rene Auberjonois)
is cheating on her. She's in hysterics and Hugh drives her to their summer house in the Highlands, the Green Cove
where she feels safe and rest. But No, voices, faces and occurrences are floating and hallucinatory for her.
She speaks to herself and people's faces are shifting, sometimes being her husband, sometimes being her dead lover
René (Marcel Bozzuffi), Hugh's old friend friend Marcel (Hugh Millais) or his daughter Susannah (Cathryn
Harrison). She decides to put an end to her brain ghosts, her schizoid chimeras by killing them off. But are they
all fantasy or are they real ?

The soundtrack is amazing and fascinating with the sounds by the Japanese composer and percussionist Stomu
Yamashta adding to John Williams score, and the cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond and the acting from
Susanna York i've already mentioned. Robert Altman was inspired by "Persona" in dealing with schizophrenia
and John Williams and Stomu Yamashta sounds like they also could've been inspired by "Persona", namely
that films amazing soundtrack made by the Swedish composer Lars Johan Werle.

Anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1, english audio mono. Extra: Imagining Images: Interview with Robert Altman (24
minutes made in 2003), Selected scenes commentary by Robert Altman (36 minutes) and a trailer
The Swedish title was : Schizo - den kluvna verkligheten