3 Women

Given the ethereal, otherworldly quality of 3 Women, it is hardly surprising that the idea came to director Robert Altman in a dream. And indeed, Altman's film is both as impenetrable but compelling, and as frustrating yet beautiful as any dream you are ever likely to experience.

Sissy Spacek is the shy and reclusive Pinky, who befriends the misguidedly confident Millie (Shelley Duvall) while working together at a nursing home. When Pinky moves in with Millie, an understated power struggle emerges, and the two soon begin to adopt each other's personalities. While the relationship between the two women remains physically platonic, the way their lives fuse together provides an apt analogy for the unification of identities that occurs in long-term relationships.

This much overlooked masterpiece is an intense and delicately sensual examination of female desire.

Michael Blyth