****/***** I have seen 95% of Altman's films, and I would say '3 Women' is in the upper-middle echelon of his body of work. Stylistically and thematically, it reminds me most of his 'Images' from '72. And as others have mentioned, Altman basically derived the film from a dream he had. And yes, this film is like a dream; from the almost Jungian imagery of Willie's murals that are archetypal and could possibly denote the collective unconscious, to the idea that Pinky is basically reborn after falling into the pool(Altman said the water in the movie symbolized amniotic fluid), we are in a virtual dreamscape. Identities are reaccessed, and seem to shift as a barren desert engulfs them. Maybe it is about the cycle of life, as each of the three women, seem to embody some stage, or step on the ladder of life? We are introduced to these characters in a nursing home (where people are again in water), and leave these character's lives, after Millie helps Willie give birth (symbolic possibly of Willie channeling or embodying Millie, or vice-versa) to a still-born. They all only seem to consort with one man, that being Edgar, and in the end, live together a mesh of each other. But this is a dream. So one interpretation could be as good as the next. Or as irrelevant as the next. However, I wonder what Freud would think?
Dreams can be crazy things. I'm glad that none of mine have be documented in film. Your review makes '3 Women' sound interesting. I may have to watch it one of these days.
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