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IMDb > Quintet (1979)
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Overview

User Rating:
4.9/10   1,041 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Robert Altman (story) &
Lionel Chetwynd (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Quintet on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
24 August 1979 (West Germany) more
Genre:
Tagline:
One man against the world.
Plot:
During a future ice age, dying humanity occupies its remaining time by playing a board game called "Quintet." For one small group, this obsession is not enough; they play the game with living pieces ... and only the winner survives. | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(8 articles)
Weekend Shopping Guide 10/16/09: Boosh Is Mighty
 (From . 16 October 2009, 3:56 PM, PDT)

What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #10
 (From Rope Of Silicon. 27 September 2009, 1:56 AM, PDT)

User Reviews:
A flawed masterpiece more (54 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Paul Newman ... Essex
Vittorio Gassman ... Saint Christopher
Fernando Rey ... Grigor
Bibi Andersson ... Ambrosia
Brigitte Fossey ... Vivia, Essex's Wife
Nina Van Pallandt ... Deuca
David Langton ... Goldstar
Thomas Hill ... Francha (as Tom Hill)
Monique Mercure ... Redstone's Mate

Craig Richard Nelson ... Redstone
Maruska Stankova ... Jaspera
Anne Gerety ... Aeon
Michel Maillot ... Obelus
Max Fleck ... Wood Supplier
Françoise Berd ... Charity house woman
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Additional Details

Runtime:
118 min | Argentina:116 min | Portugal:110 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The pavilion was to be razed after filming was complete. 'Robert Altman' had developed an affection for the silk-screened glass panels that he had used to heighten the lost-world sense of the movie's setting. He salvaged the 44 panels and for a time displayed them at his Lion's Gate studio. When he and his wife found an apartment in Manhattan in 1984, about a dozen of the panels - some as tall as 18 feet - became the dominant decorative feature. (The history of the panels and the apartment, with photos, became an article in the March 1990 issue of "Architectural Digest", preserved online at http://www.sopot.org/altmanresidence.pdf.) more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Developing the World of 'Quintet' (2006) (V) more

FAQ

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25 out of 29 people found the following review useful.
A flawed masterpiece, 10 December 2005
8/10
Author: raidavies-1 from New Zealand

I am one of those who was haunted by this film on first viewing and watched it for a second time soon afterward and understood - and appreciated - it far more as a result. It's often disingenuous to say that a film which so clearly divided opinion has to have something going for it but, in the case of Quintet, that is pleasingly true. By trawling the other comments about Quintet on the website, you can see that some people have a visceral dislike for the slow pace and unfolding of the film and a discontent with the actions and reactions of characters within it. Others point out that this is precisely the point of the film - it is profoundly nihilistic and demonstrates the breakdown of modern social conventions when a culture is forced to make a dramatic change to itself. Also, Quintet should be taken in the context of Marshall Mcluhan's comment: "the medium is the message". I wish I could claim this next comment as my own, because it's very perceptive, but it came from my then girlfriend: "This must have been what it was like for people in the last ice age, when just surviving was the priority and anything, even killing people, was a welcome break from the tedium". You see, Quintet isn't actually about how a society evolves to meet the challenges of environmental change; it's about how a society devolves to minimise the effect of environmental changes. Having watched this film again just last night, I agree even more with Altman's vision of where the human race is likely to go - I think he is remarkably prescient. Like 'Three Days of the Condor', this is a film that has, with the passing of time, become remarkably relevant to the world in which we live today.

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Message Boards

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Rules of Quintet game? mpoconnor7
One of the very worst... kjcowzlan
The trailer... kjcowzlan
Did Not Understand! fantasmic17-2
Quintet jumper_31
DVD peter_farb2003
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