Images (1972)

66% of users liked it
(1,545 ratings)

A woman walks a razor's edge between reality and madness in this impressionistic drama written and directed by Robert Altman. Cathryn (Susannah York) is a woman who begins to suspect that her marriage to Hugh (René Auberjonois) is falling apart after receiving a mysterious phone call from a friend… More A woman walks a razor's edge between reality and madness in this impressionistic drama written and directed by Robert Altman. Cathryn (Susannah York) is a woman who begins to suspect that her marriage to Hugh (René Auberjonois) is falling apart after receiving a mysterious phone call from a friend who tells her Hugh has been having an affair. Cathryn herself has not been happy with Hugh, and years before she took a lover, Rene (Marcel Bozzuffi), though he died some time ago in a plane crash. Thinking they both need to get away, Hugh takes Cathryn to their house in the country, where Hugh indulges in his hobbies, hunting and photography, and Cathryn works on a book of fantasy tales for children. Before long, Cathryn begins to see apparitions of the late Rene around the house, much to her consternation; while confronting her feelings about the late Rene and the wandering Hugh, Marcel (Hugh Millais), a friend of the couple who makes little secret of his attraction to Cathryn, arrives for a visit, with his daughter Susannah (Cathryn Harrison) in tow. As Rene's appearances become more vivid and Cathryn reaches the end of her tether, she begins to drift deeper into a fantasy world, where it's difficult to tell what is real and what is imagined. Beautifully shot on striking locations in Ireland by Vilmos Zsigmond, Images earned Susannah York an award as Best Actress at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By: Robert Altman
Written By: Robert Altman
Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Dec 18, 1972 Wide
On DVD: Sep 16, 2003

Critic Reviews

Tony Macklin, tonymacklin.net
It is a rare film that can entice me to surrender my logic, but Images does just that. [It] is a film in which Altman doesn't worry about defenses. He boldly creates a spiritual vision and lets logic and caution fall by the wayside of wondrous beauty.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A challenging film, heavy on symbolism and motifs.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Saskia D

Difficult to get into. You don't really get to know the main character, which made it difficult for me to connect with her. I missed context. What's her story? But when I was halfway through that didn't bother me anymore. The line between reality and her hallucinations… More
Difficult to get into. You don't really get to know the main character, which made it difficult for me to connect with her. I missed context. What's her story? But when I was halfway through that didn't bother me anymore. The line between reality and her hallucinations become increasingly thin and confusing, you're just waiting for something to go terribly wrong. A large part of the movie is shot in a beautiful location. It adds to the mystery and surrealism.
Steven C

I have a lot of trouble with films featuring unreliable narrators. While I understand that films about a character with a frayed sense of reality need to be as chaotic and fractured as their psyche, they tend to alienate me emotionally. Robert Altman's "Images" does… More
I have a lot of trouble with films featuring unreliable narrators. While I understand that films about a character with a frayed sense of reality need to be as chaotic and fractured as their psyche, they tend to alienate me emotionally. Robert Altman's "Images" does those things, of course, but what makes this a step above similarly themed films like, "Persona," "Black Swan" or "The Double Life of Veronique," is that it's rather subtle. Films featuring a character confronting their double are usually fraught with ham-fisted symbolism and overly obvious motifs. I'm not saying "Images" is without these things but Altman has the finesse to blend them, more or less, seamlessly into the film. With the help of fluid cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, a dynamic and precise Susannah York and a haunting score by John Williams, "Images" is able to transcend the normal pitfalls of this microcosm of a genre and remain a serious piece of artistic expression.
Pierluigi P

One of the bleakest, most atypical and experimental Altman films. Heavily influenced by Bergman and Polanski. A haunting plunge into sexuality and schizofrenia.
Stella D

a psychological horror that sees the lead character going mad in a country house in ireland. gorgeously shot and full of visual hints and symbolism, the story is framed by a fairy tale she's been writing and keeps the viewer off balance between memory and imagination, aided by… More
a psychological horror that sees the lead character going mad in a country house in ireland. gorgeously shot and full of visual hints and symbolism, the story is framed by a fairy tale she's been writing and keeps the viewer off balance between memory and imagination, aided by the disorienting score. a great performance by susannah york and masterfully done by altman, who emphasizes the puzzle by naming each of the main characters after one of his co-stars. very different from his later works, the film was believed lost for many years and deserves to be better known
Drew S

Considering that Robert Altman was so universally loved and revered as a master-class film maker, you'd think that this movie would be recognized as the masterpiece it is. Images has, for some reason, fallen to the wayside as a minor entry in his canon - a completely undeserved… More
Considering that Robert Altman was so universally loved and revered as a master-class film maker, you'd think that this movie would be recognized as the masterpiece it is. Images has, for some reason, fallen to the wayside as a minor entry in his canon - a completely undeserved status. As a matter of fact, it is essentially a flawless film, synergizing a complex and robust atmosphere with a rich, imaginative, macabre story. Not since There Will Be Blood have I seen a movie with such a controlled, potent sense of self. No choice here is made in vain. Susannah York nails this shit with a performance that is energetic and serious but never over the top; John Williams composes one of the most exciting scores I've heard in ages; Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography is cavernous and oppressive and lush in a dreamlike way. The children's book narrative, written by York herself, is a bizarre but suitable frame for the film. And of course, Altman's contributions are not to be ignored. A director known for his sprawling ensemble casts helmed this six-man chamber horror perfectly, with assurance and confidence in his audience. My praise might seem a little superfluous, but this film is gravely underseen and I feel it deserves much more attention than it has received. Throw this one on your Netflix queue posthaste.
Stephen M

Contrasting its undeniable brilliance with its lukewarm critical reputation, "Images" has got to be the most undeservedly neglected film in the Robert Altman canon. Less haunting and less dreamlike than the later "3 Women", it's not quite equal to that film,… More
Contrasting its undeniable brilliance with its lukewarm critical reputation, "Images" has got to be the most undeservedly neglected film in the Robert Altman canon. Less haunting and less dreamlike than the later "3 Women", it's not quite equal to that film, but it shares the same theme of mental disintegration and the transference of identity. In its ingenious use of horror movie conventions to emphasise psychological illness, the film which "Images" most reminds me of is Ingmar Bergman's "Hour of the Wolf", but of the two I actually prefer Altman's movie, which is less perplexing and more readily invites repeat viewing. Altman's shock effects are elegantly simple but devastatingly effective, and as befits a movie about a fragmenting personality (Susannah York's), he litters the screen with reflections, refractions and repetitious action and dialogue. Some of his editing transitions are very striking, for example a close-up of a stereoscope which cuts to a circular pair of mirrors in York's bedroom, or a stream of water from a showerhead which becomes a waterfall. In keeping with the theme of blurred identity, each of the five principal actors plays a character named after one of his/her co-stars. Endlessly fascinating, it's also one of the most beautifully photographed films--courtesy of Vilmos Zsigmond--I have ever seen.
Brian R

Not your typical Robert Altman picture. It's pretty grim with no soul bearings since it's a psychological thriler but it does have an interesting character played by Susannah York. The picture doesn't even have the overlapping dialogue Altman is known for but it's… More
Not your typical Robert Altman picture. It's pretty grim with no soul bearings since it's a psychological thriler but it does have an interesting character played by Susannah York. The picture doesn't even have the overlapping dialogue Altman is known for but it's not really needed since he is more interested in what's real and what isn't. "Images" is one of those love and hate pictures I admired and frustratingly dislike.