McCabe and Mrs Miller

John McCabe (Warren Beatty) is a small-time presumptuous poker-playing businessman who, while shaping a town and reputation, finds himself a partner of sorts in the shrewd opium-smoking whorehouse madam Constance Miller (Julie Christie). She challenges his honest hard-working sensibilities and brings elements of class and commerce to his House of Fortune. Their relationship is a well-scripted clash of personalities at the heart of the film, and as such is a curious and original source of amusement.

This is not your typical Western. If it's not raining, there are a few feet of snow on the ground. There's no riding through the desert or chasing Indians, nor are there uncomfortable silences as some mysterious rider enters the saloon. These stereotypes are removed, making room for small-town chatter, and with it character observation aplenty. Director Robert Altman is unmatched in his ability to create a human ambience in his films. Although this film concentrates on a select few characters, the attention to detail is sufficient to create a convincing sense of community, almost giving the audience the feeling that they have lived in the little town of Presbyterian Church.

The audience is always compelled. To begin with, we are intrigued by the entrepreneurial effort required in moulding the McCabe-Miller legacy. People go about their everyday routines in much the same way as they do today: there is a priest, a lawyer, builders and assorted deadbeats earning their living. The whorehouse provides the epicentre needed to present depth and colour to the proceedings.

Gunslinging doesn't enter the plot until the closing act, when unexpectedly the security blanket is menacingly yanked away, and Warren Beatty's McCabe is pulled off his high horse, so to speak. It's a clash of both "in the kingdom of the blind" and "play in your own league", with plenty of jeopardy and personal challenges to motivate your attention. The ending is satisfying, although hindsight deems the audacious narrative a little too typical of early-70s counterculture.