Robert Altman's detective noir flick The Long Goodbye gets a UK blu ray release under Arrow's watchful eye. The Elliot Gould-starrer set in sunny California sees Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler's private dick creation as made famous by Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep, trying to work out what in the heck is going on when, after going about his usual night, he finds himself questioned by the police about the murder of his friend's wife. And from that, things start to go a little hectic, as Marlowe is hired by a woman who wants her husband found. As attention diverts from one case to the other, the California that Marlowe lives happily shows its uglier side, whilst he takes it all in with a semblance of humour, a cigarette in the mouth, and eyes that have seen all too many horrible things in their lifetime.
The Long Goodbye is all very unhinged. The plot rambles around without caring about continuing for stretches at a time, certainly the second hour is just a mess of things that happen, and then things that never do. It's clear to see what parts of this film The Coen Brothers would have found inspiration for The Big Lebowski with, the main character drifting into stories, a self-obsessed landscape of folk who don't care much about anyone but their household, the mix of dry humour and violence, it's all here, and yet Robert Altman's film just doesn't really click in. The post-modern detective films of the 70's were an odd bunch, classing this certainly alongside Chinatown, they wanted to very much take a character you might imagine in a 40's film, and bring them to the new California landscape, change them around a little bit but still have them be the compass for which the world is seen via. It's an admirable movement in the style and genre, and whilst from that perspective both films work, they do forget the most important part of a detective story, to entertain, enthrall, excite and engage.
Gould's Marlowe is an enjoyable screen presence, but all too often he's pushed to the back for less-than-enjoyable crazy characters to pop up and do their thing, whilst the other performers go overboard indeed, the story just doesn't make it for them to be worth investing in as you watch. We want to see Marlowe leading his own film, but that's just not what you get here. Passive characters are hard to pull off, and Altman's film just doesn't get it right.
The blu ray looks great, a few stray shots here and there, including a take where a hair was either on the lens or the reel when printed is a tad annoying, whilst the colours of the film turn deep, dark shots brown, a very 70's look indeed. The mono mix shows its age with the first track of The Long Goodbye during the credits, it's a bit noisy, but dialogue is mostly clear, short of Marlowe's mumbled comments, and the effects are effective, suitably.
Meanwhile, the disk offers a 25 minute look back at pre-pro and production with Altman and Gould interviews, an hour-long Altman-centric TV show with more talk from Gould, and Shelly Duval as well, a theatrical trailer, some radio trailers and a bunch of interviews with Altman, Gould, the cinematography and others not just on The Long Goodbye, but Raymond Chandler's writing as well. A complete package, just missing a commentary with Altman, alas. Arrow include a pamphlet with essays on the film/cinematography and a written interview with the screenwriter of the film and a reversible sleeve that has poster artwork on one side, and some newly generated Arrow artwork which looks stellar indeed.