Quintet
Quintet
R | 09 February 1979 (USA)
Quintet Trailers

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.

Reviews
NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!
Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
AllNewSux This movie is bleak, it is depressing as Hell, but it may also be the most honest and most realistic looking post apocalyptic film ever made. Without question this would qualify as Robert Altman's strangest and least known film. I understand that it is a bit slow paced and confusing, but stick with it. I honestly recommend reading the plot off some webpage BEFORE watching the movie. If you do that you'll have no problem following the confusing plot, but you'll still probably never understand exactly how to play the game of Quintet. Paul Newman is great and he and the rest of the city's populace seem to be in constant misery in this amazing backdrop of rottweilers, steel and ice. Did I mention the ice? This is easily the coldest film you've ever seen and it feels so realistic that you'll need an extra blanket to watch it. Is this movie for everyone? No. I wouldn't recommend it as a date movie or something to watch with your stoned friends, but if you're a science fiction fan this masterpiece of loneliness and coldness deserves your attention and perhaps a rediscovery by people who don't constantly look for the "Hollywood ending".
Gooper Fortunately, all films aren't for everybody. 'Quintet' is only for a few.I saw this picture twice when it first came out, and I was practically the only one in the theatre. Why? Because it is an exploration into existential possibilities, and when you're in such territory, it's not the type of film where everything is explained, which is what audiences want these days.The problem is, existentialism (in the Sartre sense) is way out of style, if anyone even still knows what that is anymore. Today everybody wants to be cool, so 'Quintet', which is a quiet study of a very controlled situation, probably makes people squirm, and so they can just say, 'what was THAT all about??' 'Quintet' isn't cool (even though the premise is freezing to death), and it just hasn't got the appeal that even supposedly broad-minded film buffs might consider worthwhile.What I don't understand is that, if people can praise, say, Bergman for 'The Seventh Seal', why would they not give 'Quintet' a bit of consideration? Altman was plainly shooting for somewhat of a Bergmaneque question, only on a less intellectual plane: what the hell do humans do when there are fewer and fewer options available for survival? Answer: they go on anyway.'Quintet' is what it is. If nothing else, it is a fine example of adventurous film-making, pushing the limits, in the period right before the blockbuster syndrome took over, once and for all.
bezdomny-5 Sorry--whatever merits the story about the game may have, this movie really loses it with the details. This post-apocalyptic city seems to have plenty of light bulbs and electricity (where from who knows where), but apparently no one bothered to save an electric heater. I am sorry, but if you have electricity, why do you have to rely solely on fire for warmth? Also, some characters seem to have vaguely Italian accents while the rest are deadpan American.And the dogs--jeez! Why aren't the people eating them (instead of the reverse)? And apparently only one breed survived. The dogs are a distraction and rather stupid. The movie could have worked on the level of the game, but the stupid "realistic" details were just the reverse and made the movie false and unwatchable.
bkoganbing Quintet marks the only venture of both Paul Newman and director Robert Altman into the realm of science fiction. It was said of Newman that he could not do comedy, but he tried until he finally scored a real success in that genre with Slap Shot. But the failure of this film left him gun shy and he never tried it again.This is one of the biggest downer films I've ever seen. It's a futuristic ice age, brought on by who knows what, but presumably it's a nuclear winter. Even during the ice age of thousands of years ago, the equatorial parts of the earth still sustained animal and human life, but apparently not here. Seals have survived and Paul Newman is a seal hunter on the outside.But hunters do need a little R&R and Newman goes to a futuristic city where things are so boring the natives have some kind of game played with six people and it's a kind of Russian roulette. To win you have to kill five other participants in your game.It's a sad turn to see what man has come down to. Which is one of the reasons I just could not get into this story. The atmosphere is bleak, the story is bleak, the people are bleak, it's all so bleak. No wonder this thing came up short at the box office.It's a film that just about everyone thinks is never going to be on the top ten list of Paul Newman films, including me.This is man's future, what a bummer.