Hear Me Out: ‘The Long Goodbye’ is the greatest Friday night movie ever made
Robert Altman is heralded by many for being a rule breaker and misfit within the independent filmmaking scene of the 1970s. Does he love America or hate it? Is he satirising? Or does he lack self-awareness? These are all questions that have been posed when discussing Altman’s work. However, there’s no denying that the director knows how to keep audiences on their toes – edging the line between what we expect and the unexpected, which, in my opinion, is the perfect combination of qualities for the perfect Friday night film. And perhaps, the Altman film that embodies this the most is The Long Goodbye.
‘The Long Goodbye’ follows Philip Marlowe, masterfully portrayed by Elliot Gould, a detective who is somewhat intent on helping a friend who has been accused of murdering his wife. This is Altman’s own spin on the film noir, mimicking (and perhaps mocking?) the clichés of the genre.
Marlowe is a character so laid back and unbothered by the disturbances and violence that he witnesses that it becomes comical; a character constantly involved in misunderstandings and obstacles that mean his work is never truly done. The main character in a typical film noir is often distracted by a love interest or the presence of a beautiful woman, but in The Long Goodbye, Marlowe is constantly disinterested and unperturbed by the constant nakedness of his next-door neighbours, a group of female dancers that languidly lounge around the balcony without any clothes on, which Marlowe barely acknowledges.
In a film that is marketed as a thriller, it remains calm and composed for its entire duration, never raising its voice or breaking a sweat in the face of danger and threat. Marlowe merely walks around in his slightly creased suit, swiping matches on every available surface as he smokes and ponders the gravity of this mystery. The music playing in the bars and on his car stereo all repeat the same lyrics, “It’s the long goodbye”, adding a sense of languidness to his mission as he slowly searches for answers.
However, as he wanders around Los Angeles in his relaxed pursuit of truth, we realise that this lack of urgency is perhaps not a disinterest on his behalf but a nihilism and resignation towards the inherent corruption within the justice system. We start to get the feeling that Marlowe has been here before, and perhaps his past efforts to help those in need and create justice didn’t always bring about fair consequences or reassuring truths.
Marlowe is a weathered sailor in a storm that doesn’t stop waging, and his minimal reaction to these events comes from a deeper and sadder resignation to the fact that corruption and evil are inescapable. It’s always a long goodbye.
This is why The Long Goodbye is the perfect Friday night movie. While providing a subtle commentary on the power structures that fail all of us, it is also an effortlessly slick and sexy film, with hilarious gags and twists on a genre we know and love and a detective who’s simply trying to survive as a cat in a dog-eat-dog world.
