Robert Altman looks into the future through a frosted window. What he sees is a snowbound civilization, bands of well-fed dogs devouring human carcasses, and the last survivors dressing in Renaissance costumes and entertaining themselves with an unfathomable game called Quintet, which may be played either with a game board and dice, just for diversion, or with bombs and daggers, for life or death. These internecine games of the future were more fun in Elio Petri's The Tenth Victim. Altman, a grim game player, ought to at least have a time limit put on his moves. With him in charge of the end of the world, it takes forever to get there. His slowly prowling cameras are this time under the direction of Jean Boffety, whom he worked with on Thieves Like Us; and apart from the stupid blurring around the edges of the image, this is perhaps his handsomest movie since then. With Paul Newman, Bibi Andersson, Fernando Rey, Vittorio Gassman, and Brigitte Fossey. (1979) — Duncan Shepherd
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