Director cassavetess doublededged trademarkbrilliant moments of intense acting amid the. Then theres husbands, which starred falk, gazzarra and cassavetes, and chronicles the. To mark a new retrospective of his films, she makes an exception for. His compassion is like a tidal wave, but without a hint of sentiment. Greekamerican actor and filmmaker john cassavetes with. He was widely honored for motion pictures that successfully brought to the screen believable portrayals of real human emotion the younger of two sons of greek immigrants, nicholas and katherine cassavetes, he was born in new york city on december 9, 1929. Probably the most fascinating and exhaustively indepth book on one filmmaker ive ever read. Husbands is his toughest, most exhausting film, but if you can take it, its worth the ride. Its a locale where moods simmer and then boil, liquor flows at an unhealthy pace, and the camera shakes and. Cassavetes joins ben gazzara and peter falkboth of whom would become key collaborators of the directorsplaying a trio of middleaged long island family men who, following the sudden death of their close mutual friend. John cassavetes was a genius, a visionary, and the progenitor of american independent film, but that doesnt begin to get at the generosity of his art.
John cassavetes husbands is disappointing in the way antonionis zabriskie point was. His selffinanced films portray his interest in the human individual and his or her emotional experiences, while the works themselves exemplify the nontraditional ways that a filmmaker is able to take in order to bring a story onto the screen. The trailblazing independent auteur john cassavetes pushes his raw, uncompromising emotional realism to its limit in this unflinching portrait of masculinity in crisis. Early into their 35yearlong marriage, john cassavetes taught gena rowlands to speak greek. John cassavetesstateexpanded to show the template expanded, i. Ending up in london, the three must confront their own mortality and decide how to spend the rest of their lives. But those who are able to give themselves over to cassavetes will find husbands immensely rewarding, an exhausting probe into the psyche of middleaged, middle class american males. Jun 07, 2016 john cassavetes and gena rowlands starting dating in december 1953.
John cassavetes puts a disintegrating marriage under the microscope in the searing faces. Since his death in 1989, gena rowlands has been notoriously reluctant to discuss the work of her husband, john cassavetes. Cassavetes, the son of a greek immigrant, was small five foot seven he would lie about his height throughout his career and energetic to the point of mania. John cassavetes 19291989 was one of the most highly acclaimed independent filmmakers in america.
The five films in this collectionall of which the director maintained total control over by financing. After the funeral, the three men decide that they need to get away from it all for a while. Featuring astonishingly nervy performances from marley, carlin, and. She is the daughter of filmmaker john cassavetes and actress gena rowlands. John cassavetes and the making of husbands 1970 youtube. Peter falk, john cassavetes, and ben gazzara in husbands 1970 john. Cassavetes was the most fervent man i ever met, and he didnt have a copycat bone in his body. A former theater actor fascinated by the power of improvisation, cassavetes brought his search for truth in performance to the screen. Carney has pretty much devoted his life to studying cassavetes and telling the true story of his life, much to the chagrin of his wife, gena rowlands, who has stopped every great thing carney has tried to do to preserve his legacy, including releasing early cuts of shadows and faces. Behind the scenes footage of john cassavetes directing husbands 1970. John cassavetes and gena rowlands starting dating in december 1953. Faces, shadows, opening night, woman under influence, husbands, love streams, gloria, and as actor. The show is playing at the public theater as part of the under the.
In 2008, ivo van hoves techheavy staging of cassavetess 1977 film, opening night, turned a stage at the brooklyn academy of music into an ersatz film set doris mirescu and dangerous ground productions are bringing a similar sensibility think video cameras and projected. Cassavetes first experience with the filmmaking business. Cassavetes was born in new york city, the son of actress gena rowlands and greekamerican actor and film director john cassavetes. Husbands has all the confidence of cassavetes masterpiece, faces, but few of the other qualities of the film that preceded it. Gena rowlands on the work of her husband, john cassavetes. How gena rowlands met john cassavetes the new york times. Between the cinemas of john cassavetes and david cronenberg, a barthesian perspective robert furze b. Starting in new york with his first film shadows 1959, cassavetes moved on to the west coast with faces 1968, husbands 1970, minnie and moskowitz 1971, a woman under the influence 1974, the killing of a chinese bookie 1976, opening night 1977, gloria 1980, and love streams 1984. Cassavetes prelude and postscript jonathan rosenbaum. After helming 1971s minnie and moskowitz for universal, he turned to selffinancing, creating his masterpiece a woman under the influence, which earned rowlands an academy award nomination in the best actress category. Rodney dangerfield at his best on the tonight show starring johnny carson 1983 duration. Cassavetes next directorial effort was husbands 1970, a story about three married men cassavetes, peter falk and ben gazzara who embark on a wild jaunt to london while struggling to cope with the sudden death of a close friend. Described by fine as perhaps john cassavetes most controversial film, husbands is also one of his loosest and most adventurous. Nick cassavetes biography and filmography nick cassavetes.
May 21, 1959 born and raised in the big apple, nick is the son of two actors father john was also a director, and grandson of actress katherine cassavetes. If the two ever found themselves miserable in a crowd, rowlands could use certain words or phrases as a. His films never reached wide audiences and some of his work was panned by critics but he was respected by those in the know. Tribute to a great filmaker, john cassavetes here is a snip of his masterpiece 1971 duration. At one moment, he turns to his son that he hasnt seen since his birth while giving him beer for breakfast and explains, i dont like men. Cassavetes is a place, jon voight remarks in a constant forge, a 2000 documentary that rounds out five films, a box set of movies directed by john cassavetes. John cassavetes was a greekamerican actor, film director, and screenwriter. Director john cassavetes uses photographs of himself with friends and costars ben gazzara and peter falk in his opening, including a fourth pal, played by david rowlands, the brother of cassavetes wife gena, whose funeral they attend in the first filmed scene, in husbands, 1970. Search, discover and share your favorite john cassavetes gifs. Shot in highcontrast 16 mm black and white, the film follows the futile attempts of the captain of industry richard john marley and his wife, maria lynn carlin, to escape the anguish of their empty relationship in the arms of others. Jul 18, 2016 how gena rowlands met john cassavetes.
John cassavetes by gabriella oldham overdrive rakuten. A woman under the influence 1974 directed by, written and directed by. Husbands by ben gazzara, peter falk, jenny runacre. Cassavetes went on to direct eight more films, including the aforementioned husbands 1970, a woman under the influence 1974 and opening night 1977, as well as love streams in 1984. It stars ben gazzara, peter falk and cassavetes as three middle class men in the throes of a midlife crisis following the death of a close friend. John cassavetes was inspired to write a woman under the influence when wife gena rowlands expressed a desire to appear in a play about the difficulties faced by contemporary women. Nicholas david rowland cassavetes born may 21, 1959 is an american actor, director and writer. American lofi pioneer john cassavetes shadows, faces already had his nofrills, improvisatory style locked down in 1970 when he made this boozy, sweaty d. Some of his earlier works, such as shadows 1959 and husbands 1970 grew directly out of his personal experiences. John cassavetes statecollapsed to show the template collapsed, i. Just check out this liquorfueled scene with cassavetes, gazzarra and rowland. Cassavetes was born in new york city in 1929 to nicholas john cassavetes and his wife, katherine demetre 19061983. If the two ever found themselves miserable in a crowd. With ben gazzara, peter falk, john cassavetes, jenny runacre.
This week, rowlands will appear twice at the metrograph theater on the lower east side, in honor. Greekamerican actor and filmmaker john cassavetes 1929 1989 with his wife, actress gena rowlands right and britt ekland left, his costar in the film gli intoccabili the untouchables, aka machine gun mccain, during location filming in rome, italy, 3rd july 1968. Cassavetes wrote and directed husbands, in addition to starring in it, it would have been unusual indeed if it turned out that he didnt think it was a good movie. Lee examines spacial relationships in the directors first feature film shadows 1959, revealing how the indie icon uses space to establish the emotional states of two characters. Nov 18, 2014 early into their 35yearlong marriage, john cassavetes taught gena rowlands to speak greek. Rowlands, the daughter of a wisconsin state senator, was blonde with elegant manners.
John cassavetes began his career in film in 1953 and ended it in 1986, between which times he was involved in every aspect of the film, television, and stage arts, including acting, directing, scoring, shooting, editing, producing, and marketing. John cassavetes wrote and directed this look at three middleaged men. An interview with actress gena rowlands on the occasion of a john cassavetesrowlands retrospective at nycs metrograph. It shows an important director not merely failing, but not even understanding why. For john cassavetes, his 1976 neonoir the killing of a chinese bookie marked a departure. Peter falk, john cassavetes, and ben gazzara run riot the dick cavett show duration. When he tried to raise funding for the project, he was. It has good intentions, i suppose, but it is an artistic disaster and only fitfully.
However, his performance is also funny and compassionate. Cassavetes made a number of movies with alcoholism as a backdrop, including opening night, which was allegedly about a broadway actress coming to grips with the aging process, but her alcoholism runs wild throughout the film. His completed script was so intense and emotional she knew she would be unable to perform it eight times a week, so he decided to adapt it for the screen. John cassavetes and peter falk are at the top of their game in elaine mays tangy, talky classic about mobster lowlife published. John cassavetesstatecollapsed to show the template collapsed, i. She is best known for her 2007 film broken english. Husbands is a 1970 american comedydrama film written and directed by john cassavetes. Jan 07, 2010 doris mirescu and dangerous ground productions are bringing a similar sensibility think video cameras and projected closeups to the stage in john cassavetes husbands, a reimagining of cassavetess 1970 film about three men dealing with a friends death. Those in the former camp get what cassavetes is all about. The actress gena rowlands, photographed at the plaza hotel. Translating the films of the director john cassavetes for the stage is a novel concept, but not a new one.
Cassavetes creates a similar sense of unease in the viewer. In many areas of cassavetes life and art, the myths have completely blocked the view of the realities. Its been rumored the cassavetes destroyed what he believed to be the poorer versions of the film, opting to distribute the abbreviated twoandahalf hour version. Once inside a cassavetes film, theres no mistaking it for anywhere else. Biography for john cassavetes turner classic movies. What always saves a cassavetes film from the precipice is that by the time the credits roll, we know his people as we know our own loved ones flawed, complex, mysterious. What we get is three great actors mephistophelian bad boy cassavetes, wounded idealist falk, and in a filmstealing performance, glowering killjoy ben. After the death of a common friend, three married men leave their lives together, seeking pleasure and freedom and ultimately leaving for london. Whether this is artistically brilliant or pretentious and sophomoric depends upon the individual viewer. As a child, he appeared in two of his fathers films. Shadows is as much about the seemingly infinite experience of youth as love streams is about the certainty of mortality. These pages are dedicated to the great movie director john cassavetes through a great selection of original movie posters, storyboards, movie scripts, lobby cards and stills as director. An influential figure in film history, john cassavetes is known as the father of independent film. After coming to terms with columbia, cassavetes began work on 1970s husbands, which costarred peter falk and ben gazzara.
Identity in the films of cassavetes senses of cinema. Husbands 1970 and a woman under the influence 1974. By 1975 he felt he had exhausted this approach and consciously went in pursuit of. Hons this thesis is submitted to dublin city university for the award of ph. When cassavetes finally and decisively returned to independence with faces 1968, the fact that he was now dramatically shifting his focus to the middleclass an emphasis that would be amplified in husbands 1970 altered what might be called his playing field for most of the remainder of his career, widening this focus mainly to. Up to a woman under the influence 1974 he described his films as coming from plain, simple feeling. If youre a master of camerawork like john cassavetes it can say a whole hell of a lot. Husbands 1970 middle age and mortality are the major themes of this powerful existential drama, starring ben gazarra, peter falk and cassavetes himself. Aug, 2014 cassavetes films, as a whole, are about aging. My cassavetes on cassavetes and shadows books were the first published attempts to separate the facts from the fictions in cassavetes life and work, and my current work continues this project. He is considered a pioneer of american independent film, as he often financed his own films.