John Cassavetes
Added 2022-03-01 20:35:30 +0000 UTCWanted to get your opinions on his work. I'm working on a review for A Woman Under the Influence. I admit that it's a film I both admire and feel torn on. But I just wanted to get a general sense of how you guys feel about him.
Comments
good way of putting it. I think the socio-political things are there...but they aren't as rich as I would like them to be...incorporated into the emotional elements.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-07 21:07:46 +0000 UTCDefinitely an interesting filmmaker who took inspirations from European films of that time. Ingmar Bergman comes to mind, especially. Reminding me I still haven't watched that many of JC's movies. Such films might be described as self-laceration psychological dramas. Might also be fruitful to frame those into context of the socio-political conditions of that particular time period.
Laro
2022-03-07 08:22:06 +0000 UTCFor sure. I'm in a similar state of mind
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-02 23:59:42 +0000 UTCOnce again....we are in 100% full agreement.
Deepfocuslens
2022-03-02 23:59:15 +0000 UTCI've not seen any of his films. I don't consider myself to be a "director stan", I have to be interested in a specific film story, regardless of the director. I did see that "Shadows" is available on HBO Max so I will give that a look. 👍
Brian Wright
2022-03-02 19:20:30 +0000 UTCI've only seen The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. I think it went on a little too long, but overall I really liked it. The story and actors were great, and it was very atmospheric.
Woosh
2022-03-02 06:56:56 +0000 UTCAdmittedly, I’ve only ever seen A Woman Under the Influence, so I’m going by that film alone. More than any other director—even Robert Altman—John Cassavetes gave his film over to his actors. He was one of the first to realize how a scene could be livened up when the actors are given the reins and are able to bring their own creative energy and input to the moment (though improvisation was done in rehearsal and not during shooting). Actors were in charge of their characters. What Cassavetes did was stand back and shoot the scene. He was enormously influential in doing this (Scorsese took a lot of ideas from him), and produced raw, vibrant performances as a result. Gena Rowlands was phenomenal in Woman. And yet…I have to say that Cassavetes gave his actors too much freedom, that he overindulged them. The actors may have had room to be their characters, but there wasn’t anyone there to support them when they go off the rails. Even great actors doing great work need their director to have a hand in their performance. And when a shot is held too long and the actors are allowed to do too much, the realism can burn away and we are left to feel like we’re watching performances, especially Rowlands. The intervention scene is an egregious example of that. What we’re left to watch comes off not so much as raw but as raw footage. And Cassavetes’ method of letting the actors control a scene and standing back to shoot—rendering entire sequences in something like real time—makes the film run way too long. The whole movie is thrown out of shape by a lack of directorial control over pacing. This is a 2 1/2 hour movie that could have been done in 2/3 of that time. Sometimes that real-time staging is effective (the climactic scene), sometimes it isn’t (again, that intervention scene, which needs to be cut down to half its length). People like Scorsese learned from Cassavetes to give actors the freedom to contribute and heighten a scene, but they refined his methods by maintaining a degree of control. In editing and providing direction during shooting, they maintained the proper shape of a scene and got rid of any excess. Cassavetes could have stood to learn some of that discipline and intervene a little more. It would not have diluted the effect he was looking for—that of real life, and all its fascinating little minutiae, happening before our eyes. And in watching his movies, a lot of people’s patience wouldn’t be so tested.
Bennett Oliver
2022-03-02 06:27:19 +0000 UTCI've only seen Woman Under the Influence and Love Streams but it's been years since I last saw them. I remember being entranced by the unique pace and tone of his directing style but I don't remember much of the plot or characters.
Wolfman Brandon
2022-03-01 21:27:10 +0000 UTCI’ve seen it along with Love Streams. I liked it but found some moments a little too over the top for my taste. Love Streams was much better and allowed me to see why his work is so revered. He and Gena Rowlands are obviously great together as well as Peter Falk. I admire the chances he takes but can totally see why some have issues with his style.
Stephen
2022-03-01 21:20:26 +0000 UTCA real blind spot for me that I need to rectify. I’ve only seen Shadows and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Both very interesting, both requiring a lot of work and attention by the viewer. Woman Under the Influence seems to be viewed as his best? Or maybe Husbands?
Jim Barnes
2022-03-01 20:44:59 +0000 UTC
