:
Charlie Picerni,
Charlie Picerni,
Gena Rowlands,
more...
:
John Cassavetes,
Charles Kiselyak,
John Cassavetes
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Criterion, Criterion Collection
: Drama, Independent, Criterion Collection, Documentary, Biographies, Neo Noir, Classic Crime, Crime, Classic Crime, Classics, Cult, Romance, Classic Drama, Classic Drama
: English
: English
see additional details...
|
|
A Woman Under the Influence (Criterion Collection) (1974)
John Cassavetes' harrowing masterpiece charts the emotional meltdown of a suburban housewife and its effects on her blue-collar Italian family. Gena Rowlands stars as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of three whose husband Nick (Peter Falk) works as a construction worker; a mismatched couple like so many others in Cassavetes films, the Longhettis seem to be complete opposites: she's impetuous, extroverted, and fragile, while he's controlling, distant, and hard-bitten. Their differences underscore a series of domestic dramas, culminating in a nervous breakdown that sends Mabel to a psychiatric hospital for six months, only to return to a home environment on even thinner ice than before. The improvisational style central to Cassavetes' vision is at its most acute throughout A Woman Under the Influence. Like its title heroine, the film threatens to veer out of control at any time, its shape and scope defined not by narrative but by the emotional upheaval at its center. Embracing the full spectrum of the Longhettis' relationship, from seismic bursts of high drama to small, even trivial moments of domestic tedium, its long scenes relentlessly probe every nook and cranny of the family's life, drawing out each moment for maximum emotional impact; the film is by turns beautiful and ugly, illuminating and frustrating, and it features a performance by Rowlands as heartwrenching and unforgettable as any ever committed to celluloid. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
A Constant Forge (Criterion Collection) (2000)
Charles Kiselyak's A Constant Forge--The Life and Art of John Cassavetes is a detailed journey through the career of one of film's greatest pioneers and iconoclasts. Assembled from candid interviews with Cassavetes' collaborators and friends, rare photographs, archival footage, and the director's own words, the film paints a revealing portrait of a man whose fierce love, courage, and dedication changed the face of cinema forever.
Faces (Criterion Collection) (1968)
Faces is right: this definitive John Cassavetes film consists almost exclusively of tight, uncomfortable close-ups. It takes place in the fourteenth year of the marriage of Richard (John Marley) and Maria (Lynn Carlin). Neither husband nor wife is content with the conditions that prevail; Maria joins her friends looking for romantic satisfaction elsewhere, while Richard secures the services of a prostitute (Gena Rowlands). Maria herself has a one-night stand with a hippie (Seymour Cassel), but this is no more satisfying than her dead-end marriage. If you think that Faces is an exhausting experience in its current 130-minute length, imagine what it looked like in Cassavetes' original six-hour cut. Alternately clumsy and profound, it is nonetheless a work of deep sincerity, as recognized by the Venice Film Festival, which bestowed no fewer than five awards on the film, and it perfectly exemplifies Cassavetes' improvisational, cinéma vérité style and searching explorations of modern relationships. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Faces (Criterion Collection) (Bonus Disc) (1968)
Faces is right: this definitive John Cassavetes film consists almost exclusively of tight, uncomfortable close-ups. It takes place in the fourteenth year of the marriage of Richard (John Marley) and Maria (Lynn Carlin). Neither husband nor wife is content with the conditions that prevail; Maria joins her friends looking for romantic satisfaction elsewhere, while Richard secures the services of a prostitute (Gena Rowlands). Maria herself has a one-night stand with a hippie (Seymour Cassel), but this is no more satisfying than her dead-end marriage. If you think that Faces is an exhausting experience in its current 130-minute length, imagine what it looked like in Cassavetes' original six-hour cut. Alternately clumsy and profound, it is nonetheless a work of deep sincerity, as recognized by the Venice Film Festival, which bestowed no fewer than five awards on the film, and it perfectly exemplifies Cassavetes' improvisational, cinéma vérité style and searching explorations of modern relationships. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: 1976 Cut (Criterion Collection) (1976)
John Cassavetes takes a contemporary film noir turn (which he would return to in Gloria) after exploring domestic melodrama in A Woman Under the Influence with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Ben Gazzara plays Cosmo Vitelli, the owner of a sleazy Los Angeles strip joint, who loses $20,000 at a mob gambling club owned by a small time gangster (Seymour Cassel). Since Cosmo doesn't have the $20,000, he is forced to murder a Chinese bookie in order to clear his debt to the mob. What Cosmo doesn't know is he's part of a set-up. The bookie is actually a West Coast mob boss protected around the clock by bodyguards. The mobsters figure that Cosmo will be killed in an impossible hit and they can take over his nightclub. But Cosmo proves luckier than the mobsters think -- he manages to kill his target, and now the mobsters have to track down Cosmo and kill him. Initially, at 133 minutes, the movie was subsequently re-edited by Cassavetes to 109 minutes. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: 1978 Cut (Criterion Collection) (1976)
John Cassavetes takes a contemporary film noir turn (which he would return to in Gloria) after exploring domestic melodrama in A Woman Under the Influence with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Ben Gazzara plays Cosmo Vitelli, the owner of a sleazy Los Angeles strip joint, who loses $20,000 at a mob gambling club owned by a small time gangster (Seymour Cassel). Since Cosmo doesn't have the $20,000, he is forced to murder a Chinese bookie in order to clear his debt to the mob. What Cosmo doesn't know is he's part of a set-up. The bookie is actually a West Coast mob boss protected around the clock by bodyguards. The mobsters figure that Cosmo will be killed in an impossible hit and they can take over his nightclub. But Cosmo proves luckier than the mobsters think -- he manages to kill his target, and now the mobsters have to track down Cosmo and kill him. Initially, at 133 minutes, the movie was subsequently re-edited by Cassavetes to 109 minutes. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Opening Night (Criterion Collection) (1977)
John Cassavetes' Opening Night stars Gena Rowlands (Mrs. Cassavetes) as end-of-tether Broadway actress Myrtle Gordon. She is about to open in a play written by her old friend Sarah Goode (Joan Blondell), but a series of pre-show setbacks and disasters threaten to destroy not only the production but Myrtle's sanity. The actress is especially rattled when one of her staunchest fans dies in an accident. In the face of bleak reality, just how important is the old "show must go on" ethic? Supporting Gena Rowlands are such veterans of the New York-Hollywood shuttle as Ben Gazzara, Zohra Lampert, Paul Stewart, James Karen, and several friends and relatives of the principals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Shadows (Criterion Collection) (1959)
Shadows was John Cassavetes' first directorial effort. Like his later critically acclaimed films Faces and Husbands, Cassavetes fills the screen with probing, unflattering closeups. Unlike his other films, however, Shadows zips along at 87 minutes, avoiding the pitfall of putting the director's nonfans to sleep. The film is a straightforward account of a biracial romance (a far less common film subject in 1960 than today). Light-skinned African-American Lelia Goldoni falls in love with a white man Anthony Ray, who spurns her when he meets the rest of her family. Far from subtle, Shadows benefits from the undisciplined energy of its direction and the excellence of its individual performances. Costing a scant $40,000 (less than the average half hour TV episode of the era), Shadows won the Critic's Award at the Cannes Film Festival and led to more expensive studio assignments for John Cassavetes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Special Features:
- Video interviews with actress Lelia Goldoni and associate producer Seymour Cassel
- Rare silent 16mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop rehearsals
- Restoration demonstration
- Stills gallery featuring dozens of behind-the-scenes production photos
- Trailer
|
| A Woman Under the Influence (Criterion Collection) (1974) |
 add to list
|
|
|
| A Constant Forge (Criterion Collection) (2000) |
|
add to list
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: 1976 Cut (Criterion Collection) (1976) |
|
add to list
|
|
|
| The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: 1978 Cut (Criterion Collection) (1976) |
|
add to list
|
|
|
| Opening Night (Criterion Collection) (1977) |
|
add to list
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| a series of uncomfortable events
by alexjb
April 22, 2006 - 12:13 AM PDT
|
|
|
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
this was better than i really expected it to be. i'm not a film student, so the significance of a particular work as part of a director's career has never meant much to me.
this film is a series of conversations between adults in awkward social situations. there is a central plot, though it takes a while to become clear. more than anything, it's a study of people trapped in their social position, desperately wanting just to be liked, and allowing that desperation to carry them over one edge or another. men drooling over women, men colliding with, competing with or negotiating with other men, a married couple negotiating, desperate housewives fawning over a young buck...
i didn't find the camera angles to be as disturbing as the GC review implied - the technique mostly works, though it's occasionally clumsy. the dialogue is sometimes compelling, sometimes lame, but i found that my attention was held pretty well from about 20 minutes in, all the way through to the end. |
|
|
More reviews for titles in this product:
|
|
|
Your cart
etaviotal
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.