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Faces
Strictly for hardcore fans of John Cassavetes, his 1968 film Faces offers little or nothing in the form of a legitimate cinematic experience, but what it does offer is some superb performances and a post graduate course in the art of filmmaking technique that found this viewer occasionally confused but never bored.
Though calling it a story is stretching that noun beyond credibility, we are introduced to Richard Frost (the late John Marley), a movie studio executive who is married to the terribly unhappy Maria (Lynn Carlin). But after a drunken evening with pal Freddie (Fred Draper) and good time gal Jeannie Rapp (Gena Rowlands), comes home and announces to Maria that he wants a divorce, which sends Maria into a toxic affair with a self-absorbed stud named Chet (Seymour Cassel).
Don't be fooled by the bare-bones plot synopsis because, in the grand tradition of John Cassavetes and more so than any of his other work that I've seen, this film does not follow any sort of conventional journey in presenting a story. Instead of a screenplay what we have here is five or six one act plays strung together on film that have bare bone connections to each other and all go on at least fifteen minutes longer than necessary. As each one-act meanders to its sudden conclusion, the viewer is just minutes from turning the movie off or falling asleep when Cassavetes releases from one story and allows advancement to another.
What Cassavetes does offer us to relish in is a spectacular look at film technique, particularly the most spectacular use of the tracking shot and the hand held camera have I ever seen. His camera gets so inside the characters that it's intrusive, intrusive to the point that what we're seeing doesn't seem fictional. It doesn't feel like a documentary, it feels like a home movie, five very private home movies that are meant for the consumption of the characters only. The emotionally and verbally abusive treatment of the characters to each other, especially Richard Frost, one of the most smarmy and despicable characters I've ever seen, put me in mind of the Woody Allen film Interiors. Not sure if it was intentional and if so what the intention was, but this reviewer was fascinated by how much screentime these characters spent singing, despite the fact that none of these actors could sing or had anything to sing about. My favorite one act found one of the characters trying to commit suicide.
I have rarely enjoyed John Marley more in what is probably the most unlikable character he has ever played and Gena Rowland offers her accustomed sparkling performance as Jeannie. Lynn Carlin makes an unprecedented film debut as the severely broken Maria, a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Seymour Cassel also earned a supporting actor nomination for his sex-on-legs work as Chet. yes, I said it and I'm totally blown away that Cassel was ever this young and sexy, a performance that put me in mind of Brando's Stanley Kowalski. And if they don't blink, Bold and the Beautiful fans might recognize ex-Sally Spectra, the late Darlene Conley in a supporting role. an unorthodox movie experience to say the least, but Cassavetes fans will be in heaven.
Strictly for hardcore fans of John Cassavetes, his 1968 film Faces offers little or nothing in the form of a legitimate cinematic experience, but what it does offer is some superb performances and a post graduate course in the art of filmmaking technique that found this viewer occasionally confused but never bored.
Though calling it a story is stretching that noun beyond credibility, we are introduced to Richard Frost (the late John Marley), a movie studio executive who is married to the terribly unhappy Maria (Lynn Carlin). But after a drunken evening with pal Freddie (Fred Draper) and good time gal Jeannie Rapp (Gena Rowlands), comes home and announces to Maria that he wants a divorce, which sends Maria into a toxic affair with a self-absorbed stud named Chet (Seymour Cassel).
Don't be fooled by the bare-bones plot synopsis because, in the grand tradition of John Cassavetes and more so than any of his other work that I've seen, this film does not follow any sort of conventional journey in presenting a story. Instead of a screenplay what we have here is five or six one act plays strung together on film that have bare bone connections to each other and all go on at least fifteen minutes longer than necessary. As each one-act meanders to its sudden conclusion, the viewer is just minutes from turning the movie off or falling asleep when Cassavetes releases from one story and allows advancement to another.
What Cassavetes does offer us to relish in is a spectacular look at film technique, particularly the most spectacular use of the tracking shot and the hand held camera have I ever seen. His camera gets so inside the characters that it's intrusive, intrusive to the point that what we're seeing doesn't seem fictional. It doesn't feel like a documentary, it feels like a home movie, five very private home movies that are meant for the consumption of the characters only. The emotionally and verbally abusive treatment of the characters to each other, especially Richard Frost, one of the most smarmy and despicable characters I've ever seen, put me in mind of the Woody Allen film Interiors. Not sure if it was intentional and if so what the intention was, but this reviewer was fascinated by how much screentime these characters spent singing, despite the fact that none of these actors could sing or had anything to sing about. My favorite one act found one of the characters trying to commit suicide.
I have rarely enjoyed John Marley more in what is probably the most unlikable character he has ever played and Gena Rowland offers her accustomed sparkling performance as Jeannie. Lynn Carlin makes an unprecedented film debut as the severely broken Maria, a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Seymour Cassel also earned a supporting actor nomination for his sex-on-legs work as Chet. yes, I said it and I'm totally blown away that Cassel was ever this young and sexy, a performance that put me in mind of Brando's Stanley Kowalski. And if they don't blink, Bold and the Beautiful fans might recognize ex-Sally Spectra, the late Darlene Conley in a supporting role. an unorthodox movie experience to say the least, but Cassavetes fans will be in heaven.