The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernis
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Topic: The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernis
Posted By: MortSahlFan
Subject: The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernis
Date Posted: April 10 2019 at 15:45
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Not only am I a huge fan of Cassavetes, but I think Gena Rowlands gave
the best performance in a movie with "A Woman Under the Influence" that
even my favorite actor of all-time (Marlon Brando) couldn't do. I've
only talked to Ray Carney online, but he's given me some fine movie
recommendations, and he's a genius (and a huge fan of Mort Sahl, and was
sad when his response about him was short) who writes so great about
great subject matter.. If the "pre-approved" credit card I just received
goes through, I'll be sure to buy this book - the reviews are great,
and you can "Look Inside". I'll paste a few fine reviews. I had the advantage of having Ray Carney as a professor at Boston University. By some stroke of genius (possibly by administrative accident), all entering film students were required to take a survey course from him on film art before taking anything else. Carney started with warhorses like Hitchcock's "Psycho" and made the roomful of us (vocally) do exercises during the screening that exposed the highly polished but rather ridiculously superficial artifice of the "classic film". We all thought he was crazy. Here was this man – that one friend described as a combination of Andy Warhol and Orville Reddenbacher – unsubtly undermining a number of the most globally revered films. He then paraded a host of highly experimental films (many from the library of Congress that practically noone outside of a Carney class has ever or will ever see) before us that were appallingly difficult and often downright confrontational. It's pretty safe to say that practically none of us really "got it" until long after that semester, possibly years. At some point I did. Carney loves film just like we all do, however he had recognized something that we (and, most likely, you, too) had not, that film can be so much more than anything we had imagined (or yet been exposed to). That's largely what he wanted to show us in this class. Film is still a nascent art, highly immature in scope and depth. So far, Cassavetes – one of the EASIER filmmakers Carney introduced us to – is one of the handful of film artists that has done something deeply new with the form since its inception. If you develop an interest in Cassavetes, you will find this book essential, and you will return to it after every screening. This book changed my life. It wasn't a pretty experience, either. I argued with it. I dismissed it. I fought it tooth and nail. But in the end, reading this book and seeing the films it discusses represented the single most important educational, emotional, and artistic experience I've ever had. I tell you, the thing is a mental a-bomb. I broke down. It literally caused me a crisis of the faith regarding everything that I though I knew or held dear about filmmaking, and maybe even the world. I lost friends. Not only does this book chronicle in deep, loving detail the films, working methods, and world-view of one of the most important (yet underappreciated) filmmakers in American cinematic history, it is a manifesto, articulating and illustrating an entirely original and brain re-wiring theory of flimmaking, present in the films of John Cassavetes; a theory at odds with 99% of the films EVER MADE. Everything you though you knew is suspect in the glaring light of Ray Carney's prose. Forget Citizen Kane. Forget Cassablanca. Forget Vertigo. They're like fingerpaintings next to a Piccaso. Neither lightweight nor academically verbose for its own sake, Carney's tone is as friendly as if he were chatting with you over a beer, yet what he says is nothing short of revolutionary. It was simple: I was blown away. Finding precedent for Cassavetes' work in the long-standing American Romantic tradition of Walt Whitman, Emerson, William James, John Dewey and others, Carney's book gives film its proper due as the greatest 20th century artform. An artform, it suggests, still in its infancy. What Cassavetes' films did to me was simple and profound – they showed me a new way to expereince the world. A new attitude. A new awareness. Carney did the same thing, articulating those ways, and celebrating them with the reader. I read a lot of film books, but this is the beat-up, dog-eared one I go back to time and time again. No plain-jane film text is as insightful or inspirational. Read it and you will never be the same again. I wasn't. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition https://www.scribd.com/document/382737647/MortSahlFan-Song-List |
Replies:
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: April 10 2019 at 17:17
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An underappreciated and misunderstood artist for sure, and I see what an impact his filmmaking style had on contemporaries. Growing up in the 70s I saw firsthand how movies had become spontaneous, relaxed, rough-edged, highly verité, and East Coast oriented. Small productions like Mean Streets, Lords of Flatbush, Straight Time as well as bigger ones like Dog Day Afternoon, French Connection and Serpico, reflected a Cassavetes influence. What I did not like was his acting, and I preferred associate (and perhaps student) Peter Falk who seemed to be more gifted with improv and spontaneous performing. ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |
Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: April 11 2019 at 06:18
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Hey Mort! Great story. Sounds like a fantastic experience.  Seen a few Cassavetes directed films. Always impressed with Cassavetes' gritty, raw style; how he delved deep, unearthing complicated character motivations via a unique documentary technique, where he scripted the dialogue and action, while encouraging the actors to forge improvisational interpretations. A labor of love. In my mind's-eye, I link Cassavetes with Robert Fripp. Fripp devised a new way of tuning a guitar and Frippertronics, while Cassavetes pushed film-making beyond method acting, crafting an alternative acting approach and a fresh grainy direction style. Cassavetes's iconic creepy performances in The Dirty Dozen and Rosemary's Baby endure, weathering decades of critical examination, worth repeated viewings.
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Posted By: MortSahlFan
Date Posted: April 13 2019 at 16:31
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Btw, last time I checked, a majority of his movies (as director) are on YouTube. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition https://www.scribd.com/document/382737647/MortSahlFan-Song-List |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: April 13 2019 at 19:18
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My favourite movie by Cassavetes is "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie". -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: April 13 2019 at 19:45
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^ Great title for sure ~ ------------- "Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy |