America's 'most influential' retrospective
John Cassavetes
Seven representative works of American filmmaker and actor John Cassavetes (1929-89) will be shown at the Shanghai International Film Festival, to be held from June 15 to 24.
The films are part of the festival’s “Tribute to Film Masters” program which also includes the movies of Greek master Theo Angelopoulos and French director Robert Bresson.
A pioneer of American independent film, Cassavetes has had a profound influence on many directors, such as Martin Scorsese and Wong Kar-wai.
Early in his career, Cassavetes was an actor and teacher of acting. However, an improvisation exercise in his workshop inspired him to write and make his directorial debut, “Shadows.”
This film about the hard lives of people at the bottom of New York was totally different from any Hollywood studio productions. Cassavetes raised the funds for the production from friends and family and borrowed the camera from director Shirley Clarke. It opened a brand new film production method, making filmmaking accessible to ordinary people.
“Shadows” won the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1960. From then on, Cassavetes began to direct more films independently with his income from acting. He only made the kind of films he wanted to make.
His film “Love Streams,” a touching story about a middle-aged brother and his sister who care for each other, won the Golden Bear at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival.
Many of his movies boast an improvisation and documentary style. Love is also the main theme in most of his works.
His wife, actress Gena Rowlands is his muse and inspiration. Rowlands starred in eight of Cassavetes’s movies. Their marriage lasted for 35 years until the death of Cassavetes in 1989.
In terms of his contribution to American cinema, the Independent Spirit Awards named one of their categories after Cassavetes — the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, which honors outstanding small-budget films. The New Yorker also commented that Cassavetes “may be the most influential American director of the last half century.”
This year is the 30th anniversary of the director’s death, and features the first retrospective of Cassavetes on the Chinese mainland.
Seven movies in varied periods of his career will be shown, including “Shadows,” “Faces,” “Husbands,” “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Opening Night,” “Gloria” and “Love Streams.”
It took Cassavetes and his team around four years to make “Faces,” a story about a crisis in the marriage of a middle-aged couple. The film was made largely in Cassavetes’s own home. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, including the Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
“Husbands” features a strong style of improvisation. It is centered on a trio of married men who embark on a journey after the funeral of one of their best friends.
“A Woman Under the Influence” is a work that Cassavetes specially made for his wife. Rowlands vividly plays a troubled housewife who feels hard to deal with family relationships.
“Opening Night” has a style of suspense and surrealism. Rowlands depicts a Broadway actress who faces her personal and professional turmoil. Her superb acting won her the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Golden Lion-winning thriller crime drama film “Gloria” is also a commercial hit. In the movie, Rowlands portrays a gangster’s girlfriend who goes on the run with a young boy who is being hunted by the mob. It was also the inspiration for the Luc Besson movie “Léon.”
John Cassavetes’s “Shadows” won the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1960.
John Cassavetes and his wife Gena Rowlands
