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| A hype-filled poster with a strip of pictures of faces from the film, John Cassavetes' Faces |
SPOILER At an overwrought drinking party of three people, a man decides to leave his wife, who goes on to have sex with a younger man - and attempts suicide.
Faces is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker John Cassavetes (A Woman Under the Influence (1974)), whose 4th feature it is. It is an intense and impressive B/W drama, which feels a lot like a play. The title is highly auspicious, as the film is ripe with facial close-ups.
The cinematography (by Al Ruban (Love Streams (1984)), Maurice McEndree (Devil's Angels (1967, actor)) and Haskel Wexler (Face in the Rain (1963))) has a curious, youthful feel to it, whereas the characters are a heavy Los Angeles-set gallery of ennui, despair, quick remarks and an endless pool of unfunny jokes, which the characters themselves laugh loudly at.
Gena Rowlands (Gloria (1980)) is fantastic in Faces, but the film, which is a strong example of its time, certainly, does impress me as somewhat self-indulgent and self-centered.
Related posts:
John Cassavetes: The Fury (1978) - De Palma's telekinetic powers run amuck! (starring actor)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974) or, Family Dysfunction (writer/director)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) - Aldrich's rough WWII super-entertainment (starring actor)
Edge of the City (1957) - Poitier gleams in Ritt's idealistic debut (starring actor)
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 275k $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain (but reportedly a 'surprise box office success' - source: Jesse Ziegelstein, UCLA Film and Television Archive)
[Faces premiered in March (Beverly Hills, California) and runs 130 minutes, - a Criterion release cut runs 147 minutes, and Cassavetes' long cut ran 183 minutes and is lost. Cassavetes wrote, directed and financed the film with his wife Rowlands in the main part, shooting most of the film in their own Los Angeles home. Post production reportedly took 3 years. Info on the film's box office earnings are regrettably not available online. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to two notches better than this one. It was nominated for 3 Oscars: It lost Best Supporting Actor (Seymour Cassel (Little New York (2009))) to Jack Albertson for The Subject Was Roses, Supporting Actress (Lynn Carlin (Insight (1974-80))) to Ruth Gordon for Rosemary's Baby, and Original Screenplay to Mel Brooks for The Producers. The film won 2 awards at the Venice Film Festival. Cassavetes returned with Husbands (1970)). Rowlands returned in Nick Quarry (1968, short) and theatrically in Machine Gun McCain (1969). Faces is fresh at 85 % with a 7.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Faces?
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