May 28, 2015 I love A Woman Under the Influence and liked Shadows, but that's all the Cassavetes I've seen I do have the 5 films DVD set from Criterion, so when I have time, I'll check out Faces, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night.
May 31, 2015 Yeah, this was amazing. Both lead performances from Rowlands and Falk are legendary and I can't think of many other directors who could film the intensity and awkwardness of family dysfunction as naturally as Cassavetes did here. Every character conflict feels genuine without any customary means of dramatic buildup, and because of this the points of melodrama never come across as formulaic or over-the-top as they would have in the hands of less talented people. You rarely get the sense of when or how a particular scene will finish, and the way that it's filmed always keeps you in the moment of these continual family plights as if you were right there with the characters. Amazing to read about how this style has influenced Cianfrance as you can clearly see shades of this in both Blue Valentine and Pines. Love it. Top tier film and easily one of the best out of the 70's I've seen so far. Can't wait to check out more from Cassavetes.
