When I decided to write and shoot it (Faces), I came home and said to Gena, ‘Are you willing to go without all the luxuries for the next couple of years so we can put everything we’ve got into the picture?’ She said, ‘Yes - except for getting my hair done. I insist on that!’
I’ve uploaded to Youtube this incredible scene from Opening Night, one of my most favorite Cassavetes scenes ever. Zohra Lampert is just unbelievable in this. Just so funny and heartbreaking at the same time.
(Source: filminsanedotbrain)
—John Cassavetes
(Source: redshoesonathuuursday)
(via sketchofthepast)
(Source: currentinspiration, via redvelvetteacake)
—Gena Rowlands
“I asked John, ‘What is it that makes one cameraman better, what quality is it?’ And John said, ‘For me, it’s the skin. When I wanna reach out and touch the skin, the cameraman has done his work.” — Gena Rowlands (1:48min - 2:21min)
It’s definitely something that immediately strikes you about Cassavetes’ movies when you watch them for the first time — how life-like the close-ups are, in that the camera is always physically close to the character’s body, almost touching it. Which is fitting because it allows Cassavetes to explore his primary interest, i.e. humanness. I love Cassavetes because he doesn’t just show the humanity and humanness of his characters, he shows their humanity and humanness in spite of them. He often shows humans at their worst and lets their humanity shine through anyway, making you root for them even when they themselves don’t want you to root for them, eg. the close-ups in “Opening Night” make you want to hug the character because she’s outwardly tough while clearly falling apart on the inside, but she doesn’t even know it because she has no access to her own emotions.
