Faces (1968/I)

Director:

John Cassavetes

Writer:

John Cassavetes (written by)

Release Date:

24 November 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An old married man leaves his wife for a younger woman. Shortly after, his ex-wife also begins a relationship with a younger partner. The film follows their struggles to find love amongst each other.

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Handheld Camera | Suicide Attempt | Divorce | Dance Scene

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

John Marley	...	Richard Forst
Gena Rowlands	...	Jeannie Rapp
Lynn Carlin	...	Maria Forst
Fred Draper	...	Freddie Draper
Seymour Cassel	...	Chet
Val Avery	...	Jim McCarthy
Dorothy Gulliver	...	Florence
Joanne Moore Jordan	...	Louise Draper
Darlene Conley	...	Billy Mae
Gene Darfler	...	Joe Jackson
Elizabeth Deering	...	Stella
Ann Shirley		(as Anne Shirley)
Dave Mazzie
Anita White
Julie Gambol

Also Known As:

The Dynosaurs (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | UK:15 (video rating) (1992) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (DVD re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Trivia:

While filming a part on "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1963), John Cassavetes saw Steven Spielberg lurking around the set, as he was then in the habit of doing. Cassavetes approached Spielberg and asked what he wanted to be. When Spielberg replied he wanted to be a director, Cassavetes allowed the young man to direct him for the day. He later invited Spielberg to work on this film (Faces), Spielberg serving as an uncredited production assistant for two weeks.

Quotes:

Richard Forst: No place like home.
Maria Forst: What?
Richard Forst: I said, Have you ever been to Rome?

Movie Connections:

References La dolce vita (1960)

Soundtrack:

Life Is Funny

Very good, a bit inaccessible

John Cassavetes is certainly an interesting director (great actor too, but interesting director). Instead of directing films for entertainment, he directs them to present a "slice-of-life", so to speak, only one that is usually tumultuous and unkind. His movies are generally uphill battles to watch, but they're worth it.

In this film, an over-the-hill man and woman break up and pursue other, younger paramours. While successful, they still have to deal with their own separate pain and fear of many things, amongst them age, loneliness, and friendship.

The writing and the acting are the most important parts. The writing is at times brilliant, the rest of the time brutal. Cassavetes tries for a more realistic, human approach, which means characters go off in tangents, talk unproductively, and are often really mean to each other. The acting complements the dialog so perfectly that one doesn't see actors on screen, but characters; only moreso than characters, one sees people, as if watching a home video with a disturbing and powerful plot.

Cassavetes was also one to specifically not care about structure. This makes the directing, editing, and cinematography rather jarring and condense. Luckily, it works with the themes of this movie well enough that the movie itself maintains a sense of entrapment and abuse.

It's a great film, though it's an uphill battle to watch. It's amazingly written but it's very inaccessible. I'd recommend it, but you must heed that it won't be something you can just sit down and escape into.

--PolarisDiB