Opening Night (1977)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

John Cassavetes

Writer:

John Cassavetes (writer)

Release Date:

17 April 1978 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An actress suffers an emotional uproar in her personal life after a fan dies trying to see her.

Plot Keywords:

Actress | Theater | Drunkenness | Hit By Car | New York City

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Gena Rowlands	...	Myrtle Gordon
John Cassavetes	...	Maurice Aarons
Ben Gazzara	...	Manny Victor
Joan Blondell	...	Sarah Goode
Paul Stewart	...	David Samuels
Zohra Lampert	...	Dorothy Victor
Laura Johnson	...	Nancy Stein
John Tuell	...	Gus Simmons
Ray Powers	...	Jimmy
John Finnegan	...	Prop man
Louise Lewis	...	Kelly (as Louise Finch)
Fred Draper	...	Leo
Katherine Cassavetes	...	Vivian
Lady Rowlands	...	Melva Drake
Carol Warren	...	Carla

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Company:

Faces Distribution

Quotes:

Sarah Goode: Just please tell me what this play doesn't express.
Myrtle Gordon: Hope.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Todo sobre mi madre (1999)

Masterpiece Drama from Cassavates...

Beautiful film, pure Cassavetes style. Gena Rowland gives a stunning performance of a declining actress, dealing with success, aging, loneliness...and alcoholism. She tries to escape her own subconscious ghosts, embodied by the death spectre of a young girl. Acceptance of oneself, of human condition, though its overall difficulties, is the real purpose of the film. The parallel between the theatrical sequences and the film itself are puzzling: it's like if the stage became a way out for the Heroin. If all american movies could only be that top-quality, dealing with human relations on an adult level, not trying to infantilize and standardize feelings... One of the best dramas ever. 10/10.