I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - the Man and His Work (1984)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Michael Ventura

Writer:

Michael Ventura (writer)

Release Date:

July 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot Keywords:

Film Making

Cast

John Cassavetes

...

Himself

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Movie Connections:

References Love Streams (1984)

see it if you can locate it!

This is a must see for any serious Cassavetes fan. It makes a fascinating companion to Ray Carney's excellent new biography "Cassavetes On Cassavetes". Ray Carney is not in favor with the John Cassavetes estate at the moment, but don't let that dissuade you from reading his excellent book, if you are interested. It's really an autobiography by Cassavetes since it is almost all material that was edited down from endless hours of interviews Carney tape recorded of Cassavettes discussing the circumstances and story of his own life, along with his own insightful and very candid comments on his own work in film and in acting and directing and writing. But this is not, I know, supposed to be a review of a book. "I'm Almost Not Crazy" shows Cassavetes at work on "Love Streams, his last important work because it was the last one he wrote as well as directed. Ignore that last mob film or whatever the hell it was; he didn't write it and it shows. He's clearly not committed to the material there and he did it to raise money for a next film of his own that he didn't make because of his death. And this is a truly convincing documentary (to me) because I believe Cassavettes felt he had nothing to loose by discussing his very own truths. The only problem is trying to track this one down. Very hard to find. Try very hard.

-bobby cormier