Faces (1968 film)
Faces is a 1968 American drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes.[1] It stars John Marley, Gena Rowlands, Lynn Carlin (her acting debut), Seymour Cassel, Fred Draper, and Val Avery.[2]
| Faces | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Cassavetes |
| Written by | John Cassavetes |
| Produced by | Maurice McEndree |
| Starring | John Marley Gena Rowlands Lynn Carlin Seymour Cassel Fred Draper Val Avery |
| Cinematography | Al Ruban Haskell Wexler (Uncredited) Maurice McEndree (Uncredited) |
| Edited by | Maurice McEndree Al Ruban |
| Music by | Jack Ackerman |
| Distributed by | Continental Distributing |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 183 minutes 130 minutes (general cut) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $275,000 |
The film won two awards at the 29th Venice International Film Festival and received three nominations at the 41st Academy Awards. In 2011, it was added to the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[3][4]
Plot edit
The film, shot in cinéma vérité-style, depicts the final stages of the disintegrating marriage of a couple (John Marley and Lynn Carlin). Various groups and individuals with whom the couple interacts after the husband's sudden statement of his desire for a divorce are introduced. Afterwards, he spends the night in the company of brash businessmen and prostitutes, while the wife spends it with her middle-aged female friends and an aging, free-associating playboy they had picked up at a bar. The night proceeds as a series of tense conversations and confrontations occurs.
Cast edit
- John Marley as Richard Forst
- Gena Rowlands as Jeannie Rapp
- Lynn Carlin as Maria Forst
- Fred Draper as Freddie
- Seymour Cassel as Chet
- Val Avery as Jim McCarthy
- Dorothy Gulliver as Florence
- Joanne Moore Jordan as Louise
- Darlene Conley as Billy Mae
- Gene Darfler as Joe Jackson
- Elizabeth Deering as Stella
Production edit
The film was shot in high-contrast 16 mm black-and-white film stock. Steven Spielberg worked as an unpaid runner.[5]
Versions edit
As is the case with several of Cassavetes' films, several different versions of Faces are known to exist (though it was generally assumed that after creating the general release print, Cassavetes destroyed the alternative versions). It was initially premiered in Toronto with a running time of 183 minutes, before Cassavetes cut it to 130 minutes. Though the 130-minute version is the general-release version, a print of a longer version with a running time of 147 minutes was found by Ray Carney and deposited at the Library of Congress; 17 minutes of this print were included in the Criterion box set John Cassavetes: Five Films, but Carney has said that numerous differences between the two films are seen.
Reception edit
Faces holds an 85% approval rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 26 reviews with an average rating of 7.3/10.[6] Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars and wrote that the film "tenderly, honestly, and uncompromisingly examines the way we really live".[7]
Pauline Kael, however, was negative to this film, criticizing the "badly performed" acting and "crudely conceived" scenes.[8]
In 2011, Faces was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The registry called the film "an example of cinematic excess" whose extended confrontations revealed "emotions and relations of power between men and women that rarely emerge in more conventionally structured films".
Faces, and other Cassavetes projects, had significant creative impact on Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Robert Altman.[9]
Awards and nominations edit
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Seymour Cassel | Nominated | [10] |
| Best Supporting Actress | Lynn Carlin | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Screenplay | John Cassavetes | Nominated | ||
| National Film Preservation Board | National Film Registry | Inducted | [11][12] | |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Film | 2nd Place | [13] | |
| Best Actress | Lynn Carlin | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Seymour Cassel | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay | John Cassavetes | Won | ||
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Film | Nominated | [14] | |
| Best Director | John Cassavetes | Nominated | ||
| Venice International Film Festival | Golden Lion | Nominated | ||
| Pasinetti Award | Won | |||
| Best Actor | John Marley | Won | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Original Screenplay | John Cassavetes | Nominated | [15] |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Faces - Close to Home - The Criterion Channel
- ^ The Criterion Collection
- ^ "2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
- ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ^ John + Gena: dynamite on screen and off|BFI
- ^ "Faces (1968)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "Faces Movie Review". RogerEbert.com.
- ^ 10 Memorable Pauline Kael Quotes About Movies|Flavorwire
- ^ Tribute: 26 Years Ago, John Cassavetes Died—After Party Magazine
- ^ "The 41st Academy Awards | 1969". Oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ^ "2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
- ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
- ^ Weiler, A. H. (7 January 1969). "'Shame' by Bergman Wins 3 Film Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "N.Y. critics pick best movies". The Montreal Gazette. 2 January 1969. Retrieved 29 December 2017 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "Awards Winners". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2010-06-06.
Further reading edit
- Carney, Raymond Francis, Junior, “American Dreaming: The Films of John Cassavetes and the American Experience,” (Berkeley and Los Angeles, California and London: University of California Press, 1985).
External links edit
- Faces essay by Ray Carney at National Film Registry [1]
- Faces at IMDb
- Faces at AllMovie
- Faces at Rotten Tomatoes
- Masks and Faces an essay by Stuart Klawans at the Criterion Collection
- Faces review by Richard Brody at The New Yorker