The cinema of John Cassavetes occupies a central place in the transformation of American cinema. Before the category “indie” became institutionalized, his first work, Shadows, was a milestone in American independent cinema, not only for his production outside of studies, but also to represent interracial relationships and conflicts far removed from cinema mainstream of the time. In that sense, Cassavetes anticipates questions that would be taken up by the filmmakers of the New Hollywood, but his formal radicalism distinguishes him from that group of young filmmakers and places him closer to European modernity. Its staging stands out for putting the actors in the center, for physicality, the inconvenient length of plans and the rejection of conventional closure. That very personal style, that will influence Scorsese, Ferrara and many other filmmakers, it responds to a working method that profoundly reconfigured the relationship between writing, direction and interpretation.
Often associated with improvisation, Cassavetes's method actually started from carefully worked out scripts, which were then subjected to a rewriting process during rehearsals and filming, based on the contributions of actors and actresses. It could be said that Cassavetes conceived of filming as a laboratory. He worked with a stable core of technicians and performers (Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara), with whom he built a creative community where the rehearsal of each scene opened up to conflict and emotional exploration. In movies like Faces, Husbands o A woman under the influence, the camera—often in hand, next, invasive—does not observe from a distance, but participates in the action. Editing prolongs scenes beyond the point of narrative comfort, producing a lasting emotional experience that confronts the viewer with the wear and tear and vulnerability of the characters. The formal instability resulting from the Cassavetes method does not respond to carelessness, but to a clear goal: film the fragility of the human being.
If there is a figure that stands out in his troupe creative, is the immense actress Gena Rowlands. Reduce her to the status of "muse" - so loaded with misogyny, on the other hand – it would be to ignore her decisive role in the emotional architecture of the films directed by her husband. Characters like Mabel Longhetti in A woman under the influence, Myrtle Gordon in Opening Night or Gloria Swenson in Gloria they constitute some of the most complex female portraits ever seen on screen. In filming that sometimes took her to the limit, Rowlands wasn't just acting: modulated the rhythm of the scenes, he pushed the dialogues to breaking point and provided an intuitive understanding of the character's emotional state, sometimes extreme. Based on their interpretative scores, Cassavetes rewrote the scripts. It was Rowlands who breathed life and made the scenes created by the filmmaker vibrate. And some of those scenes, in which the character's identity seems to emerge in real time, they are undoubtedly among the most intense cinematic experiences a viewer can witness. From the title itself, this series claims the "politics of actresses" and the co-authorship of Gena Rowlands in these films. To go deeper into this reflection, on sunday 19 April 13, before the screening d’A woman under the influence, we will have a presentation by María Adell, critic and professor at the University of Barcelona, author of numerous articles on movie stars and female representations in cinema.
17.04.26 FRIDAY / 18.00 h
22.04.26 WEDNESDAY / 20.15 h
Así habla el amor
Minnie and Moskowitz
JOHN CASSAVETES. USA. 1971. VOS SPANISH. Color. 114′. Digital.
Int. Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, Val Avery, Timothy Carey, Katherine Cassavetes, Elizabeth Deering, Elsie Ames..
Minnie Moore treballa en un museu i viu amb un home que la maltracta. Seymour Moskowitz és un vell beatnick aparcacotxes que no troba el seu lloc en el món. No tenen res en comú, excepte la seua soledat. Es coneixen en un pàrquing, quan Moskowitz defén Minnie de l’agressió del seu acompanyant. Malgrat les seues diferències i la seua amargor, descobrixen la gran necessitat que tenen l’un de l’altre.
