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:

Improvisation | Handheld Camera | Dance Scene | Adultery | Alcohol

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
Edwin Sirianni
Liz Satriano
O.G. Dunn	...	Comedian (as George Dunne)
Jerry Howard
David Rowlands
Carolyn Fleming
James Bridges	...	Extra (as Jim Bridges)
Kay Michaels
Don Kraatz
Laurie Mock	...	Barmaid
John Hale
Christina Crawford
Midge Ware
George Sims	...	Bartender
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Akins	...	(uncredited)
Don Siegel	...	Extra at Whiskey A-Go-Go (uncredited)

Directed by
John Cassavetes

Writing credits
John Cassavetes		(written by)

Produced by
Maurice McEndree	....	producer
Al Ruban	....	associate producer
John Cassavetes	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Al Ruban
Maurice McEndree		(uncredited)
Haskell Wexler		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Maurice McEndree
Al Ruban
John Cassavetes		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Phedon Papamichael		(as Phaedon Papamichael)

Set Decoration by
Lady Rowlands

Makeup Department
Harold Chaleff	....	hair stylist: Miss Carlin

Production Management
James Joyce	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerry Howard	....	assistant director
John Nastu	....	assistant director
George O'Halloran	....	first assistant director
James Victor	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Don Pike	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles Akins	....	gaffer
Charles Akins	....	key grip
John Bardwell	....	still photographer
George Sims	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
James Auker	....	post-production
Jack Woods	....	post-production

Music Department
Jack Ackerman	....	musical director
Victor Arno	....	musician: violin
Pete Candoli	....	conductor
Pete Candoli	....	musician: trumpet
Jack English	....	musician: piano
Richard Grand	....	assistant to musical director
Red Mitchell	....	musician: bass guitar and guitarron
Ted Nash	....	musician: tenor sax
Gary Nuttycomb	....	musician: viola
Mischa Russell	....	musician: violin
Victor Sazer	....	musician: violin
Kenny Shroyer	....	musician: trombone
Jerry Williams	....	musician: drums

Other crew
Charles Akins	....	stage manager
Dick Balduzzi	....	pre-production
Pat Buckley	....	production secretary
Bianca Chambers	....	production secretary
Bud Cherry	....	dialogue director
Carolyn Fleming	....	assistant to producer
Liz Satriano	....	production secretary
Pat Smith	....	script supervisor
Steven Spielberg	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Distributors

• Castle Hill Productions Inc.
• Continental Distributing (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Elleu (2003) (Italy) (DVD)
• Orion Home Video (video)
• Pioneer Entertainment (DVD)
• Walter Reade Organization (1968) (worldwide) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Bluesways ABC Records  courtesy (song "Life Is Funny")
• Cinefx  titles
• Cineservice Inc.  opticals (blow-up)
• Losers Night Club  thanks
• Perfect Labs  lab
• Phil & Elmer's Whiskey A Go Go  thanks
• Ryder Sound  sound
• Stu Gardner Trio  performer (song "Skate-A-Ling")
• Wolpers  thanks

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 | 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:

Jeannie Rapp: Mr. McCarthy, if you don't get out of here, I'm gonna call the vice squad.
Jim McCarthy: Hey, remember? We're the vice squad.

Movie Connections:

References Dolce vita, La (1960)

Soundtrack:

Strip Polka

favorite Cassavetes film I've seen so far

Though my insight into the remarkably independent career of John Cassavetes as a director is limited to this, Shadows, and A Woman Under the Influence, what Faces offers just on its own as a character based drama is almost enough to see what the director is all about. No big budgets, no fake sets, just people on the screen who have real personalities and histories with each other, and conflicts that are given just enough light in the film to get an idea of what they're about. But what is given, shot in a grainy 16mm feel by Cassavetes, using mostly theater actors (and Cassavetes's wonderful wife Gena Rowlands), are compelling enough to stay with them, through their flaws and difficulties with one another, and through this we get a look into their small world. Film-making like this is rare, where the director- also as writer- can work with so little to provide so much emotionally for a viewer. It's definitely a certain kind of world shown, of New Yorkers with relationship crises and psychological complexes that may go a bit beyond some viewer's expectations. That how they communicate is so raw is also a little unnerving at times, and some scenes deserve to be seen twice to grasp everything that's going on.

But Faces, for all its moments of improvisation, is a work that is alive, because it has characters who question their own excesses and escapes while not being able to really escape them. There's adultery, alcohol, an overdose, and lots of talking at times. But there's also moments of true compassion, and reality that likely could be found in few exceptions of films at the time it was made (especially about the middle class). And at times what the filmmaker gets us to feel for these completely imperfect and almost damaged people (underneath their middle class side) is a bit shattering. Take the scenes involving Seymour Cassel and the woman he's found in the morning unable to really wake up. This whole set of events as he tries to wake her up is a true knockout kind of cinema, where there's no pretense between what is being shown on the screen and what the audience is receiving. Arguably, there are at times scenes that feel nearly too theater-based, as if we might as well see this on an off-Broadway production.

But in this kind of independent film, where there really aren't limits, Cassavetes is interested in characters and situations that Hollywood would just take as stereotypes or more conventional forms. And with the professionals like John Marley, Rowlands, Cassel, and especially Lynn Carlin (who along with Cassel got richly deserved Oscar nominations), Cassavetes at times just lets his script go with them and the conviction they bring is, at times, shocking. This is the sort of film that influenced Scorsese, though his style has also influenced a good chunk of what are American independent films, where the limits of budget, time, and Hollywood perks like staged sets and special effects, can sometimes be used for an advantage with a good enough script and cast. To put it mildly, I can't wait to see this film again.