The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies

by Ray Carney

The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies is the first book to tell in detail the story of a maverick filmmaker who worked outside the studio system. Providing extended critical discussion on six of his most important films (Shadows, Faces, Minnie and Moskowitz, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Love Streams), Ray Carney argues that Cassavetes' work is a distinctly life-affirming form of modernist expression that is at odds with the world-denying modernism of many of the most important art works produced in this century. Cassavetes is revealed to be a profoundly thoughtful and self-aware filmmaker and a deeply philosophical thinker, whose work takes its place in the American tradition along with the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and William James. The six films treated here emerge as expressive interpretations of the bewildering challenges in contemporary American cultural experience.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Ray Carney is an American scholar and critic, primarily known for his work as a film theorist, although he writes extensively on American art and literature as well. He is known for his study of the works of actor and director John Cassavetes. He teaches in the American Studies department at Boston University and has published several books on American art and philosophy.

Reviews

[Tera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I carried this book around in my bag for several years! It's ratty looking but all the pages are there and I still love it, finding myself re-reading parts. When I first bought the book it was the only true reference guide to all things Cassavetes. I still think it is.

[Joseph St Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Making a film was for him not a display of power and mastery, but rather an act of humility. It did not involve virtuosic arrangement and masterful organization, but patient exploration and tentative discovery. As he himself often said, for his actors, his crew, his viewers, and himself, it was a matter of asking questions to which you didn't know the answers and holding yourself tenderly open, ready to come across new questions at any moment. The work that resulted was an admission of what you didn't know and might never be able to understand. It was not about moving from confusion to clarity - for the actor, the director, or the viewer. Getting lost was the goal - being forced to break your old habits and understandings, giving up your old forms of complacency. The way to wisdom was through not-knowing. The master plot of Cassavetes work - for himself, his actors, his characters, and his viewers - is an antivirtuosic one: to move out of positions of power and control and into places of fear and uncertainty. That is why the narratives themselves are almost always about going out of control. To allow yourself to let go, to lose control, was part of learning anything.”

[Adam Helsel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why make something so fun so dense?

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"""""مینی و ماسکوویچ از تکه های فیلمهای دیگر استفاده کرد تا نشان دهد چگونه خودمان را به اشکال گوناگون فرآیندهای فرهنگی میبازیم؛ جویبارهای عشق از تکه های زندگی فانتزی سارا استفاده میکند تا نشان دهد که مشکل از هالیوود نیست بلکه از خودمانست.
مشکل، برعکس تصورات گدار، این است که فیلم ها فقط سمپتوم هستند نه علت؛ فیلم ها نه مشکلات ما را ایجاد می کنند، نه قادر به حل آنهایند. ما به خاطر نیاز به عشق و تایید به دردسر می افتیم.
سارا، میبل و كاسمو نشان میدهند حتی اگر بوگارت و برگمان هم هرگز وجود نداشتند، ما بازهم ممکن بود کسی که هستیم را گم کنیم."""""
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ممنون از آقای خلیلی و نشر نقد فرهنگ.
مقدمه مترجم شدیدا سر ذوقم آورد، شدیدا:))

[Juan Alberto Yoga · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm not interested if it's a success"
genius who loved improvisation and made independence movies....