The Agitating Genius of John Cassavetes 

On my college campus in the early '90s, there was a film club that showed obscure films around midnight on the weekends. One Saturday night I was on my way to a party, but was kind of early so I thought I'd kill some time watching a little bit of whatever they were showing. It was John Cassavetes Husbands, and I must have been one the 6 or 8 people watching in that massive science auditorium. I immediately felt discomfort to what I was watching. Loud, unlikeable people screaming or shouting, no music or soundtrack, sounds of dishes and glasses crashing, story sequence confusing, ugh...- I kept want to get up and leave, but I was also mesmerized by what I was watching. I gave up the party, and stayed for the whole movie! I wasn't even sure I liked what I just saw, but the following week I couldn't stop thinking about that "horrible" movie! Finally I broke down and went to the film library on campus to watch it again. That day, I think checked out every movie John Casavettes was in or directed. Long life fan ever since!!

A Woman Under the Influence was on TV once when I was very young, pre-teen. It made me so uneasy I've avoided it ever sense. I didn't know it was meant to be that way.

The Rowlands & Cassavetes collaboration was seriously genius. Loved them both in films. And that kid in Gloria was just perfect.

Another great video from your channel. A few years ago I watched The Woman under the Influence and could not complete it. Now I feel inspired to watch it.

You know, I never realized how long those scenes in Husbands went on for. I remember watching it thinking, "Hell yeah dude, this is awesome, Cassavetes is the GOAT." Just finished rewatching Faces and I feel the same.

You are killing it, dude. Great start to a formidable channel

What is this channel, and why is it right up my alley? Looks like I'll be watching more of Cassavetes' work soon

Such a great video man! Great channel! Big fan of what you're doing!

Kick ass way to start a channel. Loving your videos!

Wonderful. I'm a big fan of Cassavetes et al, and it's great to see stuff like this go up. Thank you.

Thank you for this video and the insight, keep it up!

Great work, thanks for making this. I always have a hard time articulating exactly why Cassavetes’ work moves me the ways it does, and this is a great summation of a lot of the reasons.

Wow good to see the start of a channel with such good content. This kind of videos stick with you. I appreciate you dude 👍

Keep going that's some great content

Masterful commentary & insight! Amazing stuff thank you!!

superb retrospective. Best of luck with your channel.

It's more realistic when you aren't given reasons why people behave as they do. In life, you will encounter many people and never have a clue why they behave in certain ways.

Mabel( Gena Rowlands) in woman under the influence is a very loving mother she's just trapped in an overwhelming situation, she's the sane one who cares too much, its an incredible depiction of a complex situation, yeah it's a very honest powerful film that is what we don't usually get to see behind closed doors, she is getting ground down and she eventually surrenders. I watched it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I grew up in a similar environment. Thank you for your interesting description/review. Im now a fan of John Cassavetes, I've watched 3 of his films recently., he's a bit like the American Ken Loach.

What an amazing video! An in-depth look into the mind of a brilliant creative, whose work I wish to explore further. I discovered Cassavetes only last year, through his role in Elaine May's 1976 film "Mikey and Nicky". His performance alongside Peter Falk really stuck with me, as one of the most realistic portrayals of a toxic friendship, between two people that harbor genuine resentment towards one another, yet know each other so profoundly, that their individual "beingness" (hypostasis) is intrinsicly tied to the other's understanding of them (trying really hard to avoid spoilers here!). There too, Cassavetes portrays an emotionally distraught man, whose relationships are affected by mental illness -whose actions are often not dictated by rational thought, but by urges he cannot help and does not understand the consequences of. According to my own experiences, it is one of the most down-to-earth, realistic and, in that sense, emotionally impactful portrayals of a character somewhere in the bipolar spectrum, experiencing an intense episode. Peter Falk's performance also deserves high praise. The nuances of his character are slowly unraveled throughout the movie, as May forces him to show more of what he's desperately trying to hide; as Cassavetes' character pushes him to his limits time and time again; as Falk himself reacts to the stress he is being put under. Cassavetes' influence on Mikey and Nicky is clear, though May's own touch ties everything together masterfully. I really did not mean for this to turn into a rant about Mikey and Nicky, but I couldn't hold back, that movie deserves all the praise! 100% recommend to any fan of Cassavetes.

These are the greatest films ever made.

beautiful piece here mate, just got into Cassavetes. Great artist

Great video. I watched Husbands a few days ago, and didn’t realize how long some of those scenes were. I honestly found the different scenes of the husbands and the women they brought to the hotel, even more of a trial than the bar odyssey.

This video was quite a discovery! seems like everything is so fertile and filled with great potential.. such blossoming content. I know it's a bit too early to say this bt would love to engage in a detailed video on lngmar Bergman's films especially 'Persona'. My best wishes ⭐💙

curious if you could cite where PTA mentions Cassavetes as an influence?

Do you have a source for PTA saying Cassavetes was an influence? I’m curious to see but can’t find any comments he’s made on him

what's the piano piece playing in the background?

Wow this was good

The Vet

Even just watching this video on the films made me really uneasy lol watching them for real would obliterate me

THE KILLING OF A CHINEESE BOOKIE (1976) is a masterpiece in urban, nocturnal, postnoirish flow of existence - "alienation is our Nation" ...etc. Surpasses by far these 2 commented here.

"HUMAN B E A N S in need for love ..."

Nice video. The films look almost too painful to watch

I wanted to love John Cassavetes' movies but found them too messy and self-indulgent. The only movie that I liked was The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, which is an under rated masterpiece.

How you describe the three men in Husbands is racist. You would not use such a description if the men were black.