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focus on john cassavetes

Opening Night

Rediscover the daring and emotionally raw films of the quintessential actor's director and defining figure of American independent cinema.

Thursday 15 May- Sunday 25 May 2008
Full $13 Concession $10
6 Session Pass: $60 Full, $48 Concession



"Watch Shadows, watch Husbands, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Love Streams ... You will want to make something exciting and alive. You will want to be a filmmaker." Read Christos Tsiolkas' companion essay Made In USA

Curated by Kristy Matheson and Roberta Ciabarra with the assistance of Spiro Economopoulos

Thanks to the British Film Institute, Castle Hill Productions, Faces Distribution, Hollywood Classics, Sony Picture Classics, Paramount Pictures, Park Circus, Stadtkino Wien, Universal Pictures International and Christos Tsiolkas.

or phone (03) 8663 2583

opening night Opening Night features one of Cassavetes' signature fractured women; an actress grappling with aging and the vagaries of life in the theatre.

shadows Cassavetes' seminal, directorial debut centres on three African-American siblings grappling with love and angst in the jazz-soaked, beat-infused streets of 1950s New York.

too late blues Cassavetes' foray into studio filmmaking surprisingly stars crooner Bobby Darin as a struggling jazz pianist fighting to maintain his integrity in the cut-throat world of the music business.

faces Faces depicts the unmasking of American society in the mid-1960s, filtered through the breakdown of a typical middle class marriage. Many consider it to be Cassavetes' masterpiece.

the killing of a chinese bookie Cassavetes' brilliant noir excursion is the perfect fusion between his ramshackle world of lovable losers and the more traditional conventions of Hollywood genre filmmaking.

husbands Three friends (played by Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara and Cassavetes) are sent into a midlife tailspin after the untimely death of a close friend.

a constant forge - the life and art of john cassavetes This fascinating, in-depth analysis of Cassavetes' films assembles new interviews with many key players and footage of the filmmaker candidly discussing his work methods and philosophies on art, creativity and life.

love streams Love Streams offers an exhilarating portrait of two people whose worlds are falling apart as they desperately try to hold fast to the possibility of love.

gloria A winning variation on the classic odd couple theme, Gloria sees Gena Rowlands playing the titular character, an ex-girlfriend of a gangster who unwittingly becomes the protector of a Puerto Rican boy after the murder of his family.

minnie and moskowitz By skewing the romantic comedy template, Minnie and Moskowitz offers two emotionally larger-than-life characters who are by turns, infuriating, manic and endearing.

a woman under the influence The crowning centrepiece of Cassavetes' remarkable career, A Woman Under the Influence encapsulates his drive to explore the messy and painful nature of love and familial life.

big trouble Though an atypical work by Cassavetes, Big Trouble breezes along, buoyed by the energetic performances of Alan Arkin, Peter Falk and Beverly D'Angelo.