i finally got around to reading "cassavetes on cassavetes."
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — John Cassavetes
SherlockVonEinstein — 14 years ago(April 13, 2011 11:48 AM)
i finally got around to reading "cassavetes on cassavetes."
i understand how manipulative director's are sometimes in order to get the right performance out of their actors (lars von trier is notorious for this, and kubrick's treatment of shelly duvall during "the shining" is well-documented) and i think this acceptable, as it heightens emotions for the scene however
i was shocked to read how manipulative and shrewd of a businessman cassavetes was. i personally don't think it was right of him to outright lie to his cast and crew and then reneg on deals after he got what he wanted. for example, he promised 8 of the principle parties of "shadows" a 10% cut of the sell, but once british distributors showed interest, he lowered their cut to 1% each. i understand that he sunk a lot of his own money in the film, but it was a risk he chose to take. if the book is to be considered accurate, this is something he did over and over again.
has anybody else read this, and were you just as shocked to find out how sleazy his business practices were?
(i still love his work as a director and consider "faces" to be one of the greatest films ever made.) -
cassavetes45 — 14 years ago(April 15, 2011 03:37 AM)
yes, i have this book. i've read it many times over, and refer to often.
even though i love the guy, you're right sherlock, he was indeed ruthless when it came to business. it's definitely a dark side to him. i tend to believe that his heavy drinking was a partial catalyst for some of the decisions he made, and for the practices that he went by. i'm not saying that's an excuse for some of his behaviour, but i think it was a factor in it all.
as far as his treatment of his actors, i agree with you. most of the top directors would do certain things to their actors to get a rise out of them and to 238create an atmosphere that they wanted in their films. john was no exception. he had a lot of stuff in his bag of tricks.
i guess the most revealing of these is the story about how he actually smacked gena around in that scene in minnie & moskowitz.
hi, my name is carleeni'm harmless. -
Prom_Queen_Carrie — 9 years ago(September 03, 2016 08:28 AM)
i guess the most revealing of these is the story about how he actually smacked gena around in that scene in minnie & moskowitz.
Whoa. I thought the story was that Gena pretended to be really smacked around and hurt to get back at him for not telling her that he would be playing that part.
"Oh I went there, bought a house, moved in b*tch, and now I'm remodeling the kitchen." -
hushsara — 9 years ago(September 22, 2016 07:17 AM)
I was listening to the Minnie and Moskowitz audio commentary the other day and Gena actually remarks how much of a "fun time" that scene was because he didn't actually hit her yet everyone on set thought he had, rushing to her to check if she was okay? So what's the truth here
-
TermlnatriX — 11 years ago(August 23, 2014 08:02 PM)
Halfway into the book and a lot of his behavior is shocking. I think it came from deep insecurity though. There's a point, or multiple points when the author outlined how his lack of "proper" education was the culprit to how he acted around most people. Despite this though, he was truly a forward thinking filmmaker at the time that paved the way for how a lot of "indie" films tackled stories. The raw, honest portrayal of LIFE in general. Something I'm able to forgive for the sake of art and cinema.
::
filmschoolthrucommentaries
::
http://bit.ly/11DHMHW -
rorygunn — 9 years ago(September 01, 2016 04:13 PM)
I've read this book and i loved itit helps me deal with the artificial Hollywood myth his family who all have gone Hollywood and are totally immersed in the Hollywood way have spun for the mediain a strange way I kind of identify with him because when you're making an independent movie on your own dime you have to do whatever it takes from the good to the bad to the downright ugly
-
Prom_Queen_Carrie — 9 years ago(October 03, 2016 06:55 AM)
He did say something to the effect of you having to cheat, lie, steal, do whatever to make a film, so I guess that was his mentality when getting his films made. He seemed like a difficult man.
"Oh I went there, bought a house, moved in b*tch, and now I'm remodeling the kitchen."