If there's only one thing John Cassavetes' films are known for, it's for the performances of his actors. The loose realism of the acting, filmed in his often bare cinema-verite style, is something that's become a signature of Cassavetes work, especially in heavily performance-centric films like Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence. Maybe because of this, he's often misconstrued as the master of improvisation, when in truth his works are often heavily scripted. His method, instead, was to let his actors bring their own take to the characters and improvise during rehearsals, some of which would then be incorporated into the shooting script..
This is why Cassavetes is probably the most interesting director to study on the set. Michael Ventura's great documentary I'm Almost Not Crazy is a good place to start, but it was only ever released in 1989 on a long out-of-print VHS. Luckily, it's available on YouTube; at least for now.
I've never seen this before and previously had no way to do so, so big thanks to NotFilmSchool.com for uploading it. The Criterion Cassavetes box set that was released five years ago included the epic 3+ hours documentary A Constant Forge, but this is equally as enlightening even at less than 1/3 of its length.
In 1984, Ventura followed Cassavettes on the set of his last true film, Love Streams (1986's Big Trouble was a substitute job), capturing the director working with his actors. It's not just a making-of piece for Love Streams, however, as it also includes an overview of his body of work and a look at John Cassavettes himself.
In this memorable clip from the film, Cassavettes talks about movie audiences, why they see certain films, and how it influences him as a filmmaker.
Watch the whole 60 minutes of the doc here.
It really sucks that we still don't have a Region 1 DVD release of Love Streams. Husbands is finally getting a release this August after all these years. About time! Maybe whenever they get around to Love Streams, I'm Almost Not Crazy will be included in the special features.
