Cassavetes on Cassavetes

Since his death in 1989, John Cassavettes has become increasingly renowned as a cinematic hero—a renegade loner who fought the Hollywood system, steering his own creative course in a career spanning thirty years. Having already established himself as an actor, he struck out as a filmmaker in 1959 with Shadows, and proceeded to build a formidable body of work, including such classics as Faces, Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Gloria. In Cassavettes on Cassavettes, Ray Carney presents the great director in his own words—frank, uncompromising, humane, and passionate about life and art.

Since his death in 1989, John Cassavettes has become increasingly renowned as a cinematic hero—a renegade loner who fought the Hollywood system, steering his own creative course in a career spanning thirty years. Having already established himself as an actor, he struck out as a filmmaker in 1959 with Shadows, and proceeded to build a formidable body of work, including such classics as Faces, Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Gloria. In Cassavettes on Cassavettes, Ray Carney presents the great director in his own words—frank, uncompromising, humane, and passionate about life and art.

Publishers Weekly

"Cassavetes' films were quarried from his most private feelings and experiences," writes editor Ray Carney in his introduction to Cassavetes on Cassavetes, and then illustrates his point with the writings, interviews and recorded conversations of a beloved cult figure. First an actor and then a director (Faces; A Woman Under the Influence), John Cassavetes, who died in 1989, remains known for gamely trying to make his art in Hollywood, and then gamely wreaking havoc when he was overrided. Of his television series, Staccato (later called Johnny Staccato at the insistence of network executives), the director said: "It is virtually impossible to get approval on a script that has substance." Fans and film buffs will delight in this rare look inside the mind of this talented, innovative and influential filmmaker. Photos. ( Aug.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Ray Carney is Professor of Film and American Studies and Chairman of the Film Studies Program at Boston University. He is the author of over ten books, including the critically acclaimed The Films of John Cassavetes.