John Cassavetes: A Woman Under the Influence

Assignment: Required Viewing/Writing


John Cassavetes was someone who worked both inside and outside the studio system. An an actor, he was in several Hollywood movies -- he used the money he made acting to finance his independent films. One of his earlier acting roles was in the TV show "Johnny Staccato," in which he played a jazz pianist/private eye. He actually directed a few episodes as well -- I'd like you to watch the episode linked below (it runs roughly a half hour), and answer the following questions in a blog post:

1. Can you detect any traces of Cassavetes style or sensibility, as it appears in "A Woman Under the Influence," in this episode? If yes, explain the commonalities you see; if no, explain the differences in tone and treatment.

2. The format of a private eye TV show has to follow a formula to some degree -- in his independent films, Cassavetes tried to break away from the idea of formula. Why do you think Cassavetes wanted to break away from formula, and what do you think are some of the pros and cons of working within a formula?

"Murder for Credit," a Cassavetes-directed episode of "Johnny Staccato" (the clips have embedding disabled, so you'll have to watch them on youtube):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78PXuXj-9TQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8drAQMSj28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLD7Wf_LL1U

Recommended Viewing:

Television sucks:


Cassavetes directing:

Husbands (more parts on youtube):


Love Streams (more parts on youtube):


From "A Constant Forge":

Meshes

After viewing both movies I choose to discuss Meshes of the Afternoon. Both films were “out there” but Dali’s movie was a little more, but had some sort of plot. Both films were very eery, and simply annoying. Why do they use “head ache music / sounds”? Both dealt with the concept of death. This concept was hidden a little more in Meshes of the Afternoon.

Meshes started out with an arm piercing into the frame vertically holding a flower. The arm was to long to be considered normal. Thus I thought the rest of the film would have similar aspects of distortion. Although there was not in actual form like the arm. But rather in time. This distortion I speak about was when she came up the stairs, each time it was slightly different. One time slow motion, another time it was as if the house was shaking or if gravity had been shifted.

The symbols I found to be interesting where the key, knife, and grim reaper. After watching the whole film I believe the key and the door was a metaphor for the after life. As if she was dead and this was her key into heaven or maybe hell. Now the thought of hell could be what this film was about? It might, but back to the key and knife. There is a scene where the key turns into the knife. I think the knife is a murder weapon. The women does “die” I believe. Thus she was murdered. Then there was the grim reaper figure. I say this because he in my mind is the true simple of death, and I particularly enjoy the scene where he lays the flower in the bed. I see that as, “Your Dead” although in a graceful way.

In the end, both films were unique and something I would never want to watch again. Although they have aspects I particularly enjoy, such as the slow motion and the use of symbols.

Meshes of the Afternoon

This short  film has so much abstract symbolism that it's almost difficult to focus on something in particular yet astounded by how many times the symbols keep reappearing. Therefore I am combining my sequences and images into a summary to try and explain what they mean themselves and in context with everything else taking place.

One of the first details shown to us in the movie is a hand holding a flower (I LOVE this image) on a long driveway which to me meant spring, life, and in bloom even though used upside down and not in a very pretty manner.
Again the flower is used in a scene where it's carried by the "grim reaper" figure which I now see the flower as a symbol of death and dead end because as she chases the figure it only leads her back to her door step... So maybe there is still a sign of beginning again.

Some of the other symbolism used is a key in particular. In this film it's used in a couple different ways one of the first is when we see the main character take a key out of her mouth. It becomes a symbol of a weapon when it turns into a knife and uses to confront herself. This sends a message of knowledge or answers as a weapon.
Which leads me to believe that this film deals with a little self discovery or looking inward.
Another usage of a key is directly after, falling down stairs, which seems to mean that the answers are slipping out of her hands or not getting any closer. Something is out of her reach or grasp and even the "down stairs" has a negative quality of disappearing.

Kasey Hartsock

Response: "Un Chien Andalou"

Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali were adamant that Un Chien Andalou contained no symbolism whatsoever. Their goal was to make a film full of imagery that could not be explained or rationalized. I like that, because it lets me form my own interpretations.

There is a shot in this film featuring ants pouring from a hole in a young man’s hand. At first, I didn’t quite know how to interpret this. Dali associated ants with death and decay, but beyond that I wasn’t sure what it might mean. A short while later, when the man tries to sexually assault a young woman, I immediately thought of the ants in his palm. I felt that the ants represented the ugliness and repulsiveness of his urge to put his hands on her against her will.

Another interesting sequence, probably my favorite in the film, was at the very end. A happy couple walks down the beach, smiling and clinging to each other. It appears to be the final shot. Then a title card appears with the words “In Spring”, followed by a shot of the couple, now dead, buried in the sand up to their chests. A couple of thoughts came to mind: first, the title card places this scene in springtime, so my immediate (and silly) thought was that the couple had been planted as flowers. Also, Dali was a bit obsessed with a painting by Jean-Francois Millet, “The Angelus”, featuring a peasant couple praying in the middle of a field. The pose of the figures in that painting appeared a number of times in Dali’s own paintings, and it seems to be echoed in the poses of the couple in the sand. Dali found “The Angelus” to be symbolic of female sexual aggression, which he tied into his own associations between sex and death. When I considered that, the transition from a happy young couple to a dead young couple imitating "The Angelus" became even more disconcerting.

Debra Granik.

Debra Granik

Two films: Winters Bone 2010, Down to the Bone 2004

After watching both Winters Bone, and Down to the Bone and researching Debra Granik as a director I think she definitely has a personal stamp on her films. They’re gritty and real and follow thick narrative plots. Her personal stamp increased with better equipment and a higher budget after 6 years of filming, but the same raw quality lingers in both films. Use of camera angles, framing, and movement give it that edgy documentary characteristic. The cuts between scenes are quick and precise, leading to sharp purposeful editing.

I’d like to say that her background gave inspiration and her fingerprint on these films but it was in no way related to these tales of drugs, poverty, and addiction. Maybe her own stamp came from trying to tell real stories of hitting rock bottom, unlike something she was totally familiar with. She also found the really terrifying glimpse of drugs to be something controversial and a challenge, which is also why she chose it.

The common themes and styles between these two films are pretty apparent once watched. She centralizes around poverty, drugs, and life in a small town. She toys with the idea of helping family and how important they are, yet the leader has her faults with drugs, or harassment by others. Both main characters are women, one out to save her family in a world of crystal meth labs, and the other a cocaine addict who tries to make the choice to be sober.

            Both stories involve short-term journeys out of life long battles. Winters Bone is a voyage of a young girl to save her family, with their lives riding on her shoulders. Down to the Bone is a story of addiction, highs and lows, and the struggle within. Both women getting knocked down again and again, and somehow finding relief and salvation in the end. Despite the dreary nature of the cinematography of both films, a surprisingly nice ending arrives.

            Down to the Bone was about a mother, Irene, who is balancing a small time life based on a cocaine addiction. She holds a job, takes care of her two sons, and comes home to a husband everyday but only does so because drugs are holding her together. But after one of her lowest moments she starts a rehabilitation cycle and tends to be falling apart including slowing at her job and taking part in an affair with a heroin addicted nurse she’s met. I see the ending as something almost happy and a little bit optimistic.  Winter’s Bone focuses on the not so normal struggle of a 17-year-old girl, Ree, who must find her missing father and save her family’s home. He wasn’t a father to look up to, being a well known meth cooker, but Ree must make huge sacrifices when she finds out he put their home up for payment as bail. He doesn’t make it and Ree is told she has a week to find him or the house is taken away from her younger brother and sister and mother who never speaks. After terrible warnings from family and “friends” Ree discovers with the help of her uncle that her father is dead and she brings his severed arm to prove it and wins her home back. This movie was adapted from an unpublished novel at the time and pushed to feel very real and intense with its subject matter.

In Down to the Bone I think one of the most captivating scenes that capture a “rock bottom” moment is when Irene the mother of two boys uses her son’s money to keep her cocaine addiction going. Her dealer actually denies her son’s birthday check from a relative when she tries to by drugs, but that denial actually triggered her lowest moment and decision to enter rehab which adds a lot of meaning to this film. You can feel her desperation and shame in asking but even more so when he actually says no.

One scene I chose from Winter’s Bone to discuss is in the end where daughter Ree must paddle out into a lake and feel for her fathers dead body buried in the dirt. The feelings portrayed in that scene are very real and have a visceral affect on the viewer. She’s in a boat full of women who have physically punished her for trying to find her dad, yet have a change of heart and lead her there where his body is buried. I was on the edge of my seat thinking something worse would happen expecting the women to dump her body into the lake. I was shocked to find their intentions somewhat good, but heartbreaking to see Ree hold her father’s hands and have to saw them off to have proof. The director achieved the desired emotions greatly and this scene is heart wrenching and raw.

In Winter’s Bone, Jennifer Lawrence has to be my favorite actor not only because she’s the main character but because I think she does a great job portraying her role as a struggling small town girl. I usually see her as a very glamorous girly girl and to see her in such a different atmosphere let me appreciate her acting skills and not beauty. She was totally convincing and brought strength to the movie.

            In Down to the Bone, I have to say that I was not sold at first by the performance of main character Vera Farmiga as an addict or a mother. I found her raw quality to not be sincere but I think the more I watched the more believable it became. I think I mistook the realness for amateur hour but the documentary style is what she really manages to capture. It’s almost real. I think the director did extremely well with the grittiness and choosing her characters.

Kasey Hartsock

Response to The Cry of Jazz

1. I think it’s a convincing case that jazz is a form of political expression. I can understand the point the African-American’s were trying to make; that jazz was created as a release and then others tried to take it away for themselves. I can also understand the point of jazz being dead because they felt it did not belong to them anymore and also because they felt they could not go any further in the music. They had done all they could, and could not create anything else. I do not however, feel that jazz is dead. It is still being played and listened to today. 2. I was much more interested in the narrated scenes. I really enjoyed listening to the music in the background as he talked about jazz music. I could have done without the conversational scenes. The conversational scenes seemed way too rehearsed and boring. 3. I think it is still relevant in the sense of using music as an expression of current moods and situations. It is not relevant in how people treat each other today.

Jazz Is Dead. Jazz Is Not Dead

1) What do you think of the picture it paints, with music as an expression of political consciousness? Is it a convincing case? Do you think the argument about the development and the "death" of jazz proved accurate?

Jazz is a musical expression of an underclass, African American's. It is a political expression of consciousness. I feel this statement to be true especially for its initial conception. An expression of strife, conflict, sorrow, joy, rebellion against suppression segregation and a change in society. Thus I feel it is a convincing case that jazz is a political expression of consciousness
I don't feel the case of the death of jazz is linked to the 'negro' death in an American culture. I feel like jazz turned into an enveloping expression for all downtrodden, excited, peripheral folk. white, black, all races. I feel that jazz is still happening. I feel like jazz has morphed over the years, but it will never die.

2) What parts of the film do you find effective? What parts do you find ineffective?

I really enjoyed the street scene in the initial explanation of jazz. the beats, the music the people congregating. it felt alive and intimately connected to a 'human beat' that yes, was sorrowful because of racist segregation, but had potential energetically in the music that seemed hopeful. And to a certain degree was.

3) Do you think this film is still relevant today? Or is it mainly a snapshot of a remote historical moment?
I think aspects of the film are relevant today, maybe substitute a different race, gender, political stance. you may even substitute the music genre for what jazz started in the music community to express more than just a harmony or background music. It started a sense of expression that was not apologetic toward offending or exciting people.