There is something so distinct in the way Cassavetes uses a close up. It’s not just standing close so we can get a better look at the emotions, no the shakiness and rough print make sure that we never really get a good look at the full emotions and yet- in his closeups there is always something so intimate going on. He was a man who could find beauty in the mundane, maybe it’s not the beauty we’re used to, but it’s human beauty nonetheless. I firmly believe that this is one of the best shot films of all time. Every moment is so stunning, the camera ignores the frame, every shot is compromised therefore every shot works. It’s harder to make something look truly messy than it is to make something look beautiful.
Every actor is brilliant, I think I prefer Rowlands in this than to her (still mind blowing) performance in A Woman Under The Influence. How do you laugh for that long and manage to keep a straight face! It’s a deeply funny film, deeply funny, but it’s also very heavy and in its own mid-life crisis way- a pretty feckin depressive picture.
Faces feels so raw, so real, and still it feels detached. I know for a fact I saw every single second of this film that was available to me (someones probably got the six hour cut hidden away somewhere) but I really couldn’t tell ya most of what I saw. It’s a lot to take in. There’s really not that much going on, I mean barely anything happens if you compare this to an average film- and there’s my first mistake. It’s not your average film.
There is so much happening in Faces, all thrown at you at once with no room for you to breathe and appreciate the sheer density of this picture- there is so much small scale complexity at hand, intricately and smartly woven together to create this tapestry of raw human emotion.
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