"I seem to have lost the, uh, reality of, of the, uh… reality".
~Myrtle Gordon, "Opening Night"
A film about a Broadway actress having a psychological breakdown during out-of-town previews?! I'm in.
Now don't get me wrong, I have no intention of turning the focus of this blog to movies, but I was recently re-introduced to this film (thanks for the x-mas gift, Kay!), and was struck by it, and felt compelled to write a little bit.
This is one of those films that you show to 7 people, and you get 7 different opinions on what it's about. Reminds me of my college days in film classes watching "non-conventional" movies with subtext all over the place. I'm sure there's been more than one or two film school papers written about this puppy, and for good reason.
I can't talk about this movie without a little examination of its director, John Cassavetes and his style. He was an actor, screenwriter, filmmaker and pioneer of independent film, whose work often examined the lives of those who were on the brink. He avoided the big budget movie system, often financing his own projects, filming parts of many of them in his own house. He was anti-plot devices, anti-big name movie stars, and anti-Hollywood. Although his films have often been mistaken for being improvised, he usually always had a script. But he made sure his films served his most important consideration -- the performance of the actors. Because of this, they often featured long takes (including what happened between takes), natural light, off the shoulder camera work, and tight intimate shots of his actors. Love…
