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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0037429199220
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
Item Dimensions: 195
Label: Criterion
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageDolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Manufacturer: Criterion
MPN: 037429199220
Number Of Discs: 8
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 21, 2004
Running Time: 945 minutes
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: November 18, 1974

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 09/21/2004 Run time: 945 minutes

Amazon.com:
Improvised by the cast, shot in black and white, John Cassavetes's first independent feature, Shadows, looked like no other film of its time. Cassavetes, seeking to both deal with social issues and create a new kind of cinema, told a story about a family of black siblings in Manhattan trying to make ends meet. Though it meanders at times, it features the kind of spontaneous emotion Cassavetes most wanted to elicit in his films.

A sensation in 1968, Faces earned Oscar nominations for actors Seymour Cassel and Lynn Carlin. Improvised and shot in an edgy, hand-held fashion, the film examines the disintegration of the marriage of a couple in mid-life doldrums. Each seeks solace elsewhere: husband John Marley with prostitute Gena Rowlands, wife Carlin with a free spirit played by Cassel. But neither finds anything approaching the fulfillment they feel is missing from the marriage. Indeed, in Cassavetes's probe of raw emotions, these people discover that, just maybe, the problem lies not with their spouse but with themselves.

The long, free-form drama A Woman Under the Influence is best appreciated as a good showcase for Rowlands, playing a woman whose sanity literally appears to be shattering as different aspects of her personality eclipse others at various times. Peter Falk plays her struggling, blue-collar husband, trying to understand the phenomenon and sometimes losing his patience. As with most of Cassavetes's works as a director, one can't help but find one's attention drifting in and out, but Rowland's performance is a key reason the film has been declared a "national treasure" by the Library of Congress.

The title of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is the only commercial element in this fascinating character study by writer-director Cassavetes, who once again finds his cinematic soulmate in actor Ben Gazzara. The film uses verité technique to tell the story of Cosmo Vitelli (Gazzara), a Hollywood strip-club owner whose growing debt to a local gangster can only be erased if he agrees to kill a rival Chinese gangster. As usual, Cassavetes employs his favorite actors (including Seymour Cassel and the fearsome Timothy Carey) and vivid improvisation to give Chinese Bookie a tense atmosphere of emotional urgency.

Gena Rowlands stars in Opening Night, Cassavetes's drama of an aging, alcoholic stage actress in the days leading up to her latest Broadway opening. Like all of her collaborations with her writer-director husband, Rowlands is a woman on the verge of collapse, this time a lonely alcoholic whose very life is a performance. Overlong at 144 minutes, the film's long, loose scenes build through uncomfortable small talk and slow, tentative confrontations. Some of the scenes are edgy and thrilling, though many find this facet of Cassavetes pretentious and self-indulgent. Ultimately it's a matter of taste: if you like his style, you'll love this discomforting drama.

The eight-disc Criterion Collection set is filled out with the 2000 documentary A Constant Forge: The Life and Art of John Cassavetes, plus numerous interviews, a second version of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, a commentary track for A Woman Under the Influence, a 68-page book, and various other features.




Rating: - FABULOUS
A VERY FINE COLLECTION OF HIS FILMS. I HAPPEN TO KNOW A FEW OF THE PEOPLE IN THE FILMS. HE WAS AN ABSOLUTE GENIUS. THERE'S A BIO OUT ON HIM THAT I READ, (IN HARD COVER) CALLED "THE ACCIDENTAL GENIUS". A REALLY CONCISE BIO. I RECCOMEND IT VERY HIGHLY...THANKS AMAZON FOR ALL GREAT EFFORT IN MAKING THESE BIO'S ACCESSIBLE. I CAN'T WAIT TO START READING THE BIILIE BURKE BOOK. SHE HAD TO BE THE FUNNIEST WOMAN AROUND AT THAT TIME. AND SHE'S STILL FUNNY ALL THESE MANY YEARS LATER. FRANK COLLETT TAGLIERI

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Rating: - good price, fast shipping, thanks!
the price was good and the product was shipped in a timely manner. My only complaint is that the booklet fell apart when first opened.

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Rating: - Brilliant and beautiful and raw depictions of how vulnerable we can be
The theme that all of the indispensable films in this set return to is how vulnerable we can be. At bottom what each of us wants is to be respected, to be acknowledged and to be loved. Anyone who loses that vulnerability -- which is for Cassavettes an ability: the ability to feel to express and to allow oneself to be heard without the stifling of self-censor -- anyone who loses that vulnerability whether by yielding to habit or by repression or self-control, may manage to achieve power but does ... Read More

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Rating: - John Cassavetes defines Independent Film.
Considered to be "the father of independent film," John Cassavetes (1929-1989) was also a gifted actor (The Dirty Dozen; The Killers), screenwriter, and director. He was married to actress Gena Rowlands. Their daughter, Zoe, is known for her recent 2007 film, Broken English. The five films of this must-have Criterion collection reveal that Cassavetes was both a film genius and a true visionary. He not only defined indie film. He set the standard. Arguably, Cassavetes paved the way for Sundance, ... Read More

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Rating: - Don't Support Criterion's Treachery
Five BIG stars for these incredible films, and for the beautiful transfers, but 0 stars for Criterion's dishonorable dealings with Cassavetes scholar Ray Carney who put in immeasurable work towards this release and was then fired (after all but completing his work for Criterion) and left completely UNCREDITED! Reportedly, this was due to a feud between he and Jena Rowlands over the inclusion of an earlier version of "Shadows" and an alternative cut of "Faces". These might have been included in the ... Read More

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