Review #133: 'Faces' (1968)

John Cassavetes' drama shows the breaking point of a long-disintegrating marriage between Richard and Maria Forst (John Marley and Lynn Carlin). At the start of the film, Richard joins his lifelong friend in the home of prostitute Jeannie (Gena Rowlands), where the two sing and dance, and drunkenly make fools of themselves as they try to impress her. He goes home to his wife and the two joke, only for Richard to suddenly announce his desire for a divorce. He goes back to Jeannie, who is now entertaining two businessmen. Maria goes out with her friends and they pick up optimistic dancer Chet (Seymour Cassel). He charms her friends and the two end up alone, where their desire for intimacy brings them together.

Cassavetes, known as the pioneer of American independent film-making, is at his most cold here. We are forced to watch these often repulsive characters laugh and interact without ever really connecting. Most of the men in the film are unhappily married and try to fill the void by committing adultery. All they seem to be doing is distancing themselves more from their wives, and increasing the loathing they truly have for themselves. It's a stroke of genius how over the course of two hours, we get to fully understand the mechanics of Robert's and Maria's marriage, even though they only spend about 15 minutes of screentime together. We get to experience it through a facial expression, or a certain glance, or a line of dialogue.

Filmed in the style of cinema verite, a device used most successfully by documentary film-makers The Maysles Brothers, Cassavates deploys it to truly get underneath the skin of the characters. We get to see the characters mainly in close-up, and although we are forced to swallow their meandering and dull conversations, the film never feels intimate. And this is the point. These people seem to exist for themselves, and although they communicate, they only really talk to themselves. The title Faces seems like a clever joke. All these people are, are faces. The director's true intentions come out in one of the final scenes, as Chet talks about how mechanical society is, and how everyone longs for, but is terrified, of intimacy. A truly great American drama featuring expert performances, namely from the Oscar-nominated Lynn Carlin and Seymour Cassel.


Directed by: John Cassavetes
Starring: John Marley, Lynn Carlin, Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gilespie