In chronological order.
A Woman Under the Influence is my personal favorite
Berjuan, are the first two good?
The first two are classics. They get better and better and better.
We shall see.
Ok, I’m about to watch “Shadows” right now.
I ♥ you, Opening Night.
- Hugs DVD (carefully) -
Damn, now I wanna watch Opening Night! Or Faces.
[sobs due to lack of immediate access to Cassavetes]
“We shall see.”
No, we’ve seen. You shall see ;)
I’ll tell you which one to watch last…The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
The five films in the collection are some of his least accessible.
Here’s the best order to watch his major films in:
Minnie and Moskowitz
Husbands
A Woman Under the Influence
Faces
Opening Night
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Love Streams
If you really want to be blown away by his films, get Ray Carney’s “The Films of John Cassavetes” after you’ve watched them all. It completely changed my beliefs in what cinema can do.
I started with A Woman Under the Influence. For me, that was a perfect inroduction to Cassavetes. Then I would watch Faces, Opening Night, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Shadows. If you can get hold of it, I would watch Minnie and Moskowitz after Faces.
Opening Night continues to be my favourite Cassavetes film, but I agree with most everyone here that you should watch them chronologically. Wonderful box set by the way.
I disagree with Fraser though … why start with Minnie and Moskowitz? Why start with one of his lesser films?
Chronological order. Always.
pshh… start with a Woman Under the Influence, then Faces… then the rest… Chronological order is never the best.
i got mine for xmas … i started with A Woman Under the Influence and then went chronological
Not that this has anything to do with what order you should be watching them in, but – Remember when Barnes and Noble had that half off all Criterion deal? Well, I had been renting my Cassavetes films from the library, and considered getting the box for the special price, but got Agnes Varda’s 4 films set instead. I watched all 4 pieces (2 of which were mediocre nonsense), then immediately regretted my decision. One of my many failures.
Anyway, watch which ever one sounds the most interesting to you first, then watch the rest in chronological order. Cassavetes is kind of esoteric and definitely was a force that not everyone could understand the value in, so it might help to introduce yourself to his style through the film that will appeal to you the most (rather than us, P.S. A Woman Under the Influence is my favorite.) They’re all above average compared to most films though.
I got Varda AND Cassavetes at the last sale! And Varda is not nonsense. Or at least she’s good nonsense.
Have to agree with Woman Under The Influence. It’s a great way into Cassavetes. Then, you can branch out. Another good suggestion here is to save Chinese Bookie for last. Too bad the mold was broken with JC; nobody makes movies like these, only copies of copies…
Well, I’m being a little hyperbolic I guess. :o)
But still it was no Cassavetes box set!
Opening Night!
I bought the Cassevetes boxset during the first 50% off sale and because I own the set, I’ve been putting off seeing most of the films. It’s basically “Oh, I own the set, I can always see that later.” I watched A Woman Under The Influence first and loved it. I then jumped straight into The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and by then I was convinced of Cassavetes’ genius. Now just to see the rest of the set and then his other stuff.
“Shadows” was my introduction, just recently. Then I dove right into “Chinese Bookie.” He’s batting 100. I haven’t yet been disappointed. Somehow I’ll let fate decide what the next one will be.
“Faces” first. Do it!
Watch Faces.
Cassavetes made it when the chips were down… Actually, he made a lot of his films when the chips were down, but with Faces one gets the sense that his back was up against the wall and the only thing that would get him out of the jam he was in was making that exact film…it feels very urgent…
I would start with Shadows, a terrible film. The reason is that you could see things in that film that he later perfected.
The “acting” in that film is horrible – a pregnant pause before every shouted line.
all 4 pieces (2 of which were mediocre nonsense), then immediately regretted my decision
I love her stuff, but it is second tier for sure. Cleo is full of technical bobbles….
“I would start with Shadows, a terrible film. The reason is that you could see things in that film that he later perfected.”
If you agree with that at all, quit watching and see if you can return the set. You’ll never understand or appreciate Cassavetes if you don’t love Shadows. He never “perfected” anything and that’s the whole point.
Haha! I knew you would go off on that one! I was waiting for it. Cassavetes is your baby, and you don’t like anybody bad-mouthing him!
dope fiend willy
Shadows
Faces
A Woman under the influence
Opening Night
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie