AGFA August: Faces

During one long, bumpy night and into the next morning, Richard and Maria Forst, a wealthy couple whose relationship is becalmed in an emotional downswing, dally separately with other partners with devastating results. Preservation of the film funded by The Film Foundation with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in celebration of the 40th anniversary of this Cassavetes classic.

Tickets on sale August 1.

After a quick spell in the early Sixties as a studio director on Too Late Blues and A Child is Waiting, John Cassavetes spent four years planning Faces: a trip to the emotional badlands marking both a return to his indie roots and the casting of key repertory players he’d work with many times after. John Marley and Lynn Carlin play a May-December couple who realize their marriage is dissolving, and who both seek unhealthy trysts: Marley parties with stunning call girl Gena Rowlands, while Carlin brings home libidinous young hippie Seymour Cassel. The stunted atmosphere of tense sexuality, wild outbursts and off-the-cuff turns of phrase, all seen through the filter of purposefully gritty 16mm B&W, results in one of Cassavetes’ most moving efforts—one that many are still shocked to learn is entirely scripted rather than improvised. Amongst this powerful ensemble, Carlin gives the greatest performance of all. Cassavetes elicits from Carlin a mesmerizing portrayal of a neglected wife as brave and honest as you’ll ever experience.