Perhaps we’re not doing any favors for John Cassavetes or his filmswhen we call him the “father” or “godfather” of independent cinema. Today, the word has been devalued by the fact that these so-called “independents” are actually smaller-budgeted films funded by—or acquisitions released by—boutique divisions of large studios, the studios themselves being divisions of large-scale multinational corporations.

Coincidentally, Cassavetes’ untimely death at age 59 on February 3, 1989, came just two weeks after the Sundance Film Festival premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s independently made Sex, Lies, and Videotape, a watershed event for American indies and Sundance. Sadly, there remains few links between the defiantly personal films of Cassavetes and the avalanche of low-budget, yet decidedly non-personal efforts calculated to appeal to mainstream tastes and acquire distribution that appear every year at Sundance.

An accomplished actor with experience in film, theater, and television before he became a writer-director, Cassavetes was a born rebel who challenged the studios’ and the audience’s expectations and understanding of cinema at every opportunity; his films felt loose and improvised (although they were usually tightly scripted); they rarely seemed to adhere to the traditional rules of “storytelling”; and they focused on human behavior that was not always easy to accept at first glance.

Even though Cassavetes independently financed five of his features (three of which he also distributed on his own), by labeling him the “patron saint” of indies, we do a disservice to some of the marvelous features Cassavetes made within the studio system, like Husbands, Minnie and Moskowitz, and Too Late Blues. Not to mention that calling him the “inventor” of independent cinema is as misleading as saying that sound cinema begins with The Jazz Singer, and unfair to filmmakers like Morris Engel and Lionel Rogosin, who preceded Cassavetes and whose work is being shown in conjunction with this series.

“Independent” has become a, hip, identifiable genre, or worse, a brand name, but even if we accept that “true independent” filmmaking has been in decline since Cassavetes’ death, it is possible to consider his collective body of work as something other than a series of cinematic miracles, made by an angel sent from movie heaven to save us from crass commercialism. What’s more inspiring is that all of his resulting films, with all of their strengths and weaknesses, are not only honest about human relationships, but also authentic reflections of his struggles to make movies, whether or not he had the assistance of corporate funding. These films are more than the work of a true independent; they are films by an artist who was a human being.

Join us in the Dryden during May and June as we celebrate the extraordinary work of John Cassavetes. The series kicks off with a screening of his seminal first film, Shadows, showing in a newly restored 35mm print from the UCLA Film & Television Archive, followed by a discussion with film critic and former Rochesterian Marshall Fine, author of a Cassavetes biography. The centerpiece events for this series will take place the weekend of May 16–18 when Cassavetes company performers Ben Gazzara and Seymour Cassel and producer-cinematographer Al Ruban will participate in discussions following screening of Faces (another UCLA restoration), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Husbands.—Jim Healy, Assistant Curator, Exhibitions, Motion Picture Department

For an exclusive interview with Al Ruban, please click this link, and for an interview with Seymour Cassel, follow this link.

Advance tickets for Cassavetes Weekend are available at http:// dryden.eastmanhouse.org, Museum’s admissions desk, and Dryden Theatre box office. No Take-10 tickets or passes. This film series is made possible in part through the generous support of Jacques and Dawn Lipson.

Screenings:

Wednesday, May 7 | 8 p.m.

Marshall Fine in Person!

SHADOWS (John Cassavetes, US 1959, 87 min.)

Wednesday, May 14 | 8 p.m.

TOO LATE BLUES (John Cassavetes, US 1962, 100 min.)

Cassavetes Weekend

Friday, May 16 | 8 p.m.

Seymour Cassel & Al Ruban in Person!

FACES (John Cassavetes, US 1968, 130 min.) No Take-10 tickets or passes.

Saturday, May 17 | 8 p.m.

Ben Gazzara, Seymour Cassel & Al Ruban in Person!

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (John Cassavetes, US 1976,

109 min.) No Take-10 tickets or passes.

Sunday, May 18 | 7 p.m.

Ben Gazzara & Al Ruban in Person!

HUSBANDS (John Cassavetes, US 1970, 131 min.) No Take-10 tickets

or passes.

Wednesday, May 21 | 8 p.m.

A CHILD IS WAITING (John Cassavetes, US 1963, 102 min.)

Wednesday, May 28 | 8 p.m.

A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (John Cassavetes, US 1974, 146 min.)

Wednesday, June 4 | 8 p.m.

MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ (John Cassavetes, US 1971, 114 min.)

Wednesday, June 11 | 8 p.m.

OPENING NIGHT (John Cassavetes, US 1977, 144 min.)

Wednesday, June 18 | 8 p.m.

GLORIA (John Cassavetes, US 1980, 121 min.)

Wednesday, June 25 | 8 p.m.

LOVE STREAMS (John Cassavetes, US 1984, 141 min.)

Before Cassavetes Double Feature!

Thursday, May 15

7 p.m. LITTLE FUGITIVE (Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin, US 1953,

75 min.) & at 8:30 p.m. ON THE BOWERY (Lionel Rogosin, US 1957, 65

min.) Two films for one admission price.