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"Je vous souhaite d'être follement aimée." (Breton) Hard hats in the mud, opera throbs and applause erupts for the foreman (Peter Falk) who tells off the boss, they still have to work all night. Meanwhile, his wife (Gena Rowlands) rattles at home, pointing at walls as if checking they were still around. "She's unusual" is the defensive line to inquisitive colleagues, the children provide a closer assessment, "you're smart, you're pretty, you're nervous, too." The fellow she picked up at a bar sneaks away in the morning, moments later her man arrives with the crew for a spaghetti breakfast. "PRIVATE" sign above the head of the table, arias to go with the sauce, palpable male embarrassment over the woman who's excruciatingly eager to please. "Don't let that mind run away on you, now." Ibsen in suburban Los Angeles and no mistake, John Cassavetes' supreme explosion of screen space into wrenching emotional zones. Sputtering gesticulations on the sidewalk, Swan Lake pirouettes in the backyard, a jolt every few seconds from Rowlands in one of the most galvanic performances in cinema. Falk splendidly embodies his character's own edge of madness, yanking the kids out of school for an overcast beach holiday and sharing a beer with them in the back of his truck. "Nobody gets pneumonia when I'm the father!" A noble lineage, Europa '51 and Red Desert and Repulsion, Altman is nearby with Images. The wife's release from the asylum makes for quite the anxious homecoming, hubby stands in the rain after being called "a shit" and asks Mom (Katherine Cassavetes) to disperse the party. "No emotions now, I really want to be calm." A bottomless film at once abrupt and tender, wave after cathartic wave breaking before Cassavetes' lens. The upshot is a coda of blessed quiet, two people in love making their bed as a ringing phone goes unanswered. "We got through the night. It was a tough night. Tomorrow's gonna be better." With Lady Rowlands, Fred Draper, Mario Gallo, George Dunn, Eddie Shaw, Angelo Grisanti, Matthew Labyorteaux, Matthew Cassel, and Christina Grisanti.
--- Fernando F. Croce |