Five films by American filmmaker John Cassavetes – the spiritual father of the independent film scene – will have their worldwide Blu-ray premiere this year, with the release of Dual Format Editions by the BFI. The John Cassavetes Collection is launched on 23 April with his ground-breaking debut feature
Shadows (1959) and
Faces (1968) starring Gena Rowlands.
John Cassavetes' three mid-1970s features
A Woman Under the Influence (1974),
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and
Opening Night (1977) will be released in Dual Format Editions later in 2012.
Shadows
Cassavetes' first film charts the doomed relationship between a young mixed-race woman Lelia (Lelia Goldoni) and Tony (Anthony Ray), a white man who betrays his prejudice when he meets Lelia's brother, a struggling jazz singer. Shot on location with a cast and crew largely made up of amateurs Shadows features a swinging, improvised score by Charlie Mingus and Shafi Hadi, and is considered to be the first truly independent American film.
- Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- Audio commentary with actor Seymour Cassel and film critic Tom Charity
- Falk on Cassavetes: the early years (DVD only, 13 mins): never-before-seen interview footage with Cassavetes' friend and collaborator
- 16 mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop (DVD only, 4 mins)
- Original theatrical trailer (DVD only, 4 mins)
- 32-page illustrated booklet featuring new essays and notes from Michael Atkinson, Brian Morton and Tom Charity
Faces
Shot in searing, high-contrast black and white 16mm, Cassavetes dissects the suffocating world of middle-class Los Angeles where hollow laughter and drunken frivolities mask loneliness and social alienation. Nominated for 3 Oscars – an unheard-of achievement for an independent film at the time – Faces employs a freewheeling, realist approach, and showcases some of the finest performances ever seen in American cinema.
- Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- Alternative opening sequence (DVD only, 20 mins)
- Alternative opening sequence audio commentary (DVD only, 20 mins): Peter Bogdanovich and Al Ruban discuss an earlier cut of Faces
- Seymour Cassel interviewed by Tom Charity (DVD only, 47 mins)
- 32-page illustrated booklet featuring interviews and new essays from Tom Charity and Al Ruban