Despite the very, very positive reviews for this film, this film is NOT for everyone. I think had the film been shown to a hundred people and they reviewed and scored it, it would have been a lot lower--and with a WIDELY skewed distribution. People would either love it or hate it. However, the average person also would not just pick up a film directed by John Cassavetes. They might love him in "The Dirty Dozen" or "Rosemary's Baby"--but these are his commercial projects and ones in which he only acted. His own films are very personal and don't even attempt to be commercial but are artsy and often about topics that aren't all that marketable. The bottom line is that he did films he loved to make and didn't seem to care if the public embraced them--at least that's the perception most people 'in the know' have of his movies.
When "Faces" first begins, it's VERY obvious this is not a Hollywood film (this would also be pretty clear if you just read the IMDb summary of the film). The movie is an example of 'Cinéma vérité'--a film technique that is typified by the non-professional and provocative aspects of the film. This film appears to have been shot with a cheap non-professional camera and the print is very grainy. As far and the acting and script goes, it looks like a movie made by friends after they had a few drinks--they appear to think they are quite clever. So, from the look of it, the $275,000 budget seems to be exaggerated--especially since it was, literally, a home-made film--being made in Cassevetes' apartment! As I said, it does not appear to be yet another Hollywood type of film! Now the film does have a few professional actors in it--with Cassavetes' own wife (Gena Rowlands) and John Marley starring in the movie. Most of the rest are mostly unknowns--and I have no idea if they were professional actors or just acquaintances of Cassavetes.
While I like some French New Wave films, some absurdist films and and even some experimental and Dogma 95 films, I really did not enjoy this particular film. While I am not at all a typical viewer, I clearly don't fall into the very small but wildly enthusiastic crowd of Cassavetes fans. I just found it all to be cheap and pretentious...and dull. To each his or her own.
When "Faces" first begins, it's VERY obvious this is not a Hollywood film (this would also be pretty clear if you just read the IMDb summary of the film). The movie is an example of 'Cinéma vérité'--a film technique that is typified by the non-professional and provocative aspects of the film. This film appears to have been shot with a cheap non-professional camera and the print is very grainy. As far and the acting and script goes, it looks like a movie made by friends after they had a few drinks--they appear to think they are quite clever. So, from the look of it, the $275,000 budget seems to be exaggerated--especially since it was, literally, a home-made film--being made in Cassevetes' apartment! As I said, it does not appear to be yet another Hollywood type of film! Now the film does have a few professional actors in it--with Cassavetes' own wife (Gena Rowlands) and John Marley starring in the movie. Most of the rest are mostly unknowns--and I have no idea if they were professional actors or just acquaintances of Cassavetes.
While I like some French New Wave films, some absurdist films and and even some experimental and Dogma 95 films, I really did not enjoy this particular film. While I am not at all a typical viewer, I clearly don't fall into the very small but wildly enthusiastic crowd of Cassavetes fans. I just found it all to be cheap and pretentious...and dull. To each his or her own.