Loading Events
  • This event has passed.

Dec 5, 2009 at 7:30 pm

John Cassavetes Tribute: I’m Almost Not Crazy & Johnny Staccato

With Brandon Harris and Cullen Gallagher

Half a century has passed since John Cassavetes made his feature film debut with Shadows in 1959, and his influence is more widespread and acknowledged than ever before. Part three of UnionDocs’ series Docs on Auteurs honors his life in cinema with the presentation of two rare works that span the length of his career. Cassavetes would be turning 80 years old this December had he not passed away at the age of 59 in 1989. Celebrate the artist’s legacy with these two rare works, neither of which is currently commercially available on video.

This screening was curated with Cullen Gallagher, film and literary critic, who is a regular contributor for The L Magazine, Not Coming to a Theater Near You, Hammer to Nail, as well as other publications.

Special thanks to Michael Ventura, Jane Klain, and NBC Universal.

Program

I’m Almost Not Crazy by Michael Ventura

60 min., 1984

Michael Ventura’s documentary I’m Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes – the Man and His Work (1984, 60 min), was shot on the set of Cassavetes’ penultimate film, Love Streams (1984). Made while the director was ill and uncertain whether he would be able to complete another film, Love Streams was a self-conscious meditation on death, as well as a farewell to cinema. Alternating behind-the-scenes glimpses at the production process with insightful conversations with Cassavetes and his life-long collaborators (such as wife Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel), Ventura’s film offers an intimate look at one of the most personal and unique filmmakers in cinema history.

A rare and invaluable chronicle of their hero doing and talking about what he loved best: filmmaking. Those who don’t should gain new respect for the man, his methods, his passion, and his absolute commitment to his own unique vision of the human comedy.

– TV Guide

Reveals one of the U.S. cinema’s great rebels, precious iconoclasts and essential film makers.

– Michael Wilmington, Los Angeles Times

Johnny Staccato (Solomon) by John Cassavetes

25 min., 1959

I’m Almost Not Crazy will be preceded by one of Cassavetes’ earliest directorial works, “Solomon” (1960, 23 min), an episode of the television series Johnny Staccato that starred Cassavetes as a Greenwich Village jazz pianist/private detective. Film noir legend Elisha Cook, Jr. (The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep) and Cloris Leachman (Kiss Me Deadly and The Last Picture Show) co-star in this gem from the Golden Age of Television about a hot-shot lawyer who needs Johnny Staccato’s help to prove his client’s innocence.

57 min

Details

Date
Dec 5, 2009
Time
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Program:

Address

352 Onderdonk Avenue
Ridgewood, NY 11385 United States

Support UnionDocs’ next phase and new building by becoming a member

Peek in the window of our bustling building in NYC and tune into the ideas and energy bubbling up from the UNDO Center.

Tune into cutting-edge, powerful and poetic documentary programs and connect to conversations with the artists and thinkers passing through.

Now available at the Apple Store.

MONTHLY

 

Unlimited access to all of our monthly offerings for the price of two espressos.

ANNUALLY

 

Keep it simple and save. Unlimited access to our sweet offerings for a reduced, annual fee and receive some added benefits.

LOCAL, ARTIST, STUDENT OR SENIOR

 

In the neighborhood, a working artist, student or senior? This membership is for you. Fill out a quick form for a discount code to an annual membership.

ANNUAL EDITIONS MEMBERSHIP

 

Get all of the benefits of the Annual UNDO Membership plus an annual subscription to UnionDocs Editions, a set of publications, merchandise or special objects.

UnionDocs is grateful for support from:

We have two new limited editions out now that have grown out of our UNDO FELLOWSHIP

FORMS OF ERRANTRY delves into the mesmerizing and haunting films of Miryam Charles and is edited by Lakshmi Padmanabhan. GEOLOGIC LISTENING centers the monumental and expansive work of filmmaker Deborah Stratman and is edited by Sukhdev Sandhu.

Summer Documentary Labs

Join a select group of emerging filmmakers to think through every aspect of your work-in-progress in this tightly structured program.