WEEK 24

24. OPENING NIGHT, dir. JOHN CASSAVETES, 1977

"OH YEAH, AND WHERE DO YOU LIVE?"

CALIFORNIA SPLIT exhibits some sort of sneaky genius. it tells the truth about people trying to make it, about desperate people, normal people, extraordinary people, the people you notice, the people you don't. it's moving and terribly funny. elliot gould is number one.

so much of the power of this film, like others by robert altman, is owed to sound--the way the talking overlaps and fights for the floor, suggesting a universe of equally valid, individual, human voices. you pull for bill and charlie from the first moment of the first scene, and you never stop pulling for them, even as you wish desperately for them to stop while they're ahead. and i guess, eventually, they do--or at least one of them does. the ending is such a heartbreak, though the kind you find in real life at every turn. it's a perfect ending. i love this movie.

for the interested, a glimpse into how the film was meant to end here.

for this week, a no-brainer. a cassavetes film i am excited to finally see all the way through.

FILM ORGY UPDATE: sasha will be spending the next month in new york, and as such we're going to take a break from our usual back-and-forth posting until she returns. instead, we'll be updating a month-long film log, perhaps with some brief commentary to boot, to give you some insight into what we're watching and what we think. see you soon.