Most known for his films Shadows,faces,A Woman Under the Influence and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Cassavetes’ films consist of exposing the human condition as truthfully as possible. It wasn’t able glitz and glamor, idealizing a scenario so that it’d be easier to digest for an audience. He shied away from themes like politics or religion, instead making films that dealt with love, isolation, and trust. Cassavetes once said:
Life is men and women. Life isn’t, say, politics. Politicians are only bad actors grubbing around for power — In my opinion, these people and these small feelings are the greatest political force there is.
His first film, Shadows, which he made in 1959, was financed by Cassavetes for $40,000, and because of its limited release, didn’t find much of an audience. However, it did catch the eye of some critics, which helped him cash in on a Venice Film Festival Critics Prize for the film. Studios also began showing interest, and Cassavetes signed with Paramount to do Too Late Blues and A Child Is Waiting.
The documentary, an episode of a French documentary series called Cinéastes de notre temps (Filmmakers of Our Time,) which originally aired in 1969, reveals Cassavetes great passion for filmmaking, as well as artistic free expression. For him, it wasn’t just about making films, it was about making films that allowed him to say what he wanted to say. He didn’t need a big budget or known actors. In fact, he chose to work mostly with handheld cameras, and with his friends and people he knew, casting many of them in roles often times without compensation.
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