Its rhythm is more subtle and deliberate than you expect of Cassavetes. He finds a strange, oneiric tone and sustains it for the entire picture. Character development is slight, but this is compensated by interesting thematics. A reality-blurring crisis of identity and age. Myrtle resists the "professionalism" of her colleagues, transcending the battle of wills with writer and director. She is in a sense the ultimate Cassavetes character, himself the ultimate anti-auteur and actor's director.

Fantastic performances. My favorite Cassavetes picture.

OK, the whole "ghost" device was a bit lame, but who cares when the acting is this wonderful (especially Casavettes and Rowlands). Other things I liked: the way the play parallels real life; the battle between actors and writers (directors)--and in this case the actor triumphs! the theme of a woman dealing with losing her youth and her "solution."

DavidKahane's got it: 'verisimilitude.' I will parry with 'verfremdungseffekt.' fukyeh

802

Cassavettes approach to the material is typically raw and unpolished, letting scenes play out with few cuts and fewer embellishments. It's a choice that gives the actors room to build nuance into their roles, and makes the later scenes of mounting problems nearly unbearable in their verisimilitude. It's also a wonderful showcase for Rowlands as the rapidly deteriorating star. It's a role that's about playing roles; she invests the inner conflict with a confused ache that's all too real.

#854

What a brilliant movie! Great, great performace by Rowlands. Loved that theatrical feeling :)

An exceptional film; it combines a study of acting, where the actor eventually breaks the restrictions placed upon them by the 'auteur' (like Ben Gazzara's character), with a deep character drama and even supernatural horror, and does so with tremendous success. It's not surprising for a film about theatre, and from Cassavates, that the acting is fantastic, with Gena Rowlands driving the film as the central character.

Cassavetes and a bunch of other actors play a bunch of actors. The process of acting is interesting to me, but ultimately this is another Cassavetes film that meanders around for over two hours without really connecting to anything. Am I a bad movie nerd if my favorite film directed by Cassavetes is _Gloria_?

Cassavetes took the setup of All About Eve and then twisted it into something ten times more interesting, which examines what it is to be a woman and age, to be a performer in a part you don't want, and the complex relationship that destruction and creation have with art. A simply astounding film. Almodovar took the ball and kept running with All About My Mother.

This movie screams write a critical analysis of the director's use of the colour red. The play within the movie was pretty weak, but I suppose that was the point, but Gena Rowlands did the best she could, which is always pretty damn great.

# 699

Cassavetes has made a very realistic, well made movie about theatre. It's very slow paced. Good usage of minimal music and good camera work. Also has good performances. But ultimately I admire this film more than I enjoy it.

Cassavetes always has something of interest to say, and a few missteps aside, this takes on the mind of an actress like nothing I've ever seen. Gena Rowlands is typically perfect.

Cassavetes' style is always enjoyable, but this is mostly failure on a narrative level. The ending doesn't sum up anything about the movie, putting to waste an interesting premise. Still, a very interesting movie - I had a decent enough time watching it.

A good dramatic premise gone to waste. Cassavetes sets up a very interesting situation and does nothing with it, the conclusion is quite unsatisfying. Even Rowlands is disappointing in this one, though she probably did the best she could with the material.

Somewhat more accessible but considerably less brilliant than his best works.

Painful, intense and heartbreaking. I don't know if I liked the inclusion of the embodied "young Myrtle", but this was restlessly brilliant apart from that.

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