“John Cassavetes’s independent films challenge distinctions between documentary and fiction films. Described sometimes as home movies, they seem to capture authentic moments of individuals’ experiences. The films’ intimate quality reflects Cassavetes’s career-long collaboration with cinematographer Al Ruban and actors such as Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, and Seymour Cassel… As with the work of Jean-Luc Godard, Cassavetes’s films have been seen as a type of direct cinema, one that acknowledges the filmmaker’s impact on the material presented and that attempts to reflect or reveal the material itself. For both filmmakers, actors function as graphic or narrative components effectively controlled by the director and as documentary evidence of social and emotional realities that simply cannot be represented in a fictional film narrative.” – Cynthia Baron, Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

To date I realise that I’ve yet to watch one film made by one of the most respected American filmmakers of all time, John Cassavetes. With twelve features under his directing belt I thought it’d be nice to end off 2012 with this little curriculum to my cinematic education.

For those who don’t already know, here’s his filmography:

Shadows (1959)

Too Late Blues (1961)

A Child is Waiting (1963)

Faces (1968)

Husbands (1970)

Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)

A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) – I’ll be watching the 1978 cut

Opening Night (1977)

Gloria (1980)

Love Streams (1984)

Big Trouble (1986)