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Press Release on John Cassavetes: The Adventure of Insecurity ( A Pocket Guide to the Films)

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"A beautiful, moving tribute to the genius of John Cassavetes" —Daniel Vaughan, Director, Australian Film Institute

A compact, inexpensive introduction to Cassavetes' life and work, ideal for classroom use, as an individual viewing guide, and as a souvenir program at film festivals.

The handsomely illustrated, 68-page book contains an introductory essay discussing Cassavetes’ distinctive style and place within the independent movement; concise critical treatments, credits, and production information for all of his important films—Shadows, Faces, Husbands, Minnie and Moskowitz, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Opening Night, and Love Streams; and a lengthy interview with Ray Carney about his personal impressions of Cassavetes the man and artist.

The book contains more than two dozen behind-the-scenes photographs of Cassavetes working with his actors and crew. It has sidebars devoted to the two versions of Shadows; a list of cameo appearances by well-known actors in the film; and a list of the family members who acted in Cassavetes’ films. The volume also contains many quotations from the filmmaker about his own work.

About the Author

Ray Carney is generally acknowledged to be the world's expert on the life and work of John Cassavetes. He is the author of the critically acclaimed, The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies (Cambridge University Press), and the newly published Cassavetes on Cassavetes (Faber and Faber/Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and Shadows (BFI Film Classics). He has also published book-length studies of the films of Mike Leigh, Frank Capra, and Carl Dreyer. He is a Professor of Film and American Studies at Boston University, Chairman of the Film Studies program, and Director of Graduate Admissions. He is currently working on a history of American independent filmmaking from 1954 to the present.

Studies in Contemporary Film/Company C Publishing
Boston, Massachusetts
ISBN: 0–9674170–0–7
$15.00

Available from Amazon.com, Baker and Taylor wholesale book distributors, and directly from the author (in signed and inscribed copies) on this web site. Click here to buy a copy.

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© Text Copyright 2003 by Ray Carney. All rights reserved. May not be reprinted without written permission of the author.