Book description
In 1983 visionary director John Cassavetes asked journalist Michael
Ventura to write a unique film study -- an on-set diary of the making
of his film Love Streams. Cassavetes laid out his expectations. He
wanted 'a daring book, a tough book'. In Ventura's words, 'All I had
to do for 'daring' and 'tough' was transcribe this man's audacity day
by day.' Cassavetes Directs describes the creation of Love Streams
shot by shot, crisis by crisis. During production, the director
learned that he was seriously ill, that this film might, as it
tragically turned out, be his last. Starring alongside actress and
wife Gena Rowlands, Cassavetes shot in sequence, reconceiving and
revising his film almost nightly, in order that Love Streams could
stand as his final statement. Both an intimate portrait of the man and
an insight into his unique filmmaking philosophy, Cassavetes Directs
documents a heroic moment in the life of a great artist.
Michael Ventura wrote and directed the documentary I'm Almost Not
Crazy: John Cassavetes, the Man and His Work, and was curator of the
Sundance Festival's 1989 Cassavetes retrospective. His screenwriting
credits include Echo Park, directed by Robert Dornhelm. As a journalist,
Ventura has received a USA PEN award, a Los Angeles Press Club award and
the Upton Sinclair Award. He has published three novels and several
books of non-fiction. Since 1993 Ventura's bi-weekly column 'Letters at
3AM' has appeared in the Austin Chronicle.
