Review of Faces (1968) by Scott R — 25 Nov 2017

Faces is a deeply challenging work, and at a relatively average (at least in today's world) 130 minutes it feels long and hefty at some points. There are many moments at which I wanted to just jump out of my chair and scream at a wall.

It's despairing, hopeless, and almost exasperatedly elliptical. At its lightest, it's a hardcore, found-footage horror film that you'll walk out of understanding that life is an immense cluster of drunken balderdash.

The strange thing about it is that while it's not exactly a very "fun" movie, it's layered and intelligent; a classic piece of 60's art that understands the science of relationships.

Towards the beginning of the film it's actually kind of amusing at how jerky these characters are, but once you begin to relate to what's happening you feel like you need to take a bath (but even then, our character states: "people drown in baths").

As you can probably observe, it doesn't exactly let its viewers off easily, but still somehow provides the audience with intensely moving moments of pure revelation. The film looks and feels for real, as if we're eavesdropping on people's lives, so the intentionally shitty camera-work is justified.

The actors work off each other nicely. You may not always sympathize with these people (for some viewers, never), but at the very least one can recognize that the actors who populate this film are pouring in their heart and soul and, by some bittersweet, two- faced miracle, never letting Hollywood sentimentality influence their performance.

John Cassavetes, the director, isn't exactly a Bergman-esque dramatist but he is still, at least in my opinion, one of Herzog's "soldiers of cinema." Perhaps we should model ourselves after him, not necessarily as people, but as witnesses to this great movie.