Faces [Criterion Collection]

"John Cassavetes has been directing films for close to ten years when Faces was released in 1968, but it was the picture that established him as one of America's most original and distinctive talents behind the camera long after he'd earned a reputation as a quirky but charismatic actor. The Criterion Collection have given Faces a new release on DVD, and the disc walks the fine line between accurately capturing the movie's rough, naturalistic look (it was shot on 16mm and lit to give the cast maximum freedom of movement) and cleaning up a film that had suffered at the hands of time and rough treatment. Transferred to disc in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1, Faces often looks grainy and the contrast shifts dramatically from scene to scene, but the film's unvarnished look is purposeful, and the transfer that appears on disc one of this set reflects the vision of Cassavetes and director of photography Al Ruban, and unlike some earlier video releases this shows us the grit that is supposed to be there without the grit that isn't, and it does make a difference. Disc two is devoted to supplementary materials, most notably an alternate version of the opening of the film (running seventeen minutes), which presents the footage in a notably different sequence (it was replaced after the film had screened at the Toronto Film Festival). Also featured is an episode of the French television series Cineastes de Notre Temps devoted to Cassavetes which includes two interviews with the filmmaker -- one shot in California in 1965 while Faces was in production, and other shot in a French television studio in 1968 after it had been released. The interviews are often funny and revealing, though the quality of the archival print is fair at best. And two original documentaries round out the disc -- Making Faces, featuring interviews with actors Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel and Lynn Carlin and camerman/editor Al Ruban as they discuss the long process of making the film, and Lighting and Shooting The Film, in which Ruban breaks down the different film stocks, lenses and lighting techniques used to give different scenes in Faces their individual looks. And finally, the booklet includes a short but appreciative essay by Stuart Klawans. Faces has never been a beautiful film to look at, but it's a powerful and moving study of the human heart, and Criterion have helped give the movie a new life on home video; this DVD is it's best presentation yet for film collectors."