'Love Streams' Unprotected 'love life'

two defenseless people

"Gina always gives dazzling performances, but I've never seen her so electric. Her scenes were surprisingly honest and vulnerable." (John Cassavetes) *2

Sarah, played by Gena Rowlands, is in the lineage of Mabel from A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Myrtle from Opening Night (1977). Gena Rowlands' unpredictable performances in Cassavetes films reach their zenith in Love Streams. Rather than a performance that evokes sympathy, it is a performance that delivers a poignant blow to the heart of the audience, a performance that goes beyond words.

"Love Streams" (c) MCMLXXXIV Cannon Films, Inc.

The poolside scene where Sarah tries to make her husband Jack (Seymour Cassel) and daughter Debbie laugh is amazing. According to Gena Rowlands, this scene was completely improvised and the lines could never have been said without improvisation. John Cassavetes asked Gena Rowlands to "do whatever it takes to make them laugh" and Seymour Cassel to "never laugh". It is very interesting to see Sarah, who tries to make them laugh by using all sorts of toys, suddenly humming the American national anthem. This scene, which reminds us of Mabel in " A Woman Under the Influence " serving spaghetti to her husband's colleagues, also shows the difference between Jack and Robert. Jack takes the attitude of "stopping" the love he receives from Sarah. There is a gap here. Sarah and Jack call each other "sick".

This is a film that is not at all straightforward. Not only Sarah, but Robert also seems to have no idea what he's doing. And the overwhelming uniqueness of Cassavetes' films is revealed in moments when the characters don't know what to do. It has a live feel where you can't predict what will happen next. At the center of this is the spontaneous performance of the actors. At a moment when he doesn't know what to do, the defenseless ``individuality'' of the actor, who seems to have abandoned his role, emerges. Rather than observing from the outside, John Cassavetes goes inside and sketches the emotional progression of the actors. In the face of the vulnerability exposed in both directions between Sarah and Robert, even the most overwhelming masterpiece in John Cassavetes' filmography seems to fall within the category of "masterpiece."

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