The “Gloria” movie is a genre in itself. Even Akira Kurosawa is full of praise.

The child actor who made his first film appearance retired after this one movie.

More than Cassavetes's direction, it is the star Gena Rowlands who leaves the biggest impression in "Gloria," and even when I watch it again now, her charismatic presence has not faded. Her facial expressions hint at her relationship with the underworld, and her merciless gunfire. Above all, Rowlands's true talent is on full display in the process in which Gloria, who at first has trouble dealing with Phil and feels annoyed by him, awakens to her maternal love. Rowlands's brilliant performance brings the character to life, such as in the scene where Gloria, who doesn't cook, makes fried eggs for Phil, but is unable to do so well and throws the whole frying pan in the trash. Rowlands actually had three children with Cassavetes, and her eldest son, Nick Cassavetes, followed in his father's footsteps as a film director, directing films such as " John Q " (2002). Her second daughter, Zoe Cassavetes, is also active as a director and screenwriter, with films such as " Broken English " (2007).

John Adams, for whom this was his film debut, was given roughly the same number of screen time as Rowlands, and was selected at the age of seven after auditioning against 350 other candidates. Although Adams' facial expressions at the climax of the film make it hard to believe that this was his first time acting, he was chosen as the Worst Supporting Actor at the 1980 Golden Raspberry Awards. Looking at it objectively, this is a terrible thing to have been given, but it may have been an honor for Adames that the other person to win the award was the legendary actor Laurence Olivier (for " The Jazz Singer "). Adames left acting after "Gloria" and got a job as a manager at a billiards hall in Soho, New York.

"Gloria" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

"Gloria" was produced by Columbia, a major studio, but Cassavetes basically continued to make independent films, raising his own production costs. For this reason, his wife Gena Rowlands often collaborated with him in the lead role. Another actor (presumably Barbra Streisand) was initially approached to play the lead role in "Gloria," but she declined, and Rowlands gladly accepted. This relationship is very similar to that of director Kaneto Shindo and Nobuko Otowa, who continued to make films as independent producers in Japan.

John Cassavetes, who is said to not have been particularly fond of Gloria himself, was writing a sequel to it in the late 1980s. Gena Rowlands was also expected to star in the sequel, but this fact was only discovered after his death in 1989. In 1999, Gloria was remade by master director Sidney Lumet, starring Sharon Stone, but unfortunately it received poor reviews and was a box office failure. The failure of the remake means that the original will continue to shine with its unique brilliance.

Reference: "Akira Kurosawa Series" Volume 3, edited and commented by Yasuki Hamano, Kodansha

Text: Hiroaki Saito

He became a freelancer in 1997 and has contributed film reviews and interviews to a variety of media, including film magazines, theater pamphlets, and film websites. His column is updated regularly on Yahoo! News. He is a member of the Critics' Choice Awards Association (CCA), which votes for the awards.

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