A Constant Forge Page #24

and, you know, saw a lot of misery.

And that's what he made his films about,

about the human condition.

Well...

love moves at a hell of a rate

of speed, doesn't it?

Lay down on the bed with me.

In describing this kind oflife...

in the films that he made...

he was saying,

"Okay, if you can't take the time...

"to understand yourself like that...

"I can take the time to put it on film.

"And if you can feel what I hope you can...

"from the result of this work...

"and talk about those characters

and those situations...

You goddamn Mexican Indian!

then it may have some

relationship to your own life. "

You got something

to say to me, say it!

But don't you walk away from me!

I'm interested in the idea of-

in a success-oriented country like America...

what do people do with their failures?

Do they admit them?

Do they crawl into a hole and die?

Do they roll up in a ball?

Do they become defensive and never risk again?

And I think it's one of the reasons

why in Cassavetes' movies...

so many people

are having breakdowns.

Their usual life, where they were

just kind of punching in every day...

and not really thinking emotionally,

not really feeling...

comes apart a little bit.

And then they have

to face the fact...

that maybe they've been

running on empty...

that they've been

on automatic pilot for so long...

and all of a sudden

there's that light in their faces...

and they have to kind of come clean,

and maybe start over again.

Hold on a minute.

I'll send for my clothes in the morning.

I'm not coming back.

I'm on the phone.

It's gonna be torture getting to the

point to admit that you have to start over again...

but that process ofbreaking down...

and just kind of coming clean

with each other...

is the only hope to have

an honest relationship.

There's something

about Cassavetes' characters...

that are always in flux,

always still searching for...

as opposed to having been

frozen into an identity.

Characters are asked

to flow in all ofhis work.

They're asked to become liquid,

to become anything they can imagine.

In Faces, the only two

that seem to have...

any degree of sensitivity

and responsiveness...

and mobility in their definitions

of themselves areJeannie and Chettie.

And it's ironic that Cassavetes

tends to find possibility...

at the very bottom of the ladder.

I mean, it's a gigolo and a call girl.

It's not the proper housewives

and the successful businessmen...

who are able to flow

with the flow oflife.

It's these two marginal characters...

who actually have all the possibility

in the world.

We actors are luckier than most people...

in that fear of

making a fool out of yourself..

because you do make a fool

out of yourself so often...

so we're not quite as afraid

ofhaving people see us...

in - in foolish, vulnerable positions.

To be open and vulnerable

is not to be feared...

because through that vehicle

comes many things.

Nobody cares.

Nobody has the time...

to be vulnerable to each other.

So... we just go on.

I mean, right away our armor comes out

like a shield and goes around us...

and, uh, we become like

mechanical men.

Yeah. And I called you

a mechanical woman, huh?

I got news.

I'm so mechanical -

Honey, it's absolutely ludicrous

how mechanical a person can be.

I am the sexiest guy in the world.

I have blond hair.

I can get all the women I want.

You're waking up, aren't ya?

Uh-huh.

I feel the world is very chicken, you know.

Very chicken.

By chicken,

I mean that the world is too tight.

And, uh, people get all upset over

things that really don't matter...

like politics and, uh, religion...

and things like that.

They-They take offense at things

to - to such a great degree...

that they miss the good times.

And the good times are

probably more important...

than any bad time

that ever happened.

Yet we spend so much time

on bad times...

and so little time on the human behavior.

I want to put on the screen...

the way people can relate to each other...

the way people want love,

not money, not anything else...

and the chances

they will take to have it.

My films are certainly

expressive of a culture...

that has had the possibility

of attaining material fulfillment...

while at the same time finding itself

unable to accomplish...

the simple business

of conducting human lives.

We have been sold a bill of goods

as a substitute for life.

What is needed is

a reassurance in human emotions...

a- a reevaluation

of our emotional capacities.

I strongly believe that

we are social animals...

and that the nature ofliving is defined...

not by money, political power and the like...

but by virtue of the fact

that we are social beings.

In my opinion, these people

and these small emotions...

are the greatest political force there is.

These small emotions, these character

disagreements, are a vital necessity.

I tell you what,

give me a rhythm about like this.

I can't reveal it

There is no way

You can see it

Fading far away

Slipping every day

Before I die completely

Wind sweeps your hair

No more love there

The race is run- won

The race is run

Go on back to Mama

Go on back to Papa

Go on back

Falling from eternity

Loving you eternally

Warming up the ocean cold

Repeating jokes we've always told

Steady now, we're growing old

There's some lines

forming here and there

And our walk is not as jaunty-jolly

And our hands don't clasp

so firmly anymore

Something's falling out

out of the middle of our lives

Falling from eternity

Love goes away

It can't stay

It's got things to do

Traveling

Other people to see

Life is the same

Tenderness contained

No two strangers can meet

And repeat

The love we knew

Let me introduce you

to the second woman

Don't be afraid

All your debts

are paid

This new person

Who looks like me

Is an impostor

Someone

you only see

Let me introduce you

to the second man

Who walks the same

And talks with reserve

Holding back love

Jangling your nerve

Let me clarify this game oflife

This trick

This super magic show

We think we know

Let me introduce you to yourself

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