John Cassavetes: Five Films (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray)

John Cassavetes was a genius, a visionary, and the progenitor of American independent film, but that doesn't begin to get at the generosity of his art. A former theater actor fascinated by the power of improvisation, Cassavetes brought his search for truth in performance to the screen. The five films in this collection all of which the director maintained total control over by financing them himself and making them outside the studio system are electrifying and compassionate creations, populated by all manner of humanity: beatniks, hippies, businessmen, actors, housewives, strippers, club owners, gangsters, children. Cassavetes has often been called an actor's director, but this body of work even greater than the sum of it's extraordinary parts shows him to be an audience's director. This collection includes OPENING NIGHT, THE KILLING OF a CHINESE BOOKIE, a WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, FACES and SHADOWS.

Starring: Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, John Marley, Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Timothy Carey, Gena Rowlands, David Jones, Hugh Hurd, Lynn Carlin, Matthew Cassel, Anthony Ray, Meade Roberts, Matthew Laborteaux, Seymour Cassel, Dennis Sallas, Christina Grisanti, Katherine Cassavetes, Sylvester Words, Tom Allen, Alice Friedland, Lady Rowlands, David Pokitillow, Donna Gordon, Dorothy Gulliver, Rupert Crosse, Robert Phillips, Fred Draper, O G Dunn, Darlene Conley, Davey Jones, Morgan Woodward, Ellen Davalos, Gene Darfler, Mario Gallo, Pir Marini, Virginia Carrington, Victoria Vargas, John "Red" Kullers, Eddie Shaw, Angelo Grisanti, Jack Ackerman, Al Ruban, James Joyce, Cliff Carnell, John Finnegan, Haji, Leon Wagner, Ronald Maccone, John Hawker, David Rowlands, Elsie Ames, Marilyn Clark, Joanne Moore Jordan, Charles Horvath, Frank Richards, John Cassavetes, Nick Cassavetes, Vincent Barbi, Val Avery, Elizabeth Deering, Frank Thomas Jr

Director: Alan Burnett, Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone