Husbands

Reeling from the unexpected death of a friend, three middle-aged buddies (John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk) go on an epic drunk. It’s not enough. They roll home, collect their passports, and take off for an impromptu weekend of gambling, women and booze in London.

John Cassavetes’ purposefully infuriating comedy is one of his greatest films. Utilizing a cinema-verite shooting style with long takes and pushing scenes almost to the point of exhaustion, Cassavetes contrives an unflattering self-portrait of desperate, boorish men smacking their heads against walls they only dimly perceive. It’s funnier than it sounds, but also grueling.

Interviewed by Playboy magazine during the release, Cassavetes talked about how the studio sent him the numbers of walk-outs from the New York shows, and pleaded with him to shorten the film. He refused: “I won’t make shorthand films because I don’t want to manipulate audiences into assuming quick, manufactured truths. If I had my way Husbands would be twice as long as it is and everyone could walk out if they wanted to.”

He wanted to rub our noses in it, and his own too.

Screening here in the restored 142-minute version.

Few films capture with such life-affirming wonder the despair, hatred, and incomprehension that drives the sexes together and apart.

Richard Brody, The New Yorker