Husbands

Author

John Cassavetes

Call Number

• DVD DRAMA (CEN, OSH, WSQ)

Edition

Two-DVD special edition.

Languages

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Jenny Runacre.

Publication Information

[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2020]

Physical Description

2 videodiscs (142 minutes) : DVD video, sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (color illustrations ; 19 cm.)

Audience

MPAA rating: PG-13; for mature thematic elements including sexual situations, language, drunkenness, and brief domestic violence.

Summary

The trailblazing independent auteur John Cassavetes pushes his raw, uncompromising emotional realism to its limit in this unflinching portrait of masculinity in crisis. Cassavetes joins Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk--both of whom would become key collaborators of the director's--playing a trio of middle-aged Long Island family men who, following the sudden death of their best friend, channel their grief into an epic, multiday bender that takes them from Manhattan to London in a desperate, debauched quest to feel alive. By turns painfully funny and woundingly perceptive, this self-described "comedy about life, death, and freedom" stands as perhaps the most fearless, harrowingly honest deconstruction of American manhood ever committed to film.

Notes

Title from container.

Originally released as a motion picture in 1970.

Special features: New 4K digital restoration ; audio commentary from 2009 featuring critic Marshall Fine ; new interviews with producer Al Ruban and actor Jenny Runacre ; new video essay featuring audio recordings of actor-director John Cassavetes discussing his approach to working with actors ; The story of "Husbands" - a tribute to John Cassavetes (2009), a half-hour program featuring Ruban, actor Ben Gazzara, and cinematographer Victor J. Kemper ; episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1970 featuring Cassavetes, Gazzara, and actor Peter Falk ; trailer.