Of all the true geniuses who have stepped behind the camera in the USA John Cassavetes is probably the least heralded. The reasons for this are obvious. His films are difficult, brutally honest depictions of human relationships, in all their unseemly and selfish aspects. Cassavetes never shied away from investigating people’s lack of courage and as well as deep discontent with their lives and this makes for challenging viewing. His project was basically to investigate the emotional substratum of our lives, and critique this as well as point to the kind of society it created. He pulled off these arduous tasks with skillful aplomb. The fine (if strangely named) Tokyo film distribution company Bitters End has decided to bring some Cassavetes’ films never seen on these shores (indeed, some not even available on video in the USA). While these efforts may not be his highest accomplishments as a director (those would include Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, and Love Streams) they serve as a good introduction to his oeuvre.
This was supposed to be Cassavetes’ breakthrough studio film, with the huge star power of Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland. Unfortunately the director fought bitterly with producer Stanley Kramer over crucial editing and the film didn’t get the major release it was promised. Worse, Kramer, one of the most influential producers in Hollywood at the time, more or less had Cassavetes blackballed as a director (he was also an actor of some note) and he made his films outside of Hollywood for more than a decade afterwards.
The story is one of the Cassavetes’ most conventional, and it would be easy to say he’s picking on a soft target. It starts as a boy is being placed in a home for the emotionally retarded and goes on to depict a caring head doctor (Matthew Clark- Burt Lancaster) and a new worker who gets attached to the boy (Jean Hansen- Judy Garland). Addressed are the thorny issues of the emotional states of the workers as well as the children, how to best help these kids, society’s attitudes towards the retarded and the reactions among different families. Made with beautiful understatement and Cassavetes’ characteristically affecting camerawork, A Child is Waiting remains well ahead of its time and an emotional tour de force.
