Nick Cassavetes Bizarre take on..........

[onmyknees]

Presumably we're all grown ups and can handle the subject matter....Why do these artsy Hollywood types think this shit is so avant guarde or cutting edge or provcative ? It strikes me that if some homeless guy was muttering these exact words in the subway, you'd either fry him on the 3rd rail...or have him committed. Almost as disturbing as Cassavetes' statements is this by the author ( and the operative word here is "but")

"That view may be controversial, but Cassavetes is known as an independent, growing up as cinematic royalty while often working outside the Hollywood system."

So because he has a pedigree and is a bit of a rebel, these views are somehow acceptable or palatable? Sorry Nick...this is some sick shit...I'm down with lovin' the one you're with ....but stop short of family members.



At Toronto Film Fest, Nick Cassavetes on Incest: ‘Who Gives a Damn? Love Who You Want’


Published: September 09, 2012 @ 5:50 pm






By Sharon Waxman Follow @sharonwaxman

Writer-director Nick Cassavetes unveiled his new movie “Yellow” at the Toronto Film Festival this weekend and found himself defending the main character’s incestuous love affair with her own brother.
“Yellow” stars Cassavetes’ ex-wife, Heather Wahlquist, as Mary, a beautiful woman addicted to pain pills. She searches for a stable place back home in Oklahoma after being expelled from her teaching job in L.A. for having broom closet sex on parent night. (Wahlquist, who co-wrote the film is from Oklahoma. Melanie Griffith plays her mother, and Sienna Miller is her hysterical sister.)
Along the way she stops to see her brother in prison with whom she has had a love affair. The scene between them is tender and affecting and signals no judgment of the relationship.



Getty Images

Cassavetes – a maverick filmmaker whose parents are the legendary actress Gena Rowlands and actor-director John Cassavetes -- confessed he could not condemn it.
“I have no experience with incest,” he told TheWrap in an interview on Sunday. “We started thinking about that. We had heard a few stories where brothers and sisters were completely, absolutely in love with one another. You know what? This whole movie is about judgment, and lack of it, and doing what you want.
“Who gives a shit if people judge you?” he continued. “I’m not saying this is an absolute but in a way, if you’re not having kids – who gives a damn? Love who you want. Isn’t that what we say? Gay marriage – love who you want? If it’s your brother or sister it’s super-weird, but if you look at it, you’re not hurting anybody except every single person who freaks out because you’re in love with one another.”
That view may be controversial, but Cassavetes (right) is known as an independent, growing up as cinematic royalty while often working outside the Hollywood system. His previous films include “John Q,” “The Notebook” and “Alpha “Yellow,” which does not yet have a U.S. distributor, was made over the last three years, as the director kept running out of money. Cassavetes shut down the film after one financier cut and run after just five days, then had to shut it down before finishing it a year later when cash was short again.
A semi-professional gambler, he made the rest of the production budget at the casino.
With “Yellow,” Cassavetes wanted to portray an archetype of a certain sort of modern woman who is, in his words, both "a rock star" and "a mess."
“We wanted an exaggerated version of a girl who came from a place where different things are acceptable,” he said. “We wanted her to have a reason why she couldn’t feel. She’s a walking dead.”
He added: “In a certain respect I feel like I’m this lizard, sapped of all my feelings… Something had to happen to this character that was traumatic and beautiful and made her a pariah.

[danthepoetman]

Onmyknees, I don’t want to sound bickering, but you’re saying yourself that “we're all grown ups and can handle the subject matter”. I really don’t see why you would think this is “sick shit”. You can’t envision the possibility of such a relationship? Why does it seem so disgusting to you? We’re talking about adults, aren’t we? While I find we have a natural repulsion when it comes to intimacy with siblings, there is some stories of such love affairs. I don’t condone it, but I don’t find it absurd to explore the subject in a movie…
I'm asking the question sincerely: why is it so despicable for you?

[giovanni_hotel]

Nick is no John Cassavetes. He's trying too hard to be provocative and an incest themed film is IMO a desperate cry for attention from Hollywood.

I assume as a movie director he wants people to actually go see his film, however very few people are 'open minded' when it comes to incest. It's hard to create an emotionally sympathetic character who's fucking her brother.

It's disgusting that Cassavetes would attempt to compare gay marriage and one's 'right' to be sexually intimate with a sibling.

When family members become sexual partners, that family is permanently dysfunctional.

[LordRectum1]

Is Nick into Tgirls?

[danthepoetman]

Good points, Giovanni. And you’re right, Cassavetes senior was an amazing, original, very special director whose films were innovative and challenging. You don’t find any of that in the son’s.

[Jackal]

Seems like a forced effort to seem edgy and controversial, like the manufacture pop music of Lady Gaga.

[johnb85]

Personally, I don't see the big deal in it. As long as both individuals are consenting, legal adults, it shouldn't be anybody's business who you have sex with or what freaky sex acts you perform on each other. I definitely don't think it's a good idea to have children with immediate family members, but this seems like just a movie that barely brushes on the subject matter.

[bluesoul]

So because he has a pedigree and is a bit of a rebel, these views are somehow acceptable or palatable? Sorry Nick...this is some sick shit...I'm down with lovin' the one you're with ....but stop short of family members.

i think you're missing his point. most people, in defense of gay relationships, say what does it matter who you love, you should be allowed to be with whomever makes you happy. he's saying this same defense can also apply to incestuous relationships.

and to be honest, i agree with him. i have the same indifferent feelings if two homosexuals were to be married as i do if two siblings were to do the same.

[Stavros]

Is Nick into Tgirls?

Not sure, but his father's penultimate film, Love Streams has a scene in an LA gay bar with a parade of transvestites; although the character Susan is played by Diahnne Abbott (de Niro's ex-wife). Not sure if it was a real bar in LA or a studio shot, but JC usually preferred real locations.

One of the TV's in the bar, Christopher Morley was a drag artiste who appeared in several films.

Love Streams (1984) - IMDb@@AMEPARAM@@http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjI0NzQ4NDk3NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDYzNTg0Nw@@._ V1._SX94_SY140_.jpg@@AMEPARAM@@BMjI0NzQ4NDk3NF5BMl 5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDYzNTg0Nw@@@@AMEPARAM@@SX94@@AMEPAR AM@@SY140

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0605869/

There was a sensitive UK film on incest from 1991 called Close My Eyes with Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves

Close My Eyes (1991) - IMDb@@AMEPARAM@@http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTc3MTUzNzU0OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODE2NDUyMQ@@._ V1._SX98_SY140_.jpg@@AMEPARAM@@BMTc3MTUzNzU0OV5BMl 5BanBnXkFtZTcwODE2NDUyMQ@@@@AMEPARAM@@SX98@@AMEPAR AM@@SY140

[ghbryans1]

Just another shock merchant with delusions of grandeur.