Tosh Berman on John Cassavetes' "Husbands"

 

Tosh Berman on John Cassavetes' "Husbands"

FROM THE THIRD EYE The Evergreen Review Film Reader Ed Halter & Barney R...

FROM THE THIRD EYE The Evergreen Review Film Reader Ed Halter & Barney Rosset on Tosh Talks

The Evergreen Review was an off-shoot publication/ journal of the Grove Press, edited by the legendary publisher Barney Rosset. When I went to used bookstores, it wasn't hard to find old issues of the Evergreen Review. What strikes my fancy is that reading the review in the late 1960s is so different than reading it in the 21st century. Even the stylish prose of that period is so 1968 and almost dated in a beautiful manner. Languages do change, and it's interesting to pick up a book or especially a magazine from a specific decade or time and notice how the style has changed. "From The Third Eye" is a collection of articles and even ads from The Evergreen Review that focused on the film culture of that period. For me, the most important film magazine of that era was Jonas Mekas' "Film Culture," which he published through the Filmmaker's Co-op and Film Anthology. Evergreen Review, although they did essays and reporting of either film, filmmakers, and film festivals, at its heart was a literary magazine. The publication was set-up as a promotional tool for Grove Press, but also here, for Grove Films, which distributed and produced European films, and actually help made/presented works by Jean-Luc Godard, and writers/filmmakers Marguerite Duras and Alain Robbe-Grillet, which by the way, are all interviewed for the magazine as well as being in the book.

Without a doubt, a perfect snapshot of the concerns of underground or radical cinema, but also the politics of the Vietnam world, and the counterculture that was lurking in Manhattan at the time. Nat Hentoff, Norman Mailer, Parker Tyler, and Amos Vogel are the writers that comment on cinema, but the featured filmmakers are Andy Warhol, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Ousmane Sembène, Duras, Robbe-Grille and William Klein. Also two pieces on Dennis Hopper, one on "Easy Rider," and the other focusing on the making of his "The Last Movie."

Throughout the book there are the original ads that were placed in the magazine, all either focusing on film scripts published by Grove, or film ads distributed by Evergreen/Grove. In a sense, it was a small world, but everyone in that world was an essential figure for culture and the arts. And here at that time, politics was very much part of the creative cultural world. A fascinating document and a fun trip back in time, when things were lively. - Tosh Berman, your host of "Tosh Talks"

December 9, 2014

December 9, 2014

60.  Why?  There is no reason why I should have reached 60.  Yet, technically I’m not a senior citizen.  Yet.   Most experts say that the age 65 is when you become a senior citizen.  Sadly I can’t officially get a discount at a movie theater nor one for a public bus pass - but at both times, the middle-aged person asked me if I’m asking for a senior citizen’s discount or pass.  I could lie and tell them that I’m 65, but the truth is I’m 60.   This is exactly how I felt when I was 14 or 15 and wanted to get a license to drive. I had the talents of a driver, but I couldn’t obtain a license due to my age.  So once again, like a teenager, I’m waiting till I reach a certain number (65) before I cash in for the discounts and etc.

Emotionally and intellectually, I feel exactly the same as when I was 35.   Basically there is no real difference between the ages of 35 and 60.  The one thing I do notice when I’m 60 is that people around you begin to die off.  Famous people, as well as friends.  And especially friends of your parents or other older family members.   35 strikes me as the age when you’re an adult.  Not legally, that happens when you’re either 18 or 21.  But I find most people in their 20s are still trying to figure out what to be done in their life.   Basically, the 20s is very much like being a teenager, but you have the ability to move out of your family home (for some) or make financial decisions.  Otherwise you’re very much still a teenager.   Some people get married in their 20s, but if they asked me for advice I would tell them to wait till they are in their 30s.   Unless they have grown up in a certain culture, I think getting married in their 20s is OK, but for most Americans who live in America today, I would strongly suggest holding off on marriage and major decisions on career moves.  It is not till you’re 35, when life becomes much clearer than when you’re a teenager or in your 20s.

The worst fear of being in your 60s, is the fact that one’s looks starts to fade or change, and you will of course be facing death - either as a subject matter or someone close to you will eventually die.   That in three words: Is. A. Bummer.   As for me, I like to be attractive to the opposite sex as much as possible.  When I was young, I was quite handsome, but now, staring at the mirror I realized age has changed me.  The worst is the stomach area got bigger, and that is a very fragile emotional point for me.  I used to be so skinny or slim, but now, I look very much like a 60 year-old man, who doesn’t exercise on a regular basis.  Me, doing exercises, would just remind me that I’m 60 and that is kind of depressing.  Women don’t look at me like they used to - especially women in their 20s or 30s.   That is quite painful.  The only thing I have in my favor is charm, but that is like fine wine in a bottle that is placed in the garage or wine cellar.  It becomes an object to admire, but no one wishes to taste its flavor.

As I got older two artists that I adore much more as a “senior citizen” is the filmmaker John Cassavetes and the composer Pierre Henry.   I feel that they make art for older people.  I never got Musique concréte as a raving youth, but now, that I’m an adult, I appreciate the aesthetics of sound that is around me.  For instance as I write in my wife’s studio, I can hear the morning traffic, which has a consistent rhythm that is very suitable for writing.   The one surprise is to hear the sound of car crashes on the No. 5 freeway (which is directly behind our house).   But normally it is just one long purr - it’s fantastic.  Some of Pierre Henry’s work reminds me of the beauty of hearing traffic out of one’s window.  As for Cassavaetes, it is middle-age angst.  I can identify with that!  “Opening Night” is the film that I like the best from all his other films. I think it’s a masterpiece, with a brilliant performance from Gina Rowlands.   An aging actress dealing with a theater role that in turns makes her think of aging, relationships changing, and the need for love.  Or to give love.   Although it has a strong point-of-view from a female’s perspective on the subject matter of aging, I too can identify with her, as well as with the other cast members in that film.

At this point, I’m still too young at 60, to really understand the full meaning of aging.  I’m hoping that when I reach 65, and receive the official discounts one deserves for a ‘long’ life, I will finally understand what it means to be an old person.  Till then, it’s a paradise of my own making.