ग्लोरिया

From its buildings, to its busy streets. From the people in the city, to the culture that created it, John Cassavetes perfectly captures the true essence of NYC. The true grit of the city, the core of the apple. The setting of the film is real. Unlike the remake almost twenty years later, NYC does not look like a commercial Disney Land without Mickey. Watching the film, you can smell the dirty hallways in the lower middle class hotels. You can hear the crowded Hispanic neighborhoods. And you can see what NYC is really like in Gloria.

Tastes may vary on this one, but there's much about this film that's endearing to viewers. It strikes you that the story isn't exactly the only of its kind (I see it as a precursor to -Leon- and probably takes cues from the delightful -Paper Moon-, but others of its "kind" are hard to think of), but it's about as well-done as you might expect. Some may not care for the Cassavetes stylistic touches, but here they are not especially intrusive. Gloria's a tough and likeable "bitch" with a moral compass, rightfully the center of the story. It outdoes -Leon- by not investing too much script capital in "developing" the child character. (It was primarily that aspect of -Leon- that annoyed me most.) This is straightforward, without the frills and gimmicks, emotional or otherwise. I do plan on watching the recent version with Sharon Stone, but don't expect to be as satisfied as with this.

I'd give it a minimum of 7/10 on my own, tough scale. I am surprised this is so little-known compared to -Leon-.

I caught this on TV once and was blown away by its energy and spontaneity. Gena Rowlands is as good in it as everyone says, with some real surprises. The point about the kid coming out with "grown up" mock-heroic phrases at some points is that he's picked all that stuff up from the movies and listening to his parents' gangster friends. It's supposed to be funny - he keeps shouting "I'm the Man" when he patently isn't.

The movie takes action/gangster movie genre conventions by the scruff of the neck and shakes them till interesting stuff falls out. The editing and cinematography are great. New York looks gritty but beautiful.

True the film is kind of rough round the edges, I guess down to Cassavetes' improvisatory style, however it's a lot more accessible than most of his work and you should see it if you get the chance.

A genre-bending odyssey, full of dank, dark alleys, filthy side streets, buses, taxi cabs, trains and subways, John Cassavetes' film "Gloria" is perhaps the most impersonal of his personal work, which surely inspired Luc Besson's 1994 action-packed "Leon," the film explores the development of the mother-son bond under extreme circumstances.

One of Gena Rowland's most underrated performances, Gloria stands shoulder to shoulder with other iconic heroines of American cinema; such as Dietrich's Shanghai Lily and Uma Thurman's Beatrix Kiddo.

Cassavetes explores new narrative possibilities unlike any other of his contemporaries. Though there always seems to be a surplus of emotion, dialogue or trivialities in his work - and I'm not the first to make such an observation - Cassavetes maintains his focus, which is of course, to show us a slice of life, however extreme or crazy it may appear to an audience.

Jack Dawn has let slip to his mob employers that he has kept a book of all transactions. Jeri Dawn has just seen some men lingering in the lobby downstairs. Together they realise that the hit has come and they start to try to leave. They give their youngest son, Phil, to neighbour Gloria to offer some hope for him – although before leaving, Jack gives him his account ledger as protection. The mob slaughter the Dawn family but Phil and Gloria get away; however, with the information in their possession, Gloria soon finds that the mob still want the book back and the kid dead – will Gloria's former relationship with members of the mob help or hinder her? With so many good things generally said about this film, I thought I'd better give it a go despite already having seen the remake. The good things about it are generally true – it is quite engaging, Rowlands is pretty good and it is a bit tense. However I couldn't help but feel that the strengths were more than cancelled out by the weaknesses, not making it a bad film but making it only an OK one. The plot is gripping enough and has been redone several times since this film but somehow it doesn't always ring true – and this criticism can be carried across to the lead character. Would she really greet each mobster with spits of "punk" etc and always be pulling a gun, perhaps in fear she would but here she looks like she is in control. In terms of her character, she is harsh to the kid but yet never shows the growing affection that we assume must be the reason she cannot bring herself to do the wrong thing and hand over the kid. She shows it right at the end but it is too late to be convincing by then.

This is not to take away from her performance, because it is strong, but it is not convincing as a person. Cassavetes has crafted a tough female but has done so to the point where she seems a few steps off being the Terminator. Adames may well be trying his best but he is annoying and his character was totally absent – again not helped by the fact his material doesn't sound anything like a real person; contrast him with Portman in Leon and you'll see what a negative impact he had on the film. The mobsters are all Italian goons of the classic stereotype and they add nothing to the film in the way of actual menace. Cassavetes has done the job as director though and the film is quite tense while also capturing the city of New York of the time very well in regards atmosphere and grit.

Overall this is an OK film with an OK plot that is OK if you can get passed how unconvincing it all is. However it is no classic and the weaknesses and problems are difficult to ignore. Worth watching and perhaps better if you have low expectations but it is certainly anything like as good as its awards, names and reputation suggests that it will be.