Gloria

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.

This is one of my favorite movies of all times. Gena Rowlands is a powerhouse actor in this gutsy film about survival, courage and compassion set in the fast-paced, gritty New York City of the 70s. The acting all-around is exceptional. The film is riveting from beginning to end. You get swept up in Gloria's dilemma right away. The scene where she has to decide whether to save herself and turn the kid over to his assassins is very believable as you can see and feel how desperate one would be in such a dire situation. Another great scene is at a Penn Station coffee shop where she confronts the stalking mobsters at a nearby table. You can hear a pin drop in that restaurant as she stands there saying, "I'm Gloria. My hand is on my gun in my purse!" Yet another great scene is the crowded subway where she literally throws punches with one of the mobsters who has caught up with her. Everyone in that graffiti-laden subway car presses against the walls trying to get away when Gloria pulls her gun. She says as she gets off: "Ya punk! Ya Punk. Ya let a sissy beat you, huh? You punk! Go ahead, punk!." Then the subway car closes and she and the kid get away yet again. So, get lots of popcorn, turn off the phones and curl up in bed with the lights off for this one!

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-.

Good movies are timeless. Or they feel so. Sometimes this is because their subject is universal and it does not really matter what epoch the action is set in. In some other cases the quality of the story and of the acting make the period irrelevant. A good example is 'Gloria', a film made in 1980 by director (and actor) John Cassavetes about whom I knew very little before seeing this film. And yet, 'Gloria' is a gangster movies that keeps the interest of viewers all over the two hours of screen time and looks new and fresh, despite having been filmed almost 40 years ago.

The subject of the film will look familiar, as later movies like Luc Besson's 'Léon' have dealt with the theme of gangsters involved folks meeting and befriending kids, and melting to humanity in the course of the story. 'Gloria' however included from start a big twist. The lead adult hero is a woman, the ex-girlfriend of one of the mob chiefs, who witnesses the murder of the family of a six years old kid (her neighbor) who has nobody left to care about him and no place to go. Taking him under her protection means placing her in conflict with the mob (as the kid holds an accounting book with compromising mafia secrets) and with the law (she is believed to have kidnapped the kid). What follows is a few days of running from everybody and fighting for survival in the New York of 1980.

The New York in the film is a city that looks so familiar: the streets (much dirtier and more dangerous), the buildings (combining modern and decrepit), the skyline (with the painful silhouettes of the twin towers), the people who look so much the same as the diverse human landscape of the big city we know. The only major thing that seems to have changed is the value of the dollar. It may be as difficult as 40 years ago to change a 100 dollars bill, but two dollars fifty cents would not be sufficient nowadays for any room in a city hotel, probably not even for a tip in any city hotel. The other ingredient that makes the film interesting is the excellent acting performance of Gena Rowlands who partners with the young John Adames, a kid actor who did not grow into an adult actor. She is vulnerable as a woman who does not like kids (her cat is collateral damage in the first minutes of the film) and has a troubled past, yet strong as she knows the language and manners of the crime world and how to survive it. The ending is a little disappointing, unexpectedly conventional for such a film that is so non-conventional from many points of view, but this does not spoil too much the good impression left by this fresh classic.

There must be a million woman like Gloria. They never got educated but they're smart. They're good looking, but not enough to get that gangster boyfriend to leave his wife. They hostess or maybe they just are table dressing for as long as they can. They make enough to have a decent apartment, and they hock the gift jewelry and furs and stick the money in a safe deposit box for the day they just can't do it any more. Can't smile and nod and be sweet, and the goombas look to the younger girls for attention. They try to keep quiet and keep their nose clean and ignore the young punks that treat them a little worse every year.

But life can mess up your plans, as it does for Gloria when it dumps an orphaned kid in her lap and some of her p***ed gangster pals at her door. And the decision she makes to save the kid's life means she can never go back.

"Gloria" isn't really about stuff like violence or mobsters or guns at all. It's about the hopes and wishes and loneliness of a life that represents the lives of many invisible woman. Gloria has always been a "broad" as she says. Never the Madonna, to be worshipped and respected. Always the Whore to be stepped on. And it sucks to be at the mercy and whim of men. Especially cruel, stupid thugs who don't have the brains or guts to do anything but lie, cheat, steal, and kill women and children.

Gloria reluctantly gives up her old life. She gave years of her life to these slobs and she doesn't want to lose the little she got for her troubles. She just wants peace and quiet and to be left alone. Why give it up to help some annoying kid?

But when she makes the decision to do just that, her rage and resentment explode.

Gena Rowlands gives a flawless performance that burns bright and makes the viewer feel the rage of those who hide their intelligence and personality and try to "get by" in a world of lesser men. Gloria's got more balls and brains than any of the suits that run the racket. And now she's going to prove it.

"Gloria" is what happens when adults make movies for adults. No childish chatter, no idealized and airbrushed world, no moralizing and preaching. This movie has blood in its veins.