Tallulah goes...: August 2011

John Cazale is the actor that everyone recognizes yet so few know by name. A genius actor of the stage and screen he had little time on film before his passing. He completed five films before he died at the age of 42.

I first saw him in “Dog Day Afternoon” years ago. At the time it was Pacino that I recognized and being the more famous of the two, I probably focused more attention on him rather than on Cazale. However, looking back this doesn’t seem right. Pacino is a great, a true great, but so was Cazale. He is phenomenal to watch and so remarkable as an actor. There are some actors that are extremely talented. Many are to be fair. But then sometimes there are actors who are more than just talented. It's different. Cazale was truly beautiful to watch. Maybe not in the traditional sense but that is so irrelevant when it comes to him. His beauty is greater than a pretty face. It's fragility, sadness, vulnerability, a depth of anger and a real sense of humor.

"I knew it was you" is a documentary that was made by Richard Shepard about John Cazale. The film was released in 2009 at The Sundance Film Festival. The title comes from the line in "Godfather II", where Michael tells Fredo "I know it was you", Fredo having betrayed Michael. It is a series of interviews with many of the actors and filmmakers who were lucky enough to know and work with Cazale.

The documentary is lovely. It is very simple and to the point. His friends and admirers talk about a man who was gifted at his art. A man that they loved both as an actor and as a person. He was so full of passion and believed in each character implicitly. Determined to do his best, he lived and breathed every role until his character truly came to life. Looking back at each of the five films he made, his friends discuss and reminisce about their days and experiences with Cazale at that time.

Al Pacino is a central figure in the documentary, having been a great friend of Cazales. They lived together at one point and worked on three plays together, including Israel Horowitz’s “The Indian Wants the Bronx”, which as a result of their performance they each won an Obie Award. They also worked on three films together, "Godfather I", "Godfather II" and "Dog Day Afternoon".

Francis Ford Coppola and Sidney Lumet both speak about Cazale. Coppola gave Cazale his first movie role casting him as Fredo in the “The Godfather”. Sidney Lumet also discusses casting Cazale. He speaks about his reluctance to cast this thirty something actor in "Dog Day Afternoon". He wanted a 19-year-old street kid and couldn't understand why Pacino kept hassling him to meet Cazale. Eventually agreeing to see him for the part, Lumet was aghast at how wrong Cazale was for the role, until he saw him act.

There are interviews also with those that he inspired, from Steve Buscmei to Philip Seymour Hoffman. Gene Hackman speaks about working with him in 'The Conversation" and Richard Dreyfuss talks about his experiences working with Cazale on stage. What is extraordinary about this film is to see the amount of love and respect that Cazale received from his peers. It is clear that these actors were so supportive of his wonderful ability, they were determined that a wider audience should see the talents of this man.

The film features and briefly discusses Meryl Streep and her relationship with Cazale. The pair were engaged and according to those who knew them at that time, madly in love, with eyes only for one another. They met doing the Public Theatre's "Measure for Measure" on stage and also shared the screen for a moment in The Deer Hunter. It was Streep who was with Cazale at the end of his life and there is a very touching moment in the film, when Pacino describes those last days of John's life. He speaks about the great love between the pair, and says that he had never seen anything like it; how even with all the wonderful work she has done in her life and all the great moments, his strongest memory of Meryl Streep was in those last days, when Cazale was fading away, how this girl took care of him like no other.

It's difficult to describe the emotion that he emanates in his work. Eyes that you could look into forever and never see the full depth. That one look can create such a feeling of heartbreak is incredible and yet at times still so funny. A raw rare talent. While making The Deer Hunter, he was very ill. Unable to get insurance for Cazale, as he was so sick, rumor has it that Robert De Niro fronted the money, so as to ensure Cazale got to play the part of Stan in the movie.

Cazale was so intrinsically connected to each character that the smaller movements he does on camera are as real as when he is speaking. Cazale embodies the role so completely it is really quite amazing to watch. He is constantly in character and it is so interesting to watch him in his smaller scenes, when he is carrying on unaware of what is going on around him, making faces, looking at himself in the car window, fixing himself, playing around or whatever else he felt in that moment.

It is heartbreaking that we never got to see more work from John Cazale. Only at the beginning of what was sure to be a magnificient career, we can at least be grateful for what he left us. Five classic films made at a time when a group of insanely talented artists came together and created masterpieces. All gifted in their own right; yet at the same time slightly in awe of Cazale, who in his understated way would bring a performance so strong that it even improved the work of his highly regarded contemporaries. These actors, such as Pacino and Streep, whose work has proved that they are as good as it gets, still credit much of their learning to the late great John Cazale.

A few songs from some classic modern films. They are a complete mixture of genres and tastes, yet all are included in each film for a reason. Successful in fulfilling their job of evoking an emotion, image or message that is essential to the story. Music in film is of the utmost importance. It must be right. It must add rather than distract. It pulls from the audience and creates mood. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that many directors use the same composer time and time again. They often share a mutual understanding of what it is that's important to convey underneath the script; what moves, what creates passion and what helps the story in its journey of what it needs to be and wants to say.

Film: Mermaids

Song: If you wanna be happy

Artist: Jimmy Soul