Criterion does right by this complex John Cassavetes effort.
Even cinephiles tend to go hot and cold when discussing the admittedly brilliant work of John Cassavetes. While many praise his output as a writer/director, there’s still something frightening about the films he made and his very specific approach which made them both alien and universal all at once. Nevertheless, no one could tackle the kinds of themes other filmmakers wouldn’t know how to begin to explore besides Cassavetes. His look into the fragile female psyche made A Woman Under the Influence a landmark film, while the topic of developmentally challenged children in A Child is Waiting and the harshness of urban life in Gloria cemented his reputation as a filmmaker curious about aspects of society. As an artist, the director’s work went against commercial standards in favor of illustrating humanity at its purest. In the midst of this lies Husbands, Cassavetes’ 1970 offering which stands out as both a film which likewise dealt with a plot concerning an aspect of the human experience many probably thought wasn’t film-worthy, yet maintained a steady philosophical intimacy in keeping with some of the director’s finest.
Following the death of one of their own, three remaining best friends, Gus (Cassavetes), Archie (Peter Falk) and Harry (Ben Gazzara), all try to come to grips over the loss by breaking from their normal routines and honoring their departed friend through a series of debaucherous adventures. Eventually, the trio ends up in London where events force them to confront the men they’ve become.
The presence of juvenile behavior in Husbands is expected. However, the level of toxic masculinity is so incredibly heavy, it almost becomes another best friend to the three guys, egging them on and pushing them towards appalling behavior and then encourages them to laugh about it afterwards. Three key scenes show each of the men acting boorishly towards the women they encounter in ways no modern female would put up with today. Archie chides a bar patron (Leola Harlow) for not putting enough warmth and feeling into the love song she’s singing, yelling at her to do it over and over again until he begins to take off his clothes. This causes her to finally sing it the way he wants, which leads to a round of applause. When Harry arrives home the morning after the funeral, he can’t stand the nagging from his wife and therefore launches into a tirade, striking both her and her mother until the former brings out a knife and lunges at him, causing even more violence. Finally, while he’s seemed to be the most sane of the three (or the least insane, rather), Gus lets the rest of his bottled up energy spill out as he and a woman he’s picked up in a casino (Jenny Runacre) go back to his hotel where he forces himself on her, chokes her and refuses to get off of her until she gives him a kiss. Known for his famously long scenes, Cassavetes lets each of these moments play out and the audience bears witness to all of these men’s dark sides as monstrous and complicated as they are. The fact that he does this without hesitation was a move which instantly makes an audience ask: Is he trying to pass this along as normal? Does Cassavetes condemn this behavior, which is why he’s showing its starkness and brutality? Is he trying to see how grief, coupled with the expectations of masculinity, can transform themselves into something extremely potent and dangerous? No matter which question is most accurate, Cassavetes never shies away from any of them.
Aside from the all the uncomfortable behavior exhibited continuously throughout, Husbands does indeed present a solid and compelling portrait of friendship. We aren’t given too much insight into Gus, Archie and Harry’s pasts as friends, but their camaraderie, shorthand and devotion to one another stands up in scene after scene. Clearly the actors shared good chemistry and each of the men turns in some of the most raw and electric performances of their careers. But Husbands goes further than just showing a portrait of a friendship. Instead, it’s main focus is in showing the long-term friendship. The core of Husbands as far as Harry, Gus and Archie are concerned, is the bond that exists between them and the realization that while it hasn’t changed, they have. The sudden death of their friend has left them struggling with the very real truth that without knowing it, they’re no longer the men they used to be. The fact that their friendship remains strong has shielded them from facing their own mortalities and from acknowledging that they’ve turned into the kinds of men they possibly never saw themselves becoming. Friendship in the face of adulthood is a scary state of reality which every person must face at one time in their lives, triggered by some monumental event or a small instance of seemingly little significance. Yet only someone as curious as Cassavetes could conceive that such a subject was both layered and deep enough to make for a compelling cinematic experience.
I’ve no doubt that all of the above is probably true when re-examining Husbands in this day and age. The film pities it’s three protagonists for their aimlessness, despair and disillusionment as much as it takes pleasure in showing them as hedonistic animals for whom women only exist as objects of amusement. The dual nature of Husbands grounds it in an undeniable sadness, not for any one character in particular, but in Cassavetes’ idea of mortality, the quest for happiness and the virtually impossible act of being able to make peace with either one. At the time of the film’s release, the three actors went on The Dick Cavett Show in order to promote Husbands in what ended up being a somewhat notorious interview which featured Cassavetes, Falk and Gazzara clearly intoxicated as Cavett clung desperately to his trademark charm in order to keep the show going. The interview is included here as part of the disc’s special features and while it doesn’t say much about the film itself (other than serving as a testament to the genuine chemistry shared between the three leads), it makes for a highly enjoyable piece of post-Husbands watching.
Husbands is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD from the Criterion Collection.