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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Husbands: A Comedy About Life, Death and Freedom')

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/cassavetes.htm
USA
1970

 

The trailblazing independent auteur John Cassavetes pushes his raw, uncompromising emotional realism to its limit in this unflinching portrait of masculinity in crisis. Cassavetes joins Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk—both of whom would become key collaborators of the director’s—playing a trio of middle-aged Long Island family men who, following the sudden death of their close mutual friend, channel their grief into an epic, multiday bender that takes them from Manhattan to London in a desperate, debauched quest to feel alive. By turns painfully funny and woundingly perceptive, this “comedy about life, death, and freedom” (as its tagline stated) stands as perhaps the most fearless, harrowingly honest deconstruction of American manhood ever committed to film.

***

"Husbands," John Cassavetes's first film as a director since "Faces," is a personal, almost private movie that is devoted to the exploration of the mysteries of a very middle-class American friendship. Like "Faces," which was rambling and funny and accurate, and which I admired, the new film demonstrates a concern for panicky, inarticulate squares that is so unpatronizing that it comes close to being reverential in a solemnly religious sense.

Gus (Cassavetes), Harry (Ben Gazzara) and Archie (Peter Falk), commuting cronies from Port Washington, L. I., meet at the funeral of the fourth member of their group, a man taken off before his time by a coronary. They are shaken up, not only by the loss of their friend and the awareness that it could have happened to any one of them, but also by their own survival into imminent middle age, that dreadful time when it is suddenly apparent that what is, probably is the way it's always going to be. Archie would have liked to be a professional athlete "You get sweaty and feel good and you're with guys you like."

Excerpt from Vincent Canby at the NY Times located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 1970 - San Francisco Film Festival

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Comparison:

Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

  

  

Released on Blu-ray, in the UK, by Criterion on June 8th, 2020:

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Sony Pictures Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC Criterion Spine #1029 - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime 2:21:45          2:22:13.358 
Video 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.58 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s 

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,882,196,524 bytes

Feature: 34,585,946,112 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.36 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio English (Dolby Digital mono)

LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles English, None English, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Sony Pictures

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1

Edition Details:

• Commentary with author Marshall Shine
• The Story of Husbands: A Tribute to John Cassavetes (29:45)
• Original Theatrical trailer (3:44)
• Previews 

DVD Release Date: August 18th, 2009

Keep Case
Chapters: 12

 

Release Information:
Studio:
Criterion

 

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,882,196,524 bytes

Feature: 34,585,946,112 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.36 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Audio commentary from 2009 featuring critic Marshall Fine
• New interviews with producer Al Ruban (25:02) and actor Jenny Runacre (17:55)
• New video essay by filmmaker Daniel Raim featuring audio recordings of actor-director John Cassavetes discussing his approach to working with actors (12:59)
• The Story of “Husbands”—A Tribute to John Cassavetes (2009), a half-hour program featuring Ruban, actor Ben Gazzara, and cinematographer Victor J. Kemper (29:46)
• Episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1970 featuring Cassavetes, Gazzara, and actor Peter Falk (33:32)
• Trailer (3:44)
PLUS: An essay by filmmaker Andrew Bujalski


Blu-ray Release Date:
May 26th, 2020
Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 22

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (April 2020): Criterion have transferred John Cassavetes' Husbands to 1080P Blu-ray. It is advertised as a "New 4K digital restoration". It is a large advancement over the 2009 DVD with more realistic colors (especially skin tones) and much tighter in the film's intense close-ups (over 5X the bitrate of the SD transfer.) It shows consistent textures and the HD video, housed on a dual-layered disc with a high bitrate (for the almost 2.5 hour film), is excellent - very impressive in-motion.

NOTE: We have added 46 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. There is no 'score' but there is some singing in the bar scenes; Show Me the Way to Go Home sung a cappella by Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair etc.. It all sounds clean with occasional intentionally scattered (vérité) dialogue in spots. Criterion offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' / 'B' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offer the same commentary from Marshall Fine author of Accidental Genius: How John Cassavetes Invented the Independent Film. It's incredibly informative and professional - I was very impressed with the extent of detail he was able to offer about Cassavetes and the production. He seemed to know many details about the cast as well as the story. He rarely takes a breath in the 2.5 hours and I found it well worth listening to. Criterion also include, from the last DVD, The Story of Husbands: A Tribute to John Cassavetes which runs 1/2 hour with input from Producer Al Ruban, Gazzara and DoP Victor Kemper with lots of anecdotes on production and on Cassavetes the man. Extras also include the same long theatrical trailer.

There are additional (2020 produced) supplements - a new 25-minute interview with producer Al Ruban who recalls his experience working on Husbands and the creative charisma of John Cassavetes. For Husbands' London sequence, director-actor John Cassavetes cast three women for a series of intimate scenes. In this new 18-minute interview, produced by Criterion in 2020, actress Jenny Runacre speaks candidly about her experience working opposite Cassavetes. I enjoyed the new 13-minute video essay by filmmaker Daniel Raim featuring audio recordings of actor-director John Cassavetes discussing his approach to working with actors, and lastly, is a 1/2 hour episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1970 featuring Cassavetes, Gazzara, and actor Peter Falk to promote the release of Husbands. They remains off-the-cuff and playful in the interview. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by filmmaker Andrew Bujalski.

Shot with a lot of his own money, script written by himself, and filmed, often, at his own house - Cassavetes purely defines the 'independent film' with Husbands. He constantly re-edited for over a year. The Criterion Blu-ray is a must-own for fans of the director - the father of US Indie cinema. Husbands a subtly impacting experience - one that stays with you long after it's over... Our highest recommendation! 

Gary Tooze

***

ON THE DVD (2009): It is advertised by Sony as being the original full-length version and it runs almost 2.5 hours.

The image quality belies the vérité roots - it's not especially sharp - the camera is quite kinetic but the dual-layered DVD produces a consistent image that may have had a tinge of black level boosting. Essentially it looks acceptable and probably close to its original appearance. A higher resolution would surely have brought out more of the film's grain. 

Audio is a clear 2.0 channel supporting the dialogue in the film's realistic fashion - meaning it can intentionally sound a bit scattered. There are optional English subtitles.

It's great that Sony have put some effort into releasing this on DVD (the first time this is on DVD in NTSC). Cassavetes fans will definitely want to see this and judge for themselves how it fits into his oeuvre - it's a fairly subtle expression and the commentary is quite rewarding - well worth the price offered.    

Gary W. Tooze

 


Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC

 

Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) Sony Pictures - Region 1 - NTSC  TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


 

More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 
Box Cover

  

  

Released on Blu-ray, in the UK, by Criterion on June 8th, 2020:

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Sony Pictures Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray


 

 


 

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Gary Tooze

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