All 5 John Cazale films ranked

The actor John Cazale stands out not only for his talent and intensity as a performer, but also for having one of the most impressive filmographies of any actor with a career as short as his. A prolific theater veteran, Cazale famously appeared in only five features before dying of lung cancer in 1978 at the age of 42. However, these five films are often considered some of the best and most important films of the 1970s. which says something.

Cazale appeared in three films by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, The Godfather II and The Conversation). Sidney Lumet’s thrilling bank robbery drama “Dog Day Afternoon” and Michael Cimino’s “The Deer Hunter.” Cazale played all supporting roles. Each of them was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Three of them won.

Of course, Cazale’s film career was only a small part of his acting experience. Notoriously reserved and shy, he made his stage debut in 1962 in a rendition of the play “JB.” He also appeared in several off-Broadway shows such as Spoon River Anthology, The Iceman Cometh and Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure (playing the role of Angelo). In 1977 he made his Broadway debut as Agamemnon in the first play of Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy. However, Cazale only played the role in the first preview of the series as he had to drop out due to health reasons. Shortly thereafter, he received his cancer diagnosis.

Cazale’s performances are all tinged with tragedy as you can see how much talent and presence he had on the big screen. Had he remained healthy, there is every reason to believe that Cazale would have continued to produce great performances for interesting, ambitious filmmakers.

Of the five films in which he appeared, /Film offers the following (perhaps controversial) ranking of their quality.

Michael Cimino’s intense Vietnam War drama The Deer Hunter is a dark, thoughtful portrait of post-traumatic stress disorder and the true depths it plumbs. The film is about a small group of friends from a Slavic community in Pennsylvania who are drafted into war in 1968. Robert De Niro plays the rather taciturn Mike Vronsky, while Christopher Walken won an Oscar for the role of Mike’s best friend Nick, who suffers more openly after his war experience. And their war experience Was shocking. The young Americans were captured by the Viet Cong as soldiers forced to play Russian roulette (although they eventually escaped).

John Cazale plays her hometown friend Stan, who regularly accompanies her on deer hunting trips. Cazale had already been diagnosed with terminal cancer when he signed on for the role, and as the story goes, De Niro and co-star Meryl Streep (who was dating Cazale at the time) had to petition for his job. He couldn’t get insurance, so De Niro also paid for his friend’s insurance; De Niro just liked him so much. Cazale died before The Deer Hunter was released in theaters.

However, “The Deer Hunter” ranks last because it moves so slowly. The story of post-traumatic stress disorder, war trauma and the horrors of combat are all salient and powerful, but Cimino’s film opens with a 50-minute Robert Altman-style wedding sequence that seems strangely disconnected from the ultimate war tragedy. Cimino, of course, tried to figure out who these characters were, but he talked for too long.

It may be bold of me to name Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather fourth on any list, since most lists regularly list it as one of the greatest films of all time. However, this is less a testament to my personal taste and more a commentary on how great John Cazale’s filmography is. It’s also a commentary on Cazale’s role in the film, which is smaller and less significant than in any of his other high-profile films.

In “The Godfather,” Cazale plays Fredo Corleone, the middle son of mafia boss Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). The Godfather is primarily about Michael (Al Pacino), Vito’s youngest son, who at the beginning of the film resents his family’s crime business but ends up taking over the business. Michael is the only one who seems competent enough to lead, taking on the responsibility he doesn’t want… but then falls into the role all too well at the end of “The Godfather”.

Fredo, on the other hand, is considered to be rather weak-willed and certainly not suitable to take the lead. He only exists in the story as a “less preferred option” when it comes to running the mafia. Meanwhile, Corleone’s older son Sonny (James Caan) is too hot-headed. Only Michael, the reluctant villain, has the wherewithal and the love of his family to take power. “The Godfather” has a Shakespearean touch that highlights the tragedy of each character. Fredo’s tragic flaw is his lack of leadership skills.

As we later learn in The Godfather Part II, Fredo’s storyline is more than just “the other brother.”

In The Godfather Part II, Michael deals well with the mafia and has internalized the need to kill anyone who betrays or exposes the family. His brother has already been murdered, and Fredo appears to be next in line when he betrays Michael to a rival family. However, Michael always suspected that Fredo might become a renegade, knowing that he did not have the necessary constitution to join the mafia. (Spoiler: Things don’t go well for Fredo in the film.)

Many consider “The Godfather Part II” to be higher than its predecessor because of its two-pronged story. Half of the film is about Michael’s continued descent into moral depravity, while the other half is about that the younger version of Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone (now played by Robert De Niro) flees to the USA and makes a living in the world of crime. “The Godfather Part II” combines crime and American Alger-like ambition coupled with the limited opportunities offered to immigrants.

“The Godfather Part II” is popular with cinephiles and students alike. Many understand the film’s underlying tragedy and how survival can become tyranny. Others admire the professionalism shown by Michael in taking care of business and mixing his violence with strength. The fact that there is confusion at all betrays the moral complexity of the film.

In Coppola’s “The Conversation” (released the same year as The Godfather II), Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul, a professional surveillance expert and eavesdropper who takes his job seriously at the expense of everyone else. With modern recording equipment, he can listen intently to distant conversations, but does not have much skill in actual conversation. He tries to remain neutral with his spy skills, but then feels guilty about what he does, especially when he learns what some of his clients do with the information he collects.

You see, Harry has captured a distant conversation between a couple in Union Square and spends most of the film remixing it so that it becomes audible. What he finds is shocking and darker than expected. “The Conversation” is a wonderful commentary on the use of modern media to penetrate new moral disputes, handled by a tech-savvy engineer who cannot use his engineering skills to escape them.

John Cazale plays Stan, Caul’s assistant, and he is more or less Harry’s “normal” counterpart. He knows a lot about recording equipment, but doesn’t have the light touch that Harry possesses. He also seems more able to leave the room and live a normal life. Stan is a reminder that there are real people in this universe.

The best of Cazale’s films is Sidney Lumet’s 1975 bank robbery film “Dog Day Afternoon.” The most appealing thing about Lumet’s film is how seedy the main characters are. They are not professional thieves and their plan goes terribly wrong. The bank robbery quickly turns into a hostage situation and the need to get some money soon becomes a media spectacle. The initiative is led by Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino), who, the audience eventually learns, robbed the bank to finance the gender reassignment surgery of his trans girlfriend (Chris Sarandon), who still lives under her deadname. John Cazale plays Sal, one of Sonny’s compatriots who announces that he is willing to resort to violence if necessary. He’s kind of a scary character.

“Dog Day Afternoon” is based on the real-life robbery by John Wojtowiczwho also planned to secure gender reassignment money for his trans girlfriend (a woman named Elizabeth Eden). While Wojtowicz didn’t get the money he wanted from the robbery, he did get a hefty sum from selling the film rights to his life story. Thanks to the success of “Dog Day Afternoon”, Eden was able to carry out the reassignment operation. She married afterwards.

Lumet’s film is a humane, humane and grounded crime thriller with open discussions about queerness and queer love. It’s also a gripping, intense and sweaty story that questions the police state (Sonny’s singing of “Attica” is a reference to police brutality in a nearby prison), as well as a touching story of romantic desperation. It’s one of the best films of the 1970s and, for my money, the best film of Cazale’s impressive career.