Hoezo in KINO

Gena Rowlands passed away on August 14th. A commanding presence on the stage, on television and in film, Gena Rowlands’ impressive and versatile career span over six decades. Starting off on the small screen, her most lauded and enduring work was created with actor-director and husband, John Cassavetes. His often no-budget independent films were the ideal playground for Rowlands’ raw talent, digging deep into her characters without studio interference or subjected to mass appeal. To celebrate her life we screen two (of the ten) collaborations with Cassavetes showcasing two maternal characters that could not be more apart. John Cassavetes’ Gloria’s plot of a New York woman overhearing a mob hit in her apartment building and proceeding to care for the sole surviving young boy, might sound familiar and Luc Besson indeed lifted this synopsis wholesale for Leon, adding the gender swap. Rowlands’ stern matriarch slowly warming to the fate of the boy and taking on the maffia is a true sight to behold and a testament to her mastery of the craft, conveying more emotion with devastating stares and a “do not mess with me” strut than any hard boiled dialogue ever could. English language without subtitles.