I'm still working my way through all his films. T think it could be argued that a common theme is emotional tu1c84rmoil. Weighing needs/wants versus conscience; writing emotional unrest.

"Dissection of awkward moments/interactions, what makes them considered 'awkward' by society's standards and how people react to such behind closed doors"
That's the best I can do.

He would write a script and everyone would stay within the confines of the screenplay, but didn't want to tell the actors where to stand, what to do, so that it wouldn't seem fake.

Cassavetes has this reputation of documentary-style and spontaneitybut apparently his scripts were pretty specific. Actors were not running around, saying whatever came to their mind. I saw a short documentary recently about the filming of a scene from Love Streams and everything was pretty much in control by Cassavetes and his team. "Stupid pointless stuff" is not the best expression one could use: his scripts were often meditative, philosophical and sometimes a bit abstract. But stupid, err
" You ain't running this place, Bert, WILLIAMS is!" Sgt Harris

"He let people talk as they do in real life, just droning on and on, about stupid pointless stuff. This is where his true greatness lies".
Hilarious. The best kind of anti-advertisement one could conceivably come up with.
Unfortunately, its all true though - and makes Faces as well as, in parts, Chinese Bookie so annoying theyre borderline unwatchable. I think Ive got a vague sense of what hes getting at with these numbers, but seems nothing much eventually made it there. If it wasnt for the surprisingly outstanding Woman Under The Influence, Id definitely say Cassavetes should have stuck to acting jobs.
And since this ceaseless yammering seems to be universally cited as a trademark, I aint too sure theres much point in giving him any further chances. Especially as the running times of his films mostly seem to well exceed 2 hours.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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Gloria documentary style? I disagree with you on that
http://www.mickey-rourke.com/

Thats one film out of how many?
Shadows
,
Faces
,
Husbands
,
Minnie and Moskowitz
,
A Woman Under the Influence
,
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
,
Opening Night
, and
Gloria
all use this technique. Not all of these films are great, but it does seem to be a very prominent trademark in his films.

I guess you haven't seen Too Late Blues
http://www.mickey-rourke.com/

Trademark, theme, whatever. Thats the defining characteristic of John Cassavetes.

that wouldn't be a theme, that would be a medium by which his themes are expressed
http://www.mickey-rourke.com/

The primary theme of the majority of Cassavetess films is a documentary-like realism. He let people talk as they do in real life, just droning on and on, about stupid pointless stuff. This is where his true greatness lies.

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he said himself they were all about the search for love in some shape or another-some actors could potray it perfectly, others (mostly those in Shadows) failed miserably-a 111clot of the time the actors he used weren't really tuned into what he was envisioning
http://www.mickey-rourke.com/