There are plenty of anecdotes about the late John Cassavetes — the director often cited as the "godfather of American independent cinema" — but my favorite is the one regarding an advance screening he did for his 1977 film "Opening Night," about an alcoholic actress overcoming a personal trauma to pour her soul into a role. After noting the parts where the audience spontaneously burst into applause, he went back and recut the film, removing them all.

It's a tale that reveals both the best and worst sides of the director, which are utterly inseparable in his films. Cassavetes — who mostly self-financed his films — answered only to himself, and successfully brought a personal, uncompromised vision to the screen. Yet his films make no concessions to the audience while offering many indulgences to his actors. Watching a film such as "Opening Night" is rather like watching a band go deep into a jam: You have to suffer through the patches where it runs on aimlessly if you want to be around for that magical moment where it all comes together.

"Opening Night" is part of a six-film retrospective of the director's work playing at Shibuya's Image Forum, which traces his work from his astounding debut "Shadows" in 1959 through his swan-song "Love Streams" in 1984, made while he was already diagnosed with the alcoholic's bad liver that would kill him.