A Woman Under The Influence
November 4th 2008 02:39
A Woman Under The Influence
I'm very concerned about the depiction of women on the screen. It's related to their being either high- or low-class concubines, and the only question is when or where they will go to bed, and with whom or how many. There's nothing to do with the dreams of women, or of woman as the dream, nothing to do with the quirky part of her, the wonder of her. I'm sure we could have made a much more successful film if A Woman Under the Influence had depicted Mabel's life as being rougher, more brutal; if it made statements so that people could definitely take sides. But along the way, I'd have to look at myself and say, "Yes, we were successful in creating another horror in the world." I don't know anyone who has had such a terrible time that she doesn't smile ever, that she doesn't have time to love, open her eyes, think about the details of life. Something [wonderful] happens all the time, even at the height of tragedy. I wanted to show that too.
—John Cassavetes
—John Cassavetes
Written and Directed by John Cassavetes
In 1968 John Cassavetes released Faces, the first independent film (a term not yet used at the time) on unexpecting public at the Toronto Film Festival, the result was staggering as mainstream audiences had never really experienced independent cinema before. Faces would experience large success, something which would elude Cassavetes for the rest of his life as a director, including Academy Award nominations (an achievement to say the least for a film referred to as a homemade movie). If Faces was a breakout hit, then A Woman Under The Influence (1974) superseded it, experiencing the kind of success which would not be seen again until ‘Sex Lies and Videotape’. A Woman Under The Influence was included in a most juicy 1975 Academy Award nomination line up for best direction including; Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather part II, Martin Scorsese – Taxi Driver, Bob Fosse – All that Jazz, Roman Polanski – China Town, Francois Truffautt – Day For Night, and John Cassavetes – A Woman Under The Influence (Coppola winning). Not too shabby for a movie which aquired it's film stock for principle photography by resorting to breaking into a porn production house in The San Fernando Valley.
The success of the film is understandable as the drama in the film remains the most externally tangible of all of Cassavetes films, but while it may have succeeded, it remains as difficult and heart wrenching as any of his other films, ‘A Woman’ makes unusually tough demands on the audience, and I will attempt to explain it as best as I can without ruining some the shocks and surprises it has for you.
A still from the very scary emotional heights reached in the film
Starring Peter Falk (Columbo, Wings of Desire) and regular Cassavetes collaborator and wife Gena Rowlands. It is about a married couple, Nick and Mable, they have three kids, Nick is a construction worker and Mable is a stay at home wife. During this film Mable will start to act a little strange, infact very strange and Nick won’t quite know how to handle it and in this time we will experience one of the most stunning, precise portraits of two people who’s love for each other causes nothing but havoc for their family. Without giving too much away, I can say that it’s an excellent example of a wife being overwhelmed by the needs of her family and an example of a husband who tramples on and is embarrassed by any kind of affection he receives.
The couple try to express this love they have for each other, there are many moments where nick and Mable try to be alone together but the everyday demands of work, the kids going to school, an unexpected visit from someone’s mother in law, gets in the way and in one of the most devastating scenes in the film, Mable will be sent away from her husband and children, when Nick has to take care of the kids, that is when the real revelation of the film will reveal it self; is Mable really that crazy? Is Nick really that much of a conventional man. There will be a lot for the audience to chew on, as a portrait of a family is dissected.
a different kind of performance from Peter Falk
For an average movie goer or even an adventurous one, there will be something immediately disarming about the film, it feels different in almost every single way and the behaviour of the character played by Gena Rowlands may cause outright embarrassment on the part of the viewer. The cinematography is particuarly engaging in the film, it has the feeling of trying to capture something bigger than just cinema itself, a part of life which is out of focus, one of multivalence and when combined with the acting the result is fantastic. The film may look 'sloppy', as of all his films, but nothing this powerful can be achieved from 'off the cuff' shooting and an extraordinary ammount of planning would have gone into the film to provides it's texture and emotional weight.
Nick and Mabel want to be alone together
During the first fourty minutes or so, the film moves at a languorous pace, enjoy that, don’t turn it off, because a way of life is being established in this story and we are witnessing two people about to go through an intense and exhausting experience which we will feel as much as they do. I watched this film with someone once and her reaction to it was fascinating, there were moments where she would at once well up and in the same breath she would burst out laughing. A Woman Under The Influence will provide a unique experience which I think will be different for everyone.
A walk together in the rain from a deleted scene
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Comment by Cibbuano
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...it's the slow opening scenes that pulled me in... and the fascination with which Cassavetes films his wife!