The films of John Cassavetes: part 8 - A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE
August 10th 2010 12:25
"John Cassavetes film's were like epics of the human soul" - Martin Scorsese
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 If Faces was a breakout hit, then A Woman Under The Influence (1974) superseded it, experiencing the kind of success which would not be seen again until ‘Sex Lies and Videotape’.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, 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’ sets a curious pace and mood for itself, we never quite know where everything is going and it's ultimately a love story of the most beautiful kind that reaches tragic heights as we meet a woman who's love for her family pushes her over the edge as all of the day to day demands of her life, her husband her kids get the better of her underlying, fragile core.
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 is unable to be expressed, their attempts at intimacy or affection are constantly interrupted.
Peter Falk plays Nick, a man who is embarrassed by his wife, he doesn't understand her, they're complete opposites. He's a very conventional man, who works with his hands. Peter Falk who made a career of playing the clown performs a rather serious turn around here, it's a performance that extends past anything his more well known roles have ever hinted at. Falk gives a brave performance and it's clear that he has no concern over being liked by the audience, he's there to serve the story, the character and nothing else.
Mable's love and external expression is over whelming, most people she comes into contact with either get nervous or embarrassed around her. She's a little over the top, but most of all her vulnerability is frightening to witness. the title 'A Woman Under The Influence' refers to a woman who is under the influence of her family, her love is a madness that over comes her. Gena Rowlands as Mable is amazing. in her best performance ever Gena Rowlands meets all the demands of this character and uses this performance to help create an incredibly beautiful film.
The only person who influences Nick is his own mother and when Nick is particularly aggressive towards Mable she crumbles. Mable is misunderstood by everyone around her and when they call in the doctors to assess her 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. The one thing strikes me about all of this, as it becomes clear - if Nick is such a conventional man most of the time, then what is it about him that made him attracted to such a kooky woman in the first place?
When you view 'A Woman Under The Influence', it's a film that comes devastatingly close to the edge, there's 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 life under a microscope 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 provide it's texture and emotional weight. It's a movie that puts your heart through the wringer if you surrender to it in it's early scenes, a tough and beautiful film.
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, see it with someone you love. 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.
The film is easily Cassavetes greatest achievement. It's a stormy and difficult love story, where two people cannot communicate, they cannot reach a middle ground - but god how they try! It's one of the most resonant films ever about a man and a woman.
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, 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’ sets a curious pace and mood for itself, we never quite know where everything is going and it's ultimately a love story of the most beautiful kind that reaches tragic heights as we meet a woman who's love for her family pushes her over the edge as all of the day to day demands of her life, her husband her kids get the better of her underlying, fragile core.
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 is unable to be expressed, their attempts at intimacy or affection are constantly interrupted.
Peter Falk plays Nick, a man who is embarrassed by his wife, he doesn't understand her, they're complete opposites. He's a very conventional man, who works with his hands. Peter Falk who made a career of playing the clown performs a rather serious turn around here, it's a performance that extends past anything his more well known roles have ever hinted at. Falk gives a brave performance and it's clear that he has no concern over being liked by the audience, he's there to serve the story, the character and nothing else.
Mable's love and external expression is over whelming, most people she comes into contact with either get nervous or embarrassed around her. She's a little over the top, but most of all her vulnerability is frightening to witness. the title 'A Woman Under The Influence' refers to a woman who is under the influence of her family, her love is a madness that over comes her. Gena Rowlands as Mable is amazing. in her best performance ever Gena Rowlands meets all the demands of this character and uses this performance to help create an incredibly beautiful film.
The only person who influences Nick is his own mother and when Nick is particularly aggressive towards Mable she crumbles. Mable is misunderstood by everyone around her and when they call in the doctors to assess her 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. The one thing strikes me about all of this, as it becomes clear - if Nick is such a conventional man most of the time, then what is it about him that made him attracted to such a kooky woman in the first place?
a different kind of performance from Peter Falk
When you view 'A Woman Under The Influence', it's a film that comes devastatingly close to the edge, there's 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 life under a microscope 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 provide it's texture and emotional weight. It's a movie that puts your heart through the wringer if you surrender to it in it's early scenes, a tough and beautiful film.
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, see it with someone you love. 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.
The film is easily Cassavetes greatest achievement. It's a stormy and difficult love story, where two people cannot communicate, they cannot reach a middle ground - but god how they try! It's one of the most resonant films ever about a man and a woman.
A walk together in the rain from a deleted scene
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
A difficult film to enjoy but an easy one to appreciate. If there was ever any doubt this one proves that Rowlands is one of the greatest living actresses. For me one of the finest ever to live.
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
As you know, this film is one of the top 3 for me in terms of performance by an actress.
She is amazing and frankly I think every one of the many million carbon copy wannabe actresses out there owe it to them selves to see what real acting by a great actress actually looks like!
A film that still gets to me every time I see it!
Thanks for reading. I actually recently corresponded with long time Cassavetes collaborator Bo Harwood, who did all the music for the man's films. He said he trying to release a soundtrack of twenty of the best themes John had in his films.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
And the meal scene when he brings home his work colleagues ...
I saw this on the big screen at the recent SFF.
Great review Shaun.
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
Matt - yes she is! and never fear, Chinese Bookie is next in line
David - your box set is calling you, for God sakes, watch it already!
Thanks for the comments and compliments guys! always appreciated!.
Comment by Catherine Stebbins
Thoughts from a Cinephile
Thoughts from a TV Watcher
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD