Electrified by searing performances from Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk, A Woman Under the Influence finds pioneering independent filmmaker John Cassavetes working at his artistic peak.
Electrified by searing performances from Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk, A Woman Under the Influence finds pioneering independent filmmaker John Cassavetes working at his artistic peak.
John Cassavetes' harrowing masterpiece charts the emotional meltdown of a suburban housewife and its effects on her blue-collar Italian family. Gena Rowlands stars as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of three whose husband Nick (Peter Falk) works as a construction worker; a mismatched couple like so many others in Cassavetes films, the Longhettis seem to be complete opposites: she's impetuous, extroverted, and fragile, while he's controlling, distant, and hard-bitten. Their differences underscore a
series of domestic dramas, culminating in a nervous breakdown that sends Mabel to a psychiatric hospital for six months, only to return to a home environment on even thinner ice than before. The improvisational style central to Cassavetes' vision is at its most acute throughout A Woman Under the Influence. Like its title heroine, the film threatens to veer out of control at any time, its shape and scope defined not by narrative but by the emotional upheaval at its center. Embracing the full spectrum of the Longhettis' relationship, from seismic bursts of high drama to small, even trivial moments of domestic tedium, its long scenes relentlessly probe every nook and cranny of the family's life, drawing out each moment for maximum emotional impact; the film is by turns beautiful and ugly, illuminating and frustrating, and it features a performance by Rowlands as heartwrenching and unforgettable as any ever committed to celluloid. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
Falk and Rowlands -- in performances of almost indescribable intensity -- detail a marriage anchored by love, but tossed by the expectations of others and the unpredictable swell of madness.
Gena Rowlands gives a career-defining tour de force performance that is a pinnacle of film-acting in an earth-shattering film that is unlike any other ever made.
John Cassavetes was one of those rare artists of whom it could be said that his flaws were his strengths, and his strengths were his flaws...Consequently, the film has to rank somewhere between the two in the Cassavetes canon, and I'd opt for putting it c
A insightful essay on sexual politics: Rowlands is terrific as a housewife who crosses the line into sanity. With a light feminist touch, she is perceived as a victim of repressive patriarchal order.
An insightful essay on sexual politics. As Rowlands delicately crosses the line of sanity, it becomes apparent that imposed social roles are the cause.
The knee-jerk, or neckless cinematography (in other words, it's all over the place) is horrendous, unprofessional and junkie. A mess. And the two-a-half-hour running time is no less ludicrous and a feat on its own.
Two of the best performances I've ever seen. Gena Rowlands makes you fall in love with her and feel sorry for her. Peter Falk is great as the rough man who tries to cope with his wife losing her mind. The scene with Falk sitting in the back of a pick up truck sharing a beer with his kids is priceless.
a devastating film containing one of the bravest performances ever seen, for which gena rowlands is justly celebrated, overshadowing the fine work of her costar. peter falk is completely natural as the frustrated blue collar husband trying to deal with his emotionally fragile and increasingly eccentric wife. the film
goes places no one else dared, exhibiting the rawest possible emotions and investigating every corner of the family's life. peter falk may be best remembered as the rumpled detective columbo but he did some wonderful work for cassavettes among others.
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