A Woman Under the Influence (1974) User Reviews (140)

Remarkable realism

[thieverycorp76 · 9/10 · 26 June 2009]

A Woman Under the Influence is an emotionally packed film that is centered around a capricious yet troubled housewife named Mabel. Mother to three young children and wife to her loving but volatile husband Nick, Mabel's mind is consumed with gaining acceptance and being reassured by those who surround her. Her psychological ability to keep up with normal everyday situations eventually reaches full capacity and she struggles to maintain emotional and mental competency.

Director Cassavetes intentionally chooses not to grant clemency to the viewer. Imagine walking in late to an opera that's in it's third act – that almost seems like what Cassavetes does to the audience – introducing his depiction of a distressed family while they're in mid flight. Gena Rowlands' portrayal of the likable but frail Mabel is nothing short of incredible, and Peter Falk gives an equally remarkable performance as Mabel's husband Nick. This film is not for the weak-hearted nor for those seeking traditional entertainment. It's distinctive approach to such an emotional journey will undoubtedly impede many viewer's enjoyment - but for those who appreciate unique cinema and realism, it doesn't get much better than this.

A Bruising Portrait of Mental Illness

[evanston_dad · 8/10 · 10 July 2007]

Eeesh, what a tough movie to sit through.

This two and a half hour movie left me sweaty, exhausted and hollowed out. In its own way it's an extremely well done film, but I don't know that it's an experience I want to repeat. Director John Cassavetes follows a few months in the life of a family whose mother and wife (Gena Rowlands) is suffering from mental illness, and the movie consists of one long scene after another of her cracking up, or trying not to crack up, and the various family members' reactions to her cracking up. Peter Falk plays the husband and father who thinks that mental illness is just some silly nonsense his wife should be able to stop if she just tried hard enough. Rowlands has the showier role, but Falk is the revelation here. His depiction of a husband who blusters and shouts to hide his overwhelming sense of helplessness and fear is superb.

Cassavetes's camera is relentless. We watch Rowlands suffer again and again in long takes and intimate closeups. There are times when you simply want to look away from the screen to help this poor woman preserve a shred of dignity. The highlight of the film (or low point, depending on your point of view) comes when Rowlands's character returns home from a stay in an institution, and her family works overtime to convince themselves that everything's fine when the audience can see clearly that everything is not.

Bruising is the best word I can think of to describe this film.

Grade: A-

Courageous and Uncompromising Film

[Galina_movie_fan · 9/10 · 12 June 2006]

This movie is a breakthrough - courageous and uncompromising view at the family and at the marriage where both spouses love each other deeply but they are both not well, they don't know how communicate when somebody else present, even their own children. They could be happy on the deserted island but not surrounded by friends and families. I was fascinated by both, Peter Falk's and Gena Rowlands' performances. She looked like a little girl, trapped in a woman's body - confused, insecure, listening to what is inside of her. When she said to her children, "I hope that you will never grow up", she meant it because she never felt comfortable as a grown up. I could not take my yes off Rowlands. Her performance is on par with the best study of nervous breakdown I've seen, and this is Liv Ullmann in Bergman's "Face to Face".

Peter Falks was also a revelation - I love him as Lt. Columbo in the TV series but he is a completely different character here; in a way, he is as mentally unbalanced as his wife is. The fact that he loves her but never hesitates to abuse her makes him terrifying - you never know how he will act in the next moment, and he does not know himself. Directing and writing are absolutely first class, and I am very exited to see more films by John Cassavetes, the Godfather of American Independent film-making and a father of American "New Wave" 9.5/10

Brava, Mabel!

[watt1975 · 19 September 2004]

Everyone views movies differently. I for one didn't think we were meant to wonder who was crazier Mabel or her husband. Cassavetes makes a strong, bold (and rarely voiced) point...it is the husband! Mabel loved her children, loved to dance and sing and for that she was committed. Her "unidentified mental illness" seems to intensify when her husband mistreated her and was physically or verbally violent...in my opinion going a bit crazy after someone slaps you is probably healthier and saner than being polite, demure, and rational.

Mabel loves life, shows her love without apology, and is severely punished for it. Everyone else in the movie struggles to calm everyone down and avoid showing too much emotion. While this may be more socially acceptable it isn't sane or even healthy. Humans are emotional beings...I for one say Brava! Mabel.

I think the director tips his hand and proves his point when Mabel's character comes home from the institution. She hasn't seen her children, husband, and family for 6 months and people assault her, some she has never even met, before she even leaves the car. When she does get inside the safety of her own home the people who put her away and told to forget the past greet her with small talk and politeness! Then when she finally sees her children after being told to "wait a minute" she says to herself that she wants to remain calm and show "no emotions." It seems obvious that this is a perfectly acceptable time to be emotional but fresh from the institution she know being normal doesn't allow you to be emotional. Emotions are scary, messy, and inconvenient and I for one am thrilled that John Cassavetes didn't shy away from them.

This movie is a true original.

Vertigo at the bottom of the Human Soul ...

[ElMaruecan82 · 10/10 · 10 January 2011]

This is a film about need, about affection, about a desperate need of affection that consumes the heart of Mabel Longhetti, the "woman under the influence" ... Some might say she's a troubled woman suffering from a personality disorder, others would say she's just psychotic ... they couldn't be wronger : she couldn't have a personality disorder, since she doesn't have any personality at all. Her character is totally diluted into that desperate need to please, to make people comfortable. The painful paradox is that this desire creates even more awkward and uncomfortable situations. But Mabel isn't aware of that, she can't understand that because she has buried any desire to be someone under the profound will to make people she loves, happy. She's sweet and tender, but this sweetness is wrong because it's inspired by a double fear of rejection and confrontation.

Mabel crystallizes all these feelings and translates them in a behavior made of unpredictable excitability, a forced cheerfulness, a childish behavior she almost uses as a shield not to be hurt. She's afraid, and so are we, when we watch this poor woman trying to gain anyone's sympathy, just to please Nick, her husband. Mabel is played by the beautiful Gena Rowlands in what I consider the greatest cinematic female performance ever. Peter Falk is underrated as Nick, the husband who tries to deal with Mabel's condition, with such severity sometimes, that even himself can't control his own reactions.

This is the set-up of the film, it's a drama, that couldn't have been directed by anyone but the great John Cassavettes. It's not a thriller, not an action film, yet it provided some of the most heart-pounding moments I've ever experienced. Never had a lunch and a dinner scene been so uneasy to watch : as it's been mentioned before, Mabel doesn't want to hurt people's feeling yet she unconsciously does. Mabel is like a little flame that might, at any time, light a bag of powder. Mabel creates real tickling-bomb situations, where the explosion is a burst of emotions, so human watching the film feels indecent. That's Cassavetes genius, this is no voyeuristic movie because we don't enjoy watching such devastation in a family that has everything to be happy. It's no voyeurism, it's realism, its cinema-verity as its purest form. Every laugh makes us smile, every shout makes us vibrate. Every silence makes us feel uncomfortable. We watch, we wait, and we never have a feeling that nothing is happening. Every look on Gena's eyes, every way she deforms her face, every noise or weird hand gesture she makes is the expression of a poor little a soul trying to communicate a part of what remains in the bottom, what remains of Mabel's personality.

Confronted to Mabel's emotional clumsiness, Nick looks totally helpless, yet he's not exempt from reproaches. He's not crazy but his own temper probably aggravated Mabel's condition. He warns his colleague, "Mabel is not crazy", but he insists so much, you wonder why would someone say that about a 'normal' woman. The answer is that he thinks she's crazy, but loves her so much he doesn't want people to think she is. Nick loves so much his wife he puts himself in situations making him act like a bag of contradictions. Nick himself looks sometimes desperate as he doesn't know what he's doing, lost between his responsibilities as a father, a son, a husband who loves his wife, and a man devoured by a frustrated violence. Seeing him trying to act like a father makes you put Mabel's insanity into perspective. If Mabel acts under Nick's influence, Nick's life and behavior are equally influenced by Mabel's problem, the effects on the couple, on the family and the relationships with the friends are disturbingly heart-breaking.

Disturbing, Cassavetes' masterpiece is because it reflects our own fears with a gripping realism, it's a journey into the deepest bottom of the human soul, made of anger, fear, sadness, happiness, reason, craziness, men, women, children, human relationships. It's hard to watch, it's uncomfortable, we can't help but feel sorry for the poor Mabel, for these poor kids, and even for Nick. They're not pathetic because they're not quite passive. In fact, the movie is full of noise, of loud shouts, of movements, this is no swimming in an ocean of tears, this is not your typical tear-jerker drama, it's almost like an emotional thriller. In fact, this doesn't need any categorization, this film makes other films look like films. "A Woman under the Influence"'s direction turns it into a chaotic journey into human relationships, and a very exhausting experience in reality.

Gena Rowlands gave the best performance I've ever seen, and the fact she won or not an Oscar doesn't even matter ... these considerations normalize the movie when it's more than something you would nominate for an award. Cassavettes's masterpiece is a tunnel ride into the depths of the human soul with its dark sides, and a probable light of hope at the end.

9/10

[desperateliving · 9/10 · 24 April 2005]

This is just another confirmation that Cassavetes, along with Dreyer and Tarkovsky, is one of the very small number of geniuses in film, whose every film is an extension of their genius -- some more mature than others, but impossible to be "bad"; they are beyond terms like "good" or "bad" -- they are the great art works of the century.

This film isn't about a "crazy" lady; it's not about putting a woman in an institution; and it's not about people talking about your crazy wife, though all of this happens in the film. Those are merely the events that take place over the course of the film; what it's really about is our misunderstanding, our experience as an audience. Just like the characters, we misunderstand Mable's childlike actions. What Cassavetes does is turn *us* into children -- it's as if we're experiencing things for the first time all over again, because it's a totally new experience, the same with watching a movie like "Andrei Rublev." That is an amazing thing to pass onto an audience. That's why I've never been bored watching a Cassavetes film -- something is always happening, things are always changing. The reality of what we're seeing is always undergoing augmentation, so we can never get fully situated.

It's never unrelenting gloom the way many so-called realistic films are (and this film goes far beyond mere "realism"); it's devastating watching it, watching Mable ask people if they want spaghetti one by one. But it's loving when Nick jokes about someone hugging her too long. It's communal during a scene at a dinnertable where Mable takes a pride in feeding "her boys." But each scene goes through a transformation as it happens. When Mable goes home with another man, he makes it clear that he's not to be used, but also that she shouldn't punish herself. It's not a screamy moment with a woman hiding in the bathroom; his avuncular twang is disarming.

There's a complete lack of self-consciousness in the film, and I mean that in terms of the characters (during Mable's key freak out scene, Rowlands does, I think, go too far) -- that's why the kids are s terrific in the film. When a boy says, "It's the best I can do, mom," it's an incredible moment because it's managed to be included without being offensive, mugging for the camera with cuteness. The film has such a strange relationship with kids -- they're like little people. And if that sounds odd, you'll understand when you see the film. The characters are constantly changing their minds; they're so aware of themselves that they're unaware -- Mable doesn't realize she's giving off a sexual aura (despite the fact that Rowlands can at times look like a blond beach babe). As with Julianne Moore in "Safe," we don't know what's wrong with her. She's a frenetic, guideless woman trying to do the guiding.

The way Cassavetes sets up the film, with ominous piano music that comes in when Falk is trying to speak, blinded by frustration; or setting the film inside this house with gigantic rooms, makes everything feel larger and emptier at the same time. It's like the scariness of the echo of something you'd rather not hear. Someone said that they wouldn't want a single frame of "2001" to be cut, lest the experience be changed. I think that applies more aptly to Cassavetes' films, because he never treads over the same thing twice, even when he's doing exactly the same thing he's just done. It's always something new. 9/10

Cassavettes – The Anti-Hollywood

[votarus4 · 10/10 · 24 May 2003]

A man goes into a big, strange house with his family and friends. He is armed with script and camera, and proceeds to create a milestone work of American cinema – the key film of the 1970s. Above all else, `A Woman Under the Influence' is Anti-Hollywood, Anti-Establishment, Anti-Film. 1970's Hollywood may have defined itself with films like Godfather, Rocky, Annie Hall, and Deer Hunter – but real, unpredictable, chaotic life was Cassavettes' territory. Fact is, Hollywood will never be ready for uninhibited Mabel and her much crazier husband Nick. Nutty as she is, Mabel/Cassavettes does nothing but tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but. Hollywood at best, tells persuasive lies. So…, to get Hollywood ready for the Gospel of Cassavettes, the first thing that must happen is to banish the entire FX community; ship ‘em to Alcatraz where they can make blockbuster cartoons for each other. Second – the writers, directors and producers of said cartoons can go Vegas and try to `leave.' Those who remain will be entrusted with putting complex human beings who inhabit interesting lives and situations on the screen – not `role models' who traipse through neatly-plotted, highly-improbable, beautifully photographed, committee-designed plots. Get my point? By the way, Gena Rowlands in "Influence" gives one of the finest performances of the sound era. See this film. See it now. Right now.

Unstable genius

[kosmasp · 10/10 · 27 May 2020]

Sometimes you have to be thankful to Criterion Collection for their love of movies and how they bring them back to our attention. This is another one of those examples. While Kramer vs. Kramer is (rightfully) hailed as a great movie, this does not seem to come up as often when it comes to marriage and issues within that marriage than can occur.

Geena Rowlands is just mesmerizing in this. But Peter Falk holds his own. I and many others may know him for Columbo (great role), but he shines in this one too. So while the focus lies on Geena, there are quite a few actors who support her and the movie overall. I can't stress enough how amazing the end result is, even if you have to stick with the movie and be patient at times. Nothing can beat the patience Peter Falk is displaying of course, or rather his character. This tour de force is quite something. It will drain and exhaust you, by the end of it

John Cassavetes most famous film

[frankde-jong · 7/10 · 30 June 2019]

"A woman under the influence" is about a woman (Gena Rowlands) constantly on the edge (and sometimes over the edge) of a nervous breakdown. We immediately realise that something is wrong with her when, at the beginning of the film, she shouts to her mother not to shout.

At first the plan was to make "A woman under the influence" a play, but Gena Rowlands realised that she would not have the energy to play this role every evening. After seeing the film we can only agree with her.

Many reviews observe that the man (Peter Falk) is psychologically just unstable as the woman is. I don't agree with that. As well as after watching "Prejudice" (2015, Antoine Cuypers) i realised how demanding it must be to live with such a patient. Even a sane person can, in such circumstances , not always keep is composure.

Yes, the man does stupid things (such as organising a big party when his wife returns from a stay in a mental institution), but that does not mean that he is a patient himself.

Influence of What?

[Krustallos · 8/10 · 26 January 2005]

Freewheeling Cassavetes study of a marriage.

I think its a misreading to conclude that either one of the main characters is "crazy". Clearly Mabel has what you could call a borderline manic personality, but there's little evidence that she is unable to look after herself or her kids. The fact that she gets committed says less about her condition than about the position of women in the society Cassavetes is depicting. There is no sign that the visiting kids are in any danger - their father freaks out only because Mabel's behaviour falls outside his view of the conventional housewife. Nick on the other hand is not considered "crazy" despite physically attacking several people and getting his kids drunk, because men are allowed a lot more licence. In the end he is as trapped by the social pressures on him as Mabel is, except his frustration is turned outwards, hers inwards.

When the family are alone there is no problem, Nick's difficulties arise when Mabel is unable to fit the social role assigned to her - notably it is his mother who drives him to have Mabel committed. The "influence" Mabel is under turns out not to be alcohol as we first expect but patriarchy expressed via Nick, and society's limited and limiting expectations of women and of people in general. Put Mabel in a San Francisco commune 6 years earlier and she would look normal.

A word on the acting. Having known people with rather more serious cases of manic depression I can testify that Gena Rowlands' acting is actually rather understated. Falk meanwhile is a revelation to those who know him only from Colombo - his portrayal of the inarticulate, confused, occasionally violent but still very loving Nick is perfect - he just IS this guy.

Incidentally, you can see where Scorsese took many of the ideas for his most personal films from (notably "Mean Streets" which apparently he made after Cassavetes criticised "Boxcar Bertha") although he tidied them up and made them commercial. He even copied Cassevetes' lead here by putting his own mother in "Goodfellas".

Editing would help.

[dlynch843 · 7/10 · 23 October 2020]

The best scene is Mabel preparing and serving dinner to all of Nick's fellow workers. We see how she deals with human situations, we see Nick's discomfort of his wife's over-playfulness (in his opinion). His shut-down of her is brutal--her response is heartbreaking. The way this scene ends is touching. The problem is Cassavetes adds too many unnecessary scenes. It drags on with added characters that didn't need to be added. Gena and Pete are great in this, so the movie should be more focused on them.

' This woman cooks, sews, makes the bed, washes the bathroom; what the hell is crazy about that?''

[elkabousmehdi · 8/10 · 7 March 2010]

A woman under the influence is a film about an eccentric family with Gena Rowlands starring as a housewife who has an emotional disorder, she is behaving oddly, can't handle her emotions, doesn't know what to do, insecure, unsettled , lacking confidence in her deeds. While her husband seems to play the classic father role model, with their three kids that added a spontaneous and sincere climate to the movie.

The scene where Nick brought his friends with him and Mabel asked whether they want to have spaghetti for breakfast. a while after, Mabel was talking oddly to nick's friends but their feedbacks were like '' well she is weird , but she has a kind soul'', until she kept asking and insisting the black guy whom she found cute to dance with her(which the black guy appeared to take it a bit too seriously)nick overreacted by asking Mabel to SAT HER ASS DOWN , again Mabel failed to make a normal family-friendly discussion.

Mabel frequently suffers from anxious attacks that unfolded to us in a scene when she started building-up her own fictive delusions in which she starts to believe as asking where the heck her children are? Which is a question she can perfectly answer!!?? One of the key scene in the movie is when Mabel will to her children by asking them their opinion about her, the children replied '' I think you are smart, funny, and Nervous!!'', that's another aspect of the movie, How do the children see their mother? Do they think that she is crazy as the rest of the family or not? Certainly not. the emotions shared between the children and Mabel were really the only truthful ones throughout the whole movie, that is to say children did easily interact with their mothers behavior, notwithstanding the emotion disorder that Mabel is suffering from.

On the contrary, for her mother in law and her husband both of them think that she is out of her mind and started to get nutty and mad so they decided to take her to a psychiatric hospital where she will be treated.

After Mabel came back from the hospital, the whole of her family gathered in order to welcome her so she will feel secure and safe again, but it was until her husband cracked up telling to go back to her old self, starting from that scene both the husband and wife showed simultaneously that the real problem is with both of them.

This is my first John Cassavetes film, which as I noticed is someone who focus more on the emotional experience than the quality or the awe that can a beautiful picture make as impact on us, thus the active camera seemingly going everywhere, so if someone is interested in the film he or she has to really get into the heart of the movie otherwise it won't be that attractive, therefore it will be difficult to grasp the crux of the movie. moreover John cassavetes loved to work with the people he already knew we can take his wife Gena Rowlands and his friend Peter Falk as examples, it means that John wanted to have that emotional fluidity which enable the movie to be more realistic and influential.

Still, I can't say exactly under which influence Mabel was, sure it's an influence and nothing more because Melba still is a better parent than her husband, but I would extremely disagree with the people that naively qualify Mabel as someone crazy, out of her mind because '' This woman cooks, sews, makes the bed, washes the bathroom; what the hell is crazy about that?''.

Thank you Mabel

[shadow_blade-89459 · 6/10 · 13 September 2018]

"A Woman Under the Influence" (1974) is a romantic drama about a marriage between Nick Longhetti, played by Peter Falk, and Mabel Longhetti, played by Gina Rowlands. Their love for on another is unquestionable, but Mabel's mental instability is beginning to destroy the relationship. This is the first film that I have seen that failed to interest me at all. It is sound film with an interesting storyline, but it was a huge miss for me. I was unable to connect to any of the actors in this film which is highly important to me, as a viewer in a realistic film.

The acting, however, was superb. I felt every aspect of Mabel's illness was well played without being over the top. I didn't care for Nick's constant yelling, but he nailed the era of man/husband in this film. The shot selections were intriguing, which is the main reason I continued to watch this film. I truly appreciate John Cassavetes work and how he was able to put realistic love on the screen. The fact that he portrayed the inabilities of men and women to effectively communicate even while deeply in love, speaks volumes to his genius. Unfortunately, this film is not for me. However, I would still recommend this film to anyone dedicated to storytelling and those in love who can't effectively communicate with their partners.

2.5 hours of screaming without much to say

[Chance_Boudreaux19 · 3/10 · 6 October 2022]

I had very high expectations for A Woman Under the Influence, having seen Opening Night and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, both of which I enjoyed well enough but wasn't wowed by. I finally thought this would be the Cassavetes movie that will knock me off my feet. Unfortunately, it didn't.

My main problem lies within the fact that the movie has nothing much to say in my opinion. Mabel starts off crazy and stays that way, there is no progression or a descent into madness. Her husband seems to be losing his mind throughout the movie but that is literally the only bit of character development in the film. So the movie boils down to both of them screaming at each other for two and a half hours. The thing is you can make a movie like this work if the characters are in interesting and the dialogue is great. It would probably still be a bit too long but there could be something there. But the problem with this film is the characters are not at all interesting but annoying and the dialogue is terrible and stiff. People praise Cassavetes because his movies supposedly feel natural but I don't think that's the case. To me in his quest to feel overly realistic he made his movies feel the opposite of that, they feel very "acted".

Maybe I am just not vibing with Cassavetes. Although I wasn't bored watching the other two movies of his, I still wouldn't call them peak cinema. I really wish I liked this movie but unfortunately this fascinating look at mental ilness as others have described it felt like it might drive me mad instead.

Soul Destroying Cinema...

[Xstal · 9/10 · 31 December 2022]

In a world where you must be what you are told, bring up the children, do the washing, be controlled, cook for all your husband's mates, when he's just cancelled last night's date, is it any wonder, that you'd cave in, crash and fold!!!

Gena Rowlands is absolutely spectacular as the put upon mother who has her mental health, that's already walking a fine line between breakdown, depression and dissatisfaction, absolutely trashed and destroyed by her unsympathetic, insensitive and cruel partner, exquisitely performed by Peter Falk. A far from uncommon story of yesteryear that plays forward today and inevitably tomorrow. Leaves you wondering how on earth did that lady not win an Oscar!

Real life under the influence of Cassavetes

[revival05 · 9/10 · 14 April 2010]

Textbook gender related observation: When Jack Nicholson's character acts eccentric in One Flew Over the Cuuko's Nest, nobody will believe he's crazy. When Gena Rowland's character is eccentric in this film, everyone assumes she is.

But that is only one of many realisations one makes observing A Woman Under the Influence. It is an intricate film, as was John Cassavetes a filmmaker who always filled his films with as many things as possible. Whatever his films were about, it always had to do with the truth of human nature and human life in modern society. In one example of great main leads in his films, Cassavetes' real-wife Rowlands is playing Mabel, the woman of the title, the house-wife of a Peter Falk's construction foreman Nick. Everybody knows that Mabel is more or less "crazy". Why does everybody "know" this? She is eccentric, has got funny mannerisms, at time she talks and acts randomly about things that make no sense. She is a human being with a desire to achieve, but nobody has ever given her attention or respect as an individual. I think Mabel's crisis is first and foremost that of an identity crisis. She is empty inside, Nick says. That's because nobody has bothered to look inside. Upon the demanding adult roles society demands on her, in particular the task of motherhood, the result is breakdown. She is a house-wife who spends her days wandering around the house trance-like, she cooks and cleans and sews and all the time she acts as if that somehow would be an absurdity. She tries to be nice to the guests but it all results in awkward silence and embarrassment. What should she be doing, then? Who is she?

I think any viewer judging that she is in fact "insane" is an enemy to the film's intent and soul. Rowlands portrait of this woman is a hauntingly perfect portrayal of mental illness, certainly, but her state is that of extreme confusion rather than being someone who's simply "lost it". This is a woman aimlessly struggling to get out of a sea of under-nourished self-esteem and identity loss. We don't know how or when it started, but the more into the film we get the more we understand. Her mind is like a tapestry that Cassavetes gradually unfolds. In the first scene she is running around trying to place her children in the car for a trip with their grandmother's. Cassavetes knows that the clever viewer will relate the title's "influence" to that of gender related, domestic pressure. But that's only the beginning, I think, of what this woman is suffering from. It's not until the end we realise that maybe her family wasn't all that supportive of her, her father seems genuinely uninterested in whatever any diagnosis could be and her mother is just Mabel's fourth child. And if Mabel is crazy, Falk's character of Nick is certainly just as crazy. We don't realise that until after a while either. But he acts just as random upon situations he's not familiar with, and he also has bursts of eccentric (mis)behaviour. You'll have to look more closely to discover this perhaps, he is after all a friendly looking male patriarch and your brain is less inclined to view him as crazy.

Mabel, who is still dependent on him and her domestic safety (that's the crux, I think, of her entire problem), says "I'll be anything you want" and Nick tells her to be herself. But she hasn't got a personality of her own, her emotions conflict her roles and duties but neither become clear to her. What's worse, nobody is interested in her, or has the slightest notion she might have anything worthwhile. "Be yourself", Nick says, but in fact he's not interested in who she is, and he is (without giving too much thought to it) putting demands on her, expecting her to fulfill her duties which is one of the very reasons she's all messed up. He's just not that clever. It's not just that he is a blue collar guy, he seems totally unable to communicate personally with his wife and, certainly, with his children. Basically, he hasn't got much of a personality either, but being a man that reasoning is considered as abstract and not a psychological case. In any case, Nick and Mabel surely love each other, but none of them have the capacity to cope with one another, or even comprehend their surroundings. Towards the end of the film, all Nick can tell Mabel is "Stop what you're doing". There's a childish desperation in him that is channeled through his gender but just as "crazy" as Mabel's lack of self-confidence and self-realising even.

I said that you observe this film, and I mean it. It is more than realistic, it is profoundly real. Everyone have met couples like Mabel and Nick, couples who's lack of harmony and functionality is so great, it can't stay behind the social curtain. I'm saying that as point of reference. We've all left the dinner table at some point. "Maybe it's time we'd go home". As much as any documentary, Cassavetes films moved in real time, here and now, portraying life as it is. He knew that realism doesn't mean tragedy or brutality. Life is rarely dramatic and offers no cathartic finales. Life just is what we are living, it's not easy to comprehend and it doesn't offer security. For the future, we feel great hope but we also feel great fear. This film has got horrible moments, but it's horrible moments of truth. It's also got humorous moments of truth. These judgments are in a sense arbitrary. It's real life. It's the rarely seen beauty of truth that Cassavetes conjured up in his films. Rowlands is there to capture the essence of it, the notion that we are all human beings who need and deserve to be loved, no matter if we have table manners or not.

Cassavetes's absorbing look at the nature of marriage; Falk and Rowlands are spellbinding

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 24 December 2004]

While John Cassavetes is (rightly) revered for this film and other under his belt, wife/key-star Gena Rowlands is the most fascinating and emotionally gripping part to this work, Woman Under the Influence. Her role as Mabel was perfect in a film that sometimes was not even as it just tried for suburban truth. I was constantly curious about where her character was headed, and even more so by how I did not feel any desire at all to pass judgment on her. The moment I would have thought to myself "well, she's too nuts to like" the film would be ruined for me. And that is one of the more intelligent points to the film that Cassavetes gets at.

This is, after all, a character-based film, with story merely in the background. And with his two main characters we get a look at what has been a stereotype for centuries- men are often brutal and stupid, women are crazy. In this filmmakers world, it's just not that black and white, however, but with the grays as pronounced as the highs and lows in a melodrama; it's just the way he sees things, and it's a unique way as well, where the soul and choice are the precedents over comfy dramatic circumstance.

I loved the use of the camera in many scenes, how it felt like they just shot and shot and went from one spot in the house to the next, uncertain but knowing how to observe and look. In fact, the whole film has the feel of a documentary, with the occasional dramatic touch such as a close-up. But what turns it into being something special is that Cassavetes understands that Falk, Rowlands and the others can take his script and make it their own, very personally so. And as it happens, Falk finds some of his most daring work here as Nick, a character who in his own way has become as nuts as Mabel with the everyday grind of living (which for both of them is filled with people, talk, pure humanity).

For those who don't like the easy solutions in dramas, or want to know the basics of the post-modern independent film movement, this is for you. It might seem to drag in spots, but it seems to be even more enveloping if one gives it the time to contemplate over those 'drag' moments.

Awesomely powerful

[Trawick · 10/10 · 22 December 1999]

This is probably one of the most intense films ever made, but to label it "intense" is to almost do it injustice. After all, almost all of the greatest works of art are intense, aren't they?

Although it is quite possible to find certain themes that run through this work, the movie almost seems to resist themes. Within its two-and-a-half hour running time, John Cassavetes touches on some of the most indescribable emotional states that human beings ever experience.

Technically, the film is equally excellent, with a nice minimalist score by Bill Harwood, softly beautiful cinematography, and fascinating editing. But all of this is merely in service of the brilliant performances by Rowlands, Falk, and the rest of the cast.

Brava, Mabel!

[watt1975 · 19 September 2004]

SPOILERS Everyone views movies differently. I for one didn't think we were meant to wonder who was crazier Mabel or her husband. Cassavetes makes a strong, bold (and rarely voiced) point...it is the husband! Mabel loved her children, loved to dance and sing and for that she was committed. Her "unidentified mental illness" seems to intensify when her husband mistreated her and was physically or verbally violent...in my opinion going a bit crazy after someone slaps you is probably healthier and saner than being polite, demure, and rational.

Mabel loves life, shows her love without apology, and is severely punished for it. Everyone else in the movie struggles to calm everyone down and avoid showing too much emotion. While this may be more socially acceptable it isn't sane or even healthy. Humans are emotional beings...I for one say Brava! Mabel.

I think the director tips his hand and proves his point when Mabel's character comes home from the institution. She hasn't seen her children, husband, and family for 6 months and people assault her, some she has never even met, before she even leaves the car. When she does get inside the safety of her own home the people who put her away and told to forget the past greet her with small talk and politeness! Then when she finally sees her children after being told to "wait a minute" she says to herself that she wants to remain calm and show "no emotions." It seems obvious that this is a perfectly acceptable time to be emotional but fresh from the institution she know being normal doesn't allow you to be emotional. Emotions are scary, messy, and inconvenient and I for one am thrilled that John Cassavetes didn't shy away from them.

This movie is a true original.

a woman under the influance

[marmar-69780 · 7/10 · 1 July 2020]

A woman under the influance was a above solid movie with some subject that is hard to put on screen and to show it in a realistic way ,i think that subject of mental illness was very good shown either through some very good written dialogue or either through gena rowlands great acting and at scenes were she starts to break and show her psyhic problems it was shown and acted in very realistic way,peter falk was good to and even if his supported his wife we also seen that he also has some different kind of problems in his life,either through family issuses or through his own breaking under presure and how even if we dont suffer of some illness we can still share pain with people who have it

The film has rough edges, but the movie is gripping and terribly real.

[pontifikator · 8/10 · 25 July 2010]

Living with Cassavetes must have been a bitch.

In an audio interview of Cassavetes, his says that "under the influence" means that women, after a few years of marriage, come under the influence of their husbands. Cassavetes' comments on men and women are shocking today, and I looked at the years mentioned on the DVD. "A Woman Under the Influence" was released in 1974, and the interview was done in 1975, after the film's successful release by a distributor.

In the mid-seventies, women's lib was just taking hold. Cassavetes became a working adult in the Fifties, the decade all those women's lib books were written about. And here Cassavetes is in 1975 saying married women were under the influence of their husbands, that Mabel is under the influence of Nick (played by Peter Falk), under his control, he's the man of the house, and he's the one who tells her what to do, how to act. "Just tell me how you want me to act," Mabel says several times. Nick not only tells her, he screams at her and slaps her down a few times. Then he says, "Just be yourself!" It's a brutal film about the relationship between Nick and Mabel.

Because Cassavetes wrote the screenplay and directed "A Woman Under the Influence," I give some credence to his commentary about the movie; I'm sure he means what he says, but I don't necessarily believe it's true. Cassavetes' films are works of art, and in all works of art, the creator puts himself into the work; his subconscious is in there as well as his conscious. So I take it upon myself to presume there's more in "A Woman Under the Influence" than its creator knows and understands.

I think Cassavetes' scripts are emotional outpourings and not necessarily accurate portrayals of the details of, say, insanity. So when Cassavetes wrote the script, I don't think he knew anything more about insanity than the rest of us. But he knew Mabel and he poured himself into her.

So although Cassavetes may say that Mabel is socially inept and not crazy, I'm willing to think he may be wrong. I look at Mabel's behavior, and I wonder if she has a borderline personality disorder. I wonder _what_ her problem is, but I definitely think she's not under the bell- shaped curve of normality. What I saw in the movie is a woman who desperately needs help and can't get it. (The most heartbreaking scene for me was when Nick was verbally abusing her and Mabel asked her father to stand up for her. The schmuck stood up and said he didn't understand why he should stand up.)

Because Cassavetes didn't have the expertise to deal realistically with mental illness, we don't get a good understanding of exactly what Mabel's issues are, but we know her relationship with Nick is abusive. I saw Nick as sicker than Mabel, unable to relate to her as a person. His job comes first (he's on call 24 hours a day it seems, and he always goes when he's called), his friends come first (after working a 24-hour shift, he brings a dozen guys over unannounced for breakfast at seven in the morning), his mother comes first (too much to mention).

Because I assume Cassavetes was writing and creating the movie from within himself, I have to wonder what it was like for Gena Rowlands to be married to him. Cassavetes clearly believed that wives were under the influence of their husbands, that the man was in control of the marriage. There Nick is slapping Mabel several times to get her under his control, yelling at her, and generally abusing her emotionally and physically.

In the interview, Cassavetes says that Nick was wrong to have Mabel committed. Mabel isn't crazy. Her behavior isn't exactly socially acceptable, but that's because she's socially inept. At the end of the movie, Mabel comes home from the insane asylum, there's a homecoming party that falls into a shambles of accusations and yelling, Nick and Mabel have a physical fight with their three children screaming and trying to drag them apart, and Cassavetes says the movie has a happy ending because as they're preparing to go to bed the phone rings and Nick doesn't answer it. It's either his job or his mother, and Nick lets it ring as Mabel and he get ready for bed. That's a happy ending for Cassavetes.

Rowlands gives a towering performance as Mabel. Gena Rowlands is an actress I've seen in many films, and she's among a very few whom I rank as the best actresses of the 20th Century. Peter Falk is superb as Nick. He's another incredible actor probably better known now as the bumbling Columbo on that TV show. Cassavetes knew how to cast. Katherine Cassavetes was very good as Nick's mother; a cold bitch in control of her son and in hatred of her daughter-in-law. As Margaret Longhetti, Katherine manipulated Nick physically as well as emotionally, grabbing his suit and manhandling him as she screamed at him that Mabel was insane and not a fit mother for Nick's children.

I've described the plot loosely, and many will find the film difficult to watch. Life for Nick and Mabel is harrowing, and it's worse for their three children. It's all about watching Nick and Mabel spiral out of control and then back together - but the spiral is downhill all the way, even as they get back together. Our only hope is that their relationship will become more personal as Nick lets go the outside world that's been keeping them separated. My hope is that Nick realized he screwed up and that he lets his love for her control him more.

A look into mental illness.

[Amyth47 · 7/10 · 5 September 2018]

My Rating : 7/10

I had heard a lot about this movie so decided to give it a shot.

Gena Rowlands' acting is what makes this movie great. Watch it for that alone.

*** 1/2 out of ****

[kyle_c · 8/10 · 13 November 2002]

A fascinating study of mental illness, "A Woman Under the Influence" rests on two strengths - the spectacular performances by Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands, and Cassavetes's groundbreaking style of direction. Everything about this movie is so real and honest. It feels like a home movie or a documentary looking into the lives of some very real people. Most films feel the need to dramatize and stylize the story. This film paints the picture exactly the way it is. Some people may be bothered by the direction, but, like it or not, you can't deny Cassavetes's talent.

I live in that house

[wolf_usa · 6/10 · 21 August 2008]

I've lived in that house since 1980. Its on taft ave in Hollywood, CA 90028. From time to time, people from all over will come by and ask if they can come inside. I always wonder why anyone would be interested. I've seen the movie and it was kinda long and boring. There's a scene where there's a naked little girl by a window. That was my room and my fish tank was right at the window where she was standing. If you ever plan on coming to see the house, please give me a call first. 323-962-1061 ext 111. Some parts of the house has changed over the years as my parents are always doing something to it. just today I went by and they're replacing the front steps with bricks.

Getting slapped cures mental illness?

[Lovetvshows · 3/10 · 11 December 2019]

I watched this movie with an open mind but it became so unbearable that I started channel surfing during half of the movie. I did see the ending which I won't spoil by saying how it ends. This movie reminds me of the emperor's new clothes. It seems that people are afraid to say they don't like it because they might appear to be unsophisticated. I like John Cassavetes as an actor but as a director not so much.