A Woman Under the InfluenceIs Mabel (Gena Rowlands) crazy? Is her husband Nick (Peter Falk) a bad husband and a bad father? I suppose some of that has to do with perspective, and the camera--as directed by John Cassavetes (also writer)--only tells us what it wants to say, like people do. This slice of life for the suburban Longhetti family is about Mabel's nervous breakdown; but what causes it? There's an idea that the more you tell someone that they're crazy, the more they begin to believe it. Could be that Mabel's breakdown is the result of her environment, and not the other way around. Could be.
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There's the title: A Woman Under the Influence; "under the influence" of what? Alcohol? Probably not especially, although when Nick disappoints her for the big "date night" they planned by working late, she takes it upon herself to go out to a bar, and pick up a strange man, bringing him back to the homestead for a one-night stand; I think his name was Garson Cross (O.G. Dunn). Is Mabel under the influence of her own "inner demons"? Her flights of fancy often have her acting like a child, playing costumes with her kids and dancing around to the music from Swan Lake. But does that mean she's crazy? When the parent of some of her kids' classmates brings his over for a play date, he immediately suspects something is off about Mabel, and tries to get his kids out of there as fast as possible. I think, however, that the "influence" in question is Nick to a degree, who whirls about like an angry tornado, barking orders, and effusing veritable panic from every pour when he cannot rein in his children, his friends, family, and especially the wife he claims to love so much, but is not above slapping when she seems out of control. Both Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk perfectly capture the kind of awkward tension which comes with a marriage struggling to cope with an emotional cataclysm constantly on the verge. Nick seems almost incapable of controlling the life he is a part of, and he knows it, and it is driving him crazy, probably more than Mabel. Nick barks at his boss over the phone that he can't work late, but he does it anyways. He arranges for a party for Mabel--a surprise party to welcome her home, after he had her committed six months prior--by inviting probably everyone he knows, only to brusquely dismiss them almost immediately prior to her arrival. Inevitably, she ends up seeing their departure, and several of them greet her on the way out, which only serves to make her more confused and anxious. After he promises her a day for "just the two of them", he instead invites his co-workers over--about a dozen of them--for a big spaghetti party. Truth be told, Mabel seems to appreciate the company of all of Nick's friends, but as she becomes a bit annoying to one of them--quite unintentionally--Nick angrily chastises her to the embarrassment of all. Is Nick to blame for her eccentricity? That's one interpretation; but we never get the whole story, which is for the best. Because--just as it is in life--we never really know all of someone else's story; we can only take what we see at face value, and have to be careful when filling in the blanks.
Much of what the camera shows us is an observation, a documentary-like one of the Longhetti home, and more so, of Mabel. Like her friends, her family, and her doctor, we watch Mabel. Like them, we expect some big explosion, and are waiting for it to happen. When the remnants of the erstwhile surprise party gather in the dining room (and sometimes bedroom) after Mabel has returned from the institution--visibly tired and worn out--she tries to politely ask her guests to go home, so she can go to bed with her husband. A touch more information than most would share with their parents, but it is honest; regrettably, everyone else is more concerned with decorum than her own feelings, and it is only when she starts to become more unhinged that they decide to depart. There's a sense that Mabel is always telling us what is bothering her in so many words--sometimes literally--but that no one listens to her. Nick claims to listen, he claims to love her, but so rarely is he actually paying attention to her needs. Nick is a man who finds himself caught in the middle of an emotional typhoon he has steered himself into without even realizing it, only to discover he has no way to navigate out. Like quicksand, the more effort he seems to apply to "fix the problems", the worse things get. I think the most telling moment for Nick is when he is dressing the wound Mabel has inflicted on herself with a bandage, and Mabel asks him if he loves her. He stammers, but does not answer. It's ironic that he tells so much about himself really by saying nothing at all; even what is spoken is open to interpretation. Does he love her so much, he can't put it into words, or does he realize he's just been trying so hard that even he doesn't really know? But this is all psychological analysis; A Woman Under the Influence is about that and a convincingly real--if harrowing--family, all the scuffs and torn pages included. There is not the veneer of artifice painted over the film; characters feel real, even when they react with extreme emotions. The fights and cries, the shouts, screams, and slaps leave a pit in the stomach because the tension is palpable, the anxiety and emotions run high; this is drama at its finest. The story surrounding the production of A Woman Under the Influence is one of guerrilla filmmaking and raw determination on the part of the production team. Lacking funding, John Cassavetes mortgaged his own house, and was financed by star and friend, Peter Falk to produce the picture. Lacking distribution, Cassavetes implored movie houses to run the picture, which itself marked a precedent for independent film. The film took off by word of mouth and critical endorsement. It's a vital lesson that Cassavetes was a master of teaching--that a good film is more than just budget and distribution; it's about getting a message across and the drive to make it work, even if it takes blood, sweat, and tears...like Nick and Mabel.
Recommended for: Fans of a complex and tense drama about a family dealing with mental illness and emotional distress, be it from the everyday stresses of domestic life, something chemical, or more. Daring and vulnerable performances and the cinéma vérité style makes you a part of the Longhetti family, like it or not, drawing you into their troubles so you may understand them from the inside.
Much of what the camera shows us is an observation, a documentary-like one of the Longhetti home, and more so, of Mabel. Like her friends, her family, and her doctor, we watch Mabel. Like them, we expect some big explosion, and are waiting for it to happen. When the remnants of the erstwhile surprise party gather in the dining room (and sometimes bedroom) after Mabel has returned from the institution--visibly tired and worn out--she tries to politely ask her guests to go home, so she can go to bed with her husband. A touch more information than most would share with their parents, but it is honest; regrettably, everyone else is more concerned with decorum than her own feelings, and it is only when she starts to become more unhinged that they decide to depart. There's a sense that Mabel is always telling us what is bothering her in so many words--sometimes literally--but that no one listens to her. Nick claims to listen, he claims to love her, but so rarely is he actually paying attention to her needs. Nick is a man who finds himself caught in the middle of an emotional typhoon he has steered himself into without even realizing it, only to discover he has no way to navigate out. Like quicksand, the more effort he seems to apply to "fix the problems", the worse things get. I think the most telling moment for Nick is when he is dressing the wound Mabel has inflicted on herself with a bandage, and Mabel asks him if he loves her. He stammers, but does not answer. It's ironic that he tells so much about himself really by saying nothing at all; even what is spoken is open to interpretation. Does he love her so much, he can't put it into words, or does he realize he's just been trying so hard that even he doesn't really know? But this is all psychological analysis; A Woman Under the Influence is about that and a convincingly real--if harrowing--family, all the scuffs and torn pages included. There is not the veneer of artifice painted over the film; characters feel real, even when they react with extreme emotions. The fights and cries, the shouts, screams, and slaps leave a pit in the stomach because the tension is palpable, the anxiety and emotions run high; this is drama at its finest. The story surrounding the production of A Woman Under the Influence is one of guerrilla filmmaking and raw determination on the part of the production team. Lacking funding, John Cassavetes mortgaged his own house, and was financed by star and friend, Peter Falk to produce the picture. Lacking distribution, Cassavetes implored movie houses to run the picture, which itself marked a precedent for independent film. The film took off by word of mouth and critical endorsement. It's a vital lesson that Cassavetes was a master of teaching--that a good film is more than just budget and distribution; it's about getting a message across and the drive to make it work, even if it takes blood, sweat, and tears...like Nick and Mabel.
Recommended for: Fans of a complex and tense drama about a family dealing with mental illness and emotional distress, be it from the everyday stresses of domestic life, something chemical, or more. Daring and vulnerable performances and the cinéma vérité style makes you a part of the Longhetti family, like it or not, drawing you into their troubles so you may understand them from the inside.