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A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE
From John Cassavetes: Five Films
Review by Ed Nguyen
Stars:
Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Katherine Cassavetes, Lady Rowlands, Eddie Shaw
Director: John Cassavetes
Audio: English monaural
Subtitles: English
Video: Color, anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Criterion
Features: Commentary, interviews, trailer, stills gallery
Length: 147 minutes
Release Date: September 21, 2004
“Mabel’s
not crazy. She’s unusual. She’s
not crazy, so don’t say she’s crazy.”
Film
****
In
the early 1970’s, when actor Peter Falk (TV's Columbo) first worked with John Cassavetes (on Husbands), he had become so frustrated by his experience that he
firmly determined never to work under the director again.
Simply put, Falk did not understand Cassavetes’ iconoclastic style of
direction at the time. Yet, as
Cassavetes was preparing a screenplay for his new film, Falk contacted the
director after all and expressed an earnest desire to act in the new film.
John
Cassavetes had that effect on actors. He
was a fiercely independent director and for his films would often assemble only
those actors and crew who shared his love for cinema as art rather than as
commercial venture. For that
reason, Cassavetes usually preferred to cast amateurs, who would be untainted by
the Hollywood system and who would be receptive to new ideas or a new approach
to filmmaking. Or, Cassavetes would
cast from a regular stable of enthusiastic, like-minded actors, many of whom
appeared repetitively (and sometimes exclusively) in his films, often for little
or no pay.
Cassavetes
was the quintessential "actor’s director," which was the reason that
Peter Falk was ultimately drawn back to working again with Cassavetes.
Falk would indeed appear in Cassavetes' next film, portraying a family
man and construction worker, Nick, whose wife is slowing breaking down.
That film, considered Cassavetes’ finest, was A
Woman Under the Influence (1974).
The
film was originally a trilogy of three-act plays which Cassavetes re-edited into
one screenplay. A
Woman Under the Influence features many of Cassavetes’ cinematic
tendencies - the extended takes, handheld camera shots, and closely-cropped
images (much of the film was photographed within one house).
Most of all, the film displays the intensely powerful characterizations
that are the hallmark of any Cassavetes film.
A
Woman Under the Influence
features Gena Rowlands as the film’s central character, Mabel, Nick’s wife. Mabel is an unbalanced and unconventional woman whose quirks
do not conform to normally acceptable social behavior. She frequently exhibits poor impulse control, either bringing
strange men into her home, dancing around at inappropriate moments, or
occasionally accosting complete strangers along the sidewalk.
She has difficulty relating in social gatherings, yet despite her
routinely bizarre tendencies displays a strong maternal instinct for her
children. Her close bond with her
children, even more so than with her own husband Nick, helps Mabel to maintain a
semblance of stability.
In
contrast, Nick is not entirely a good father or husband.
He is not always lucent and can become emotionally labile, resorting to
shouting, not reasoning, to establish order or to maintain discipline.
He wants things in his life to be normal and uncomplicated, and he
desires a happy family setting. However,
Nick is ultimately too simple-minded to adequately cope with the difficulties of
family life. While he clearly loves
his wife, he does not really comprehend her problems (or chooses to ignore
them), and he is unable to offer meaningful comfort in her times of need.
There
is a significant and heart-breaking scene late in the film during which Mabel,
obviously in some despair, asks her own father to "stand up for me."
The father responds by literally getting up from his chair.
Mabel meekly repeats the request, to which the father confesses that he
doesn't understand her, because he is already standing.
This situation might easily be applied to Nick as well.
He does not know how to support his wife when she truly needs his help,
and in times of stress, Nick looks to others and not within himself for
guidance.
In
the ultimate test of his devotion to Mabel, when she experiences a nervous
breakdown, Nick is unable to fully express his love for her.
Instead, he rages about and then succumbs to his stern and manipulative
mother's demands that Mabel be institutionalized.
It is an inadequate solution to a complex dilemma.
Without Mabel, Nick is at a loss over how to properly raise their
children. He takes them out of
school mid-day for impromptu beach trips, or he allows them to sip from his beer
cans. Most telling, when Mabel
eventually returns from the hospital, during a family crisis, the children run
to her, not him.
A
Woman Under the Influence
is often cited for Gena Rowlands' truly bravura performance as the disturbed
Mabel. There is a simple, unmasked
honesty to Mabel's behavior that provides the film with its tragic strength.
However, Peter Falk's fine performance as Nick should not be overlooked,
either, as it offers leverage and balance to the film.
In this sense, A Woman Under the
Influence is perhaps more about a breakdown of communication between two
people in love than about a woman’s descent into madness.
The film is divided into two portions, the front half progressing towards
Mabel’s eventual institutionalization and the latter half picking up the story
six months afterwards with Mabel’s return home.
The true tragedy of Mabel's plight is that it is not entirely clear
whether she is truly "better" for her experience or merely trying to
put on a brave face and to restrain herself.
On her homecoming, she appears timid, too scared to relax.
After re-entering her home, Mabel's first request is to see her children;
they are her comfort, not Nick, with whom she barely makes any initial eye
contact. "There's nothing you
can do wrong. I just want you to be
yourself," Nick reassures her. If
only she could truly believe him.
Watching
a Cassavetes film can be frightening at times.
That is not to say that his films are designed to frighten audiences.
Nevertheless, they are so emotionally raw and unflinchingly sincere that
they frequently reveal aspects of our nature that scare us, that we would prefer
not to face directly. A
Woman Under the Influence is one of Cassavetes' most devastating films and
features a stunning, Oscar-nominated performance from Gena Rowlands that is not
always easy to watch. Rowlands
simply disappears into her role, offering one of the most powerful female
performances of the decade.
A
Woman Under the Influence
raises the question about whether honesty, with its flaws and vulnerability, is
better than a pretense of calmness and stability.
Is Mabel any better for having spent six months in an institution? Has there been any significant change in Nick and Mabel's
marriage after her return? The
film's provocative natures provides it with a strong resonance long after any
viewing, and for anyone who has never seen a John Cassavetes film before, there
is no better film with which to start than this one.
BONUS
TRIVIA: The filming of A
Woman Under the Influence was clearly a family affair.
John Cassavetes’ mother, Katherine Cassavetes, plays the holy terror of
a mother-in-law (frighteningly so), while Gena Rowlands’ mother, Lady Rowlands,
plays the more gentle and grandmotherly mother-in-law.
Video
****
Quite
simply, the film looks spectacular. It is shown in its original 1.85:1
widescreen aspect ratio, and the transfer is practically pristine, featuring
glowing colors and superb clarity. A
Woman Under the Influence appears virtually new.
Audio
***
A
Woman Under the Influence
is presented in its English monaural soundtrack.
The track is not particularly dynamic but works just fine in the context
of the film, which is understandably mostly dialogue-driven.
Features
***
There
are a few bonus features on this disc. First
is a commentary track by crewman Mike Ferris, a camera operator, and Bo Harwood,
the composer. They mostly discuss
Cassavetes’ acting and directorial style and to a lesser degree Cassavetes’
relationship with the actors and his wife, Gena Rowlands.
Regrettably, none of the cast is featured in this commentary.
However, their thoughts can be accessed elsewhere in the John Cassavetes
box set (especially in the documentary A
Constant Forge) and also in a new interview segment (17 min.), included on
this disc, with Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk.
Both actors discuss their memories of working on the film and
Cassavetes’ unorthodox method of filming.
There
is also approximately one hour of audio interview clips between John Cassavetes
and film historian Michel Ciment. These
clips include comments on the film’s philosophy and financing, character
background, the casting, improvisation on the set, and much more.
There are seven total sub-divisions to the audio interview which can be
accessed individually.
Among
the promotional features, there is a trailer and a stills gallery.
The gallery is comprised of over one hundred photos covering
behind-the-scene shots, publicity shots, and artwork.
Summary:
