John Cassavettes, the true maverick of independent films, intertwines marriage, love, family and the emotional chaos all of that invites – in this honest, raw, and at times uncomfortable to watch film, about a wife who’s increasingly odd behavior borders on mental illness. This self financed film that no studio wanted (Cassavettes mortgaged his home and Peter Falk invested $500K), garnered Academy Award nominations for Rowlands portrayal of Mabel (Best Actress) and Cassavettes (Best Director). Peter Falk is brilliant as Nick, a blue collar construction foreman that tries to understand his wife’s behavior, as he fights to control his own volatile instincts that have appeared through the cracks in their familial foundation, and all the pressures that come with it. Shot in an almost documentary style, A Woman Under the Influence has a lack of vanity that gives the emotionally charged scenes an authenticity that will not leave you.
A Woman Under the Influence is perhaps the greatest of Cassavetes’ films – Roger Ebert
Read Kent Jones’ article for Criterion, A Woman Under the Influence: The War at Home.
In the Guardian, John Cameron Mitchell talks about A Woman Under the Influence, the film that changed his life.
Kim Morgan interviews Gena Rowlands on the New Beverly blog.
