A Woman Under the Influence

A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

Runtime: 147 minutes

Directed by: John Cassavetes

Starring: Gena Rowlands (RIP), Peter Falk, Fred Draper, Lady Rowlands, Katherine Cassavetes

From: Faces International

RIP Gena Rowlands. “Shame on me” is my response to this only being the second Cassavetes (Shadows was the only other one; apparently, Rowlands is an extra there) and for not having seen Gena act while she was still alive. That said, this is a point that shouldn’t be dwelled on as at least this mistake was fixed—and holy cow, there were all-timer performances not just from Rowlands but also from her on-screen husband Peter Falk. If you only think of Falk as Columbo…

This is truly independent cinema as even half a century later I’m unsure if a viewer would be able to see a movie so raw and so honest about a topic quite foreign back then—mental illness. Rowlands and Falk seemed like a typical couple in So Cal who have three small children; Gena’s character Mabel happened to struggle with various issues, including general anxiety, alcoholism and other struggles that plenty of us have experienced somehow, including personally. At least that was the picture painted to me from what I had gathered through years of cultural osmosis & time spent on Letterboxd. Turns out, it’s an incredibly blunt and acidic but still enriching experience.

A key point to address is that Falk’s Nick obviously has his own mental health struggles which unfortunately are treated differently by society. In the first act, that isn’t so apparent. Nick is a blue-collar husband who admits that his wife is “unusual”, he does NOT think that she’s “crazy” and is offended when others use that phrase. He’s human also so naturally he makes mistakes when he attempts to calm Mabel down during one of her “episodes.” As the plot progresses, though, and the story patiently unfurls before you… I’m afraid of revealing too much and possibly ruining the journey for those that haven’t taken it yet but many themes about society in the 70’s and how a “lively” woman such as Mabel has a metal deterioration due to the way the world treats her.

A Woman Under the Influence is not an easy watch--despite my full 5-star rating (those are rarely given out by me) it is not a motion picture you can throw on via a whim and be happy to enjoy 2 ½ hours of a troubled relationship where a woman is treated badly, both people in a marriage have mental health issues, long extended scenes that are so tense you can cut it with a knife, and children are caught in the crossfire in a movie masterfully directed by Cassavetes-always feeling real. “Suffocating” is an apt term I saw a mutual use in their review. Yet, the only regret I have w/ the film was my failure to give it a shot many years ago despite all the great acclaim it’s had the past half-century.