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A Woman Under the Influence

7.6

5,342

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Original title

A Woman Under the Influence

Year

1974

Running time

155 min.

Country

United States

Director

John Cassavetes

Screenwriter

John Cassavetes

Cast

Music

Bo Harwood

Cinematography

Mitch Breit

Producer

Faces International

Genre

Drama | Family Relationships. Psychological Drama. Independent Film (US)

Synopsis

John Cassavetes's A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE is an emotionally devastating drama that charts the mental disintegration of a California housewife. Mabel Longhetti (Gena Rowlands) has no emotional or creative outlets. Instead, she pours all her energy into her family, spending her days waiting for her husband Nick to arrive home from work, and anxiously awaiting her children's return from school. This dependence causes Mabel to suffer a nervous breakdown, forcing her to spend time in a mental hospital. Meanwhile, Nick struggles mightily to keep his family together. When Mabel returns six months later, dazed and shaken, a "welcome home" party threatens to trigger another collapse.

As the confused, overwhelmed, and hypersensitive Mabel, Rowlands delivers one of the screen's most excruciatingly honest performances. This can directly be attributed to Rowlands's real-life husband Cassavetes, whose insistence on getting to the inner core of his characters' emotional states defined him as an artist. Falk portrays Nick with a harsh yet delicate pathos that is also honest and heartbreaking.

Rankings Position

#44 Best Movies of the '70s

Awards: 1974: 2 Nominations for Oscar: Best Actress (Gena Rowlands), Director

1974: Golden Globes: Best Actress - Drama (Gena Rowlands). 4 Nominaciones

1974: New York Film Critics Circle: Nominated for Best Actress (Gena Rowlands)

1974: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Nominated for Best Original Drama Screenplay

1975: San Sebastian Film Festival: Silver Shell & Best Actress (Rowlands)

1974: National Board of Review (NBR): Best Actress. 2 nominations

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Critics' reviews

"Falk and the rest of the cast are exceptional (...) but Rowlands is the film"

Tim Grierson: Village Voice
"The movie didn't need to be 2 hours and 35 minutes long: there's too much small talk (...) Still, the most frightening scenes are extremely compelling, and this is a thoughtful film that does prompt serious discussion."

Nora Sayre: The New York Times
"The primal violence that binds men and woman has rarely been evoked as plausibly or intensely as in this 1974 drama"

Richard Brody: The New Yorker
"Falk and Rowlands—in performances of almost indescribable intensity—detail a marriage anchored by love, but tossed by the expectations of others and the unpredictable swell of madness."

Keith Phipps: TV Guide
"Perhaps the greatest of Cassavetes' films (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of four)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"Cassavetes makes the viewer's frustration work as part of the film's expressiveness; it has an emotional rhythm unlike anything else I've ever seen."

Dave Kehr: Chicago Tribune
"[It] is so uneasily lifelike that the academy temporarily ignored its prejudice against independent productions by rewarding Rowlands and Cassavetes with Oscar nominations"

Mike Clark: USA Today
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A Woman Under the Influence

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