A Woman Under the Influence | | Cast : | Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands | | Director : | John Cassavetes | | Studio : | Pioneer Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | November 18, 1974 | | DVD Released Date : | March 24, 1998 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | January 25, 2005 | | Summary | Behind-the-scenes info for Cass buffs | Content
 | For a fascinating behind-the-scenes info about A Woman Under the Influence and a list of books about Cassavetes' work, go to Ray Carney's website dedicated to John Cassavetes (found through any search engine).
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| Rating | | | Date | October 09, 2004 | | Summary | masterpiece | Content
| This film by the geat auteur-humanist John Cassavetes is almost the equivalent of being punched in the gut.High art at it's most visceral. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 06, 2004 | | Summary | A sublime masterpiece! | Content
| This is an ambitious and harrowing drama around a mad housewife who belongs to the lower - middle class in search of her own identity . Gena Rowlands is one of the best fifty american actress in the XX century . She gave a devastating role in this deep and complex script . An unforgettable artistic achievement of John Casavettes and one of the twenty best films in that decade, without a bit of doubt.
Casavettes as all we know was one of the most irreverent and rebel film makers in all the cinema story . His concerns always focus on the human being and its demons who eventually seem domain . So his style is really disturbing , and he may be well considered an american director with european roots . The influences of Bergman and Antonioni are more than obvious .
Widely recommendable! |
| Rating | | | Date | July 17, 2004 | | Summary | You just gotta love Gena! | Content
| Gena Rowlands is just absolutely wonderful and touching as the blue collar, suburban housewife, Mabel, steadily losing her grip on life and reality. She tries desparately to connect with the people around her, only baffling and embarrassing them and her husband, skillfully played by Peter Falk, who loves her tremendously but cannot understand her as much as he tries. The scene in the film where Falk invites his work buddies home for a spaghetti dinner best illustrates this dilemma. While viewing the video of this film I just wrote his character off as just another stupid, ethnic type, who was just too uneducated and ignorant to be sensitive to his wife increasingly erratic and needy behavior. But I now realize that such a patronizing attitude on my part is totally wrong: mental illness cuts through all ethnic, racial, and economic backgrounds. People of all levels, especially those closest, would be at a loss knowing how best to help this special person in our lives who is slipping away from us into darkness. It may be revelation to some that it is Mabel's three young children who find it the easiest to understand and relate to her plight. They just love their mother and accept her the way she is, without any judgment on their parts, and Mabel responds in kind. It is their influence that will help determine whether she recovers. John Casavettes directs "A Woman Under the Influence" with a naturalness (a Casavettes hallmark) that seems as if he were making a documentary film about his own family. As many probably know, Gena Rowlands was married to Casavettes and he utilized her in many of his films, all to his and his audience's great advantage. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 26, 2004 | | Summary | Emotional powerhouse | Content
| Gena Rowland's performance is flawless. That alone makes the film worth watching. I took a star off due to Peter Falk's annoying performance as the husband. He was o.k.---but got on my nerves after awhile. But back to Gena---how on earth did she lose the Academy Award that year? The Academy needs to give her an honorary Oscar for all of her amazing performances. SHE DESERVES IT!!!!! |
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