A Woman Under the Influence
July 21st 2008 23:56
Cassavetes worked mainstream movies to fund his own projects and, after watching his most successful movie, "A Woman Under the Influence", I can understand why. Who would back this movie? Who would trust Cassavetes to bring it all together? How could you pitch this as an idea?
"A Woman Under the Influence" suffers from many flaws, among them, the fact that the movie feels sloppy, and that the story fizzles without explanation.
At the same time, though, this is one of the most powerful examinations of the human condition caught on celluloid. The genius of Cassavetes is that his characters seem more human that us; within the first few opening minutes, the leads, played by Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands, are so effectively described with the barest minimum of dialogue.
From Eric Heynes:
"It forsook conventional narrative, shot-making, and characterization—not for the self-conscious sake of unconventionality, but to express life more truly. It was, and remains for me, uncomfortably, stubbornly, exhilaratingly alive."
Rowlands is a wife that seems a little unbalanced, and her husband is a hard working man with a fiery anger - they love each other, but their love seems to ebb and flow as they struggle to understand each other.
Cassavetes used his wife to play the lead role, and you can see the obsession he had with her. A great face, animated and curious, with big, soft eyes, and the suggestion of hard lines. Cassavetes manages to catch her as she looks simultaneously rundown and fairy-like; he frames her in closeup without fear, letting her eyes and mouth do all the work.
The movie feels aimless but it feels like an accurate snapshot of real life... working class families may not have climaxes in their lives, or plot-turning events, instead faced with the realization that life goes on, regardless of the mistakes and decisions that you've made.
There are a couple of moments of absolutely pure love that are magnificent to see. It's these movies that we survive for, a sneaky glance across the table, or a stuttered explanation away from home. Why did Cassavetes make this? I don't know, but we should be glad that someone had the temerity to chase an idea like this, describing the near breakdown of a marriage with such surgical precision.
I say: It feels different from the opening scenes and then never lets you go... this is the most evocative depiction of life I've ever seen. Watching this film makes you forget that the actors are not really those characters - a wondrous and thrilling idea.
See it for: A great spaghetti dinner scene, complete with opera singing.
*this image is from Reverse Shot
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Really glad you liked Woman Under the Influence. Shaun will be happy
No make sure you check out Killing of a Chinese Bookie, that one's my favourite of Cassavete's directorial efforts.
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