A Woman Under the Influence gives us a woman whose influences only gradually reveal themselves. And as they do, they give us insights not only into one specific, brilliantly created, woman but into some of the problems of surviving in a society where very few people are fully liberated.
This is a disturbing portrait of a slightly-mad housewife. Its serious treament of a downbeat subject is hypoed by a fine performance from Peter Falk and a bravura one from Gena Rowlands.
The movie didn't need to be 2 hours and 35 minutes long: there's too much small talk, which doesn't really reveal character. Still, the most frightening scenes are extremely compelling, and this is a thoughtful film that does prompt serious discussion.
A Woman Under the Influence made me wonder: What’s the point of only showing a mentally challenged character’s distress? Is it fair to reduce Mabel to her rock-bottom experiences?
I have seen it 3x in the last decade, it becomes vastly better each time, now one of my favorite movies of all time. It reminds me of Rosemary's Baby, which starred the director Nick Cassavetes as the husband. He is also considered the father of independent cinema, primarily for this, though by thisn point he had been directing for 15 years. Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk take turns being the crazy person in this fantastic film. Her time in the asylum is never shown, but was a point of fascination for filmmakers at this time, most notably a year later when Jack Nicholson was electrocuted in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Of note, in modern times Electroshock therapy has found new support through celebrities like Carrie Fisher, who famously said electroshock "has an appetite for your memories."
TaglineA powerful, emotional look at love, marriage, compromise and life. So much truth and honesty in one motion picture leaves you emotionally exhausted.