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A Woman Under the Influence

  • 19741974
  • RR
  • 2h 35m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
25K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Watch {VideoTitle}
Play trailer3:00
1 Video
80 Photos
  • Drama
  • Romance

Although wife and mother Mabel is loved by her husband Nick, her mental illness places a strain on the marriage.Although wife and mother Mabel is loved by her husband Nick, her mental illness places a strain on the marriage.Although wife and mother Mabel is loved by her husband Nick, her mental illness places a strain on the marriage.

IMDb RATING
8.1/10
25K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • John Cassavetes
  • Writer
    • John Cassavetes
  • Stars
    • Gena Rowlands
    • Peter Falk
    • Fred Draper
Top credits
  • Director
    • John Cassavetes
  • Writer
    • John Cassavetes
  • Stars
    • Gena Rowlands
    • Peter Falk
    • Fred Draper
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 127User reviews
    • 87Critic reviews
    • 88Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 9 wins & 7 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 3:00
    Official Trailer

    Photos80

    Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
    A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Gena Rowlands
    Gena Rowlands
    • Mabel Longhettias Mabel Longhetti
    Peter Falk
    Peter Falk
    • Nick Longhettias Nick Longhetti
    Fred Draper
    Fred Draper
    • George Mortensenas George Mortensen
    Lady Rowlands
    • Martha Mortensenas Martha Mortensen
    Katherine Cassavetes
    • Margaret Longhettias Margaret Longhetti
    Matthew Labyorteaux
    Matthew Labyorteaux
    • Angelo Longhettias Angelo Longhetti
    • (as Matthew Laborteaux)
    Matthew Cassel
    Matthew Cassel
    • Tony Longhettias Tony Longhetti
    Christina Grisanti
    • Maria Longhettias Maria Longhetti
    George Dunn
    George Dunn
    • Garson Crossas Garson Cross
    • (as O.G. Dunn)
    Mario Gallo
    Mario Gallo
    • Harold Jensenas Harold Jensen
    Eddie Shaw
    • Dr. Zeppas Dr. Zepp
    Angelo Grisanti
    • Vito Grimaldias Vito Grimaldi
    Charles Horvath
    Charles Horvath
    • Eddieas Eddie
    James Joyce
    • Bowmanas Bowman
    John Finnegan
    John Finnegan
    • Clancyas Clancy
    Vincent Barbi
    • Ginoas Gino
    • (as Vince Barbi)
    Cliff Carnell
    Cliff Carnell
    • Aldoas Aldo
    Frank Richards
    Frank Richards
    • Adolphas Adolph
    • Director
      • John Cassavetes
    • Writer
      • John Cassavetes
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Peter Falk is a blue collar man trying to deal with his wife's mental instability. He fights to keep a semblance of normality in the face of her bizarre behavior, but when her actions affect their children, he has her committed. —BA Jacobson <pcfe2151@cybercom.net>
    • mental illness
    • marriage
    • working class
    • construction worker
    • love
    • 118 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • Romance
    • Certificate
      • R
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      John Cassavetes could not find a distributor for the film after completion, and was at one point literally carrying the reels under his arm, from one theater to another, in hopes of getting one to play his movie. Finally, Martin Scorsese, who had recently become critically acclaimed following his film Mean Streets (1973) happened to be a huge fan of Cassavetes' work and threatened to pull his film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) from a major New York film festival unless they accepted this film.
    • Goofs
      In the scene at the end of the film when Nick and Mabel are putting the children to bed, the boom mic is visible on the left side of the screen poking out from behind the door frame just after Nick exits the room and Mabel is about to turn off the light.
    • Quotes

      Nick Longhetti: Mabel is not crazy, she's unusual. She's not crazy, so don't say she's crazy.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Cousins/The Mighty Quinn/True Believer/Tap (1989)
    • Soundtracks
      La Boheme
      (uncredited)

      Music by Giacomo Puccini

    User reviews127

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Vertigo at the bottom of the Human Soul ...
    This is a film about need, about affection, about a desperate need of affection that consumes the heart of Mabel Longhetti, the "woman under the influence" ... Some might say she's a troubled woman suffering from a personality disorder, others would say she's just psychotic ... they couldn't be wronger : she couldn't have a personality disorder, since she doesn't have any personality at all. Her character is totally diluted into that desperate need to please, to make people comfortable. The painful paradox is that this desire creates even more awkward and uncomfortable situations. But Mabel isn't aware of that, she can't understand that because she has buried any desire to be someone under the profound will to make people she loves, happy. She's sweet and tender, but this sweetness is wrong because it's inspired by a double fear of rejection and confrontation.

    Mabel crystallizes all these feelings and translates them in a behavior made of unpredictable excitability, a forced cheerfulness, a childish behavior she almost uses as a shield not to be hurt. She's afraid, and so are we, when we watch this poor woman trying to gain anyone's sympathy, just to please Nick, her husband. Mabel is played by the beautiful Gena Rowlands in what I consider the greatest cinematic female performance ever. Peter Falk is underrated as Nick, the husband who tries to deal with Mabel's condition, with such severity sometimes, that even himself can't control his own reactions.

    This is the set-up of the film, it's a drama, that couldn't have been directed by anyone but the great John Cassavettes. It's not a thriller, not an action film, yet it provided some of the most heart-pounding moments I've ever experienced. Never had a lunch and a dinner scene been so uneasy to watch : as it's been mentioned before, Mabel doesn't want to hurt people's feeling yet she unconsciously does. Mabel is like a little flame that might, at any time, light a bag of powder. Mabel creates real tickling-bomb situations, where the explosion is a burst of emotions, so human watching the film feels indecent. That's Cassavetes genius, this is no voyeuristic movie because we don't enjoy watching such devastation in a family that has everything to be happy. It's no voyeurism, it's realism, its cinema-verity as its purest form. Every laugh makes us smile, every shout makes us vibrate. Every silence makes us feel uncomfortable. We watch, we wait, and we never have a feeling that nothing is happening. Every look on Gena's eyes, every way she deforms her face, every noise or weird hand gesture she makes is the expression of a poor little a soul trying to communicate a part of what remains in the bottom, what remains of Mabel's personality.

    Confronted to Mabel's emotional clumsiness, Nick looks totally helpless, yet he's not exempt from reproaches. He's not crazy but his own temper probably aggravated Mabel's condition. He warns his colleague, "Mabel is not crazy", but he insists so much, you wonder why would someone say that about a 'normal' woman. The answer is that he thinks she's crazy, but loves her so much he doesn't want people to think she is. Nick loves so much his wife he puts himself in situations making him act like a bag of contradictions. Nick himself looks sometimes desperate as he doesn't know what he's doing, lost between his responsibilities as a father, a son, a husband who loves his wife, and a man devoured by a frustrated violence. Seeing him trying to act like a father makes you put Mabel's insanity into perspective. If Mabel acts under Nick's influence, Nick's life and behavior are equally influenced by Mabel's problem, the effects on the couple, on the family and the relationships with the friends are disturbingly heart-breaking.

    Disturbing, Cassavetes' masterpiece is because it reflects our own fears with a gripping realism, it's a journey into the deepest bottom of the human soul, made of anger, fear, sadness, happiness, reason, craziness, men, women, children, human relationships. It's hard to watch, it's uncomfortable, we can't help but feel sorry for the poor Mabel, for these poor kids, and even for Nick. They're not pathetic because they're not quite passive. In fact, the movie is full of noise, of loud shouts, of movements, this is no swimming in an ocean of tears, this is not your typical tear-jerker drama, it's almost like an emotional thriller. In fact, this doesn't need any categorization, this film makes other films look like films. "A Woman under the Influence"'s direction turns it into a chaotic journey into human relationships, and a very exhausting experience in reality.

    Gena Rowlands gave the best performance I've ever seen, and the fact she won or not an Oscar doesn't even matter ... these considerations normalize the movie when it's more than something you would nominate for an award. Cassavettes's masterpiece is a tunnel ride into the depths of the human soul with its dark sides, and a probable light of hope at the end.
    helpful•48
    16
    • ElMaruecan82
    • Jan 10, 2011

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 18, 1974 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Eine Frau unter Einfluß
    • Filming locations
      • 1741 N. Taft Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Faces
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $13,336,830
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

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