Tribute to John Cassavetes 2004 / A Woman Under the Influence / USA 1974
Regarded by many critics as a masterpiece, this harrowing portrait of a marriage and a woman on the verge of madness was unprecedented in American cinema. Complex and messy, it’s a picture of family life that explores shifting relationships, impulse, emotion, and the interactions that lead to trouble. With Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk.
Regarded by many critics as a masterpiece, this harrowing portrait of a marriage and a woman on the verge of madness was unprecedented in the American cinema. Complex and messy, it’s a picture of family life that explores shifting relationships, impulse, emotion, and the interactions that lead to trouble. Emotionally fragile Mabel (Gena Rowlands) is married to quick-tempered, bullying Nick (Peter Falk), a construction foreman for the city of Los Angeles. When she sends their three kids to her mother’s in order to have a night alone with her husband, she feels at a loss. Mabel defines herself so utterly according to her love for her family, that when her husband cancels their date, she reacts by getting blitzed at a local bar and bringing home another man. The film poses numerous questions for which there are no easy answers: about conformity to the expectations that society imposes, about whether it is possible to be an emotionally honest person and an adult/parent/spouse at the same time, and even about what type of outbursts are acceptable. Who are we? What do we want out of life? Where are we comfortable? How do we limit others and ourselves with the roles we play? Rowlands deservedly won several acting awards for her work as “mad Mabel.”
155 min / Color, 35 mm
Director John Cassavetes
/ Screenplay John Cassavetes
/ Dir. of Photography Mike Ferris, David Nowell, Mitch Breit
/ Music Bo Harwood
/ Editor Elizabeth Bergeron, David Armstrong, Sheila Viseltear
/ Producer Sam Shaw
/ Cast Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Matthew Cassel, Matthew Laborteaux, Christina Grisanti, Katherine Cassavetes, Lady Rowlands
/ Contact Stadtkino Filmverleih und Kinobetriebsgesellschaft m.b.H., IN-motion Pictures Ltd.
see: Tribute to John Cassavetes
Stadtkino Filmverleih und Kinobetriebsgesellschaft m.b.H.
Spittelberggasse 3/3, 1070, Vienna
Austria
Phone: +43 1 522 4814
Fax: +43 1 522 4815
E-mail: [email protected]
IN-motion Pictures Ltd.
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United Kingdom
Phone: +44 207 467 6880
Fax: +44 207 467 6890
E-mail: [email protected]
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