Tribute to The Film Foundation 2021 / A Woman Under the Influence / USA 1974
Cassavetes’ most storied film tells the tale of an oddball, volatile romance between a high-tempered construction worker and his fragile, mentally unstable wife. A Woman Under the Influence is Cassavetes at his most emotionally naked. A brave, challenging picture of two unique souls failing to meet the oppressive demands of their class.
Is there anything left unsaid about Cassavetes’ most storied film? The kinetic, uncompromising direction; the unsettlingly intense, unsparing turns by Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands in one of the greatest performances of American cinema; and the confrontational stance against the skewed sexual politics of the time. All these strands are woven into an oddball, volatile romance between a high-tempered construction worker and his fragile, mentally unstable wife who gets admitted to an institution as the husband desperately strives to save their marriage. A Woman Under the Influence is Cassavetes at his most emotionally naked. A brave, challenging picture of two unique souls failing to meet the oppressive demands of their class.
Joseph Fahim
155 min / Color, 35 mm
Director John Cassavetes
/ Screenplay John Cassavetes
/ Dir. of Photography Mitch Breit, Al Ruban
/ Music Bo Harwood
/ Editor David Armstrong, Sheila Viseltear, Beth Bergeron
/ Art Director Phedon Papamichael
/ Producer Sam Shaw
/ Production Faces International Films
/ Cast Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk
/ Sales Faces Distribution Corporation
/ Contact UCLA Film & Television Archive
John Cassavetes (1929, New York City – 1989, Los Angeles). Selected filmography: Shadows (1959), Too Late Blues (1961), A Child Is Waiting (1963), Faces (1968), Husbands (1970), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Opening Night (1977), Gloria (1980), Love Streams (1984).
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UCLA Film & Television Archive
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