AND LASTLY, SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT: "A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE"

Hats off to John Cassavetes and the cast for this one. This is an intensely psychological film and it very much hinges on performances and speech, and not much else, so this 140 minute beauty could have been an unmitigated disaster. Cassavetes being the pioneering and talented man that he is however; it very rightfully takes its place among the great and innovative films of our time. This doesn’t mean that you will find the film easy to watch. Oh no. It may actually be far from it, and I couldn’t blame you. But what Cassavetes was trying to do you see, was to find an alternative, both in technique and in subject matter, to what we have come to know as “classic Hollywood” cinema with its classic tales with “moral” endings and it’s continuity editing that is so easy on the eye. So you have to be up for a challenge if you’re going to watch this one… And you’re up for a challenge, right? I mean, why else would you be here?
The Longhetti family are a normal Italian – American family. Nick, the husband (Peter Falk who we know better as Inspector Columbo!) , works at the water-works, Mabel his wife (Gena Rowlands looks after their three children. They are a typical family in that Mabel is very much left to cope on her own and since Nick is generally at work, no one is around to notice that in fact, she is not coping very well. Her husband, of course, has always known she was a bit er… Sensitive. But the point is, he loves her just the way she is, besides, that’s their business, not anyone else’s. So it takes a long time for anyone to notice, much less accept what has happened when Mabel finally goes “over the edge”. As Mabel is packed off to the um… Institution, Nick is left to cope with the situation and the children. As to what will happen once M. gets back home, well, that’s anyone’s guess…
To those of us more used to the guiding hand of the typical Hollywood director, this film will be a bit of a strain to watch. I was especially struck by the way Cassavetes used the camera; it doesn’t feel like a feature film, it is almost as if we are watching a documentary. I’ll give you an example; in the second half of the story, while Nick is at work – Mabel has been institutionalized at this point – one of his colleagues has rather a bad accident. However, we only see this seconds after it happens as at the moment of the accident the camera is focused on Nick and another co-worker having an argument. It is as if the cameraman was simply wandering around the place, just as unaware as to what is going to happen next as we are and simply missed the moment of the accident because he had no idea it was coming up. This is also a rather good way to sum up the whole style of the film. It’s very fly on the wall, no frills whatsoever; what matters is the story itself and it’s a very human story, very common place. It is, as literally as it can be, the life of ordinary people set on screen, and that is what made Cassavetes stand out from the crowd back in his day. Watch this one when you’re in the mood for something different folks. It is good and it is gripping, but it is NOT your average Saturday night entertainment either…