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starring: Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Fred Draper, Lady Rowlands, Katherine Cassavetesdirected by: John Cassavetes
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780764005336
Format: Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0764005332
Label: Starz / Anchor Bay
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Starz / Anchor Bay
Release Date: October 19, 1999
Running Time: 146 minutes
Sales Rank: 17496
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Theatrical Release Date: November 18, 1974
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
John Cassavetes's long, free-form drama is best appreciated as a good showcase for Gena Rowlands, playing a woman whose sanity literally appears to be shattering as different aspects of her personality eclipse others at various times. Peter Falk plays her struggling, blue-collar husband, trying to understand the phenomenon and sometimes losing his patience. As with most of Cassavetes's works as a director, one can't help but find one's attention drifting in and out (especially at two and a half hours), but Rowland's performance is a key reason the film has been declared a 'national treasure' by the Library of Congress. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Get under this film's influence, now!
Coming from a background in improvisational theater, Cassavetes has the ability to write film scripts that show us exactly how far conventional storytelling has wandered from reality. Rather than doing this, as the early postmodernists would, by defying the conventions of narrative, Cassavetes chooses to defy, primarily, the conventions of scene framing and dialogue scripting. If you eavesdrop on a conversation between two people who know each other, you are likely to catch them at a moment where ... Read More
Rating:  - Courageous and Uncompromising Film
This movie is a breakthrough - courageous and uncompromising view at the family and at the marriage where both spouses love each other deeply but they are both not well, they don't know how communicate when somebody else present, even their own children. They could be happy on the deserted island but not surrounded by friends and families. I was fascinated by both, Peter Falk's and Gena Rowlands' performances. She looked like a little girl, trapped in a woman's body - confused, insecure, listening ... Read More
Rating: - Absolutely Unforgettable
I think the director hit the bullseye here.
Not co-incidentally the documentary "A Decade Under the Influence" was named after this film--showcasing those renegade filmmakers of the 1970s who defied Hollywood in their portrayal of realistic, sympathethic characters and the everyday living room dramas encasing them.
Gena Rowlands in her tour-de-force performace as the Woman Under the Influence, implied insantiy, but truthfully, just trying to function in the world around her--her ... Read More
Rating: - Worth Seeing
The relationship between Mabel and Nick is the heart of the film. Just when you think Falk is playing Nick as the ever-suffering patient husband, he shows the character to be much more complex. Rowlands as Mabel is even better - there isn't a facial expression or mannerism that's wasted. Her longing to connect with other people is almost painful to watch. Although several of Mabel's actions strongly imply mental illness, it's fascinating to think about the fine line between appropriate and inappropriate behavior ... Read More
Rating: - An American Masterpiece
There's not much else to say about Cassvetes' film other than it's a masterpiece of the dramatic arts. Unrelenting and fascinating, it depicts a young wife's descent into madness. It's a bitter slice of life, but it's also exactly that: life captured in all its pain and glory through artistry of the highest order. Gena Rowland's performance is probably one of the finest ever captured on film. If you enjoy this film, I also recommend tracking down "The Pumpkin Eater" starring Anne Bancroft - a similar film of a woman ... Read More
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