![A Woman Under the Influence A Woman Under the Influence film image](https://images.viff.org/uploads/2023/09/AWomanUnderTheInfluence_still-2_X.jpg?resize=600%2C337&gravity)
John Cassavetes’ greatest success is built on a fearless, tour-de-force performance from Gena Rowlands as Mabel Longhetti, a working class wife and mom who sometimes struggles to keep it all together. Peter Falk is her husband, a proud man who loves Mabel, but is also ashamed of her. Love, as the song goes, will tear you apart.
When I think of this film, it’s all about Gena Rowlands; it’s one of the greatest on-screen performances ever in my opinion. But also, Peter Falk is amazing. And it’s John Cassavetes at his best. Although the film explores the difficult and heavy subject matter of mental illness, it somehow manages to deliver so much heart, humor, joy, and love to this beautiful story as well. There is a palpable energy in the performances, the writing, the camera moves and editing that all just leaps through the screen. There is a messiness, a raw, ’don’t give a f***’ attitude in the filmmaking here that I believe is the essence of great indie cinema and which is what makes John Cassavetes truly one of the greats.
Anthony Shim
October 2 & 8: Introduced by Leading Lights guest programmer Anthony Shim
Supported by
Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Fred Draper, Lady Rowlands, Katherine Cassavetes
USA
1974
Leading Lights
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Producer
Sam Shaw
Screenwriter
John Cassavetes
Editor
David Armstrong, Sheila Viseltear
Original Music
Bo Harwood
Director
![John Cassavetes John Cassavetes headshot](https://images.viff.org/uploads/2023/09/AWomanUnderTheInfluence_directorheadshotJohnCassavetes.jpg?fit=50%2C40)
John Cassavetes
Among the most influential of all American filmmakers, John Cassavetes forged his own path, combining a successful career as an actor for hire (The Dirty Dozen; Rosemary’s Baby) with his own independent productions as writer-director. Cassavetes’ own films are raw, abrasive portraits of men and women wrestling with their demons, typically shot in a verité style, and feature powerhouse performances from his wife, Gena Rowlands, and regular collaborators Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara and Seymour Cassel, as well as extended family members. Cassavetes died in 1989 at the age of 59.
Filmography: Shadows (1958); Faces (1968); Husbands (1970); Opening Night (1977); Love Streams (1984)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Goldman Case
In 1976, Jewish radical Pierre Goldman was facing the death penalty, accused of committing a double murder during an armed robbery. Goldman admitted to a string of similar robberies, but denied murder. Instead, he put the cops on trial.
His Three Daughters
Three sisters -- Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olson, and Natasha Lyonne -- congregate to attend the final few days of their father's life. They bring with them years of barely-repressed jealousy and resentment, as well as wildly different personalities.
Filtration: Three Colours: Blue
Directly filtering the image that comes into a lens allows cinematographers to vastly alter how a scene looks and feels. We'll analyze the radical ways Kieslowski's closet collaborator, Slawomir Idziak, editorializes in such films as Three Colours: Blue.
Green Border
In her seventies Agnieszka Holland has made a ferocious, emotionally charged film about the brutal treatment of refugees arriving over the Polish land border from Belarus. This is a vehement denunciation of resurgent fascism and utterly compelling cinema.
Lyd
Lyd is the Arab name for 5000-year-old town that is now the Israeli city of Lod. Made by a Palestinian and a Jewish American, this creative non-fiction film excavates the history of this place leading to a detailed examination of the events of 1948.
Amadeus
In which the celebrated court composer Salieri welcomes a much ballyhooed young prodigy to Vienna. To his dismay, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is an impudent, callow upstart. Worse, he's a genius. Winner of 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.