Scene from"A woman under the influence" (Jonh Cassavetes) with Gena Rowlands. Emotionally devastating drama that charts the mental disintegration of a California housewife.
Moi, entre autres, depuis Paris 🇫🇷 avec toutes mes excuses de ne pas être anglophone pour m’associer si vous le vouliez bien à votre bel hommage et exprimer toute mon éternelle admiration, ma gratitude d’avoir été exemplaire pour moi depuis des décennies devant Mme Rowlands, en particulier dans ce rôle.
This film is so incredibly powerful. Gena Rowlands performance is one of the greatest I've ever seen. And throughout the film the children do a wonderful job in scenes like this that you won't forget thanks to John Cassavetes immaculate direction.
hannah sauceda I don't know how Rowlands was able to come back from all the places that she's been as an actor. I've never witnessed anything like her authenticity.
This is so moving because as unwell as Mabel is becoming, she finds pure joy in her children and loves them. Sick as she is, she makes sure that they are seen safely home.
"I never did anything in my whole life that was anything except I made you guys. I made you, and you, and you." Deep af. For the first time in her life she feels like she made something great :')
R.I.P. Gena Rowlands, please spread some love and heartfelt condolences to her family. Rowlands plays the older Allie in The Notebook, who's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Rowlands' son Nick Cassavetes announced that Rowlands was suffering from Alzheimer's.
Beautifully stated. I thought the same thing - it has the raw pain of a bleak, open and honest Carver story, and Gena Rowlands was this character so completely, so uncompromisingly, I cry when I watch this.
That line makes me cry so much... She loves her children with her whole life, and they know it and reciprocate, even though they recognize she's "different". There is SO much love in that relationship, against the whole world. I saw this film yesterday night for the first time and it became one of my favorites
I agree. For some reason so many films from the 70's have been underrated and gone virtually unnoticed. Many of them have not even been released on dvd. Almost the same phenomenon as the lost films of the '20s.
The oldier boy is Seymour Cassel’s (Minnie and Moskowitz) and Elizabeth Deering (A Woman under the influence). I just love the way Cassavetes works with his family and friends. without claim, he uses the characters with lightness and makes us feel like one of them. The two woman that Mabel asks the hour while she’s waiting the school bus are good friends of Gena in real life, they gone to school together.
This being so sad, how is it that this scene came out to be the most beautiful to look at. Gena Rowlands WAS a beauty. It takes a talented genius legend like Cassavetes.
This movie is not about “mental illness”; that’s such a narrow lens to see it through. It’s more generally about anyone who dares to have a shred of originality in this world and how that is forced out of them. Nick pleads with Mabel: “Make conversation! ‘How are you, hello…’” He feels to need to teach her conformity through yelling rather than accept her for the way she is; silly and sweet and free-spirited. He wants her to be a society robot, like everyone else. The problem is the narrow constraints for what’s considered socially correct, not Mabel.
The way Nick struggles and at times breaks down when trying to understand and control something so beyond him really gets me. It seems he does truly love Mabel, but the incomprehensible nature of her condition is just so far beyond the average man of the time. The scenes where he gets angry and even violent to try get Mabel acting normal again, then regrets losing control and treating her poorly, is great acting, and makes me empathise with Nick's character. He's so overwhelmed he tries the only simple, primitive ways of "helping" Mabel he can think of, which in turn only hurts her and makes the situation worse, which he seems to realise but can't seem to find any other way to deal with things. That inability to know what's going on or how to help someone when mental issues arise is so true to real life, even in modern times. It's a great, realistic way of creating and portraying the flawed nature of people facing situations like this, as well as the limits and flaws in men/husbands, especially of that era. That complexity and layering makes it feel so much more real than a simple distinction between the "good guys" and "bad guys". I hate seeing Nick mistreat her but I can see he is at the end of his rope and truly doesn't know what else to do. It seems he is genuinely motivated by love, or at least a sense of duty to take control of his family and show responsibility. I very much agree with your view that conformity is the force Mabel is directly in conflict with, Nick even tries to get her to just appear and act normal while ignoring her issues. Just the appearance of functionality and sticking to convention would be enough for him. He tries to force conformity on her because it seems he himself can't navigate or understand life himself, his only security is in following convention and "acting normal". Both Nick and Mabel are suffering from the need to conform vs true unpredictability, individuality and what is beyond understanding or control. When the order from societal conditioning is broken, people can become totally helpless and incapable quickly.
My favorite Cassavetes.. We're going to see it tonight at the 'art' theater, the way it was meant to be seen, on the BIG screen! 'Opening Night' in my other fav.. I do however love 'Faces' too.. and... and.. ;)
Valutazione: Il film più vero e profondo della storia del cinema, un cinema che diventa realtà. Struggente come ogni respiro di Gena Rowlands; fuori dal normale.
@deliamalone Or perhaps people who vividly recognize themselves and/or the ones they love in these characters - a basic goal in independent films- and do not match with any of the clasifications you made :)
The movie doesn’t hold up. I wasn’t sure if the point was to show that Falk was crazier or that craziness was contagious. Even with the movie’s many faults, Rowlands was wonderful. She was lovable and sympathetic, and I wish Cassavetes had seen the potential for more tender moments between her and Falk.
The point to me seemed that Falk was really in love with her, but embarrassed by how she interacted with other people, and their negative reactions to her influenced him. After she came back from the hospital a totally passive personality, he realized the harm he and others had caused her, and threw everyone else out of the house. In the final scene, Falk and Rowlands let the phone ring off the hook. No doubt it is someone, likely Falk's mother, calling to offer up another judgement. Falk finally chooses his wife, and doesn't bother to answer..
@@micheller6804 Nice critique. I’m trying to remember the ending, because I’m not sure I agree with you that he understood the harm he and others caused her. But I’ll accept your point of view because I want to remember the movie differently. I thought Falk was too abrasive and I wish that at the every end there was a tender moment between them that made it clear there was a deep and abiding love for her.
@@DJ-bj8ku Thanks. I haven't seen the movie in several years, but I remember Falk as only getting angry with Rowlands in response to how she acted around others. At those times, he could react brutishly. At other times, he could be kind and loving. When Rowlands was really about to lose it, she asked Falk to stick up for her. He refused, letting his mother continue to scream at her. She cared so much about her family, this was a major betrayal. She gave in, and allowed herself to have a crazy episode, which shocked even her husband. When she got out of the hospital, he organized a welcome home party for her. She was uncharacteristically quiet and just wanted to see her kids. That was her sole priority. She didn't want to do anything that could be considered "off" and land herself back in the hospital, so she repressed herself to a painful degree. Someone at the party told Falk it (the gathering) was too much. A flash of recognition went over his face--he had really screwed up--and that's when he kicked everyone out.
@@micheller6804 Good memory for not having seen it years. I think though after everyone had been thrown out, he was still acting brutishly. She was dancing in the living room, I think, and he wanted her to stop. Anyway I kept thinking how this movie would’ve been made today. Rowland’s was so endearing, I wanted Falk to shake off the anger and just embrace her.
@@DJ-bj8ku Hmmm... now I'm questioning my memory. Will have to check it out again, which is a good thing. Cassavetes pictures are strangely hypnotic and great. 👍
Why is noone talking about the child? They made her run around butt naked and you can tell she was genuinely afraid.... i happened to stumble upon it many years ago because of my love for matthew laborteax but yeah... unfortunately i saw that and was really confused but now it is absolutely disgusting and idk why people praise this film. Sickening.
Yes, mental illness is disgusting so you got the point. Back in the 1970's before movies like this, no one talked about mental illness so not much help was given, other than asylums to try and help them. Today, movies like this and nudity are too disgusting so they are never made. Today crazy people are not cared for so they live in tents on the streets.....Life is better now, right? Sometimes you just have to shock the public to make them help others.
