A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)

I never knew what to expect from Cassavetes, all I knew was that he was an independent filmmaker who made several influential films in America, outside of Hollywood. But I had never gotten any pointer towards what sort of style he used as a director, what sort of themes or issues that interested him. All I knew was that he was well recommended, and I had wanted to see some of his films for some time. I loved the two films I had previously seen by him, and was looking forward to watch maybe his most critically praised film, A Woman Under the Influence.

John Cassavetes has a remarkable directing style, and I’ve seen it develop across three films, Shadows (1959), Faces (1968), and this. His style is frenetic, bringing us up-close to characters at intense and dramatic moments. I would use the word “intense” to describe Cassavetes films, because they are true mood-swingers and show us the characters in a wonderfully truthful way. The acting and the way the camera portrays it is raw, stark and direct, catching the actors on screen like you rarely see in cinema. The directing is not stylised, but simple and effective. The way Cassavetes uses the focus to change our attention is fantastic, and greatly adds to the drama on screen. The film in scenes with social gatherings builds up tension steadily, before bursting into audiovisual violence. It is basically a character drama, but perhaps one of the deepest and most complicated I’ve seen. Cassavetes is unafraid of bringing up taboo family issues and pose questions that most wouldn’t want to answer. A marriage is about to fall apart due to the wife’s mental state. She is awkward in social situations, something her temperamental cannot take.

With this pretence Cassavetes builds several scenes and scenarios that all contain fantastic dramatic quality, drawing from the talents of the cast. You will rarely see better acting than in this film; it is good all across the board, but it is supported best by the wife and husband, who are great at portraying their characters in an almost menacing way. The children are a bit stiff, but with this style of acting you could hardly expect anything else. The audience is brought to ask several critical questions of the married couple but also about the rest of the family and friends. We ask; is the wife mentally unstable, or is it the people around here who believe so because of their own prejudice and inadequacies? There are layers of relationships lying around the film, and it is up to the audience to pick them up. We can track down the reasons for characters traits through another character, their background are subtly built into the script and the story. But at the core is Cassavetes directing style, which I am really beginning to love. It is simple, but inclines several complicated layers of depth, and he creates within even the smallest scene a lot of depth. The handheld style lets us come up-close with the characters. Then sometimes, Cassavetes takes a step back and let us take a more critical and distanced view at what is going on.

It is easily said, A Woman Under the Influence is a masterpiece. Cassavetes has taken his directing to a high that impresses me greatly. The acting is superb, but it comes from the unique way Cassavetes directs his performers. The shots are sometimes beautiful, contemplative and violent. And when the film is over you are left with something truly unique.