|
Directed by: John Cassavetes Starring: Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Katherine Cassavetes, Lady Rowlands If I was forced to perform the excruciatingly difficult task of making a top 10 list, A Woman Under the Influence would definitely be a contender for one of those spots. Though from a technical standpoint it's unremarkable (Cassavetes never paid much mind to the photographic aspects of filmmaking), it's a tour de force of perfect writing as performed by brilliant actors under a powerful director. Gena Rowlands is amazing in her performance, and Peter Falk is excellent too. It's not easy to watch -- the tension and awkwardness is packed so densely it could drive the viewer as mad as the characters -- but it's impossible not to be held in its sway. The film is about insanity of a nuanced and thoroughly un-Hollywood kind. Mabel's madness is nervous and desperate and held in by only the barest of threads. But there's also Nick's madness, his violent need for a happiness he can't define, a happiness that one feels he wouldn't know what to do with if he ever found it. And yet despite their madness, I feel that I understand and sympathize with these characters so deeply. I wince at their mistakes but I know exactly why they make them. And it's not just about madness, there's so much more, too much for me to talk about. Heartbreaking, fascinating, frustrating, thought-provoking, and very real. An incredibly rich, though constantly painful and emotionally draining, experience. RATING: 5.5 PROS: intense and genuine CONS: cinematography nothing special ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072417/
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2005 18:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 22:46 |
|