A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Directed by John Cassavetes
According to director John Cassavetes, his 1974 film, A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, is the story of two people who go to great emotional lengths for the sake of love. Now, that may sound a bit simplistic, but if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know the ‘emotional lengths’ he speaks of are anything but easy. Nick and Mabel, the husband and wife at the center of this story, suffer through unbearable emotional distress, shed a great many tears, and make decisions that are the most difficult they’ve ever had to face. Yet through it all, each takes comfort in the fact that they have the other to lean on.
Lately, Mabel (Gena Rowlands) has been acting very strange. Nick (Peter Falk), who has obviously noticed his wife’s bizarre behavior, decides to overlook it at first for the sake of the family, but when Mabel crosses the line into madness, he knows something must be done. At the insistence of both his mother (Katherine Cassavetes) and the family doctor (Eddie Shaw), Nick has Mabel committed to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. Nick loves his wife dearly and longs for his life to return to normal, but secretly he worries that this forced confinement may ultimately destroy Mabel’s already fragile psyche.
The whole time I was watching A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was spying on Nick and Mabel, which I’m sure was the very sensation director Cassavetes hoped to achieve. The scene where the doctor arrives to take Mabel away is as intensely emotional a moment as any you’re likely to see. It begins with Mabel arguing bitterly with her mother-in-law. Then, once she figures out why the doctor has made this particular house call, Mabel tries to avoid him by running behind the couch in the living room. Essentially, Mabel has what amounts to a nervous breakdown right before our eyes, and it’s more than Nick can bear. He continuously mutters “I love you” at an almost inaudible level, and can’t even bring himself to follow Mabel up the stairs when she runs to their children for comfort. This is man and wife at their lowest point, and I admit that witnessing this emotional outburst left me feeling like an unwelcome intruder, one who had eavesdropped on what was obviously a traumatic moment for a very distraught couple.
A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE is, as Cassavetes said, a bitter reminder of the true cost of love. Yet, as we see in this film, no matter what that cost may be, love will always collect in the end. Nick and Mabel go through hell together, yet what remains important to them is that they are together. They’ve been through the wringer, so to speak, and will more than likely face tougher times in the days ahead, but at least they’re hanging in there, and each seems willing to pay their dues for the other. In spite of everything love throws at them, the alternative to paying up is too depressing for them to even consider.
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