A Woman Under The Influence - 10/10
If you ever watch movies, this is one you have to see.
Best neo-realistic American film ever, and there aren't many unfortunately (but I've had many great suggestions here, so if you have ideas..)
So real, affecting, so much is said without even saying at times. You see the misunderstandings of life, they don't spell it out for you. Cassavetes doesn't say "Ok, here" and uses the actor as a prop to deliver a message. In the past I saw a lot of reviews, but they never got to the bone, very vague stuff. I might watch it again and deliver "blow-by-blow" - (I've wanted to write novelizations of movies that weren't already made into a book)..
Though Marlon Brando is my favorite actor, I think this is the greatest acting ever seen, in any country. I haven't seen every movie, but a few thousand.
And to be even more real, the movie had people close to John Cassavetes. John's wife plays the leading role, and the leading man is a friend and a guy who acted in a few of John's movies. John's mother plays the leading character's role, and Gena's mother actually plays her mother. There are other guys from previous movies (Hugh), etc..
I'd like to talk about this movie more, in any thread. I think Mabel was pushed a bit. She is an individual, is eccentric, has her quirks, but it's what makes her. Though it's a long movie, because it's real, there isn't time for the usual movie that narrates in the average way of being economical with the script. We don't know much about the 6 months in between but can guess. We also don't know that much before the movie starts, but we hear during an argument the family started like a shotgun wedding. It was just a physical thing, because Mabel is very beautiful, but accidents happen, and then family happens. Even at the end when she asks if he loves her, he doesn't say it, tries to, but maybe he doesn't. He always wants to put a front, where she hates acting "normal" and appearing "normal" but because she wants to make him happy, she has to constantly ask "Did I say anything wrong?" Was I OK?" but we see that when the kids are in his care, it's even worse! He's crazier than she is, but not in society's eyes. If a man yells or goes berserk, "he's a guy" (or testosterone), or it's more acceptable. But if you
live a different way, or are so human, it bothers people. I love when she gets so angry in the street when she's trying to find out the time. People in general have been dehumanized, so it's not her, it's them, but when the majority become dehumanized, truth is lost. Mabel even says "I need to know the time to pick up my kids fro the bus" - but the kids were always safe around her. Even after when she comes back, Nick is constantly trying to make everything look right, or be right, and he overwhelms her by constantly doing what he isn't supposed. He does NOT act on intuition, and instead out of ignorance. Even the little things - Mabels wants to be with her father after she comes home. She sits on his lap and kisses him repeatedly, he's probably the only one who really protected her. She doesn't have a very warm relationship with her mother. We see how Nick is affected by his domineering mother. It's also funny that the doctor is the worst out of the bunch considering his position in the family and his profession. He's constantly bringing problems that don't exist just by mentioning the absence of a problem, standing up and sitting down as if he was a god, like he's taking care of her.
There's no manual in life, and life is an accident, but the decisions we make not affect our own lives, but others, and it spreads all around.. Again, I highly recommend watching this movie, Cassavetes is like no one else, this movie is like no other movie.
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