A Woman under the Influence (film with introduction by Pierre Muylle)

A Woman under the Influence 1974 | US | 146 minutes | Drama | (Dutch subtitled) Director: John Cassavetes Cast: Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk Thirty years after the passing of John Cassavetes, the godfather of American independent cinema, it is time to re-examine his masterpiece A Woman Under the Influence . Everything seems superficially fine in the family of Nick (Peter Falk) and Mabel (Gena Rowlands). But behind the appearance of normality, Mabel, an imaginative and talented woman, struggles with the feeling of being trapped in her role as a housewife, mother, and wife. After a suicide attempt, she ends up in a psychiatric clinic. Cassavetes, known for films like Husbands and Gloria , sketches with A Woman Under the Influence a moving portrait of a family that, despite the difficult circumstances, does not give up hope. The film shows that ‘being crazy’ is a flexible concept and was rewarded with two Oscar nominations: for Gena Rowlands (Beste Actrice) and Cassavetes himself (Beste Regie). As biographer Tom Charity puts it: “Cassavetes was merciful, stubborn, honest, contradictory, romantic, angry, and exuberant. And all these qualities are reflected in his films.” The film will be introduced by Pierre Muylle.