Revisiting "A Woman Under The Influence"

In 1972, Martin Scorsese made the Depression-era gangster film, “Boxcar Bertha,” for Roger Corman.  For those of you who may not be familiar with Corman, he was (and still is) a B-movie producer, who is known for having given Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, John Sayles, et al., their first big break.  After Scorsese screened a rough cut of his first Hollywood feature to John Cassavetes, the latter took the former aside and famously said, “Marty, you just spent a year of your life making a piece of shit.  Don’t you have something you really want to do?  Something personal?”  

A year later, thanks to Cassavetes’ encouragement, the highly autobiographical “Mean Streets” was born.  Championed by the influential movie critic, Pauline Kael, “Mean Streets” was a breakthrough for Scorsese and his then-unknown actors, Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro.  Then, in 1974, Ellen Burstyn chose Scorsese to direct her in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.”  Scorsese’s follow-up to “Mean Streets” received a warm reception from critics and was selected to close the New York Film Festival.  

Meanwhile, Cassavetes’ own personal filmmaking pursuits had fallen on hard times.  The so-called “Father of Independent Film” could not find a distributor for “A Woman Under The Influence,” a film he wrote, produced, and directed (and financed with the help of his wife/leading lady, Gena Rowlands, and friend/leading man, Peter Falk).  In fact, Cassavetes was literally carrying the reels of the film under his arm from one theater to the next, in the hope of getting someone to play his movie.  However, he couldn’t get anyone interested.  He couldn’t even get people to watch it, including the coordinators of the New York Film Festival.  

Then came the call from Scorsese.  When Scorsese learned that “A Woman Under The Influence” had been flatly rejected by the festival, he threatened to pull “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” from the festival – unless it agreed to screen Cassavetes’ film, too.  Ironically, it would be Cassavetes’ film that became, not just a critical success, but a hit at the box office as well.  Cassavetes and Rowlands would also go on to be nominated for Oscars while Scorsese was passed over.  Francis Ford Coppola would win Best Director that year for “The Godfather: Part II,” beating Cassavetes.  And Ellen Burstyn would win Best Actress, beating Rowlands.  

In 1990, “A Woman Under The Influence” was deemed “culturally significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. 

In my opinion, this is personal filmmaking at its very best, and Rowlands’ and Falk’s performances are some of the greatest (and most challenging) ever captured on film.  I hope you enjoy the following clip and, if you wish to see the film in its entirety, I strongly suggest purchasing the Cassavetes Box Set that the Criterion Collection released a year or so ago.  -Dax

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLkJ9um-qA&feature=related