A Woman Under the Influence

Friday, May 31 - Thursday, June 27, 2024

50th Anniversary!

Nominated for multiple Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes (and taking home her share of wins), Gena Rowlands is a legend forever. Across her extensive career, she’s worked with Jim Jarmsuch, Paul Mazursky, William Friedkin, Terence Davies — and John Cassavetes, with whom she had one of the greatest ongoing actor-director collaborations in film history.

Charting Rowlands’ transformation as “Mabel” from endearingly kooky to bleakly incoherent and back again, A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE is perhaps the most important examination of mental health ever captured onscreen.
Cassavetes observes the ricochets between Mabel’s health and her in-laws’ “influence”— but at the heart of this film is her relationship with her conservative husband (an equally amazing Peter Falk), who struggles in vain to pull Mabel out of her ever-worsening decline. Both tough-as-bricks and delicate, WOMAN goes straight for the throat.

“Cassavetes’ masterpiece, and one of the best films of its decade.” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

• Country USA
• Year 1974
• Running Time 127 minutes
• Director John Cassavetes
• Cast Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Fred Draper, Lady Rowlands, Katherine Cassavetes
• Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.