A Woman Under the Influence

Celebrate the late, great Gena Rowlands at a special 50th anniversary screening of John Cassavetes’ 1974 classic A Woman Under the Influence, featuring an electrifying, Oscar-nominated performance from Rowlands that helped define a decade!

One of cinema’s all-time great performances anchors John Cassavetes’s classic portrait of a woman on the verge. Gena Rowlands stars as Mabel, a hard-drinking L.A. housewife whose behavior has grown increasingly erratic, much to the concern of her construction foreman husband, Nick (Peter Falk). As Mabel’s decline accelerates from endearingly kooky to bleakly incoherent, Nick does what he can to try to stabilize her, but a breakdown begins to seem all but inevitable. Rowlands turns in an Oscar-nominated, tour-de-force performance, conjuring an indelible and immensely moving portrait of a tumultuous inner life at odds with the banal reality of working-class suburban life. This landmark film, a benchmark of American independent cinema, is one of the most beloved works from the extraordinary maverick director, John Cassavetes. (Dir. by John Cassasvetes, 1974, USA, 155 mins., Rated R)