A Woman Under the Influence
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Synopsis
Receiving its long-overdue Blu-ray world premiere, A Woman Under the Influence is arguably John Cassavetes most popular and influential film. Released in 1974 it stars Cassavetes' wife Gena Rowlands (Gloria, Faces) and the legendary Peter Falk (Columbo) as Mabel and Nick Longhetti, a blue-collar couple struggling to cope with her slide into mental illness.
A key work from a golden era of American independent filmmaking this masterpiece is as powerful and devastating today as it was when it was first released. The film received two Oscar® nominations - Rowlands for Best Actress and Cassavetes for Best Director, losing out to Francis Ford Coppola for Godfather Pt II.
Picture 9/10
Continuing through the works of John Cassavetes, BFI next presents A Woman Under the Influence in the aspect ratio of about 1.85:1 on this dual-layer Blu-ray disc with a new 1080p/24hz high-def transfer. Though the previous Cassavetes titles, Shadows and Faces, were region free, A Woman Under the Influence is unfortunately Region B locked and North American viewers will require a player that can play Region B content.
BFI delivers what has to be one of the most film-like transfers I’ve seen on the format and though I was expecting this transfer to be stunning it still managed to surprise me. Either due to shooting conditions or Cassavete’s style there are moments where the image can look soft or out-of-focus but typically the picture is sharp with clearly defined edges and sharp details. Despite a generally dreary colour scheme the colours still manage to pop, like reds, greens, and purples, flesh tones look natural, and black levels are quite good. The digital transfer also doesn’t show any artifacts of any kind and it renders the film’s grain structure perfectly, even when it gets very heavy.
The print is in excellent shape as well. A few minor blemishes remain, like white specs of debris and a stray hair here and there, but as a whole, similar to Criterion’s DVD release, there’s very little here.
I had high expectations to begin with but I think BFI still managed to stun me, delivering one of the most stunning transfers I’ve come across this year.
Audio 7/10
Another pleasant surprise is the lossless PCM mono track we get here. Other than a few edgy places the track is clean with little distortion. Some music can sound flat but voices and sound effects present some noticeable range and sound about as natural as possible when the age of the materials is considered.
Extras 4/10
Criterion’s edition actually came with a nice selection of special features, including a commentary, but unfortunately none of that has been carried over to this edition. The Blu-ray disc itself only features two theatrical trailers. The second disc, which is a DVD, presents the film in standard definition, the two trailers, and then two other features.
The first feature is a 15-minute interview with Peter Falk, who talks about first working with Cassavetes on Husbands and then his desire to work with him again on A Woman Under the Influence. He talks about how Cassavetes worked with actors, usually holding back as to not influence them too much (though if a scene wasn’t working he would guide them) and then talks about the characters he and Gena Rowlands play in the film. The interview segment is from the same piece that was used for the Falk interview on the Shadows Blu-ray release and like that it’s another fond recollection of working with the director.
The other supplement is a 19-minute interview with Cassavetes’ former secretary Elaine Kagan (“there were no assistants then” she jokes.) During the first half of the interview she recalls what it was like working for Cassavetes, going from studio to studio to pitch scripts and films, and she talks about working on a few films of his, primarily A Woman Under the Influence. She also talks a great deal about Rowlands and offers general anecdotes about that time period. It feels shortened down from a lengthier piece but it’s another engaging addition.
That’s unfortunately it but BFI of course include one of their stellar booklets that features an essay on the film by Tom Charity and a recollection on the making of the film by Al Ruban. Following these is the reprint of a lengthy interview between Judith McNally and John Cassavetes from an issue of Filmmakers’ Newsletter from 1975. The booklet then concludes with a short biography on Cassavetes and then notes about the transfer and the supplements.
In all the material is good, but it’s slim. It’s unfortunate that BFI wasn’t able to get some of the material that appears on Criterion’s DVD.
Closing
There’s some good material here but the supplements are slim, and Criterion’s older DVD edition tops it in this regard. But BFI’s audio/video presentation is stellar, certainly exceeding my expectations and delivering one of the most film-like transfers I’ve seen recently. It comes with a very high recommendation
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