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Special Features
- Audio commentary featuring longtime John Cassavetes collaborators Michaeil Ferris (camera operator) and Bo Harwood (sound recordist-composer)
- Video conversation between actors Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk
- Audio interview with Cassavetes by film historians Michel Ciment and Michael Wilson, conducted in 1975
- Stills gallery featuring rare behind-the-scenes production photos
- A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones and an interview with Cassavetes from 1975
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
John Cassavetes's long, free-form drama is best appreciated as a good showcase for Gena Rowlands, playing a woman whose sanity literally appears to be shattering as different aspects of her personality eclipse others at various times. Peter Falk plays her struggling, blue-collar husband, trying to understand the phenomenon and sometimes losing his patience. As with most of Cassavetes's works as a director, one can't help but find one's attention drifting in and out (especially at two and a half hours), but Rowland's performance is a key reason the film has been declared a "national treasure" by the Library of Congress. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
John Cassavetes devastating drama details the emotional breakdown of a suburban housewife and her family s struggle to save her from herself. Starring Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands (in two of the most harrowing screen performances of the 1970s) as a married couple deeply in love yet unable to express that love in terms the other can understand, the film is an uncompromising portrait of domestic turmoil. The Criterion Collection is proud to present one of the benchmark films of American independent cinema a heroic document from a true maverick director. Available for the first time as a stand-alone release, from the box set John Cassavetes: Five Films.
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
Restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by longtime John Cassavetes collaborators Mike Ferris (camera operator) and Bo Harwood (sound recordist/composer)
Video conversation between actors Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk
Audio interview with Cassavetes by film historians Michel Ciment and Michael Wilson, conducted in 1975
Theatrical trailer
Stills gallery featuring rare behind-the-scenes production photos
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones and an interview with Cassavetes
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
Restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary by longtime John Cassavetes collaborators Mike Ferris (camera operator) and Bo Harwood (sound recordist/composer)
Video conversation between actors Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk
Audio interview with Cassavetes by film historians Michel Ciment and Michael Wilson, conducted in 1975
Theatrical trailer
Stills gallery featuring rare behind-the-scenes production photos
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones and an interview with Cassavetes
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
See the other reviews for words on the great performances and natural energy of this film; I want to warn everyone off this sub-standard DVD version.
First off, the disc is 2-sided -- the last 45 minutes of the movie are on side 2 and the side break is extremely abrupt. The film is only about 2-1/2 hours long, it should comfortably fit on a dual-layer disc. Second, the film is presented in full screen, not letter-boxed in any way. Finally, the first side has some strange defect where the chapter/time elapsed are not available or displayed.
This is supposed to be a "Special Edition"!
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I haven't been able to think about anything but this film for some time now. The truth of the matter is that no matter how frustrating the film can be and no matter how irritating the actions of many people within the film may be, the powerful performance by Gena Rowlands is so powerful that it makes the entire exercise well worth it. After seeing this film a few times and salivating over this woman's complete transformation I'm ready and willing to say that she delivers what may possibly be the finest performance by any actress ever committed to the big screen.
So, regardless of your feelings on the film in general, there is no denying that this brilliantly constructed performance deserves to be seen.
The film tells the story of Nick and Mabel Longhetti. They are a middle aged married couple with three kids and a big problem; Mabel isn't all there. Mabel suffers from a mental illness that causes her to repel those around her, especially her husband Nick, who loves her but doesn't understand how to deal with her.
The film is basically a study of what mental illness really is, literally and figuratively. Mabel is the one suffering literally, but Nick is definitely ill and or mad in a more figurative sense; thus making him the more dangerous and unlikable character. His madness transcends the boundaries of `frustrated victim' and he becomes an enabler and an abuser in order to try and restore some sense of order in his home. Mabel, the primary cause of all the turmoil, is never acting out of malicious intent but is always portrayed as trying to restore some sort of peace, and so her actions are perceived as normal compared to her husbands reactions to them. Sure, she is a little eccentric, but her madness is almost dwarfed by the effect it has on those around her.
This was such a smart move, because it challenges all we know about what the true sense of mental deterioration is. Mabel seems to be normal to us; we love her and appreciate her and want her to succeed. Nick appears to be the insane one, thus further impressing on us the off-kilter appearance of normalcy.
It's a bold move, but in my opinion it was well worth it in this case.
While I personally was off put by the unresolved ending provided to the film, I must say that it adds a layer of stark realism to the films controversial subject matter. I won't say how the film ends, but in my opinion it was probably the way it needed to end, regardless of how I would have liked things to end. The thin line between mental health and regression is kept throughout the film and thus is something of a conversation starter upon the films conclusion.
Who was really crazy; Nick or Mabel?
Were they both?
Neither?
I also thought that the reactions from friends and family were pertinent to the morale of the film. Having the varying degrees of their individual stances on the subject made known helped create an ambiguous tone to the film. This is not a film that sports any answers to the questions it asks but forces the audience to decide for themselves.
I do admit that this film will be off putting to some. The ending, the whole idea of Nick, as well as some other ways in which the disease is regarded may turn some off to the concept director John Cassavetes was toying with here, but truly this is an art piece that deserves to be seen and discussed. I personally love this movie and find it to be a startling and very intensely frank portrait of the American marriage, complete with its ups and downs. It is less a film about mental disease and more a film about human relationships and the excuses we make for our selfish and domineering behavior. Using the backdrop of mental insanity in order to explore this subject was an inspired decision.
So, regardless of your feelings on the film in general, there is no denying that this brilliantly constructed performance deserves to be seen.
The film tells the story of Nick and Mabel Longhetti. They are a middle aged married couple with three kids and a big problem; Mabel isn't all there. Mabel suffers from a mental illness that causes her to repel those around her, especially her husband Nick, who loves her but doesn't understand how to deal with her.
The film is basically a study of what mental illness really is, literally and figuratively. Mabel is the one suffering literally, but Nick is definitely ill and or mad in a more figurative sense; thus making him the more dangerous and unlikable character. His madness transcends the boundaries of `frustrated victim' and he becomes an enabler and an abuser in order to try and restore some sense of order in his home. Mabel, the primary cause of all the turmoil, is never acting out of malicious intent but is always portrayed as trying to restore some sort of peace, and so her actions are perceived as normal compared to her husbands reactions to them. Sure, she is a little eccentric, but her madness is almost dwarfed by the effect it has on those around her.
This was such a smart move, because it challenges all we know about what the true sense of mental deterioration is. Mabel seems to be normal to us; we love her and appreciate her and want her to succeed. Nick appears to be the insane one, thus further impressing on us the off-kilter appearance of normalcy.
It's a bold move, but in my opinion it was well worth it in this case.
While I personally was off put by the unresolved ending provided to the film, I must say that it adds a layer of stark realism to the films controversial subject matter. I won't say how the film ends, but in my opinion it was probably the way it needed to end, regardless of how I would have liked things to end. The thin line between mental health and regression is kept throughout the film and thus is something of a conversation starter upon the films conclusion.
Who was really crazy; Nick or Mabel?
Were they both?
Neither?
I also thought that the reactions from friends and family were pertinent to the morale of the film. Having the varying degrees of their individual stances on the subject made known helped create an ambiguous tone to the film. This is not a film that sports any answers to the questions it asks but forces the audience to decide for themselves.
I do admit that this film will be off putting to some. The ending, the whole idea of Nick, as well as some other ways in which the disease is regarded may turn some off to the concept director John Cassavetes was toying with here, but truly this is an art piece that deserves to be seen and discussed. I personally love this movie and find it to be a startling and very intensely frank portrait of the American marriage, complete with its ups and downs. It is less a film about mental disease and more a film about human relationships and the excuses we make for our selfish and domineering behavior. Using the backdrop of mental insanity in order to explore this subject was an inspired decision.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By "dave9000"
Format:DVD
Regarding the movie - it's cinema verite style (in other words, kitchen sink realism) will make you feel distinctly uncomfortable and "there" in the room with Falk and Rowlands and their troubled relationship. For this reason alone, the film is amazing. Peter Falk is unbelievably strong. Anyone who sees him as just "Columbo" needs to cop a load of this movie. There are very few actors alive or dead who could deliver this kind of raw, honest performance - De Niro, Hoffman, Pacino, you name it. The problem I have with the DVD is, aside from the fact that there are absolutely no special features or anything, it is double-sided. Meaning, half way through the movie, you have to take out the disc and turn it over. I don't know if a lot of DVD's are double-sided but that was kind of a bummer for me. To other people, this may not be a big deal, though.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Best Of Cassavetes
A very emotional statement about the role of married women, from the dated vantage point of the 1970s, thatl shows the plight of a woman who has difficulty advocating for herself. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Lindsay Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Work of genius
The trick with Cassavetes is to enjoy what you see in front of you, moment to moment, and to stop waiting for something to happen. it already is happening. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Derek Hunter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Family Beyond Breaking Point
I know that sounds very cliche now, but in 1974 no American director had revealed hidden extremes of family life so honestly. Peter Falk's character is extremely tricky to judge. Read more
Published 13 months ago by mr. critic
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bad at Loving Each Other
This long film is unsettling and touching and beautiful and scary usually at the same time. You end up asking yourself all kinds of questions like Why is this woman losing it and... Read more
Published 15 months ago by M. D. Buchholtz
4.0 out of 5 stars
The harrrowing portrait of a family the cell of society !
In light of more than thirty-five years after this film was made, one can observe that without a shadow of doubt the seventies were by far, the golden years of the introspective... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Hiram Gomez Pardo
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Woman Under the Influence
Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands give excellent proformances----very moving----but the story is a little off beat and certainly not a happy or cheerful movie
Published 21 months ago by rw
5.0 out of 5 stars
Falk is incredible
Peter Falk as the confused blue-collar husband who is in over his head dealing with mental illness is the performance of a generation. Read more
Published on April 5, 2011 by halmt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gena great as poor Mabel
Gena, Gena, Gena; great again in a hard role, portraying a sad, lost woman, who it turns out, may be more sane than most of her family and friends. Read more
Published on August 9, 2010 by Mary Moehle
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unhappy with this DVD
I expected a better edition of this movie title. To use a photography term, it was unsharp, it required a disc turnover to complete viewing and their were no special features,... Read more
Published on July 29, 2010 by Lamplighter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not An Easy Film, But A Great One (And A Great Star)
See "G. Merritt" (not a relative of mine, so far as I know) on this same page for an excellent summation of the plot. Read more
Published on November 16, 2009 by J. Merritt
