If you haven't yet made any progress through the filmography of John Cassavetes then I urge you to do so at the earliest opportunity. I can say this with confidence now, having finally checked out at least three or four of his movies throughout the last year. Yes, I was slow to get there, but that won't stop me acting all smug and knowledgeable now.
The presumptuous part of me suspects that I have already now seen the very best from the filmography of Cassavetes, because this is truly an astonishing piece of work, but I shouldn't be too hasty, considering I previously had the same thought after watching the brilliant The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie. This will definitely be a tough one to beat though.
"What's it all about?" I pretend to hear you ask. Gena Rowlands plays Mabel, a housewife and mother who seems to have some mental health problems that put a strain on her marriage to Nick (Peter Falk). Alcohol being added to the situation can create a bigger problem, but the temptation is hard to resist when Nick ends up forced into working some extra-long shifts that keep him away from home for a full night on top of his standard hours.
Written and directed by Cassavetes (originally conceived as a play until Rowlands, his wife, stated that it would be too difficult to play out night after night), this is a seemingly slight film that gradually leads viewers into deeper and deeper waters. The lengthy runtime allows for viewers to observe the leads in a variety of situations, whether showing how much they love one another or showing how much harm they can cause one another. Leave these two people alone, unbothered by any other life obligations, and all might appear to be blissful for a while, but that isn’t the life they have. There are young children to consider, and friends and family members who can sour the atmosphere with their criticism and judgement.
Rowlands and Falk are both flawless here, delivering natural and exposed performances that show them at their ugliest, as well as occasionally at their loveliest. Responding brilliantly to the methods used by Cassavetes to keep things feeling as honest and real as possible (spontaneous decisions on character details, not telling everyone when the cameras were rolling, etc), Rowlands and Falk give the kind of acting masterclass that makes you re-appraise almost every other film performance that you viewed as being great. Everyone else onscreen does just fine, but the film stays focused on our leads at all times, and rightly so. It is heart-breaking to feel a growing affection for Rowlands, but watch her erratic behaviour worsen and cause problems. Falk, on the other hand, is someone you have to work hard to view sympathetically, especially during the times when he is violent or just blinkered to the real help his wife needs.
Not an easy viewing experience, and with no easy answers made available, this is an effective and devastating look at how much worse things can get when mental health issues are not properly treated. While there is very rarely any kind of miraculous solution, it’s painful to watch someone struggle so much without any genuine support or decent coping mechanisms. Viewers should feel anger as gaslighting and controlling behaviour often stand in place of any real attempts to help a woman clearly moving closer towards a place where the lighting is low and it would be all too easy to choose the wrong exit.
This should be shown in every film study course, and I am not entirely against the idea of it being shown to every couple about to get married. The more extreme moments only seem that way to people who have been fortunate enough to maintain their mental equilibrium throughout their entire life. Everyone else will recognise bits and pieces from this, and it’s the truth at the heart of it all (both in content and the performances), that makes it devastating and essential.
10/10
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