The Lady in Blue

Starring:Kira Reed
Director: Michael Paul Girard
Studio: York Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Courageous and Uncompromising Film
Absolutely Unforgettable
Worth Seeing
An American Masterpiece
Has Cassavetes ever watched a Cassavetes film?

A Woman Under the Influence
Starring: Peter Falk , Gena Rowlands , Fred Draper , Lady Rowlands , and Katherine Cassavetes
Director: John Cassavetes
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

Faces
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Gloria (1980) (Ws Sub)
The Lady from Shanghai
Opening Night

ASIN: 6304864159
Release Date: 1998-03-24

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

Description

A tough-minded, moving film about a working-class housewife's mental breakdown caused by imposed social rules. This insightful study of sexual politics earned both Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes an Oscar nomination. Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, and Matthew Cassel.

Customer Reviews:

Courageous and Uncompromising Film.......2007-04-28

This movie is a breakthrough - courageous and uncompromising view at the family and at the marriage where both spouses love each other deeply but they are both not well, they don't know how communicate when somebody else present, even their own children. They could be happy on the deserted island but not surrounded by friends and families. I was fascinated by both, Peter Falk's and Gena Rowlands' performances. She looked like a little girl, trapped in a woman's body - confused, insecure, listening to what is inside of her. When she said to her children, "I hope that you will never grow up", she meant it because she never felt comfortable as a grown up. I could not take my yes off Rowlands. Her performance is on par with the best study of nervous breakdown I've seen, and this is Liv Ullmann in Bergman's "Face to Face".

Peter Falks was also a revelation - I love him as Lt. Columbo in the TV series but he is a completely different character here; in a way, he is as mentally unbalanced as his wife is. The fact that he loves her but never hesitates to abuse her makes him terrifying - you never know how he will act in the next moment, and he does not know himself. Directing and writing are absolutely first class, and I am very exited to see more films by John Cassavetes, the Godfather of American Independent film-making and a father of American "New Wave"

4.5/5

Absolutely Unforgettable.......2007-04-07

I think the director hit the bullseye here.

Not co-incidentally the documentary "A Decade Under the Influence" was named after this film--showcasing those renegade filmmakers of the 1970s who defied Hollywood in their portrayal of realistic, sympathethic characters and the everyday living room dramas encasing them.

Gena Rowlands in her tour-de-force performace as the Woman Under the Influence, implied insantiy, but truthfully, just trying to function in the world around her--her blue collar foreman husband, her children whom she adores just short of pathology, and the enclosure of her housewife home.

it doesn't matter, at least to me, what drives her off the edge, just watch Gena Rowlands having that marvelous breakdown in her living room which we all deserve to have, fighting off invisible demons, while her dimwitted husband tries to deal with the unraveling of his wife. "Now don't go crazy on me" he reasons, while she just fights and lashes out against mental illness demons that seem to be coming in closer and closet to her physical space. See it and you will never, ever forget her piece of acting.

It's one of the greatest, most harrowing pieces of cinema I've ever seen. It's a slowbuild up, and the raison d'etre for it happens right under your nose. It speaks to the insanity of the times--a woman trying so hard to --again Im trying to rationalze what's happening here, but truthfully, you just have to see the film for yourself and see what's going and maybe make up your own mind,.

I see a complexity in the human spirit, and a challenge of wills, between the rational and the unrational,
all brought forth by Ms. Rowland. There's more to chew on and digest, but I suggest this movie for
its acting alone. I've never forgotten it and may write more on it here, but it's just one of those things that stands alone in time. Thank God this movie will never be remade, because it just wouldn't make any sense now but also for the very reason that the Mabel role belongs to no-one else than Gena Rowlands and Gena Rowlands alone.

Worth Seeing.......2006-11-16

The relationship between Mabel and Nick is the heart of the film. Just when you think Falk is playing Nick as the ever-suffering patient husband, he shows the character to be much more complex. Rowlands as Mabel is even better - there isn't a facial expression or mannerism that's wasted. Her longing to connect with other people is almost painful to watch. Although several of Mabel's actions strongly imply mental illness, it's fascinating to think about the fine line between appropriate and inappropriate behavior among the characters. Why is Mabel's Swan Lake routine any crazier than the guys who burst into song at the dinner table? Why is her after-school party any crazier than the trip to the beach? I think it's too simplistic to just say it's sexism. Much more subtle, often unspoken rules and boundaries seem to be in play. I also appreciated Cassavetes's refusal to romanticize working class life. I know first-hand that there's warmth and humor and devotion to family, but often there's also a particular kind of brutality, close-mindedness, and helplessness that can deeply damage the lives of people who have to make a living out of their sweat.

An American Masterpiece.......2006-07-06

There's not much else to say about Cassvetes' film other than it's a masterpiece of the dramatic arts. Unrelenting and fascinating, it depicts a young wife's descent into madness. It's a bitter slice of life, but it's also exactly that: life captured in all its pain and glory through artistry of the highest order. Gena Rowland's performance is probably one of the finest ever captured on film. If you enjoy this film, I also recommend tracking down "The Pumpkin Eater" starring Anne Bancroft - a similar film of a woman driven to breakdown by the cruel informalities of what we call love. Handled with sleek overtones of British filmmaking during the 60s, it may stand as a counterpoint to the gritty reality of America's great "Woman Under the Influence."

Has Cassavetes ever watched a Cassavetes film?.......2006-04-06

Mabel is suffering a mental breakdown. This movie follows her disturbance, her family dealing with it, and her subsequent return in order to show an unconventional and more true-to-life account of mental image. A lot of it is claustrophobic and irritating, but it's one of those movies of which one can't deny its powers.

Now I appreciate Cassavetes' approach to cinema, but I just can't like it, since a large part of it seems directly produced to be completely unlikeable. This movie clocks in to about two and a half hours, a long feature even for a typical film, but as it's mostly long scenes of uncomfortable reactions, it gets a little hard to take at points. And near the end, when the husband guy is shouting, "God I could kill you, I'm going to kill you!" I believe others could stand with me when I say that every bone in my body wished he would kill someone or someone would die just so that some form of change, closure, or denouement could occur. No such luck, but that's the point, isn't it? I like Faces a lot better, but this one I think is a lot more remarkably structured. It seems almost as if it doesn't have a particular reason to end, just ending whenever, but the fact that it's split into very long, distinctive scenes (something like five or six of them) helps to realize that this film works a lot in real-time, showing domestic issues that tragically go on just about as long as we spend watching them... longer, actually, but please, let's not encourage him! Let's face it. There is NO entertainment value in it, there is little compelling about it, and it's about as nice to watch as sticking pins in your eyes... and yet, it's still a good movie. I just can't help but wonder if Cassavetes has ever watched one of his own films.

--PolarisDiB

Average customer rating:

Funny Adult Movie!

The Lady in Blue
Starring: Kira Reed
Director: Michael Paul Girard
Manufacturer: York Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005UQA8
Release Date: 2002-02-12

Customer Reviews:

Funny Adult Movie!.......2002-09-07

I saw this movie back in 1997, about a year after it's initial release. It is one of the very few "soft" adult movies that I have seen in a long time that I really like. The plot consists of a lady police officer that is trying to solve a case of a love triangle. The lead character (Kira Reed) is so funny in her demeanor and narration throughout the movie. The sex scenes could be edited from this movie and it would still be funny to watch! If you like adult movies that aren't too graphic, and with tongue-in-cheek humour thrown in, then this movie is for you!

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