The Last Movie I Saw

For many years now the University of Buffalo has offered a weekly film seminar that is available to students for credit but with the screenings also open to the public. Every semester when they publish the upcoming slate of films, I tend to drool a little as it always includes a wide array of classics that I've never seen, or never seen on the big screen (or in some cases, not in many many years). Unfortunately, I've never been able to attend a session because I'm never in Buffalo during the school year (and there are no screenings over the summer or Christmas breaks when I am there). Finally, last night I got my chance to go to one of these things, and it was great-- it kind of took me back to my own undergraduate days taking film classes at UB with Alan Spiegel, Stefan Fleischer, Bill Simon and Milton Plesur. Hosted by English professors Diane Christian and Bruce Jackson, the seminar included some introductory remarks, and then post-film discussion, which proved to be nearly as interesting as the movie itself.

The film was A Woman Under the Influence (1974), directed by John Cassavetes and starring Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk, which I had never seen before. To be honest, it was not the title from the schedule I would have preferred to catch (last week, they showed The Friends of Eddie Coyle, which seemed much more appealing to me). I haven't actually seen many of Cassavetes films, and those I have seen I've liked very much, but something about the story of a woman's emotional breakdown sounded just a little too movie-of-the-week for my tastes. I should've trusted that Cassavetes would know how to handle such material in a fresh and interesting fashion, which proved to be the case. This was a very, very good movie, by turns moving, harrowing, and funny. Much of the post-film discussion rightfully focused on the fact that, while the audience has been set up by Hollywood conventions to measure such a plot in relation to good guys and bad guys (e.g. bullying husband vs victimized wife), there are no such hard divisions here as the characters display the kind of moral and emotional complexity for which real life has yet to define comfortable or reassuring patterns. Rowlands and Falk are really good at constructing the details of their relationship, both good and bad, which allows one to recognize the true horror of the breakdown while retaining some sense of possibility for rebuilding the family as time goes on (though it's hardly a sure thing). It's not the kind of movie that I can imagine watching over and over, but I've got the feeling that if I do see it again, even more will be revealed about the nature of these character's lives and their connection to the emotions and actions of real people. One would hope the result of that is a heightened sense of empathy for the various demons we are all confronted with on occasion.