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Gena Rowlands Remembered: How ‘A Woman Under the Influence’ Transformed the Craft of Screen Acting
Gena Rowlands always gave credit to her husband, John Cassavetes' genius, but his movies wouldn't have been nearly as revolutionary without her.
Given his own background (he played Mia Farrow’s husband in “Rosemary’s Baby” the same year he made “Faces”), Cassavetes was the apotheosis of an “actor’s director.” He implicitly trusted those he’d cast in his films to make the characters their own, listening to their suggestions and encouraging whatever original ideas they might bring. To put the film in context, “The Stepford Wives” (from “Rosemary’s Baby” writer Ira Levin) had landed two years earlier, which goes to show that society was questioning whether the notion of a “perfect wife” was a reasonable ideal. Watching the film, one gets the impression that Mabel has been inundated by decades of Hollywood movies and Madison Avenue advertising — misleading, impossible depictions that present wives as submissive, supportive partners.
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