MovieChat Forums > A Woman Under the Influence (1974) Discussion > Best Actress Oscar

Best Actress Oscar

posted 18 years ago by tonyfyffe
30 replies | jump to latest

I saw "A Woman Under the Influence" this week for the first time and was totally blown away by Gena Rowlands' performance. It's one of the greatest performances ever captured on film. If you don't believe me, just watch the scene in which Nick decides it's time to put Mabel in the hospital and he's holding her while her eyes are rolling around as if she's trying her best to fight her mental illness. She's definitely in mental pain, and her eyes show it. It's a chilling, remarkable performance.

She definitely deserved the Oscar in a year with other strong female performances -- Ellen Burtsyn in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (who won), Valerie Perrine in "Lenny" and Faye Dunaway in "Chinatown." Rowlands probably lost because Academy voters considered the film too depressing, a "downer."

Again, I consider her performance one of the greatest on film.

[–] klaatu7 18 years ago

I could not agree more with you...I just saw this movie for the first time last night and was absolutely stunned by her performance...remarkable. A truly brilliant film all around.

[–] poppunklovebaby 18 years ago

I just saw this film tonight and i had to comment on it. It is amazing and surpassed every Cassavetes film i have seen so far. A brilliant script, and Gena Rowlands is especially amazing. A true american classic study on mental illness. See this now.

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[–] Boisansoif 17 years ago

Gena was Robbed !

"Hate put me in prison. Love's gonna bust me out" D. W.

[–] acastor-2 17 years ago

Robbed indeed !
Gena Rowlands is Queen ! The greatest actress of all time -- in my humble opinion ! The quality difference is like chalk and cheese when comparing the performances of Gena Rowlands with those many less talented actresses that have picked up the gongs in recent decades.
Not only robbed for this great performance, but also neglected for superb performances in films like Love Streams, Opening Night and Gloria.
Long live the Queen !!

[–] cinnamongun 16 years ago

I agree with you, acastor.

Gena Rowlands is the greatest. I love her striking originality.

As for being robbed, I would like to add Peter Falk for Best Actor.

[–] BwlBoy 16 years ago

The quality of her performance cannot be understated however I personally feel the devotion of her husband to her whilst admirable is a little too overwhelming and may have worked against her. One notable example is in the scene outside the house in the first half of the film where she is singing and dancing around in front of a neighbour with whom she was unfamiliar and his kids. The camera during this sequence is entirely focused on her. It does not reflect on the response of the neighbour. I know some of you will say that his reaction would have been obvious or that this is such a minor point as to be insignificant but it is just one example of how I saw things. Yes, she is the central character but I think the camera paid her too much attention.

The most memorable performances I have seen from leading actresses to date are:

Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire (greatest acting performance (man or woman) ever in my opinion) and Gone With The Wind
Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca and Gaslight
Judy Garland in A Star is Born
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard
Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress
Giulietta Masina in La Strada

[–] brimc38-1 16 years ago

Charlize Theron in Monster belongs at or near the top of any list of the greatest performances ever on film.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] cjpmak 15 years ago

Oh, yeah. That was an Oscar much-deserved.

[–] CaptainFlynn1959 15 years ago

I gotta say Gena and Faye were robbed and i am HUGE ellen fan.

[–] orchidclub 14 years ago

I definitely agree. Ellen Burstyn was great in Alice but that performance is nowhere NEAR the quality of Gena Rowlands in Woman. Absolutely stunning.

[–] uhriaheap69 14 years ago

I also agree that her performance was unbelievable. I however did not care for the film all that much ! I know, I guess I am just not gifted enough to enjoy it.

[–] JaysonT 13 years ago

Erm so does Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice- how could anyone leave that one off?

[–] CoraJack 12 years ago

Ok so I read the other posts now...I just didn't want them to influence my perspective.

As far as the top 5, I don't think anyone could ever combine a list. Too many differing opinions. Maybe a top 100 would be more accurate.

Anyway, what about Nicole Kidman in "The Hours"? I rewatch that movie all the time just to see her...she was perfect as the tortured "housewife/writer/eccentric".

Also even though I know people here don't like to choose mainstream movie actresses, Kate Winslet got robbed for "Titanic". There is not one scene in that movie with her in it that could be torn apart.

I also agree with Theron in "Monster".

There are so many, it's just too hard to put them in a list.

[–] rb1330 14 years ago

I agree with your list but I would personally add Bette Midler in The Rose. Have never been that totally captivated, thrilled and mesmerized by another performance.

[–] blackderby 10 years ago

Great list and all of them my favorites too (particular fondness for The Heiress which I periodically rewatch because Olivia is just fabulous and the whole movie is so well done and the story in universal - what happens to her can be applied in any era, anytime, past, present, future). For memorable performances I would also add IMO:
- Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs
- Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry
- Susan Hayward in I Want to Live
- Ann Bancroft in The Miracle Worker
- Helen Mirren in The Queen
- Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Though it's not an over- the-top performance, she does really manage to get under your skin and stay
with you days after you've viewed the movie.
Steals: Grace Kelly in The Country Girl totally robbed the Oscar from Judy Garland for A Star is Born. And for Greer Garson's win for Mrs. Miniver, she was absolutely great but I was torn between her and Bette Davis's Now, Voyager (really great performance).

[–] Benedict_Cumberbatch 14 years ago

Don't forget her brilliant turn in one of Woody Allen's most underrated films, "Another Woman", and "Faces".

She's extraordinary, but I'd say 1974 was a year that could've been a 4-way tie at the Oscars: Gena, Faye, Ellen and the unnominated Liv Ullmann for "Scenes from a Marriage" (1973's, but not eligible until 1974 I believe). I admit not having seen "Lenny", but the 5th nominee should've been, in my books, Divine for "Female Trouble" (I am not joking - terrific comedic work).

"I did cramps the way Meryl Streep did accents" - Calliope (Middlesex)

[–] brefane 14 years ago

Anyone ever see Liv Ulmann in Face to Face? Now there's a great performance. Though it's not entirely her fault Rowland's performance lacks shading, variety and shaping. It's one of those over the top performances that people playing drunks or crazies can indulge in. She becomes monontonous because it's all externals; tics and gestures.

[–] AmorioSophiaLoren 14 years ago

I'm so happy I'm not the only one who felt this way after watching this movie. I even found myself saying how brilliant she was in every scene while I was watching the movie. It makes me so upset that she didnt get an Oscar for this movie. She deserved that Oscar just like Ellen Burstyn deserved an Oscar for 'Requiem for a Dream'. I just get really upset that Gena didn't get an Oscar for her brilliant performance in this movie, but yet someone like Sandra Bullock could possibly get an Oscar for a movie like 'The Blind Side'. It's totally ridiculous. I guess that's why I really have no faith in awards shows, because they really don't know what's brilliant and what's just plain not.

[–] davidfyfe99 14 years ago

I am in complete agreement, Ellen Burstyn has always been one of my favourite actresses and she was good in 'Alice' but I don't believe it was a stretch for her (and she SHOULD have won for Requeim For a Dream but the mediocre effort from Julia Roberts got it that year, one of the biggest jokes in the history of the Oscars). Rowlands was astonishing in this film, I would actually put this performance in the same category as Meryl Streep in Sohpie's Choice and DeNiro in Raging Bull. I also agree with the comments someone made about Scorcese getting his influence from Cassavettes for his early films. Peter Falk was excellent too.

[–] glckl-1 13 years ago

I hope this isn't a little OT, but I just felt like saying that I have now, after watching this movie, just altered my top 5 performances (female) of all time.

1. Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice (She is my all-time favorite...also LOVE her in Ironweed and Evil Angels/A Cry in the Dark)
2. Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose
3. Charlize Theron in Monster
4. Gena Rowlands in (you guessed it) AWUTI
5. Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (also LOVED her in Hamlet).

Honorable Mentions: Sophia Loren (Two Women), Bette Davis (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple), Kathy Bates (Misery), Felicity Huffman (Transamerica), Naomi Watts (21 Grams).

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[–] CoraJack 12 years ago

I didn't read the other posts here but what I think is that she didn't win because the movie as a whole really just was not great. It was so boring in some parts and I had to stop myself from fast forwarding through some of the worst scenes. She did the very best she could with what she was given but the movie was way too long with way too many unnecessary scenes.

I love the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and it's a rewatchable movie. This movie is a one time watch if you CAN sit through it. It's not easy.

[–] Scorpio_65 12 years ago

I am a huge Ellen Burstyn fan and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is, in my opinion, a very enjoyable, classic movie and in my Top Twenty of favourite films of all time; I never get tired of seeing it. I also thought Ellen was very natural and believable and had a heart-warming screen presence as Alice Hyatt; however, that said, I would argue that Gena Rowlands deserved the Oscar for that year. Gena's performance would've demanded tremendous focus, nuances, and creativity, while still maintaining a natural screen presence. It's really not a role that just any Oscar nominee could pull off. I would've probably given Ellen an Oscar for The Exorcist or Requiem for a Dream but I'm certainly not upset that she won and glad that many people have seen her performance.

Overall, I thought A Woman Under The Influence was a good, but not great film (7/10, in my opinion), though Gena still hit it out of the park.

[–] SimplemindedSociety 12 years ago

did Gena have as many levels to play the way did Ellen did? I haven't seen it, so just asking.

[–] jojo92-15-465998 11 years ago

Sorry, but I disagree. Diahann Carroll deserved to win for Claudine