Runtime: 82 minutes
Directed by: John Cassavetes
Starring: Ben Carruthers, Leila Goldini, Hugh Hurd, Anthony Ray, Dennis Salas
From: Lion International
My first John Cassavetes... but not the last.
Recently I realized I should fix this hole and discover why so many have loved his work over the years. Starting at the beginning of his career seemed like a wise idea, although the rest of my journey will not be in chronological order.
This film is rather distinctive and has a unique vibe; long said to be “the first United States independent movie” it has a different sort of feeling... raw and naturalistic, seeming to be a relative of the French New Wave movement. Black siblings in New York City are followed; two are striving jazz musicians who can't find success for various reasons, and a sister who is light-skinned so white men can easily become confused and not realize she is Black.
Shadows is a movie I more admire than I love; that is no slight as it was still pretty good. All the close-up shots do make it feel intimate and it was at least a different sort of world to be immersed in. Regrettably, the topic of interracial romance is still controversial in the U.S.; plenty are still concerned with skin color and will reject a love one if they think they were bamboozled by them because they were mistaken about their race. Shadows does address this still-relevant issue in a striking way. In addition, I did get some laughs concerning the movie taking the piss out of pretentious types with their high-brow vocabulary and whatnot. In addition, a character is named Davey Jones who was neither a pirate, a Monkee nor David Bowie. And of course the movie (which feels rather loose) has some nice music.
As I said at the beginning, other movies from Old John will be viewed; the cast of mainly nonprofessionals did a swell job here but I am quite excited to experience one of his collaborations with his wife Gena Rowlands, who has an unbilled cameo here.
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