Shadows (1959)Light and shadow, black and white, man and woman. No picture of life is complete without these. Shadows (1959) was the directorial debut of John Cassavetes, and a landmark of independent cinema. It is the story of three siblings--Lelia (Lelia Goldoni), Hugh (Hugh Hurd), and Ben (Ben Carruthers)--who live in New York City. They maneuever through relationships and parties, having a good time (or at least trying to) night after night. At one such party, Lelia meets a young man named Tony (Anthony Ray) who impresses her with his charm. After sleeping together, she introduces him to her brothers, where Tony discovers that they (and Lelia) are black.
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The inspiration for Shadows came from a story John Cassavetes heard from one of his students while teaching an acting workshop. Clearly it must have been quite inspiring, enough for the actor to make the plunge into filmmaking for himself. Shadows is a rough film, made on a (comparatively) shoestring budget of forty thousand dollars, including financing from some of Cassavetes' friends and colleagues. Were Shadows simply an intriguing tale of race relations, it would be interesting enough. But what Cassavetes set out to do was use this as an experiment in support of his style of acting, based more on improvisation than the popular "method acting". (To be honest, I'm not knowledgeable enough to know the difference.) Subsequently, Cassavetes opted to use an "outline" for his story rather than a true script, with the intention of capturing raw and inspired performances from his actors as they embodied the scenes. This leads to great naturalism in the drama--cinéma vérité in the extreme. Intriguing, sure, but why does this matter for a moviegoing audience looking to fill their time? The result of this experiment is that audiences should be inclined to feel more immersed in the authenticity of the story and each scene because the actors are. Although life may be a little different today in 2023 than in 1958 (when the film was first shot), human nature--including how we view race relations--still shares many common elements from now and then. There is much about cinema that is illusory by design, not least of which is that, by definition, the role of an actor is to play a part. Audiences feel emotions based on the emotions the actors convey, even if those emotions are contrived for the role. I believe, however, that Cassavetes' intent is to strip away as much of this artifice as possible, granting his audience an experience that cuts deeper than mere mummery. Although Shadows was made under a great deal of technical constraints, the movie achieves its mission by creating scenes where these actors feel more convincing as their characters and makes its message all the more genuine.
Despite being an early effort, Cassavetes uses some creative methods to play on his audience's expectations about Lelia and Ben's race. The actors who play them are not, in fact, black; yet shooting on grainy monochrome film stock--combined with the other actors staged alongside them of different races--makes definitively identifying their race less clear. This in and of itself is a commentary on the paradoxical nature of race in our society, and how we treat it. Lelia and Ben's relationship with Hugh is ambiguous up until Lelia introduces Tony to them as her brothers. Sure, Hugh refers to Ben in an earlier scene as his "brother", but could this merely be a term of endearment? Our first exposure to Ben--a withdrawn, even moody young man--includes him hanging out with a couple of other buddies named Dennis (Dennis Sallas) and Tom (Tom Allen), both of whom are white. The three of them make it a habit to slide into clubs and restaurants and try to pick up chicks, or otherwise goof around at places like an art museum, often in between drinking sessions. With Ben's black leather jacket (often zipped all the way up) and Tom's pompadour, they look like the picture of a gang of Fifties-era rowdies out for some kicks. The question that may linger in the minds of some audiences viewing this from the era in which it was made is, "would they still hang out with Ben if they knew he was black?" Although Lelia's interaction with Tony only makes up a portion of the story, this reveal becomes the eponymous shadow that hangs over the entire film. This in turn forces the audience to redefine the characters and their interactions with each other. We start seeing Lelia and Ben differently, as Tony did, albeit not necessarily in the same awkward way. In Tony's case, he visibly balks, an insult that reveals him to be a bigot, prompting Hugh to demand he leave their apartment immediately. Tony doesn't help his situation when he later returns to apologize to Lelia--via Ben--but fails to apologize to her brothers whom he actually offended with his earlier display. Lelia is often treated as an object by other men--first by an older writer named David, who condescends to her for wanting to be a writer, then Tony, who uses her to get laid, and then by a different David, who clearly has the same designs, and puts up with much abuse from her to that end. The message is clear that these men don't view Lelia as anything more than a way to have a good time, instead of as a person. They approach the mating ritual as just that, instead of getting to know a woman...her likes and dislikes. Fundamentally, this speaks to the same message that Shadows makes about race relations--that without getting to know someone, people tend to apply their own prejudices to others, which only perpetuates the cycle of misunderstanding and conflict.
Recommended for: Fans of a formative directorial debut by arguably the "godfather" of independent cinema. Even though Shadows may only superficially appeal to audiences actively seeking out this early work by John Cassavetes, it nevertheless endures as an earnest and compelling exploration of both race relations and dating rituals.
Despite being an early effort, Cassavetes uses some creative methods to play on his audience's expectations about Lelia and Ben's race. The actors who play them are not, in fact, black; yet shooting on grainy monochrome film stock--combined with the other actors staged alongside them of different races--makes definitively identifying their race less clear. This in and of itself is a commentary on the paradoxical nature of race in our society, and how we treat it. Lelia and Ben's relationship with Hugh is ambiguous up until Lelia introduces Tony to them as her brothers. Sure, Hugh refers to Ben in an earlier scene as his "brother", but could this merely be a term of endearment? Our first exposure to Ben--a withdrawn, even moody young man--includes him hanging out with a couple of other buddies named Dennis (Dennis Sallas) and Tom (Tom Allen), both of whom are white. The three of them make it a habit to slide into clubs and restaurants and try to pick up chicks, or otherwise goof around at places like an art museum, often in between drinking sessions. With Ben's black leather jacket (often zipped all the way up) and Tom's pompadour, they look like the picture of a gang of Fifties-era rowdies out for some kicks. The question that may linger in the minds of some audiences viewing this from the era in which it was made is, "would they still hang out with Ben if they knew he was black?" Although Lelia's interaction with Tony only makes up a portion of the story, this reveal becomes the eponymous shadow that hangs over the entire film. This in turn forces the audience to redefine the characters and their interactions with each other. We start seeing Lelia and Ben differently, as Tony did, albeit not necessarily in the same awkward way. In Tony's case, he visibly balks, an insult that reveals him to be a bigot, prompting Hugh to demand he leave their apartment immediately. Tony doesn't help his situation when he later returns to apologize to Lelia--via Ben--but fails to apologize to her brothers whom he actually offended with his earlier display. Lelia is often treated as an object by other men--first by an older writer named David, who condescends to her for wanting to be a writer, then Tony, who uses her to get laid, and then by a different David, who clearly has the same designs, and puts up with much abuse from her to that end. The message is clear that these men don't view Lelia as anything more than a way to have a good time, instead of as a person. They approach the mating ritual as just that, instead of getting to know a woman...her likes and dislikes. Fundamentally, this speaks to the same message that Shadows makes about race relations--that without getting to know someone, people tend to apply their own prejudices to others, which only perpetuates the cycle of misunderstanding and conflict.
Recommended for: Fans of a formative directorial debut by arguably the "godfather" of independent cinema. Even though Shadows may only superficially appeal to audiences actively seeking out this early work by John Cassavetes, it nevertheless endures as an earnest and compelling exploration of both race relations and dating rituals.