Shadows

Director: John Cassavetes
Year: 1959
Country: USA
Language(s): English
Length: 78 mins
Format: PAL
Colour: Black & White
Aspect Ratio: 1.37: 1

Synopsis

John Cassavetes‘ directorial debut is one of the most important and influential films in contemporary cinema, and exerted a profound and lasting influence over an emerging generation of American filmmakers.

Shot in black and white with a skeleton six person crew, Shadows offers a frank observation of the tensions and lives of three siblings in an African-American family in which two of the siblings, Ben (Ben Carruthers) and Leila (Leila Goldoni), are light-skinned and able to ‘pass’ for white.

Cassavetes demanded that the actors retain their real names to reflect the actual conflicts within the group but saw the film as being concerned with human problems as opposed simply to racial ones.Shot in steel-grey and featuring an elliptical narrative, ten minute takes and jagged editing (a reaction against ‘seamless’ Hollywood production values), Cassavetes attributed Shadows‘ conception and style to the Italian neo-realists whilst also professing admiration for Welles’ pioneering spirit. Featuring a be-bop scene by Charles Mingus and Shafi Hadi and completed on a budget of around $40,000, Shadows won the Critic’s Award at the Cannes Film Festival.