It starts slow and easy but builds to something very intense. The actors make it seem so real.
You'll want to look away when the central conflict rears its ugly head. A powerful scene that stays in your memory.
The fact it was all IMPROVISATIONAL ACTING (-made up on the spot-) makes this a unique gem of independent U.S. cinema. 10/10 stars.
My vote history: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=9422378
Sadly, not enough people hold the same opinion.
shareI think you might be confused by that last "This was all improvised" (paraphrase) message. Most of the movie was worked out in rehearsals beforehand, like a play, and it was there where the improvising happened. Almost everything on camera was planned and arranged. That being said, it was still miles away from the way most Hollywood movies are shot, where the actor can hardly budge an inch without the lighting technicians and cameramen being informed.
shareHard-hitting indeed! The fight scene was painful to watch. Outch!
shareIt took me a while to finally sit down and watch my first John Cassavettes, but I finally did, and it was so rewarding. The film actually has a lot of the same sentiments as Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life (one could easily see Lelia and Sarah Jane as one in the same), released the same year, but if Sirk is self-consciously stylized and glossy (only to reveal a bitter irony beneath the surface), Cassavettes is neo-realistic and fiercely raw. The improvisational acting might've been horribly amateurish had the troupe of first-time actors not been so alive with energy and emotion (especially that MUSIC!), which is the high point of Shadows.
L'amour est un oiseau rebelle
The other thing is that race relations isn't even the main theme of Shadows. It's basically about three siblings living in New York in the late 50s and what they do or don't do with their lives. And the New York is very real one, shot on locations there...even interiors. Many people have said that Shadows is the closest there is to an authentic "beat" movie. Even if Cassavettes was not part of that. There is no plot and instead it's just about the expression of the weariness and the burnt out sensation of life. Only Cassavetes fills you with so much vitality that you can't help walking away from Shadows with a stronger dose of spirit.
The improvisational acting might've been horribly amateurish had the troupe of first-time actors not been so alive with energy and emotion...
Actually, all the actors in the film worked extensively with Cassavetes in theatre before he made the film. They never made a film before but they weren't at all amateurs.
But yeah they are damn good especially Ben Carruthers(who also has a small role in Lilith).
"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes
This is a valuable piece of history and an invaluable artifact of talents very early in their career, but as a film, it leaves much to be desired. Many of the conversations and scenes go nowhere, and much of the dialogue was dubbed in later, particularly for the outdoor scenes.
As others have pointed out, it's not all improvised. Lelia conversation with Ben after they go to bed was scripted, as Goldoni points out in the bonus interview. A very worthy effort, if not a great film. 6/10 stars.
The improvisation in Cassavetes' Shadows is often misinterpreted. During rehearsals, many scenes were improvised. However, much of Shadows was indeed scripted; Cassavetes was just clever in his way of making it appear as if it were improvised. Many of the conversations possess the flatness, and upon first meeting somebody, the natural tentativeness that was rarely depicted in American cinema preceeding the release of Shadows. Therefore, Cassavetes would give some of the actors' lines days before shooting and others just minutes before shooting, which gave that illusion of a real conversation and improvisation.
The conversations and scenes going nowhere is intentional, however. Think of Shadows as "free-jazz," it doesn't have any boundaries, conventions or storyline it must abide by.
"I hope I never get so old I get religious." Ingmar Bergman
This does feel very much like free jazz, and I admire Cassavetes for making this film so early in his career. I wish I could say I admire this film as much as his later works, but I enjoyed it in the moment and found it fairly easy to forget about afterward. But truth be told, I feel the same way about free jazz.
shareI live jazz, and I loved this film because it came off as so free-flowing and natural, and much more realistic than most Hollywood movies at the time.
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