MovieChat Forums > Shadows (1960) Discussion > Feels like French New Wave in Beat NYC

Feels like French New Wave in Beat NYC

posted 10 years ago by thedtrain989
4 replies | jump to latest

Very admirable piece. Reminds me of the French New Wave in form, freewheeling dialogue, freewheeling camera, all on-location shooting, and barely a budget. Same mood of youthful aimlessness with creeping anxiety and alienation.

Esp admirable realizing it was made in 1959, pre-dating much of Godard's and Truffaut's efforts. It didn't have those innovation editing techniques like the jumpcuts, but still I'm impressed.

You can see Cassavetes' growth in progress. He made much better films later in his career. But I love seeing a director's debut to glean those influences, preoccupations and idiosyncrasies.

[–] brendanchenowith 10 years ago

" Reminds me of the French New Wave in form..."

I couldn't agree more. I just watched it again earlier this evening and thought, "this isn't Masculine Feminine", but a hell of a lot like it. I almost expected subtitles.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.

[–] monamask 9 years ago

Yep.

[–] Raxivace 8 years ago

Same impression I got, especially a day after watching A Woman Is a Woman.

"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris

[–] activista 8 years ago

Yep---real unique indie film for its time---I especially liked how refreshingly non-stereotypical the black characters were in the film--that's how you could tell it was definitely not a Hollywood film. And it was cool to see a black woman in the film wearing African-style braids (or cornrows) almost a decade before it because mainstream in the U.S. I wish i would have been a little more upfront with the issue of racism,though--which it surprisingly dosen't deal with much.