Product: Shadows [VHS] (1959)
Rating: 4.0
Cassavetes' debut film
"Shadows" possesses a special place for many would-be film historians as the film that launched "independent film". If nothing else, it launched one of the most chronically misunderstood -- but utterly essential -- series of American film. Lots of small things happen in "Shadows" despite its short running length: this is due in part to the fact that the film combines half its material from an earlier film of "improvisation" with a collection of more scripted scenes shot two years later with the same cast. What's stunning about the completed film is how GORGEOUSLY it presents human behavior in all its fascinating, modern messiness. Cassavetes was perhaps the first filmmaker to deliberately -- and successfully -- attempt the feat, which he subsequently honed as a skill in his future masterpieces.Like the others in this Pioneer series, the DVD is merely adequate: it presents the picture and sound. As in the others, Ray Carney provides a short analytic essay in the insert that is useful to anyone not already familiar with Cassavetes' art. We're lucky to have this film available in any form. Highly recommended.[Incidentally, whatever other Amazon reviewer it was that thinks they found a racist agenda to this film completely missed the boat. However, racism is faced by the characters and plays an overt role in the narrative, and significantly, comprises much of the oldest material in the film. The original project was for an unrealized film ABOUT racism; the material added later was not, and the complexities of the resulting combination make the film what it is.]