SHADOWS by John Cassavetes

When: October 2 From 7:00 P.M. to 8:45 P.M.

Where: O Cinema South Beach, 1130 Washington Ave

About: SHADOWS isn’t America’s first indie feature film, but it may be its first mature one — the first to put everything on the line for its uncompromising modern approach to style and subject matter.

As he follows the lives of three black Manhattanite siblings (with a breakout performance by Lelia Goldoni), Cassavetes gives each actor room to shape their character like a bandleader calling out solos. The filmmaker would refine this style in later pictures, but one doesn’t look to SHADOWS for refinement; it’s as raw, direct and original as the day it first hit the screen.

In his directorial debut, Cassavetes tells a risky, elliptical story about love, money, sex and blackness. Using the rough-hewn vérité style which redefined filmmaking, SHADOWS’ off-the-cuff narrative and staccato editing share an affinity with bop jazz. 

 “…it may come as a surprise to learn that the Cassavetes behind the camera, the one who launched America’s independent cinema of the sixties and ultimately made a dozen films (most of them completely under his control), considered himself, and was considered by associates, a missionary of love. “I have a need for characters to really analyze love,” he said. “That’s all I’m interested in—love and the lack of it.”-Gary Giddens, Criterion Collection

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