Shadows (1958)
- Directed by
- John Cassavetes
- Genre
- drama film, art film
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 1h 27m
- Rated
- PG
- Rating
- 6.9 of 10 from 273 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A group of black siblings in 1950s New York try to get by. One brother is a struggling jazz musician and the other works various jobs. Their light-skinned sister navigates complicated relationships with white and black men.
groundedrawimprovisationaltensemelancholicintimateunpolishedsocially-awaregritty
What happens
Shadows is a 1958 American independent drama film directed by John Cassavetes about race relations during the Beat Generation years in New York City. The film stars Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, and Hugh Hurd as three black siblings. The film was initially shot in 1957 and shown in 1958, but a poor reception prompted Cassavetes to rework it in 1959. Promoted as a completely improvisational film, it was intensively rehearsed in 1957, and in 1959 it was fully scripted. The film depicts two weeks in the lives of three siblings on the margins of society: two brothers who are struggling jazz musicians and their light-skinned younger sister who goes through three relationships, one with an older white writer, one with a shallow white lover, and finally one with a gentle young black admirer. Film scholars consider Shadows a milestone of American independent cinema. In 1960, the film won the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1993, Shadows was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
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The Defiant Ones (1958)
The Tarnished Angels (1958)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.