SimpleWeblog

Movie Review: Shadows (Cassavetes)

I don't really know anything about the history of film, but this was one of those directors I knew I was supposed to know something about, so I had Tivo record one of his movies to give it a shot. Turns out, this seems to be a movie of some importance in the history of films. This was Cassavetes first movie, filmed "improvisationally" around 1959. It was interesting to watch - seeing a movie from that time that treats race as mostly a non-issue, that doesn't shy away from sex and realistic violence, things that don't usually get associated in my mind with black and white 50s movies. And it is hard for me to tell how realistic it really is, but it definitely tries for that feel, and succeeds for me, at least. The characters were interesting, but the scenes seemed to play out more as little sketches and incidents, with heavy transitions between them. I enjoyed watching it, but it definitely took some effort to get into it. The tone of it does seem to linger on beyond the end of the movie, which is pleasant when so many movies seem to disappear so quickly after I watch them. It was definitely good enough for me to try to get Tivo to pick up some of his other movies...