Shadows

In New York in the late 1950s, siblings Ben, Hugh and Lelia spend their days between jazz clubs, parties and aimless wanderings through Manhattan. Lelia, who has fair skin, begins a relationship with Tony, a white man, but it is abruptly thrown into turmoil when the young man meets her dark-skinned brother Hugh and is confronted with her African-American heritage. At the same time, Hugh struggles to gain recognition as a jazz singer, whilst Ben drifts through the city with friends. For his directorial debut, John Cassavetes worked with a cast consisting mainly of non-professional actors and a crew largely made up of amateurs. The film was shot on location in Manhattan. The result is a powerful and uncompromising work that is regarded as a pioneer of the American independent film movement. (nr)

‘One could argue that some of what was undoubtedly considered groundbreaking half a century ago now seems classic, whilst certain other elements that nobody apparently noticed at the time – foremost among them Charles Mingus’s outstanding jazz score – now appear truly experimental. (…) What makes this film score so special is the way it periodically offers commentary on the characters and the action, so that a muted trumpet (probably Clarence Shaw), replacing Tony Ray’s voice during a telephone conversation, becomes a mockery of both the character and his arrogance, much like a trombone solo by Jimmy Knepper that is heard a little later with the same character and which reprises the same technique, albeit less aggressively and less explicitly.” (Jonathan Rosenbaum, jonathanrosenbaum.net, Sep 2024)