How John Cassavetes' Shadows changed American movies forever.
How John Cassavetes' Shadows changed American movies forever.
Deleted scenes, commentary, and more. Nov. 11 2009 7:11 AM
John Cassavetes' startling directorial debut changed American
movies forever.  If American independent cinema could be said to
have a birthday, Nov. 11 is as good a date to celebrate as any.
On that night 50 years ago, John Cassavetes, an actor then best
known for his TV roles, unveiled for a downtown New York
audience his directing debut, Shadows. Cassavetes had financed
the production with his paychecks from Hollywood and made the
film with a cast and crew of novice actors from his drama
workshop. The finished product betrayed their inexperience:
mismatched cuts, shots out of focus, audio out of sync. But it
was also unlike anything audiences had seen before: a raw,
kinetic, jazz-scored dispatch from bohemian New York that was
frank about sex, progressive on race, and intoxicated with
youth. The film radiated a sense of urgen