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MBC Interactive Archive Project: Shadows

Directed by: John Cassavetes | 1959 | 1h 27m

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ONE NIGHT ONLY: 10/2
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O Cinema South Beach

1130 Washington Ave, Miami Beach (786) 471-3269

Additional information

• Adults – $11.00
• Older Adults (62+ years old w/ valid ID) – $10.00
• Students & Teachers (w/ valid ID) – $10.00
• O Cinema Members – $7.50
• MBFS Members – FREE
(All tickets are available online and at the box office. Prices for special events and select screenings may vary. Please note ticket prices before you complete you purchase. All prices are subject to change without notice.)

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MBC Interactive Archive Project – 1960s-Counter Culture USA
Miami Beach Film Society (in collaboration with Ad-Hoc Cinema) presents John Cassavetes’ SHADOWS!

Japanese program for SHADOWS, 1958, from the MBCarchive

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.

John Cassavetes with Stanley Kramer, 1958. Photo MBCarchive

“…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