Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Shadows Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 21, 2012

Winner of Pasinetti Award at the Venice Film Festival, John Cassavetes' "Shadows" (1959) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailer; audio commentary with actor Seymour Cassel and Tom Charity; video interview with actor and producer Peter Falk; and 16mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring essays by Michael Atkinson, Brian Morton, and Robert Vas, as well as excerpts from an archival interview with John Cassavetes. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The wanted girl

The film follows a group of different characters who try to find their way in the Big Apple – and possibly happiness and success. They are young, naive, and with different understandings about life.

Hugh (Hugh Hurd) is a jazz musician whose career has come to a halt. He still has plans for the future but has slowly come to realize that it may not turn out to be as bright as he once hoped. His sister Lelia (Lelia Goldoni) is ready to fall in love with the right guy, while his brother Bennie (Ben Carruthers) is just another beatnik who can’t stay out of trouble.

One day Lelia meets Tony (Anthony Ray), a nice guy who seems ready to be in a serious relationship. They spend a lot of time talking and she falls in love with him. But Tony feels that everything is happening too fast for him. After he meets Hugh, he also gets seriously confused – Hugh is black while Lelia isn’t. Eventually, his confusion evolves into frustration.

While struggling to land a solid gig, Hugh attempts to help Lelia overcome her frustration with Tony’s behavior. Tony helps him out after he suddenly disappears and breaks Lelia’s heart. Meanwhile, Benny’s frustration with the way things are starts to boil and he challenges the wrong group of guys.

John Cassavetes’ directorial debut is a raw and very energetic film about ordinary people with ordinary dilemmas. It is a street-smart film about life as it happens, a never-ending roller coaster of meaningless triumphs and often predictable disappointments.

The film is rather chaotic at times. It almost seems like Cassavetes’ camera tends to favor some of the characters and try to spend as little time as possible with others. For example, during a passionate debate Cassavetes suddenly pulls out the camera, leaving the viewer partially confused as to how it would end. Elsewhere, for an extended period of time Cassavetes simply follows closely a group of people because their interactions have a certain rhythm which the debate did not. This technique gives the film a strong sense of authenticity and the raw atmosphere many documentary films have.

There are obvious romantic overtones in the film, but they are trivial. After a while the progression of the relationship between Lelia and Tony becomes far less important than the world they belong to. What is happening between the two lovers has happened before and will happen again, but the energy and excitement on the streets may never again be the same. This is what Cassavetes' film is concerned with – the texture of reality.

In 1958, Cassavetes organized a number of free screenings of Shadows, but the critical response was underwhelming. As a result, he went back and reshot a number of sequences. The new version of the film incorporated very little of the footage that appeared in the original version. Soon after, the remaining prints of the original version of the film disappeared.

For a number of years, it was universally accepted that the original version of Shadows was lost. But in 2004 Professor Ray Carney from Boston University announced that he had discovered the only print of the original version of the film. The print – which had spent years with the daughter of a junk dealer who ran a small shop in downtown Manhattan after it was discovered abandoned in the subway - apparently consisted of two reels of 16mm black-and-white Kodak Safety Film with optical sound.

(Note: For more information on Professor Carney’s discovery, visit his site here).

Shadows Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Cassavetes' Shadows arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"The film was transfered in High Definition on a Spirit Datacine from a new 35mm fine grain master struck from the UCLA Film and Television Archive's restoration duplicate negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a 35 mm magnetic audio track, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle.

Telecine supervisor: Maria Palazzola.
Telecine colorist: Gregg Garvin/Modern Videofilm, LA."

I have to speculate that because the telecine was supervised by Criterion's Maria Palazzola, if Shadows is eventually released on Blu-ray in the U.S., by Criterion, it will likely look very similar.
Generally speaking, the presentation is very strong. Detail is pleasing both during close-ups and wider shots, with some of the street footage looking particularly good (see screencapture #3). Occasionally, there are some minor clarity fluctuations, but they are clearly inherited. Contrast is stable. Color gradation is convincing - the whites and grays blend well while the blacks never look boosted. There are no traces of compromising digital corrections. Grain is heavy, as it should be in a 16mm film, and well resolved. Some minor fluctuations, however, are noticeable. My one and only complaint here pertains to the presence of small flecks and scratches that could have been removed. All in all, this is a competent presentation of Shadows which should certainly please its fans. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Shadows Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, the BFI have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

There are no serious technical issues with the lossless track to report in this review. The dialog is crisp, clean, well rounded, and easy to follow. The occasional sax solos are also stable and free of distortions. However, the overall dynamic range of the lossless track is fairly limited, which should not be surprising considering under what conditions Shadows was filmed.

Shadows Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: The supplemental features on the DVD are encoded in PAL. Therefore, to view them in North America you must have a Region-Free DVD or Blu-ray player.

Blu-ray

• Commentary - an audio commentary with Seymour Cassel and Tom Charity. The majority of the factual info shared in the commentary is quite interesting. Seymour Cassel discusses the production history of Shadows, how and under what circumstances certain scenes were shot (apparently, the crew had some trouble with the police in New York City), John Cassavetes's early experiments with the 16mm camera, etc. On a couple of different occasions Seymour Cassel also corrects Tom Charity as some of his remarks about specific scenes from the film are incorrect. The commentary was supplied to the BFI by Studio Canal.

DVD

• Theatrical Trailer - original trailer for Shadows. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, PAL).

• Falk on Cassavetes: The Early Years - actor and producer Peter Falk discusses John Cassavetes and his vision of cinema. In English, not subtitled. (14 min, PAL).

• Footage - 16mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop. Without sound. (5 min, PAL).

• Booklet - illustrated booklet featuring essays by Michael Atkinson, Brian Morton, and Robert Vas, as well as excerpts from an archival interview with John Cassavetes, which originally appeared in Films and Filming (Vol. 7, No. 5, February 1961).

Shadows Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

John Cassavetes' Shadows is a landmark American film which started an important movement that influenced countless actors and directors. The film is now available on a handsome Blu-ray in the United Kingdom courtesy of the BFI. Let's hope that Shadows, as well as the rest of the films from the BFI's The John Cassavetes Collection, will soon be available on Blu-ray in North America. They belong in the library of every serious film aficionado. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.