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That all men are equal?

Shadows (1959)
Director: John Cassevetes

 Another John Cassevetes' direction. This is his early effort at an independent un-main stream production. This is actually a remake of his own film which he had earlier made in 1957 which was unscripted and did poorly at the box office. The remake, however, became a legend.
On the exterior, it appears that the US of A, the land of opportunity is the land of dream where everyman is born equal and free. They have a legislation to prove the effect to. In practice, however, the issue of race is not so black or white. The problem which reared its ugly head and let the nation into a gruesome civil war fail to settle the score even today.
It is evident from the the turn of events when a certain whiter than white lady, Rachael Dolezal, was exposed recently to be passing off as a black to head an association to help coloured people in America.

Racheal Dolezal
So when this issue came to fore, the usually issue frenzy US media stations went a spree to discuss the issue. Even Obama's name came up. Many half blacks are categorised as blacks to benefit from the affirmative actions to uplift the black.

Coming back to the story of 'Shadows'...

It is set in among the Beat Generation in the 50s who were shunning materialism and were engaged in literary and spiritual enlightenment. Lelia is a 20 year old girl who could pass out a white walking aimlessly through her life. She has three other elder brothers. Two of them were struggling musicians. and one is still trying to find his grapple in life.
Lelia meets an interesting guy to bring her home. Sparks flare up when he discovers that Lelia is actually black when he sees her brothers. After that it is self discovery and finally, from the way the movie went, they must have hooked up again.
The different way the director approaches the story is interesting. It lets the story flow without creating much melodrama, climax or resolution.



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