Shadows

1959 supposedly improvised drama

Rating: 12/20

Plot: A guy of indeterminate race wears his sunglasses at night. He has a sister of indeterminate race and an African American soul-singin' brother who is struggling with his career because he either doesn't sing songs fast enough or sings them too fast. The sister falls for a white guy who is very obviously a square. Then all the characters sort of walk around and sometimes dance.

This has that near-documentary look that lends this some realism. It didn't seem improvised to me at all though; instead, it just seemed poorly acted and sort of dully written. It's an interesting passing glance at race relations during a very specific time in New York City, but as a film, it feels really incomplete and sketchy, more of an experiment (it was Cassavetes' debut) than a complete realized work of art. There is one truly great scene and one nearly great scene, but the rest of this unfortunately clunks instead of glides. At around an hour and a half, this actually managed to oddly seem longer than Faces.

Me, a black Native American:

Faces

1968 drama

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Wealthy married couple Richard and Jeanie laugh and gossip and laugh and tease and laugh and don't laugh. Richard falls for a prostitute, and after Jeanie fails to laugh at his lame jokes, announces that he wants a divorce. Jeanie goes clubbing with her other middle-aged friends and seduced by a younger man named Chet. Drunken stupors and much tomfoolery abound as lives threaten to fall completely apart.

I really thought I was going to have trouble getting through this after the first thirty minutes. Indeed, there are moments when scenes or conversations in this almost entirely dialogue-driven drama seem like they're going on far too long. When I really think about it though, any word taken out of this would disrupt the ultra-real and exceptionally natural tension created in these extended moments between the characters. Words pile upon words until a single line (always a single line) is just too much for a character to take. Snap! This acting is among the best I've ever seen, and the way Cassavetes shoots close-ups of the characters' faces, it forces you to concentrate to the point where it feels like you're about to see their souls. I've not seen anything else like this; in description, it doesn't seem like there's enough to sustain interest, but the characters become so real and the tension created is so dense that it's impossible not to let the thing absorb you. It feels almost like a play, but one where you get to leave your seat and walk around on stage and stroke the characters. The final shots involving a staircase are so lackadaisically moving. Gripping stuff.

Recommended (director, at least) by Winter Rates.

Here I am watching one of the five Cassavetes movie included in a box set: