The John Cassavetes Collection

SHADOWS (DVD and Blu-ray)
A film by John Cassavetes

Set amongst the lively milieu of artists and jazz musicians in bohemian 1950s New York, John Cassavetes' directorial debut follows the doomed relationship between a young mixed-race woman Lelia (Lelia Goldoni) and Tony (Anthomy Ray), a white man who betrays his prejudice when he meets Lelia's brother, a struggling jazz singer.

Shot on location with a cast and crew largely made up of amateurs and featuring a swinging, improvised score by Charles Mingus and Shafi Hadi, Shadows gave birth to a radical new film language grounded in authenticity, and is widely considered the first truly independent American film.

Special Features

• Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
• Audio commentary with Cassavetes collaborator Seymour Cassel and film critic Tom Charity
• Falk on Cassavetes: the early years (DVD only, 13 mins)
• 16mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop (DVD only, 4 mins)
• Theatrical trailer (DVD only, 4 mins)
• Fully illustrated booklet featuring new essays and notes from Michael Atkinson, Brian Morton and Tom Charity

US | 1959 | black white | English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles | 82 minutes | Original aspect ratio 1.33:1

Disc 1: BD25 | 1080p | 24fps | PCM mono audio (48k/24-bit)
Disc 2: DVD9 | PAL | Dolby Digital mono audio (320kbps)

Region 2 PAL DVD
Region B Blu-ray