Miguel Lopez
Contemporary Media History
2/18/16
Questions for Shadows
1. Towards the beginning of the film, what does Lelia forget to pack for her brother Hugh when
he goes out of town?
She forgets to pack Hugh’s toothbrush.
2. What is the plot of Leila's writing that she discusses at the party?
It’s about a girl struggling with her identity and being disconnected.
3. How does Hugh react to Leila's date Tony?
He is appalled by how weird Tony acts around them. Tony was fine before Hugh and
Rupert came in the house, then he realized Lelia is black. Hugh sees this racist
awkwardness make his sister uncomfortable so he asks Tony to leave.
4. What is the last thing Leila's date says to her when they are slow dancing?
“Despite your horrible exterior, it’s you I like.”
5. How would you characterize Benny's personality (use specific examples as proof)?
Ben’s personality is of a loner, beatnik troublemaker, who gets into fights and glares at
people who are having fun, because he thinks they’re being superficial. He says he plays
jazz trumpet but there aren’t any scenes of him playing the trumpet seriously.
6. Ray Carney, a critic who has written extensively on Cassavetes, has said” The central
metaphor in Shadows involves a comparison of the "masks" we wear in public with the "faces"
we hide beneath them. What is the role of “masks” in Shadows? How do characters play roles
that inhibit them? (quote specific scenes)
The role of the “masks” in Shadows is to show how each character has a deeper layer
than what appears on the outside, like real people. The majority of the characters have a
twist in personality at some point in the movie. Ben is a quiet, cool cat, who doesn’t
always play the rules when it comes to social behavior, but then he slaps a woman at a
party. Lelia is more naïve than she appears, especially when she kisses a random man at a
party just to smite the words of her friend-zone friend David. The guy she kisses, Tony,
turns out to be racist and freaks out when her black brother and friend come into the
house. Tony says he has “an appointment” he forgot about. He was very polite at the
party but then his true identity is shown.
7. From the reading: What does Cassavetes say about the fact that the sister in the film is not
actually African-American, but Sicilian?
“We’ll let the audience worry about the mother and father”, and “if they can believe it
even for a second, maybe they’ll start asking what being a Negro means and start
thinking of the whole concept.”
8. Why does the author of the article say is “deceptive” to refer to Shadows as improvisational?
Give at least one example.
It is deceptive in the sense that the filmmakers and certain critics say it is an
improvisational film despite the fact that certain scenes required fixed scenarios for the
actors, rehearsals, and scripted dialogue. Also, there are no actual scenes of jazz being
performed. Yes, the soundtrack to the film is jazzy, but this is not enough to support an
improvisational jazz film.
9. Mingus and Cassavetes had different ideas of how or whethter to use improvisation for the
score. What did Cassvetes want?
Cassavetes wanted an improvised score. Ironically Mingus, an jazz improve
professionally, composed every note of the first version of the score.
10. Answer one of the following two questions
- The author goes into a close analysis of the music for one of the scenes in the movie. What is
the scene? What is the effect when the sound drops out?*
- What does this mean: “Shadows is not a film about jazz, it embodies it.”
*The scene is when Ben is at the party with Hugh. The room is filled with people, who
are mostly African-American. The music in the background is sporadic and random. It
fades away quickly as Ben is being bothered by a girl who doesn’t get he’s not interested.
The moment after the sound drops Ben shoves the girl and smacks her in the face, then
the music builds up quickly right as Hugh reacts to Ben.
This effect changes the tone of the scene drastically. The weird music leading up to the
close-up of Ben and the girl emphasizes how weird he’s acting, and how obvious it is to
her that he’s acting weird and that he’s “not kidding anyone but [himself]” and his “sense
of values are all mixed up.” Ben then shoves her, she throws her drink in his face, then he
hits her causing a frenzy ending with him and his brother Hugh in a quarrel.