Godard and Cassavetes

Within Ray Carney’s Cassavetes on Cassavetes, the chapter devoted to the conception and subsequent production of Shadows provides some insight into the similarities between John Cassavetes and members of the French New Wave (as quoted below).  It is clear with Shadows – both with the film’s aesthetic elements and the content – that Cassavetes was striving to achieve some of the same goals within his films as Godard would often try to achieve in his own work.  This film was inspired by many of the same films and directors that were influential in Godard's career, and it is interesting to see how despite some vast differences in their directing styles, there is a major connection between the two.

“I adore the neo-realists for their humaneness of vision. Zavattini is surely the greatest screenwriter that ever lived. Particularly inspirational to me when I made Shadows were La Terra Trema, I Vitelloni, Umberto D and Bellissima. The neo-realist filmmakers were not afraid of reality; they looked it straight in the face. I have always admired their courage and their willingness to show us how we really are. It's the same with Godard, early Bergman, Kurosawa and the second greatest director next to Capra, Carl Dreyer. Shadows contains much of that neo-realistic influence.” 

- Stephanie