Our humble little movie club is screening John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" this month....feel free to tagg along and watch it with us - wherever you live in the world !! We will be watching it on the 18th of February, and as a new twist to our movie club, will be leaving review comments afterwoods - please feel free to watch and leave your comment on this film after the watch date too !! You dont need to be in the same room with us to be a part of our movie club !!
East of Eden (1955) is director Elia Kazan's updated re-telling of the Biblical story of rival brothers, Cain and Abel and a paradise lost. Writer Paul Osborn's screenplay adapted John Steinbeck's 1952 novel with the same title for this dramatic Warner Bros. film. [The film tells only a small portion of Steinbeck's work, leaving out the childhood of the parents and the Chinese character of Lee.] One of the film's posters exclaimed:
East of Eden is a story of explosive passions and Elia Kazan has made it into a picture of staggering power.
James Dean represents the unappreciated son Cal (representing Cain) who vies against his dull, stuffy brother Aron (representing Abel) for the affections of their father. The maligned Cain character, representing the unlikeable and outcast Kazan himself (for naming names before the HUAC Committee in 1952), becomes the hero of this film. As the poster stated, "Sometimes you can't tell who's good and who's bad!..." (This was the only one of James Dean's three major films released before his death.)
(From Filmsite)
Oh wow I LOVE East of Eden...and the gorgeous legend James Dean. How fantastic you have a movie club, we (Rex members) are thinking of doing a few vintage movie nights at The Rex. I may email at you at a later date to ask you a few questions.
ReplyDeleteThe local art council have their film festival running at the end of Feb, you can check out what we are screening by checking out the poster on my blog. ( the movie choice is theirs not the Rex committees choice)
Have a great week
Cherie
Thanks Cherie - I have never seen it, so your reccomendation is much appreciated !!! We would love you to put on some vintage movie nights and would travel over from Echuca to enjoy them on occasion! (all things working out to do so, of course!!) I will check out the local art council's film festival too......
ReplyDeleteBless you and yours !!
Kesenya
REVIEW: Of the three James Dean movies I have seen, this one is now without a doubt my fav. The story was interesting and quite compelling, the characters realistic, and the sets and costuming etc appropriate to the era (I detest when they get the style wrong for any era!!). The most captivating thing for me however, was the supurb acting. In the 1950's there seemed to be such a 'politness' to acting ie. you waited for the person with the line before you to finish their line before you spoke. In reality, this never happens !! Therefore I simply loved the naturalness, the emotion, the total ease that all the actors displayed in this film, particularly that of Dean....an energetic, natual and completly beliveable and endering performance. Worth watching for his dramatic brilliance alone, but the rest of East of Eden also comes up with the goods.
ReplyDeleteThree and a half choc tops from me !!! * * *
I found the movie surprisingly good, firstly the biggest surprise was James Dean's ability. Over the years several people have aquired legendary status after dying young and I assumed the legend of James Dean was greater than the person, only to be proven wrong. He played the character of Cal so well I now have the image in my mind of that's who he is, a person percieved to be a trouble maker but has the warmest heart and his troublesome antics were more emotion than screws loose. This is proven early in the movie when he shows a sign of jealousy towards his brother and his relationship with girlfriend Abra. It is only in the final stages of the movie that the true Cal is exposed as an emotional boy who has grown up in a broken family with which he seemingly had no commonality with. In today's terms his rebelious antics are almost polite and show just how far we have come since then, oh for a simpler time......
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