Dean's performance continues to resonant, still evoking today the same anger, anguish, and confusion of growing up that it did half a century ago.
Like so many young people, Cal craves attention and love but doesn't know how to achieve it. He sees himself as bad, taking after his wayward mother rather than his "righteous" father. With the coming War come new battles, new conflicts, new prejudices, and new jealousies, all of them played out on the home front, within the Trask family circle. "Some day he's gonna know who his real son is," says Cal.
Cal starts out as a boy and ends up a man. Everything spirals forward to the inevitable climax, then resolution and reconciliation. Yes, "East of Eden" is heavy on melodrama, but it remains powerful. Dean is the ideal representation of the lonely, troubled teenager, the youth in turmoil, be it 1917 or any year. His performance alone, for which he was posthumously Oscar nominated, is worth the price of the movie. If that doesn't do it for you, the fine supporting players and the widescreen cinematography should get your attention. Abridged or no, it's one of the few screen treatments of a Steinbeck novel that the author is said to have loved.
Video:
This is another splendid transfer from Warner Bros. Their commitment to high bit rates pays off in colors that are solid, intense, and vivid, without being in the least bit excessive or flamboyant. There is a small amount of grain present, just enough to give the image some life, a realistic edge; and there is an equally small amount of line shimmer that is hardly noticeable. Then, too, the movie is presented in all its CinemaScope glory in a ratio that measured close to 2.30:1 across my television screen, about as wide as ratio as you will find on any DVD transfer.
Audio:
The audio has been remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 to good effect, mostly in the soaring, lyrical music of composer Leonard Rosenman. The midrange tonal balance is smooth and natural, although the frequency extremes are somewhat limited. There is a modest stereo spread that is sometimes extended by the new remix, but rear-channel information remains understandably scant. Occasionally, one hears the ambient bloom of the musical score in the surrounds or the chirping of crickets on a warm summer night. There are also a couple of instances with uncredited actor Timothy Carey as a bouncer in the cat house where his lips don't appear to match his words, as though his lines were poorly dubbed in later. Don't know, but it seemed odd.
Extras:
As usual with these two-disc affairs, disc one contains the movie plus a single, major bonus item, an audio commentary. This commentary is by Richard Schickel, the noted film historian and critic, screenwriter, director, and producer. His comments are obviously informed and informative, analytical and entertaining. He does not always praise the film, as so many folks do in these commentaries, and he will often point out the weaknesses of a scene. It's a commentary worth pursuing. In addition, there are twenty-nine scene selections (but no chapter insert); a widescreen theatrical trailer; English and French spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.
Disc two contains several more items of note, most particularly the new, fiftieth-anniversary documentary, "East of Eden: Art in Search of Life." It is nineteen minutes long and contains interviews with director Elia Kazan; film historian Richard Schickel, who does the movie audio commentary; actress Julie Harris; John Steinbeck's son, Tom Steinbeck; and others.
In addition, there is an hour-long vintage documentary, made in 1988, about Dean's life: "Forever James Dean." It is divided into twenty-one chapters and narrated by actor Bob Gunton. The documentary points out that Dean's career as a star lasted approximately sixteen months, yet his presence is still felt around the world. "His would be the most spectacular but brief career that Hollywood has ever known," says Gunton. The feature includes interviews with Dean's friends and co-workers and covers his life from birth to death. Pictures of the bespectacled youngster, by the way, hardly indicate the legend we have come to know today.
Besides the two documentaries, disc two contains nineteen minutes' worth of deleted scenes, some of them redundant; six minutes of screen tests with Dean and Richard Davalos; twenty-two minutes of wardrobe, costume, and production-design tests; and fourteen minutes of footage from the New York première of "East of Eden" on March 19, 1955.
Parting Thoughts:
"East of Eden" holds up as one of the better dramas Hollywood has attempted. Despite its being slightly hokey and exaggerated in parts, the sensitivities of the characters and their situations ring true. Most important, Dean's performance continues to resonant, still evoking today the same anger, anguish, and confusion of growing up that it did half a century ago.
Dean's early death was a tragedy, without question, and one can't help but wonder where he would have gone after "Giant" and how much more he would have accomplished. But what his death did do was to preserve his image, forever young, forever rebellious, forever insecure, and, perhaps ironically, forever symbolic of an impulsive desire to be wanted and loved. Dean was not just an emblem of the fifties' generation; he represented everybody's generation.
Cal starts out as a boy and ends up a man. Everything spirals forward to the inevitable climax, then resolution and reconciliation. Yes, "East of Eden" is heavy on melodrama, but it remains powerful. Dean is the ideal representation of the lonely, troubled teenager, the youth in turmoil, be it 1917 or any year. His performance alone, for which he was posthumously Oscar nominated, is worth the price of the movie. If that doesn't do it for you, the fine supporting players and the widescreen cinematography should get your attention. Abridged or no, it's one of the few screen treatments of a Steinbeck novel that the author is said to have loved.
Video:
This is another splendid transfer from Warner Bros. Their commitment to high bit rates pays off in colors that are solid, intense, and vivid, without being in the least bit excessive or flamboyant. There is a small amount of grain present, just enough to give the image some life, a realistic edge; and there is an equally small amount of line shimmer that is hardly noticeable. Then, too, the movie is presented in all its CinemaScope glory in a ratio that measured close to 2.30:1 across my television screen, about as wide as ratio as you will find on any DVD transfer.
Audio:
The audio has been remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 to good effect, mostly in the soaring, lyrical music of composer Leonard Rosenman. The midrange tonal balance is smooth and natural, although the frequency extremes are somewhat limited. There is a modest stereo spread that is sometimes extended by the new remix, but rear-channel information remains understandably scant. Occasionally, one hears the ambient bloom of the musical score in the surrounds or the chirping of crickets on a warm summer night. There are also a couple of instances with uncredited actor Timothy Carey as a bouncer in the cat house where his lips don't appear to match his words, as though his lines were poorly dubbed in later. Don't know, but it seemed odd.
Extras:
As usual with these two-disc affairs, disc one contains the movie plus a single, major bonus item, an audio commentary. This commentary is by Richard Schickel, the noted film historian and critic, screenwriter, director, and producer. His comments are obviously informed and informative, analytical and entertaining. He does not always praise the film, as so many folks do in these commentaries, and he will often point out the weaknesses of a scene. It's a commentary worth pursuing. In addition, there are twenty-nine scene selections (but no chapter insert); a widescreen theatrical trailer; English and French spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.
Disc two contains several more items of note, most particularly the new, fiftieth-anniversary documentary, "East of Eden: Art in Search of Life." It is nineteen minutes long and contains interviews with director Elia Kazan; film historian Richard Schickel, who does the movie audio commentary; actress Julie Harris; John Steinbeck's son, Tom Steinbeck; and others.
In addition, there is an hour-long vintage documentary, made in 1988, about Dean's life: "Forever James Dean." It is divided into twenty-one chapters and narrated by actor Bob Gunton. The documentary points out that Dean's career as a star lasted approximately sixteen months, yet his presence is still felt around the world. "His would be the most spectacular but brief career that Hollywood has ever known," says Gunton. The feature includes interviews with Dean's friends and co-workers and covers his life from birth to death. Pictures of the bespectacled youngster, by the way, hardly indicate the legend we have come to know today.
Besides the two documentaries, disc two contains nineteen minutes' worth of deleted scenes, some of them redundant; six minutes of screen tests with Dean and Richard Davalos; twenty-two minutes of wardrobe, costume, and production-design tests; and fourteen minutes of footage from the New York première of "East of Eden" on March 19, 1955.
Parting Thoughts:
"East of Eden" holds up as one of the better dramas Hollywood has attempted. Despite its being slightly hokey and exaggerated in parts, the sensitivities of the characters and their situations ring true. Most important, Dean's performance continues to resonant, still evoking today the same anger, anguish, and confusion of growing up that it did half a century ago.
Dean's early death was a tragedy, without question, and one can't help but wonder where he would have gone after "Giant" and how much more he would have accomplished. But what his death did do was to preserve his image, forever young, forever rebellious, forever insecure, and, perhaps ironically, forever symbolic of an impulsive desire to be wanted and loved. Dean was not just an emblem of the fifties' generation; he represented everybody's generation.
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[release]15785[/release]