Rebel Without a Cause
By: Cameron Smith
By: Cameron Smith
Directed by: Nicholas Ray
Starring: James Dean, Sal Mineo, Corey Allen.
As an aspiring musicologist, there was a point in time where I was immersed in the music and rebellion culture of the mid-century (particularly, the 1950s and 60s). I remember then hearing about this film a few times, but never got around to watching it -- that is, until now. It is quite easy for the modern audience to judge this film as dated, and I certainly did during parts; I do, however, see and appreciate more and more the film's historical significance. This film, along with J.D. Salinger's masterpiece Catcher in the Rye, gave a voice to the voiceless American youth, which is in a lot of ways today taken for granted. Youth culture has come a long way since 1955 -- with music, film, literature, etc. -- and us youth today tend to take for granted what our ancestors paved for us, only so we could have whatever hairstyles we wanted and not abide by society's standards. Suffice to say, I am happy that James Dean, J.D Salinger, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, and the other pioneers of youth rebellion disobeyed those standards so we didn't have to obey them today.
In this review, I am not going to discuss the "dated" nature of this film; it is obvious and inevitable that certain aesthetics and choices of wording in the film are not going to hold up to today's (ironically) standards. I will say that, overall, this was a very enjoyable film to watch, and it was great to look through a historical lens and see an invaluable part of the adolescent culture's development. This film would clearly not be what it is without James Dean, who was a tragic loss; I would have loved to see where his career went after reaching his status and where he would have been today had he lived long enough. I would really like to sit down and watch this film again, this time through the lens of a period audience (at least as close as I can get!), and therefore get more out of it.
In this review, I am not going to discuss the "dated" nature of this film; it is obvious and inevitable that certain aesthetics and choices of wording in the film are not going to hold up to today's (ironically) standards. I will say that, overall, this was a very enjoyable film to watch, and it was great to look through a historical lens and see an invaluable part of the adolescent culture's development. This film would clearly not be what it is without James Dean, who was a tragic loss; I would have loved to see where his career went after reaching his status and where he would have been today had he lived long enough. I would really like to sit down and watch this film again, this time through the lens of a period audience (at least as close as I can get!), and therefore get more out of it.
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