Rebel Without a Cause v/s Brazil & Elephant

In really the idea to compare our blog with another movie it wasn’t so easy because each one of it has its own characteristics and different topics but we wanted to compare our movie with two of our partner’s blogs. These movies are “Brazil” and “Elephant”:

Brazil: We chose this movie because both movies laugh about society. There are different elements that these movies have in common and also some contrasts.

For example both movies have characters which are ridiculed in front of the society by their own behaviors such as in Brazil the mother of the main character was addicted to plastic surgery while in Rebel without a cause we can see the subjugated character of Jim’s father who was a man who was very dependent on his wife and in really he didn’t represent the image of a real father.

By the other hand both main characters reacted differently against the society because Jim stark (Rebel without a cause) was a young who was always getting into troubles but Sam Lowry (Brazil) was very different to Jim because he was always trying to avoid getting into troubles so that’s an element which we can compare.

Elephant: This second movie has a vital social element which is the comparison we can make between both stereotypes of youth in different decades. We wanted to focus mainly in the level of violence that both movies have.

In Rebel without a cause we can see how a bunch of students are experts in getting into troubles and that were always carrying knives or guns in order to bother at their others college’s partners. The level of violence in this movie it’s not too exaggerated but it reflects the social issues of the 50’s.

However “Elephant” show us a truth story in which two students shot 12 classmates, a teacher, wounding other people as well, and then they killed themselves so it’s also an important element in which both movies represent the social issues of the society. Despite they got shot in different decades both movies show us important real problems of the society in which we live.

" Rebel Without a Cause ": Awards & Nominations

"Rebel Without a Cause" was well received by people. It was a very popular film and received a lot of nominations which the most important are:

• Oscar Nominations (1955)

Best Supporting Actor Sal Mineo (Nominated)
Best Supporting Actress Nathalie Wood (Nominated)
Best Original Screenplay Nicholas Ray (Nominated)
Best Story Nicholas Ray (Nominated)

• BAFTA Nominations (1956)

Best British Film (Nominated)
Best Foreign Actor James Dean (Nominated)

• Golden Globe Nominations (1956)

Best Actor James Dean (Winner)
Best Actress Nathalie Wood (Winner)

• New York Film Critics Circle Nominations (1955)

Best Direction Nicholas Ray (Nominated)

• Library of Congress (1989)

U.S. National Film Registry (Won)

• Library of Congress (1990)

U.S. National Film Registry (Won)

• American Film Institute (1998)

100 Greatest American Movies (Won)








This Info. was taken from: Moviemsn.com


.

Effects of this film ... specially James Dean

The movie "Rebel Without a Cause" was a success during the 50’s and this was in great part to the contribution of James Dean within the movie as one of the main characters.

This movie shows us social issues of that time and how the young people wanted to be more independent of their families.

The story is centered in Jim Stark (James Dean), a young man who arrives with his family to a new town and who will meet different kinds of people.

Jim was a boy who had a lot of problems in his family and during the whole movie we can see how he is trying to find answers through his father that could help him to become a real man and to behave like one but in really his father is not the most appropriate person to give him advices because himself is subjugated in some way to his own wife, (Jim’s mother).

This social issue it’s one of the ones we can see through the movie and in really this movie was an icon of rebelliousness for that time and reflects a whole decade representing it in James Dean the most important icon of the 50’s.Also there is a scene in the movie where Jim has to compete in a car race very risky and in some way this was one of the scenes that show us the omen of his death occurred in a car accident in 1955. . Dean's car after the accident

Young people reflected themselves in the role James Dean performed in "Rebel Without a Cause", maybe a little confused trying to find what they really wanted to do. That is the major reason why he been so young became in one the most important young icons United States has had during the last decades.

Language of the Film

We saw a lot of elements regarding language of the film through the whole movie and some of them are the following.

Mise-en-scene

• Settings: Most of the actions of the movie happens in the new town Jimmy has arrived. Also, an important place in the movie is this kind of castle in which the climax of the film takes place.

• Acting: Only actors and actresses.

• Costumes: Young people represented a specific period in which the youth of that time wanted to see changes in their society. It was a time of revelry and social issues. On the other hand, old people wore very formal clothes in difference with the young people that wore more informal clothes.
  

• Lighting: Most is developed using dark lighting in order to give it more drama to the story. Some shots, as the one in the planetarium, were very dark and frightening. However, there are some shots which had a lot of illumination most of all the shots that showed us the environment of the town in which the story is settled.
  

• Make-up: The use of make-up was not that important because each actor represented had an average age of the characters they performed.

• Print: Diegetic: The name of the high School that Jimmy Stark attended and the name of the Planetarium. Non-Diegetic: All the information regarding to the movie that the characters can not see.

James Dean life

As you alredy know, James Dean was the protagonist of the film "Rebel Without a Cause" and died several years ago in a car accident. Despite of the years that have passed, James Dean is still having an important influence in a lot of people all over the world. If you do not know this actor here is his biography with the most important details of his short but well lived life.

James Dean

(1931-1955)

James Dean was born in February 8^th, 1931 in Marion, Indiana in The United States. In his early childhood he moved to the state of California, he settled in Los Angeles with his family. When he was 9 his mother died and he was send to Indiana where he lived with his uncle and aunt during some years until he returned to California to study Interpretation in the University of UCLA.

James Dean appeared in the early 50’s in series of television and advertisings, also he was part of some plays in Broadway. While he was in New York he continued studying in Actors studio. He started to participate in films in the early 50’s with secondary roles in the movies: “Fixed bayonets” (1951) by Sam Fuller and “Has anybody seen my gal?” (1952) directed by Douglas Sirk among others.

In 1955 he participated in the movie of the Warner Bros “At the east of the Eden”. His amazing performance surprised the audience and his colleagues and that’s why he was nominated to an Oscar. The same year Dean participate in another movie called “Rebel without a cause” (1955), an amazing film directed by Nicholas Ray that turned him definitely in an icon of the American youth. Because of his great success with only two movies Warner Bros included him in the plot of the movie “Giant” (1956) with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in which he had to be a strange and shy young man, this movie gave him a new nomination to the Oscar.

This nomination was very important because just after his nomination the young actor James Dean died in a car accident in Paso Robles, California with his Porsche Spider while he was driving to a car race.

James Dean died in September 30^th, 1955 when he was only 24 years old. His death became him in one of the most important idols and icons of the 20^th century.

If you want to join to James Dean Fan Club you can find information in: JamesDean.com


This Information was adapted from:

• JamesDean.com
• IMDB.com
• Freeinfosociety.com

This picture was taken from:

• JamesDean.com
  

Nicholas Ray Filmography

These are some of the movies Nicholas Ray directed through his life. Eventhough we know he became an alcoholic, lost all his fortune in a couple of years and had a lot of problems with The Justice, his movies were always something interesting to see because he always tried to portrait the truth of the time he lived through his point of view and camera.

• Knock on Any Door (1949)
• A Woman's Secret (1949)
• They Live by Night (1949)
• In a Lonely Place (1950)
• On Dangerous Ground (1951)
• Born To Be Bad (1949)
• Flying Leathernecks (1951)
• The Lusty Men (1952)
• Macao (1952)
  
• Johnny Guitar (1954)
• Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
• Bigger Than Life (1956)
• Amère Victoire [Bitter Victory] (1957)
• Wind Across the Everglades (1958)
• Party Girl (1958)
• The Savage Innocents (1960)
• King of Kings (1961)
• 55 Days at Peking (1963)
• 
  

This information was taken from: Wikipedia.org

Rebel Without a Cause Official Trailer 1955

This is the official trailer which was released few days before The World Premiere in 1955.
Check it out.

This video was taken from: Youtube.com

Background of the film

In order to understand in a better way the movie we would like to give some information about the historical context in which was made.

The movie “Rebel without a cause” was made in United States in 1955 during times of conflicts with the soviet union among other countries, this period of conflict is known as “The Cold War “

Unites states had been involved in the Civil war II and during a long time was involve in conflicts with countries such as China and Cuba among others.

On the other hand during the decade of the 50’s the great director Charles Chaplin had to left the country after the debut of “The Dictator”, this meant that the cinema industry had been taking part of the economical and political conflicts of that time , it was a way to express and criticize the social issues of that time,too.

Within this context the director Nicholas Ray, who had been hired by the Warner Bros industry, shot the movie “Rebel without a cause” in which we can see how the principal actor James Dean is a rebel young man who is always involve in problems and who’s a brave man who tries to defend his honor in front of a bunch of young men. James Dean was an icon of the youth of that time and a huge number of people felt identified with the stereotype of this actor.

1) Image taken from: Sun3.lib.uci.edu

2) Cold War Alliances Image taken from: Encarta.msn.com

Plot Summary

This story is about Jimmy Stark (James Dean), who is a young man that arrived to a new town where he met Judy (Nathalie Wood) and Plato (Sal Mineo). Jimmy is a problematic man that has been travelling from one town to another because of his behaviour and his problems with the justice and the alcohol. Since the moment Jimmy arrives to his new High School he is involve in troubles with a local gang that its leader is Buzz (Judy’s boyfriend).

Jimmy wants to fit in this gang, so that Buzz arranges a nocturnal “Chickie Run” with Jimmy, that is a car race that ends in a cliff where the cars are eventually destroyed, so that the winner is the last person that jumps off its car. Unfortunately Buzz can not jump off his car and dies. Jimmy feels guilty for Buzz’s death and for the rest of the evening he thinks a lot in what he has recently done. Trying to find answers Jimmy asks his subjugated father what is the best thing to do, but his father does not help him at all and Jimmy goes for a walk.


Jimmy, Judy and Plato go to an abandoned huge house that looks like a castle. They look like a perfect family until the other gang members get there looking for Jimmy because they want to be sure that he will not say anything about what has happened in the cliff.
Scared and confused Plato goes to the Planetarium looking for a place to hide from the other gang members. Jimmy and Judy follows him and get to the planetarium, too. This is the place where happens a terrible confusion. The Police thinks that Plato is guilty for Buzz’s death and want to catch him. Jimmy helps Plato but after a discussion, The Police shot Plato causing his dead.


Images Taken from: Filmreference.com

Nicholas Ray.. an actor, scriptwriter and director.

His real name was Raymond Nicholas Kienzle. He was born in August 7th, 1911 in Galesville, Wisconsin. The youngest of his family, Nicholas Ray started to study at the University of Chicago but he had to left it in 1932. Later he went to New York where he changes his name. In N.Y he knew Elia Kazan a director who influenced his life in an enormous way. In 1948 Ray started to direct his own movies and "They Live By Night" is the first movie he directs. In 1951 he produced the movie "Flying Leathernecks" with John Wayne which was the most seen film that year. After all these successes Ray joined to the Warner Bros.
In those years the delinquency was an important topic for the directors, producers and society. In 1952 Ray started to write a story himself which was about a young man who had troubles with the authority. "Rebel Without a cause" was written by Irving Shulman and Stewart Stearn following the main idea of Ray. Nicholas Ray chose James Dean for he principal rol because the had similar lifes. As most of us know, James Dean died a week before the world-wide opening and he became an icon among young people. After this terrible lost for the cinema world, Nicholas directed "King of kings" and "55 days at Pekin".
While he was filming "55 days at Pekin" Nicholas suffered an ailment cardiac. In this point of his life he lost his road and everything. He became an alcoholic and a gambler. Finally, in 1979 he died alone.


Image taken from: Insiderone.net
Info. taken from: Wikipedia.org

Posters of the Film

Spanish*

English*

*If you want yo see the posters bigger, CLICK on the picture.
Taken from: Estoescine.com

Pictures from the film

These are images taken from the film while it was being filmed. In the first one we can see James Dean (Jimmy Stark) and Corey Allen (Buzz) in the exact moment while the were performing the famous scene of the knives fight. In the the second one James Dean was spending time with some fans of him signing some purses and books. Finally, in the third one James Dean and Natalie Wood (Judy) were preparing themselves for one of the takes of the film. One anecdote regarding the first image is that when the director Nicholas Ray was filming the scene of the knives fight, the actor Corey Allen really hurt James Dean so the director cut immediately the filming. Because of this James Dean became really upset and told Nicholas that the only person in the studio who had the ability of saying if he could continue filming or not was himself.

Images taken from: JamesDean.com
Information taken from: LaCoctelera.com

Introduction To The Movie

This is the non-official site of the movie "Rebel Without A Cause" which was released in October, 1955. In this site you will see different aspects of the movie through the analizes that periodically I am going to post in this blog. The story is about a problematic young man who does not have an established home. That is the reason why he travels a lot. Because of his travels he knows people, specially a woman where he finds the love and a man, his future best friend.

Image taken from: Moviposter.com