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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Nicholas Ray's "Rebel
Without A Cause" (1955) is probably the film most
closely associated with James Dean's iconic
persona as the volatile, yet soulful teenager with
a chip on his shoulder. Dean is Jim Stark -- a
young man who's hen-pecked by an overbearing
mother (Ann Doran) and compromised in his
reference of adult masculinity by a weak father
figure (Jim Backus). Though it is suggested that
Jim's relocation to a new school is the result of
his wild run in with the law, the film begins on a
night of drunken debauchery.
While awaiting his family in the police station,
Jim eyes fast girl, Judy (Natalie Wood), but takes
an invested interest in a young man in whom he
sees varying shades of his former self -- the
self-destructive, Plato (Sal Mineo). Judy's
association with greaser, Buzz (Corey Allen)
ensures a volatile conflict between Buzz and Jim;
and there are two. The first is a fight with
switchblades outside the famed planetarium near
Los Angeles. But, as this early attempt at
asserting who's the leader of the pack is thwarted
by police intervention, Buzz and Jim settle on
another venue at another time; the justly
celebrated game of chicken that has both men
racing their automobiles towards a dangerous
cliff. Given Dean's untimely death at the hands of
the wheel, this sequence has particularly ominous
significance for today's viewer.
But in the film, at the last minute, good sense
prevails and Jim bails out of his car. Buzz's
sleeve gets caught on the door handle. He sails
over the cliff and dies in a fiery explosion. From
this point on, Jim spirals into an emotional
whirlpool. He's distracted from total self
destruction by Judy's kind and understanding way,
their growing romantic affection for one another,
and, Plato's looming and dangerous disdain for
authority. Of course, you just know this is going
to end badly.
Like most sensationalist melodrama of the 1950s,
"Rebel" is dated by today's standards. Its grasp
on sexual politics and what it means to be a man,
in a society that asks for conformity rather than
self assertion, is an ominous precursor to the
folly of wayward youth that was later embodied in
such films as Blackboard Jungle and West Side
Story. What the film does offer from the
contemporary perspective, is a time capsule of 50s
sensibilities that oddly enough, continue to
resonate with teenagers and twenty-something's to
this very day.
This 2-disc edition of "Rebel" is a welcomed
treat. Though the original single disc had a very
nice looking transfer -- this newly minted DVD
appears to have more subtle nuances in color
fidelity, and, with the added treat of owing
considerably less to film grain. Colors are rich,
vibrant and bold. Blacks are solid and velvety
deep. Whites are generally clean. Though there are
some examples of fading between dissolves these
are inherent shortcomings in all early Cinemascope
productions and not the flaw of DVD mastering. The
audio is a remix of the original magnetic six
track that accompanied "Rebel's" roadshow
engagement. It's remarkably bold and sonically
stirring. Extras include a new documentary on the
making of the film, as well as the original
featurettes that were featured on the single disc,
plus a James Dean bio that is very much a
collector's item. |
