Movie Notes: East of Eden

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: second in a series of brief notes on films I've recently seen. Also: SPOILER ALERT.] EAST OF EDEN, 1955. SUMMARY This is a retelling of the Cain & Abel story, based on the novel by John Steinbeck. The story follows Cal (played by James Dean), who aches to gain the affection and approval of his divorced religion-obsessed father. Throw in the advent of the United States' involvement in World War 1, a love triangle between Cal, his brother Aaron, and Aaron's fiance Abra, and it's a recipe for high drama. MEANING OF THE TITLE The significant betrayal of Aaron by Cal is the metaphoric murdering of Aaron, and the sheriff quotes the bible - referring to Abel's transition to the "East of Eden" upon his death - after Aaron goes off the deep end and enlists in the armed forces for the USA's involvement in World War 1. MOST SIGNIFICANT REVELATION Brad Pitt basically made his career ripping off James Dean and all his mannerisms. BEST CHARACTER JOURNEY James Dean did a nice job with showing Cal's transition through insecurity, rebelliousness, entrepreneurial business savvy, and finally jealousy and vengeance. Regardless of these bright spots, unfortunately I think the ending and Cal's denouement was a bit heavy-handed. WORST TELEGRAPHED MOMENT I couldn't find one. Maybe Aaron's total disintegration after losing his fiance' to his younger brother was a bit overblown, but I can't say it was predictable. At the same time, it was mostly believable. Now that I think on it, I suspect that Aaron's character was the weakest of the bunch, but his journey is the most drastic. UNSUNG HERO It's a neck-and-neck tie between the sheriff Sam (played by Burl Ives) and Cal's estranged mother Kate, played superbly by Jo Van Fleet. Kate was incredibly believable, subtle, and understated. The best scene with her was when Cal brings Aaron to the flophouse and she nearly sneers: "Oh, Cal." Meanwhile, the sheriff is incredibly classy at every turn, even asking permission to enter the wife of a German immigrant after the mouthbreathing yokels just tore up her and her German husband's yard in a fit of anti-German xenophobia. I can't determine who I enjoyed more in seeing. Their characters were pivotal and they both did extremely well. CINEMATOGRAPHY Average. I did enjoy, however, watching James Deans acrobatics in various scenes. To not have stunt actors standing-in for a hot property like Dean must have given the producers palpitations. Additionally, most of the domestic-drama scenes between Cal and his father Adam had this nice crooked-angle thing going on that I noticed immediately and was pleased to see. There was one scene where colour was at the forefront: when Abra first begins to show her affection for Cal, they're surrounded by tall yellow flowers and even use them in the scene. It was a literal and figurative bright spot in terms of cinematography. WHAT'S THIS FILM ABOUT? It's a riff on the classical biblical tale of Cain and Abel, a film version of Steinbeck's novel of the same name, which is itself a riff on the classical biblical tale of Cain and Abel, which in itself is a metaphor for nomadic life versus agricultural development. Steinbeck did it well, and added in a bit of war-profiteering entrepreneurship and guilt for good measure.