Juventude Transviada

I'm getting really sick of people on here saying "this film is not relevant today, because kids don't face the same problems, blah blah..." when these are ADULTS saying this, who wouldn't know the first thing about the problems kids face today because they aren't one. Well I'm 16 and I can say that this film is every bit as involving and affecting as it was the day it came out. I mean, name one thing in Rebel that isn't a part of teen life now. Drag racing: that's the only thing.

But anyway, the movie. I'm a hard-core film buff and have seem many many many many movies in my 16 years. Only two of them have accurately depicted teen life: Rebel Without a Cause and a beautiful Japanese anime film called Whisper of the Heart. Rebel on a whole is a bit exaggerated, but it's only fitting - a teen exaggerates everything that happens to them. In fact, some of the images and themes - kids and adults seem to be speaking different languages, a group of outcasts living in a secluded house - would be right at home in a Bunuel film. That house of outcasts in particular is very touching...I think all teens would want to live away from the real world once in a awhile.

The three principal characters are all like people I know. Sal Mineo as the troubled kid who wants nothing more than a friend. Natalie Wood as the girl who just goes along with what other people do because she wants to fit in. And of course, the ultra-cool James Dean as the kid who may have a rough-and-tumble exterior, but who is really a big softie at heart. Dean was a bit of a revelation to me. I'd never seen one of his movies before, so I assumed that, like Marilyn Monroe, it was the image that people grieved over and not the talent. Boy was I wrong. The guy could act. When he howls "You're tearing me apart!" at the beginning, you know what you're in store for.

The depiction of the parents also must have been a revelation for 1955 audiences. Juvenile delinquents had been (and are continuing to be) depicted as either overall bad seeds or having abusive parents. This film was the first to acknowledge that something as simple as a lack of communication and an unwillingness to pay attention to your child can do just as much damage.

Nicholas Ray's direction was also excellent. Besides coming up with the idea for Jim's red jacket to "make him stick out more" you have Plato's mismatched socks, and I was also surprised by the frequently-titled camera. I didn't know they did that back then! It certainly added more to the disjointed feeling and wasn't just there for style purposes like todays movies.

The only point at which the film falters is the pat resolution between Jim and his parents at the end. But the ending is great otherwise, with a wonderfully framed shot of the observatory, proving Jim's theory that the world will end at dawn.

I first saw this as a teen in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently with my teen son. The film portrayed the decay of confused teens n the differences and conflicts between teens n parents.

The film deals with the three main teens : 1)Jim - who is fed with his parents' bickering n his father's timid attitude.

2)Judy - who feels her father ignores n calls her names due to her clothes n lipstick.

3)Plato - a lonely kid whose father abandoned him when he was a toddler and his mother is always away.

All three of em James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Natalie Wood gave lovely performances. James Dean with his red jacket, blue jeans n white tshirt is the epitome of cool aft McQueen. We also have Dennis Hopper in a tiny role as a blue eyed goon who gets pushed aside.

I agree with most of the reviewers. This movie is just as powerful as it was 44 years ago. Inside the cheesy braggadocio of an angry gangster is a confused kid. I can't think of a single person that did not feel alienated as a teenager. James Dean represents what every teenager would want to be. Individualistic: has a set of values and sticks to them Brave: engages in activities most of us would never consider (esp. chicky run) Kind: caring to Plato and Judy

James Dean is perfect in his role as Jim Stark. More is said in this movie through gestures than words. One lift of his eyebrow, one syllable can say so much. When he does speak, you know that he believes what he is saying. The shot of Jim rolling out of the speeding car is amazing. I can think of few modern action films that have had me riveted to the seat as I was during the switchblade fight.

Natalie Wood is superb in her role as well. Judy is looking for attention that isn't there. This is perfectly summed up when she says "I love somebody, all this time I was looking for someone to love me, but now I love somebody." She desperately looks for acceptance and acknowledgment in the wrong places because her father does not want to see her as a young woman.

Even though Dennis Hopper's role is rather small, you can see that he knows what he is doing. He portrays in my mind, someone easily pushed around when he tries to fit in. He seems different than the rest of Buzz' gang and even looks more boyish. He timidly tries to interject a comment in front of Buzz and is just brushed off.

I don't think that this movie is strictly an us versus them type of scenario. Trying to take care of Plato and to protect him, Jim realizes that being a parent is not as straightforward as he thought. His parents are more than just caricatures of the nagging wife and emasculated husband. Everyone in the film is confused about how they fit in to the big picture. The movie is simply told in the self centered manner any teenager would view it as. This can account for the sequences which many would see as over the top. I think the central theme of the cosmos presented in the planetarium show demonstrates how teenagers view themselves as the center of the universe. Thus all the scenes concerning each of the three teens conflicts are equally dramatic.

"East of Eden" and "Giant" are both great, don't get me wrong. But this is the James Dean that set the archetype for not only the cool Fifties American teenager but perhaps every teenager since. Dean has his white t-shirt, sleeve rolled up for his smokes. He has his red jacket and blue jeans, he's ready to drag and he's ready to fight. From the first moment we see Dean, drunk on a school night, busted by the cops, he's amazingly both personally secretive and universally accessible at once. He's hurt, lonely and looking for kicks - and no one understands him except, maybe, just maybe, that one person in the audience...

Sure, this movie has it's faults. The parents are cartoonish, some of the kids are hip in only a stilted sense and a lot of the movie is unrealistic. There's something disturbingly hokey and amateurish in this portrayal of a typical American town with it's typical American high school. Yet, Dean, Mineo and Wood put on performances that let the viewer suspend reality all the way through..each of these three put on the performance of their lives!

Sal Mineo plays a mousey misfit named Plato (whose homosexuality is thinly veiled). Natalie Wood plays a young women named Judy, part of the in-crowd, who deep down is at wit's end. Both of these characters are amazingly believable, even fifty years later. Mineo's never been as enigmatic or as compelling as he is here as Plato. Then there's Wood - as cynical and alone in her world as Judy feels, we realize quickly she likes James Dean, she needs James Dean - and Dean can dig her.

In retrospect, it's not surprising that the jacketed juvenile delinquent that Dean plays here would become a role model for both young gay men and young straight men alike. He's comfortable being intimate with Plato, his words, his expressions are all too much, too overly emotional (for a straight man). But, the kids, the town itself, quickly learn Dean's no pushover. He yells, he fights and he's afraid of nothing that other people are afraid of - staring down death is just a way for him to kill time. But, he's afraid, something just isn't right with his life. And most importantly, even if he never really does connect with this "typical town" filled with "typical people", Dean does indeed connect - to anyone whose ever been young - and alone.....

Like any film that strives to be current, "Rebel Without a Cause" has inevitably become dated since its release over fifty years ago. Therefore, you have to make allowances for this and take it in the context of its time. Those willing to do so will recognize the film as a substantial offering, especially for a film about young people.

Certain aspects of the plot may be dated but the emotions are timeless. Each of the teens is looking for something different from their parents. Jim is hounded by the question of what it takes to be a man but gets no help from his hen-pecked father. Judy justifiably feels unloved due to her father's suddenly frigid demeanor. Plato, meanwhile, doesn't even have his parents around at all, therefore he feels lonely and abandoned. These problems (and a multitude of others) haven't vanished in the time since this film was released.

The direction by Nicholas Ray brings this story to life and shows some interesting touches along the way. The opening credits with Jim drunkenly messing around with a toy monkey is just one memorable scene. The 'chickie run' scene is perhaps the film's most memorable set-piece.

The movie also benefits from a legendary performance from James Dean, who didn't even live long enough to see the film hit theatres. His performance here is angst-ridden and filled with nuance. Perhaps his best scene is the one in which he confronts his parents when he returns from the chicken run. Puzzlingly, though, he never got an Oscar nomination while both Mineo & Wood did. Mineo was certainly deserving but to me Wood's performance was nothing particularly special. Also notable was Jim Backus who turned in a fine performance as Jim's father.

The film contains a wealth of deeper meaning and, depending on who you ask, possibly some taboo-defying sexual undertones. After seeing the film a few times I'm no longer so sure about the supposed homosexual subtext of Jim & Plato's friendship; that may be more of a by-product of their respective issues stemming from missing or ineffective father figures. Judy's relationship to her father is also not without sexual undertones but, again, this may be a by-product of the issue at hand; that is, her father's lack of overt affection as she blossoms into maturity. Regardless of whether or not any of this was the intent of the film-makers they were nevertheless daring to present such provocative material while the production code was still in effect.

All in all, a fine film that is deservedly lauded as a classic decades later. Check it out but be sure to put yourself in a fifties state of mind.