Untitled

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)

James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, William Hopper, Dennis Hopper, Nick Adams, Ian Wolfe.

Directed: Nicholas Ray

This film resonated with me hugely as a young teenager, so I was wondering how I would find it a few years on. While I’m hardly over the hill yet (hello, the big 2-0!), I have grown up, faced and overcome a few of life’s issues. The good news is “Rebel” hasn’t dated one bit. It’s a stunning masterpiece from Nicholas Ray— maybe his best film? From the simple yet brilliantly constructed opening sequence that seamlessly introduces and connects the fate of the three central protagonists, Ray never misses a beat. Ray deals with some really interesting, universal themes here. It’s not just a film for angsty teens, it’s for everyone. It deals with loneliness, the family unit, challenged masculinity (the ineffectual father who wears the apron)and suggests deep underlying problems in the picture-perfect 50’s household (Ray would explore this further in “Bigger Than Life”). Ultimately it’s the realization that parents don’t hold all the answers that makes the film so poignant to me. We are all just human beings. No-one used ‘Scope better than Nicholas Ray, and his compositions show the possibilities of space and framing. James Dean’s heightened emotionalism, acting with his hands and contortions of his body, is mesmerising. Some may call Natalie Wood’s first scene exaggerated and over-acted, but she gives a perfect portrayal of a how a teenage girl dramatises everything. And it is important to her.The film has never been more relevant- we are very much looking for sincerity in this new “Atomic age!”.