This is a classic teen angst movie, and one of the first to capture it realistically on screen.
James Dean gives an incredible performance as the troubled, confused teen, trying to stand up for himself and understand what's going on is his life. you can notice his fear and eagerness to be loved in his gaze, his movements, his laugh and his voice. When he shouts the famous line "You're tearing me apart!", it's truly heartbreaking. He creates a character with whom you can easily relate and who's incredibly sympathetic.
Natalie Wood has a steady sweetness and beauty, a woman-like quality in a confused, stubborn teenage girl. She's believable and has a good deal of touching moments, without overplaying them. She has a good chemistry with James Dean, too. Sal Mineo as Jimmy's friend is the best of them, though. He was just 16 when the movie came out, and this is one of the est teen performances ever. His character has a fear, a confusion, and above all, such a need to be loved, that you can't avoid to want to protect him and help him. His puppy-like eyes, begging to be loved, his sweet, young boy's voice, and his way of shivering all the time, the doubts you can feel he has make this performance great. You never doubt by a single moment that what you're seeing is real. His performance is the best in the movie, I think, even if everyone is just great.
Al the supporting actors are amazing. Jim Backus as Jimmy's dad, keeps up with the difficult task of making us like and understand his confusion about his son and at the same time wanting him to be stronger and seeing Jimmy's side. The gang members have a typical teen arrogance, but they are real. The actor's that play Judy's parents have a nicely played scene too.
The screenplay is incredible. It portrays realistically the confusion of teenagers and their parents, it has very touching moments, it's suspenseful, the characters are all believable and you care by them. Here, you can feel the lack of communication between adults and teens. But the most singular thing of all is the satire to American society. You can see the irony of all this seemingly perfect families, hiding in their houses and arguing. Some of the shots suggest this, too; the way outside everything's perfect, and inside of all the suburban houses and the minds of the characters everything's confused and messed up. I liked the ending resolution a lot, too, showing that sometimes people just can't live with themselves.
The directing is good, with some shots that are sort of campy and fits in the mood of the movie. I liked some subtle touches, like Dean's red jacket and Plato's socks. The music was sometimes a bit overplayed, but mostly, it worked. This is a great movie, not to be missed by anyone! 9.5/10
James Dean gives an incredible performance as the troubled, confused teen, trying to stand up for himself and understand what's going on is his life. you can notice his fear and eagerness to be loved in his gaze, his movements, his laugh and his voice. When he shouts the famous line "You're tearing me apart!", it's truly heartbreaking. He creates a character with whom you can easily relate and who's incredibly sympathetic.
Natalie Wood has a steady sweetness and beauty, a woman-like quality in a confused, stubborn teenage girl. She's believable and has a good deal of touching moments, without overplaying them. She has a good chemistry with James Dean, too. Sal Mineo as Jimmy's friend is the best of them, though. He was just 16 when the movie came out, and this is one of the est teen performances ever. His character has a fear, a confusion, and above all, such a need to be loved, that you can't avoid to want to protect him and help him. His puppy-like eyes, begging to be loved, his sweet, young boy's voice, and his way of shivering all the time, the doubts you can feel he has make this performance great. You never doubt by a single moment that what you're seeing is real. His performance is the best in the movie, I think, even if everyone is just great.
Al the supporting actors are amazing. Jim Backus as Jimmy's dad, keeps up with the difficult task of making us like and understand his confusion about his son and at the same time wanting him to be stronger and seeing Jimmy's side. The gang members have a typical teen arrogance, but they are real. The actor's that play Judy's parents have a nicely played scene too.
The screenplay is incredible. It portrays realistically the confusion of teenagers and their parents, it has very touching moments, it's suspenseful, the characters are all believable and you care by them. Here, you can feel the lack of communication between adults and teens. But the most singular thing of all is the satire to American society. You can see the irony of all this seemingly perfect families, hiding in their houses and arguing. Some of the shots suggest this, too; the way outside everything's perfect, and inside of all the suburban houses and the minds of the characters everything's confused and messed up. I liked the ending resolution a lot, too, showing that sometimes people just can't live with themselves.
The directing is good, with some shots that are sort of campy and fits in the mood of the movie. I liked some subtle touches, like Dean's red jacket and Plato's socks. The music was sometimes a bit overplayed, but mostly, it worked. This is a great movie, not to be missed by anyone! 9.5/10