Friday, February 12, 2010

A little bit of Dean

Brief post today. I'm gearing up to a nice, long rant on James Dean, with whom I am experiencing a bit of a morbid, film-history obsession. I'll get into the reasons why next week (sometime after Tuesday; Tuesday is my classic movie day, and I intend to plow through the rest of his filmography in one fell swoop), but for now, I'll just leave you with this scene from Rebel Without a Cause. It's hard to appreciate without much context, but the point I'd like to showcase here is how the acting feels. Bear in mind that Rebel Without a Cause was released in 1955. I don't know how familiar y'all are with film acting before and up to the mid 1950s, but, if you are, I think you'll agree that Dean's acting just...feels different. There's no other way to put it. If you're not familiar with the 'Golden Age' of Hollywood, juxtapose Dean's performance with the actors sharing the scene. Their performances feel dated, almost trite, as if it's obvious they come from an 'older' film. His does not. Enjoy:






As an aside, how about my first successful embed, huh? No more crappy youtube links! I'm pumped!

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