Rebel Without a Cause

An iconic, culturally significant film that helped immortalize James Dean.

This is one of those classic films when the theme is teenage rebellion and generational clash. It is undoubtedly good, with a good story and good actors – it is the film that marked James Dean's short career – and continues to be a regular presence in classics cycles and specialty TV channels.

The film explores quite well the difficult relationship between parents and their children within the wealthiest families, and the way in which this tension has a decisive influence on the latter's delinquent behavior. Living in homes where there is truly no love, but rather a well-organized routine, and where parental care is limited to material goods and the act of giving things, these young people accumulate a revolt that they need to express through pranks and mischief that parents choose to ignore or consider that they are the consequences of harmful influences. The fact that they are children of rich parents only makes their devilry more elaborate: this is the case of racing with stolen cars. How many angry teenagers with rich dads continue to do similar things?

Expertly directed by Nicholas Ray, the film had a high budget that allowed for quality production values. The cinematography is excellent, the sets and costumes couldn't be better (I especially liked Dean's parents' house and the abandoned mansion where part of the final scenes take place) and the cars used are beautiful. James Dean's hair and costume were decisive in youth fashion at that time, and the soundtrack accompanies everything with distinction and discretion.

However, what decisively marks this film is the excellent quality of the cast and their work, particularly the excellent performance achieved by James Dean. He is absolutely credible in the role he was given, despite being a little older than his character. The opening scene is worthy of an anthology, but also that fight with razors that takes place near the...

"Jim" (James Dean) is a kid with a troubled past whose parents have relocated to give him a bit of a fresh start at his new school. Pretty swiftly, though, he falls in with the wrong crowd - the sort that have flick-knife fights - and it looks like we are in for a repeat performance. Luckily for him, he has also two more benign influences on his new life. One is "Judy" (Natalie Wood) who comes from a decent home and the other is "Plato" (Sal Mineo) whose appreciation of his new friend borders on the acolytic. At home, he isn't neglected or unloved but his mother (Ann Doran) is constantly at him to improve and grow up and so he relies on his weakly doting father (Jim Backus) to fight his corner for him. With "Buzz" (Corey Allen) and his gang continuing to put pressure on him; "Judy" determined to keep him on the straight and narrow and "Plato" causing him to question certain aspects of his own identity and personality, it's a confusing time for a young man who must now find the confidence and the maturity to navigate what is becoming a fairly conflicted scenario. Dean may take top billing - and he does begin to craft his own enduringly charismatic and troubled image well, here, but for me it is Wood who delivers more powerfully with a complex character that has depths to her beyond the slightly soporific gal-next-door that we expect. Better than her, even, is Mineo. His effort nimbly treads on the egg-shells of a character who may or may not have physical designs on his friend, but who is in any case desparate to be noticed, to be valued and to be loved. Does he really just want to be the cool and attractive "Jim" or more than that? As stories of teenage angst go, this is one of the sharpest in terms of dialogue. There's no surfeit of pointless chatter, no expletives, just a tightly knitted character study that oozes a certain toxicity that the three hold together potently.