Elia Kazan directed East of Eden, based on the John Steinbeck novel. The film is set in Salinas Valley around the time of World War I. This film won Best Dramatic Film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955 and Best Motion Picture – Drama – at the Golden Globes in 1956. Kazan also directed A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945).
Two teenage boys, Cal (James Dean) and Aron (Richard Davalos), live with their father, Adam Trask (Raymond Massey). Cal is labeled “bad,” while his brother is “good” and “righteous.” East of Eden is a story of blocked communication between father (Adam) and son (Cal). Cal vies with his brother for their father’s love, although Aron easily holds on to all of his adoration. The characters in the film offer a real and emotional performance; it’s easy to feel the character’s emotions – jealousy, spite, sympathy, hope – throughout the entire movie.
The brothers are raised by their father, believing their mother, who shot their mother and ran away, to be dead. Adam often rebukes Cal and offers all of his love to Aron. Cal and Adam have arguments about Cal’s behavior. One day they are arguing and Adam tells Cal that he is bad. Cal replies, “You’re right. I am bad. I knew that for a long time. It’s true. Aron’s the good one. I guess there’s just a certain amount of good and bad you get from your parents and I just got the bad.” Cal, who needs to find a reason for the “badness” that lives in him, searches for his mother whom he suspects of being alive. He finds her running a successful brothel. Cal now holds the truth, and the power to destroy his fragile brother, in his hands. He can tell destroy his brother by telling him about their mother, whom Aron believes to be an angel in heaven, or keep his secret, thereby preserving Aron’s good nature, innocence and his hold on their father.
Abra (Julie Harris), who is Aron’s girlfriend, helps Cal through his struggles. At the beginning of the movie Abra is frightened of Cal and she feels that he is always spying on her and Aron. Abra comes to realize that she and Cal share common struggles and the emotions that accompany them, and she eventually becomes the person Cal can look to for friendship, guidance and love.
East of Eden also portrays stereotypes about Germans, since the film in set around the time of World War I. A German shoemaker, Gustav Albrecht, is a friend of the Trask family. He is constantly trying to defend the Germans throughout the film, explaining that they are not all terrible, and instead finds his friends turning against him, although the Trasks consistently defend him. Albrecht is seen leaving a carnival saying, “Can’t I say my opinion?” after trying to defend German reputation to his acquaintances. His formed friends follow him from the fair and start a scuffle with him on his lawn. The fight is broken up, but you get a sense of stereotyping in this short scene.
This film is worthy of viewing. It uses the simplicity of emotion (jealousy, love and hope) to recreate real situations that are present in everyday life. It doesn’t need complex special effects and gut-wrenching stunts or gore to absorb the viewer in the storyline. Everyone can associate an experience in their life with an event in East of Eden.
Two teenage boys, Cal (James Dean) and Aron (Richard Davalos), live with their father, Adam Trask (Raymond Massey). Cal is labeled “bad,” while his brother is “good” and “righteous.” East of Eden is a story of blocked communication between father (Adam) and son (Cal). Cal vies with his brother for their father’s love, although Aron easily holds on to all of his adoration. The characters in the film offer a real and emotional performance; it’s easy to feel the character’s emotions – jealousy, spite, sympathy, hope – throughout the entire movie.
The brothers are raised by their father, believing their mother, who shot their mother and ran away, to be dead. Adam often rebukes Cal and offers all of his love to Aron. Cal and Adam have arguments about Cal’s behavior. One day they are arguing and Adam tells Cal that he is bad. Cal replies, “You’re right. I am bad. I knew that for a long time. It’s true. Aron’s the good one. I guess there’s just a certain amount of good and bad you get from your parents and I just got the bad.” Cal, who needs to find a reason for the “badness” that lives in him, searches for his mother whom he suspects of being alive. He finds her running a successful brothel. Cal now holds the truth, and the power to destroy his fragile brother, in his hands. He can tell destroy his brother by telling him about their mother, whom Aron believes to be an angel in heaven, or keep his secret, thereby preserving Aron’s good nature, innocence and his hold on their father.
Abra (Julie Harris), who is Aron’s girlfriend, helps Cal through his struggles. At the beginning of the movie Abra is frightened of Cal and she feels that he is always spying on her and Aron. Abra comes to realize that she and Cal share common struggles and the emotions that accompany them, and she eventually becomes the person Cal can look to for friendship, guidance and love.
East of Eden also portrays stereotypes about Germans, since the film in set around the time of World War I. A German shoemaker, Gustav Albrecht, is a friend of the Trask family. He is constantly trying to defend the Germans throughout the film, explaining that they are not all terrible, and instead finds his friends turning against him, although the Trasks consistently defend him. Albrecht is seen leaving a carnival saying, “Can’t I say my opinion?” after trying to defend German reputation to his acquaintances. His formed friends follow him from the fair and start a scuffle with him on his lawn. The fight is broken up, but you get a sense of stereotyping in this short scene.
This film is worthy of viewing. It uses the simplicity of emotion (jealousy, love and hope) to recreate real situations that are present in everyday life. It doesn’t need complex special effects and gut-wrenching stunts or gore to absorb the viewer in the storyline. Everyone can associate an experience in their life with an event in East of Eden.
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