Film Review; 'East of Eden'

East of Eden was a film that studied a character in depth. Based on the book by John Steinback, this film attempted to display the emotions and reactions of a boy named Cal to the occurrences in his life. The film is based in the 1920s before the first World War. Cal is a troubled boy, often labeled as a 'bad' kid by his society. He is torn from love by his father, and he never knew his mother. He has grown up under his brother's shadow, and wants nothing more than to be accepted. Cal finally takes a risk, and steps out on a limb to help his father after he losses money off of spoiled vegetables. Cal helps his father by working long and hard on a bean crop to pay his father back. Once Cal raises the money, his father will not even accept it. This film was amazing in nearly every aspect. Even though it was quite slow, it was very intriguing. The cinematography of this film was exquisite. I think it must have been one of the earliest films to use tilted camera angles. Every shot seemed to be set up just perfect, just how it needed to be seen by the audience. The editing was also very good; a continuity based editing gave the story even more strength throughout the unfolding of events. The score of this movie was also very good. I was impressed by how effective it was during some scenes. This film was especially successful in the storyline and the characters, the actors did a great job, too.

This film was very well cast. It did not seem like the actors overacted any scenes, and every performance was original and a lot of work was put into it, you could tell. I was absolutely amazed by the performance of James Dean as Cal, it was such an in depth character. I was shocked by how original a character he portrayed. I think out of the few works of James Dean that I have seen, this was his most impressive, and he was still young! Other acting such as the parts of Adam, their father, and Kate were very well portrayed as well. Perhaps my favorite character in the movie, however was Abra. I really feel that she was the strongest, most consistent character throughout the film. She demonstrated a lot of strength in sticking by Cal throughout the toughest times and even taking care of Adam when he started to act differently. She never stopped doing her best. I'm still not sure whether I just loved the character Julie Harris played, or her acting abilities. Both were very good, that is for sure.

This film was very well written; I enjoyed the journeys that took place in each character. Cal started out lonely, and afraid and strange, an outcast in every sense of the word. By the end of the film, he gained self-confidence, love and a passion for his life to do the best he could. Abra started out in love with Adam, supportive and caring, but as she began to see the changes take place in him, she grew closer to Cal who seemed momentarily to adopt his brother's characteristics. She was always in love with the right man. She was never completely sure of what she wanted, but she did her best to take care of those she loved. Adam had a drastic change, from a loving, caring and strong young man to a disillusioned, crazy man. It was almost as if Adam and Cal switched places. There is a depth to these characters that I would have to see the film again to begin to grasp some of the symbolism and portrayals. The screenwriter of this film did an excellent job. I feel like I really gained an understanding of how original characters can be. I was so impressed not only by the actor's portrayals, but of the depth of the characters themselves. There are truly so many sides to human beings, and to only show one side, or only a couple for that matter, doesn't do the human being justice. Characters should always be approached with the care and depth that the characters in East of Eden were, that is one essential in good film making.