Rewatching East of Eden (1955)
"East Of Eden" is a book that really devastated me when I first read it.
Frank Turner recommended that I read John Steinbeck’s East of Eden as he references the father in the story in one of the songs on his album England Keep My Bones, but before starting on the enormous task of finishing this long 600 page magnum opus I thought I’d rewatch the film version from 1955.
The film strikes me as a bit melodramatic and overwrought but still effective. Apparently it only covers the second half of the novel so we don’t really learn a lot about Adam Trask but instead concentrate more on his two sons, especially Cal played by James Dean in his first major movie role. The actor playing his brother is so forgettable that I can’t remember seeing him in any other movie. Julie Harris has one of the best roles of her career. I’d completely forgotten Burl Ives was also in the movie but he’s very good in all his scenes. Raymond Massey is also good as the father, although his acting strikes me as a bit wooden especially when compared to Dean who does most of his acting through body language with minimal dialogue. Jo Van Fleet won an Academy Award playing the mother and she is very good, even if she only appears in a few scenes.
It’s strange watching a film that I’ve seen so many times that I can remember what’s going to happen in the next scene as I start to watch it. Some interesting off kilter camera angles from director Elia Kazan especially in this scene where the camera seems to mimic Dean on the swing.
Now on to the book ….
If I like it enough I may even find myself reading this too eventually....
