Rebel Without a Cause

1955

Director: Nicholas Ray

Distributor: Warner Brothers

Key Elements: Lines – Characters – Message – Concept – Symbolism

My Review:

This is an important movie.

For one thing, it’s iconic. It’s James Dean’s definitive role and it captured the motif of the teenage rebel.

But more than that, it’s a movie about the importance of fathers and the damage done when fathers don’t fulfill their role.

Judy is rejected by her withdrawn father. She craves fatherly affection, but when she tries to hug her father, he slaps her away. She is starving for healthy, masculine love. She turns to Jim.

Plato is abandoned by his absent father. He needs a man to teach and lead him but there’s nobody there. He’s left emotionally unsupported and lost. He also turns to Jim.

And Jim is ashamed of his passive father. The man allows his wife to walk all over him and it makes it impossible for Jim to respect him. Jim desperately wants to look up to his dad, but is constantly let down.

Jim has everyone turning to him, but no one to turn to himself.

Fathers are needed. Without them, the whole world falls apart.

Clip:




Quotes:

• You live here don’t you?
  - Who lives?
• You're tearing me apart!
  - What?
  You, you say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again!
• … Dad.
  - This is all going too fast for me, son.
  You better give me something. You better give me something fast.
  -- Jimmy you're very young. A foolish decision now could wreck you're whole life. In ten years, you'll never know this happened.
  Dad, answer her. Tell her. Ten years. Dad, let me hear you answer her. Dad. …Dad, stand up for me. …Stand up!
• If I had one day when I didn't have to be all confused and I didn't have to feel that I was ashamed of everything. If I felt that I belonged someplace. You know?
• If he had guts to knock Mom cold once, then maybe she'd be happy and then she'd stop picking on him. Because they make mush out of him! Just mush!
• Do you think the end of the world will come at night time?
  - Uh-uh, at dawn.
• If only you could'a been my dad. We could have breakfast in the morning.
• love somebody. All the time I've been... I've been looking for someone to love me. And now I love somebody. And it's so easy. Why is it easy now?
  - I don't know; it is for me, too.
  I love you, Jim. I really mean it.
  - Well, I'm glad.
• I've got the bullets!
• I don't know what to do anymore. Except maybe die.
• You can wake up now, the universe has ended.
• Help me!
  - Look Jim. You can depend on me. Trust me. Whatever comes, we'll, we'll fix it together. I swear it. Now Jim, stand up. I'll stand up with you. I'll try and be as strong as you want me to be. Come on.

Stills: