Nicholas Ray's REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
(American Revival)
Doc Films (University of Chicago)
- Monday, 7pm
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John Hughes' THE BREAKFAST CLUB
(Contemporary American Revival)
Doc Films (University of Chicago) - Wednesday, 7 and 9pm
American in the '50s vs. America in
the '80s. Eisenhower and hula-hoops vs. Reagan and the Rubik's Cube.
Conformity reigns: go to school, get a job, get married, and move to
the suburbs. Makes you want to drop out right now doesn't it? Cinematically,
the two decades were also high points of the Teen Movie genre, and you
can't have a stellar film about teens without a good looking rebel that
makes the girls swoon. Is it careful planning that allows Doc Films
to bring us the most iconic rebels of each decade in one week, or just
serendipity? It really doesn't matter, because at the very least we
get a chance to use them as the lens through which the two decades are
contrasted. Let's get one thing straight; when REBEL was released in
1955 (one month after James Dean's death) it was daring, fresh, and
hard-hitting. A critique of morally corrupt youth, lackadaisical parenting,
and the decay of the American family, it still commands praise of the
highest degree for its quality of acting and ability to capture teenage
angst in an honest, believable, and frank manner. Hughes' skill as a
movie maker cannot be compared to Ray's, but his young cast was every
bit the equal of Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood, and Dean in their collective
ability to connect with a teenage audience. For people of a certain
age, Anthony Michael Hall's voiceover which bookends the film will forever
define who everyone at their high school was: a brain, an athlete, a
basket case, a princess, and a criminal. And our criminal, played by
a now shaggy Judd Nelson, defined cool rebellion for the better part
of a decade. As John Bender he insults the principal to his face ("Does
Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?"), hides dope in his locker,
sees through everyone's bullshit and calls them out on it, and gets
to make out with the prom queen. But since we're comparing the two films,
what does each anti-hero tell us about each director's vision, and about
the decades they inhabit? In the 50's, Jim Stark is misunderstood, a
young man who feels out of place in society, too sensitive to relate
to his peers, and set up by society to fail. But his parents are simply
misguided: they love Jim; they just don't know how to take care of him.
We know that if he just gets a chance he can be somebody good, he just
needs a few years. He lives in an optimistic America, where tomorrow
is a bright new day. In the '80's though, John Bender has some real
malice, and the cigarette burns on his arm to show us why. He forces
a bonding ritual on his fellow high school students, but we know that
his triumphant fist in the air to close the movie will be the high point
of his life. At best he is destined for a crappy job in a bleak suburb,
stuck in a loveless marriage with kids he can't stand. At worst he's
drunk and alone, recounting how he blew his last best chance with that
pretty little rich girl. The American dream is on the ropes, the rich
are gonna get richer, and human connection is a fleeting illusion. You've
got two choices, get with the program, or suffer the consequences. (1955,
111 min, 16mm/1985, 97 min, 35mm) JH - Cine-File.info
