Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Let's Not Ask the Moon.

During one of the most haunting scenes in Rebel Without a Cause we see a group of high school students going to the Los Angeles observatory where they take part of a planetarium exposition.
The sense that there is a world larger than their teenager problems isn't completely evident to them and we see how they all pretty much ignore the stars and do their own thing.

One of them however is concentrating on a star, only not the kind you'd expect. Little Plato (Mineo) is starstruck by the enigmatic Jim Stark (Dean) and who can blame him?
The young actor was the epitome of screen magnetism in this film!

I have always loved how Plato contemplates Jim as if trying to crack into his mind. The bewitching qualities of Dean and their influence on Mineo go beyond vulgar homoerotic suggestions and turn into something magical, they also lead to my favorite shot in the film, only this one has sexual connotations as well:


Just how much beauty can the screen contain at once?

This post is part of Nathaniel's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" series.

1 comment:

Luke said...

This movie sure is a trip. I can't watch it without thinking of it as a tragedy. Despite the fact that they're playing characters, all three of the stars met such unfortunately early ends. Adds to the legendary quality really.