Madeline
If East Of Eden the book was the amazing classic story of good and evil, then the movie is the greatest good and evil movie. The movie starts halfway through the book and ends a bit before the book ends. As it is a long book with many details about different aspects of the way the characters live, it did make sense to focus only on a small part of the book. Although the book follows numerous storylines, the movie focuses on a single family’s storyline. Particularly the Trask part of the story.
Premise of East of Eden Movie
The movie is focused on the Trask family, and particularly Cal Trask, played by James Dean. Cal is the bad twin compared to his perfect brother, Aron. The movie starts with Cal finding his mother a few towns away in Monterey, California. The book starts long before his parents even meet, let alone at this point in the story. The focus of the movie is that Cal is the bad child and he gets his bad nature from the mother. He did not, until recently, even know was still alive let alone inherit her bad behavior.
There are some slight changes in the movie to the original story line. Such as the Hamilton family not being mentioned in the movie and therefore the storyteller does not appear in the movie either. There is a lack of story set up and how the Trask family came to be. Although, I do not think cropping out the unnecessary details made the movie difficult to watch, it just left out a lot of the other storylines which are important in the storyline of the book.
James Dean
Although one of the biggest movie stars of his time, James Dean only starred in three movies. Rebel Without A Cause, Giant, and this one, East Of Eden. He always plays the bad boy who has an inner struggle that makes him want to be good. This type casting of James Dean is what makes him perfect for the role of Cal Trask. Although his acting is a little exaggerated, it is unique to him and it fits the role quite well.
Final Thoughts
The cinematography and acting of James Dean in East of Eden made this movie enjoyable. But if you are a student looking to not read the book for school, this movie will not do the trick. The movie makes a fine stand alone story that focuses only on a small aspect of the book but it does not cover the details the book goes into.
