SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

SimonJack Although some of his other books receive more acclaim and readership ("The Grapes of Wrath," "Of Mice and Men," "The Winter of Our Discontent"), John Steinbeck said that "East of Eden" was the novel that he lived to write. Indeed, the moralism of his writing reached broader and deeper in Eden than in any of his other works. The story here is set mainly in Steinbeck's beloved Salinas Valley and Monterey County.Warner Brothers did a commendable job in bringing the story to life on the silver screen. It condensed a 600-page novel into a two–hour film, yet kept all of the main elements of the drama. The title for the story comes from the Bible. Genesis 4:16 reads, "Cain then left the Lord's presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden." The plot of the story is a modern Cain and Abel tale, and it is repeated within succeeding generations. In the Bible, Cain brought "some of the fruits of the soil" to offer the Lord. Abel brought "the best of the firstlings," or "some of the firstlings and their fat portions." The latter were more pleasing to God. So, Cain did so-so, average, but Abel went out of his way to give the best to the Lord. God didn't love Cain any less -- he was just most pleased with Abel's offering. Yet Cain succumbed to pride, greed, envy, anger and lust. Most know the story of "East of Eden" or will find other reviews that discuss the plot. So, my remarks here are brief and cover some things not mentioned. Seeing this film again after many years, on a DVD, I had the advantage of extras that included some deleted scenes. I think one inclusion would have made the film perfect – the scene of Cal and Aron in their room after they had argued outside and Cal said that Aron was "the one he wanted" referring to his father's favoritism, as he saw it. Without that sequence, we see Cal suddenly perking up, pitching in and being Mr. good-guy helping his father. But, there's no real explanation or background to let us know why he would change. I don't know why they deleted that scene – it made the perfect fit and segue with Aron and Cal talking and Aron explaining in a way that Cal could understand. I don't think that would have made the movie too long in itself. James Dean had the largest role, as Cal, and was the male lead. And, yes, he was a new young and hot star of the time. All of the acting is excellent, including Dean's. But, I think the very best performances in this movie were by Julie Harris as Abra, Jo Van Fleet as Kate, and Raymond Massey as Adam. Richard Davalos, as Aron, wasn't far behind; and Van Fleet's performance was most deserving of the Oscar she won. James Dean made one more film after this – "Giant," which came out in October 1956. He wasn't alive to see it, because he was killed in a highway accident on Sept. 30, 1955. He had just finished filming for "Giant." That was just five months after "East of Eden" hit theaters. It's interesting to note that the site of Dean's accident was a few miles east of Paso Robles, California. That's at the southern end of the Salinas Valley of Steinbeck's "East of Eden."Those interested in Steinbeck should enjoy a visit to the National Steinbeck Center. It's a marvelous museum in downtown Salinas, CA.

Claudio Carvalho In 1917, in Monterey, California, Cal (James Dean) is a youngster needy of fatherly love. His father Adam Trask (Raymond Massey) is a farmer that favors his brother Aron (Richard Davalos) and they believe that their mother died when they were children. One day, Cal discovers that his mother Kate (Jo Van Fleet) is still alive and is the owner of a brothel in the nearby Salinas. However he keeps his discovery in secret and does not tell to his father and brother.When Adam decides to invest in the transportation of frozen lettuce, there is a problem on the railroad and he loses his saving. Cal contacts Kate and borrows five thousand dollars to invest in the promising bean business since the United States has entered in the World War I to recover his father's money and earn his love. Meanwhile Aron's girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris) and Cal fall in love with each other. Cal is well succeeded in his business and decides to give a surprise birthday party organized by Abra to his father to give his money as a birthday gift. The reaction of Adam and Aron trigger a series of incidents with tragic consequences. "East of Eden" is a movie directed by Elia Kazan with a story slightly based on Cain and Abel, with the rivalry of two brothers since Cal is a needy young man and Aron is envious of his brother. The movie shows the treatment spent to German immigrants when the United States joined the war. The open conclusion induces to the redemption of Cal after the tragedy in his family. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Vidas Amargas" ("Bitter Lives")

tieman64 Based on a John Steinbeck novel, Elia Kazan's "East of Eden" stars James Dean as Cal, the son of entrepreneur Adam Trask. Cal feuds with his younger brother and father, both of whom perceive Cal to be "bad". Also deemed "bad" is Cal's mother, the owner of a local brothel.As Kazan has truncated Steinbeck's novel, each character's actions and motivations become slightly cartoonish. Adam himself is portrayed as a religious fundamentalist, so scarred by his now absent wife that he deems everything unsavoury to be a "mark of wickedness". Psychologically abused by his judgemental father, Cal embarks on an unhealthy quest to both find his mother and earn daddy's favour."East of Eden" is filled with artificial, exaggerated oppositions, trite melodrama and strained allusions to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. On the flip-side, it's beautifully shot, boasts amazing wide-screen photography and contains a number of interesting passages. Elevating things further is Dean's performance. Dean would act in only three films before dying at the age of 24 ("Giant", "East of Eden", "Rebel Without a Cause"). In each of these films, he played sensitive, troubled young men. These characters are outsiders, idealists, confused, ashamed and filled with a burning desire to belong. More than this, their on-screen suffering seemed to echo Dean's own off-screen troubles.Dean's performance in "East of Eden" has been called "groundbreaking", but it wasn't really. Brando and Montgomery Clift were already making waves as Method Acting Mega Stars, and Paul Newman and others would soon do so as well. What Dean did well was popularise a certain turn-of-the-century teenage archetype; all adolescent ache and emotional turbulence. And as Dean was immortalised as an adolescent and never allowed to grow up, his characters only seemed more doomed. As the years went by, his three performances would accumulate almost mythological proportions. This sentimental necrophilia would blind fans to Dean's flaws – his obvious attempts to mimic Brando, his overly mopey scenery-chewing etc – but in a way is also wholly deserved. "East of Eden" boasts gorgeous colour cinematography by Ted McCord, a lush score by Leonard Rosenman, and fine performances by Julie Harris and Jo Van Fleet.7.5/10 – See "Marjorie Morningstar", "Some Came Running" and "Rebel Without a Cause".

TheLittleSongbird OK, the book is a masterpiece, very layered and beautifully and intelligently written with complex characters and plenty of emotional wallop. It is a very wordy and sometimes sprawling book as well as a long one, so when it comes to be adapted things will be missed out. The film may not the greatest of adaptations, it's not as complex, Kate and Aron are far more interesting in the book(Aron could be seen as the driving force and Kate is not a plot device) and there's the omission of Lee(the one that could be seen as the character who links everything together). Despite all that though, as a film on its own- which is a much fairer way to judge because book and film are two different mediums, there are plenty of films that are not good adaptations but are great films- East of Eden is still a great film and a powerful one too. With the only flaw for me being the occasionally heavy handed direction with an over-reliance of camera tilts, sure they are deliberate choices to show the character contrasts and how distorted the relationship with Cal and his father has become but there were parts where the technique technique wasn't needed like at the dinner table. Timothy Carey's voice not sounding like Timothy Carey is a touch jarring, but not enough to be a flaw. Kazan's direction is mostly fine though and East of Eden is a wonderfully-made film, sumptuous in colour and brilliantly shot(excepting a few of the tilted camera shots), especially in the poppy field which hasn't aged a jot and actually looks as though it was shot outdoors. Some of it is clever too like with Dean standing in the doorway, the shadow that you see very symbolic of how twisted and vengeful Cal is by this point. Leonard Rosenman's score is very lush-sounding with a very sophisticated vibe, enhancing the mood in every scene beautifully. East of Eden is very intelligently written if wordy like in the book and the story is still compelling and powerful, the ending and Cal giving his father the money and his father rejecting it are heart-breaking scenes. A lot of the details from the book may not be there but the spirit and the meaning of it are. The characters drive the film very well and are interesting, especially Cal who is a very tormented character who we do feel lots of empathy for. And the acting is great, Julie Harris may be too mature but her performance is still full of innocence and compassion, Burl Ives is a charming presence, Jo Van Fleet makes Kate very memorable and layered despite her quite short screen time, Raymond Massey is perfect as the at times controlling father and Richard Davalos' screen debut is a wonderful one, you hate him at first but in the climatic scene for instance you do feel empathy for him. But the best performance does come from James Dean who is superb and the emotional power of his performance really hit home with me. His role in Rebel Without a Cause may be more iconic(and for good reason) but his role as Cal is played with more depth I feel. Overall, as an adaptation East of Eden may not be great and will leave fans wanting but as a film it is truly excellent with a lot of powerful things. 9/10 Bethany Cox