Touch of Evil or a Touch of Class?

I have always been a fan of Orson Welles, especially with Citizen Kane. It is so impressive how this man writes, directs, and acts in his own films. And Touch of Evil doesn't fall short with this. First, I found Welles character as the crooked detective an amazing performance. He is so intense within this role that it just adds so much to the film.
Not only was I impressed with his acting skills, but I was really intrigued by the cinematography and his direction of the film. Obviously the very long continuous shot in the beginning is amazing and very impressive, and it makes me wonder how many takes it took for Welles to get it just the way he wanted it.
Another shot that I loved was the one of Uncle Joe when he was in his car. The medium shots that Welles used were very interesting and caught my attention right away. Another scene that I really liked was the ending. It is a beautifully composed shot = Vargas underneath the bridge holding his radio, while Quinlan and the other detective are right above him. To me- I feel that scene is a classic piece of cinema- that before this class may have never been a witness to.
I also really enjoyed how this was supposedly one of the last real Film Noir films. I really enjoyed the lighting in Touch of Evil. I thought the shadows were used effectively and truly did create that familiar vibe of Film Noir.
Aside from Welles acting and directing, I found the issue of race and stereotypes to be very interesting in this film. What surprised me was the choice to have Charlton Heston to portray a Mexican in brown face. Don't get me wrong, Heston was a great actor, I just didn't quite understand it at first. Then after reading the posts for the movie, I learned some of the possibilities for why this was done.
The reading discusses how Welles covers Mexican stereotypes and presents them to the audience. He has a gang of Mexicans in the movie, that all cover almost every stereotype in the book- leather jackets, violent, dirty, treat women badly, etc... But he also included Vargas- who doesn't lie, doesn't steal, is clean, and doesn't even look or sound Mexican. I am still trying to wrap my brain around this and what Welles is trying to imply with it. The reading points out that it reveals "predictable stereotypes of the Mexican subjectivity." Maybe having Heston in brown face is to break stereotypes, for it is so obvious to the audience that it is a white man. Does the audience not believe Heston as a Mexican because of his color, or is it because he is just not fitting into the stereotype of being a "Mexican", regardless of his color? I feel Welles is making it so obvious for the viewer to see that stereotypes are not always true. All I know, is it is a very interesting and confusing area to discuss.

James Dean: The Ultimate Rebel

Finally I have seen this film. For years, my dad has been nagging me to watch it, but we never owned it on DVD or never caught it at the beginning on television. And man I was captivated by this film. Not just by the storyline but by James Dean's performance. I found some of his lines to be some of the greatest delivery in film history- "You're tearing me apart!" and "You already are involved!" Pretty much anytime Dean is screaming at his parents I loved. It just seemed so realistic, I don't know, it just really got to me. Being an actor myself, I was greatly impressed.

But moving on from that, I found the film to be very interesting. Compared to the Mystery Science Theater film we watched, there are numerous obvious differences. In the MST we are shown this perfect family, with instructions on how a typical day in the life of a typical family should be. But the reality is that no family is your "typical family" or perfect family, and there are certainly no instructions that will enforce this, well maybe Dr. Phil helps a little bit. But Rebel without a Cause shows how true American families operate. It shows how no family is perfect and that no matter how glamorous or wealthy a family may appear, there is always the chance of dark secrets to be hidden somewhere.
It is amazing to me how this film showcased how parents and children interact. Yes, the parents in this film were not really there for their children (either dead, just not caring, or too big of pushovers). But we see how children at that time dealt with this absence of parenting. And it is not good. We see a troubled little boy with no parents, who just wants to be loved by someone, and to help them keep their sanity. We see a teen boy who has no guidance from his parents because they don't come down on him like he wants him too. And then we have this girl who isn't noticed anymore by her father. So this leads her to find attention from the boys in town.

Now, the girl here I feel is the most messed up. Her boyfriend just died falling off a cliff, yet two hours later or so, she is running around with Dean and making out with him. It is as if the previous boyfriend meant nothing to her, just as long as she had another man holding her in their arms. I feel she was the character who needed the most help. Well, the kid with the gun needed serious help too.