James Dean in Giant
Canvas Textured Graphic Reproduction
Size: 39" x 20"Choice of
framed or unframed
Review:
Even if it hadn't starred three of the most iconic screen figures of the
1950s, George Stevens's Giant would still be an emotionally
powerful and visually striking film; adding Rock Hudson,
Elizabeth Taylor, and
James Dean (in his final performance) to the
mix was just the icing on the cake. Dean
contributes the highest-caliber fireworks, though his "Method" style sometimes
blends uncomfortably with the more traditional performances of the other actors,
but Stevens also drew atypically strong performances from
Taylor and Hudson, who
delivers perhaps his best performance on screen next to Seconds (1966). Based on
Edna Ferber's novel, the story is a glorified soap opera, but Stevens's epic
production strengthens the narrative rather than drowning it, providing a visual
metaphor for the intimidating vastness of the Texas landscape. The image of the
vast Benedict mansion slowly appearing as a tiny dot on the horizon is only the most memorable of the film's many indelible images. Giant is as big and sprawling as Texas itself; it's the tininess of the larger-than-life characters in the oilfields of the Southwest that keeps them human, and makes them all the more fascinating. — Mark Deming
