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Robert Englund recommended East of Eden (1955) in Movies (curated)

East of Eden (1955)

1955 | Classics, Drama

8.8

(5 Ratings)

Movie Favorite Watch

"I also love Elia Kazan and it was a toss up for me between On the Waterfront, which I saw as a child, and East of Eden, which I saw as a young kid, and also rediscovered as an adult. But I do remember more recently a beautiful print that was struck — maybe by UCLA archives, maybe by AFI; I’m not sure who — and they had a screening of it at a theater that’s the longer one there in Century City, beautiful theater. At one time I think it was the state of the art theater in the country, with the first reclining seats and all that. They had [screened it] somehow, in conjunction with the LA city school system and the English department of LA city schools. And I believe that the matinee that I saw was predominantly schools… And the kids have to read East of Eden or Steinbeck, Travels with Charley or something in school, and you could tell this was going to be their Steinbeck assignment, so it was a field trip. But this… wasn’t a movie for young people, and I was a little worried that the noise, the kicking of the seats, and the high jinx that were prevailing in the auditorium before the lights went down would keep going. And I remember about five minutes into the film there’s a shot of James Dean hopping a freight — he jumps this train, near Monterey and he goes to Salinas, or vice versa — he hops the train and is on his way to Monterey to visit his mother, to find his mother in a brothel. And it’s cold, it’s evening — he pulls his little sweater over his head like a hoodie and he bundles up almost in a fetal position on the top of this train, snaking it’s way through the country side in Monterey county. And the entire audience shut up and you could hear a pin drop. It was the power of a true movie star. It was the first American teenager, James Dean, on the screen. And it didn’t matter that it was a predominantly… junior high school to high school kids — they got it. They got his angst, they got his beauty, they got his rebellion, all in literally 30 seconds’ worth of him exuding teen angst in the film and it was just this great moment. It reminded me of the power of stardom, of light and shadow on the screen, of a Greta Garbo, of a great screen kiss between — God rest her soul — the late Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne in The Quiet Man, or John Travolta strutting down the sidewalk in Saturday Night Fever— it’s just this great thing. And I love that movie anyway. There’s sequences and scenes in that movie, and James Dean, his grace in that movie — I think his movement in that movie is only matched by one or two Lee Marvin performances, and maybe one or two Sean Connery performances that I’ve seen in terms of just male physical grace. Really a great film, and I had to put Kazan on my list. So Kazan would be my number five for East of Eden starring James Dean."

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Photo & Video and Utilities

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Finance and Productivity

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Ronyell (38 KP) rated Hen, His Wife (1990) in Movies

Aug 4, 2020

Hen, His Wife (1990)

1990 | Animation, Comedy

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

My Wife Is a Hen!

Wow! I have to say that even though I have watched lots of surreal shorts over the years, none of them quite compared to how weird this short was! It was interesting to see an animated short that is about domestic problems and one that has so much symbolism to it. There are so many different interpretations about what is really going on in this short and what kind of message it's trying to send to the viewers. So it would be almost impossible for me to describe to you about what I think the ulterior meaning behind this short really is. But, I'm going to give it my best shot and tell you guys what I think that this short is trying to say.

My Interpretation:

So apparently, the couple has been happy together until the husband's friend comes in and tells him that his wife is a hen. Now, it's quite obvious to the audience that the wife is a hen, so how come the husband didn't notice this until his friend told him? Did the wife looked way different when she and her husband first met or did the husband just ignore the obvious signs over the years? So, when the husband finally notices that his wife is a hen, he turns her out of the house. Maybe the husband was more upset about his wife deceiving him for all of these years and that's why he turned her out because she had betrayed his trust in her. So, the husband tried to live life the way it was before, but he missed his wife and he starts hallucinating his situation. It was then that he called her over the phone and begged her to come back to him. But then the ending comes up and... well, you have to see the ending of this short for yourself!

I just loved the way that Igor Kovaliov weaved this bizarre world as all the characters look so strange, what with the blue colored husband and the humanoid hen wife. And let's not forget the half human, half worm pet that the couple has! I also loved the fact that there is so much symbolism and random moments going on in this short as it made the narrative so disoriented yet creative at the same time!

I was a bit thrown off by the mysterious plot of this short. I wasn't sure what to make of the situation that happened between the couple or the various symbolism that jumped out at you with no warning. So, there were times where I was a bit confused about what was really going on and I even had to read several different interpretations from other people who have seen this short in order to understand what was really going on in this short.

Overall, "Hen, His Wife" is a great surreal animated short that gives us a more literal description of marriage problems and anyone who loves watching Russian cartoons or just really weird shorts will definitely enjoy this short!