Giant (Special Edition) [DVD] [1956] [Dual Disc Format]*

 

 

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George Steven's epic 198 minute treatment of Edna Ferber's bestselling novel inspired the television serial Dallas. It's stars, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean (playing the malignant Jett Rink - JR geddit!) were required to age 30 years during this blockbuster telling of domestic drama and state history. The cast (including the marvellous Mercedes McCambridge) were excellent but the real star of the film is Texas itself, from the opening shot of cattle round a waterhole you know you are in for a film of blockbuster proportions. The story centralises around the cattle rich Benedict family, whose son Bick (Rock Hudson) travels north to buy a horse. He returns with a wife, Lesley (Elizabeth Taylor) after a whirlwind romance and it is her influence on the Benedict clan that permeates the film. Bick's sister (Mercedes McCambridge) resents her, the native Americans adore her for her help in setting up a clinic and the corrosive Jett Rink (James Dean) worships her from afar. The discovery of oil on his land only adds more power to his hatred of Bick and their rivalry spans 30 years, culminating in a dramatic finale. The main stars all turn in great performances and the film is all the more poignant in that James Dean was tragically killed in a car crash at the end of filming. Giant reminds you what a talent we all lost.

GEORGE STEVENS has devised a subtle nuanced epic which is unique and the most relevant and contemporary art piece to come out of Hollywood in its golden age . The melting pot that is Texas and America is shown in all its vices and virtues and this milieu is integrated in the story with definitive characters who bring the social insouciance of racial hatred and class divide with typical male dominated social hedonism to light in a very cerebral script .

The movie spans two generations of a Texan rancher's family who own half a million acres with Rock Hudson playing the shy laconic owner who falls for the New Englad beauty Liz Taylor and brings her as a rather intimidated bride to a world which is initially alien to her sensibilities .

Then enters James Dean as a farm hand who is entranced by the beauty of Taylor and there are some extremely complex, fascinating and thoroughly well acted sequences between the two where he is trying to mask his admiration by his defensive taciturn character while she is playing a patron to his poor white man ,who she considers is trying to improve himself . The charade ends as jeff [James Dean ]strikes oil and becomes a millionaire in his own right while Rock and Liz Taylor manage to have and raise three kids, who are all rather individually apposite to each other .

The second part of the movie sees them deal with the rather fascinating conflicts created by changing politics and social attitudes as racial bigotry softens and things become more amenable to debate in a more open political arena .

The world war is shown to bring an implacable change and the character of a Hispanic war hero in a cameo is astoundingly good and worthy of a whole movie in its short denouement .
The movie is on a huge lavish scale with exquisite frames and the best work by Dean ,Hudson and Liz taylor ever with perfect performances which are supported by the most adequate wardrobe and make up i have ever seen .

It is also the best American love story and social drama cum epic i have ever seen ,which has both a heart and mind and is neither sentimentally crass nor emotionally expolitative of the audience with a subtle intellect .

The sequences of conflict between the three main characters are absolutely unforgettable as is the finale and the dialogues have a biting insight which uncovers the subconcious emotions of the characters .

Rock Hudson is the best character and he shines here like a true star and actor . The musical score by Dmitri Tiomkin makes every scene even more sensitive and powerful then in any other musical score ever .
Giant descibes the everchanging humanity with a realistic tenderness and optimism yet never foregoes of the harsh reality of life and that makes it unique in American cinema . This is actually better then the Edna Forbes book which was not even true for ''Gone with the wind'' as the book surpassed the movie even though it is a classic .

Stevens has built a rambling ,meticulously observed and ebullient story and then mixed it with the ugly stigma of arrogance and racial condescension while never letting go of the humanity of any of his characters who are all flawed human beings like us but totally convincing in every trivial detail .

This is the best work of James Dean of all his three movies and Liz Taylor only looked better in Cleopatra but that was a different genre all together , as for Hudson, he has played an introverted ,quiet but determined man with stubborn principles and a sense of family honour, which he oozes with grace in every frame .

George Stevens has given a true gift to American cinema and every detail from the older wizened , makeup worn by the 3 main leads to the ranch life in Texas are mesmerizing in every minute detail , but what makes this even more vital is that it is more relevant today in describing the paradox that is America and i speculate it is only going to go on getting better with time .
A giant leap for American cinema which makes others look like dwarves .

dvd EXTRAS ; MAKING OF 2 COMMENTARIES, 2DVDS ,PHOTO GALLERY ,BIBLIOGRAPHY OD ALL THE MAIN ARTISTES ,STEVEN JUNIOR GIVES AN INTRODUCTION TOO ;JUST A GOLDMINE -I FELT LIKE I STRUCK AN OIL RIG MYSELF LIKE DEANS .

I remember seeing this film at the cinema when I was 12?? I was totally enthralled, and have since watched it many times on Video. In my opinion this is the best performance that Taylor ever gave, and Rock Hudson was given a chance to do something other than look beautiful. The storyline encompassed many changes in the topographical and sociological make up of the State of Texas (and therefore the USA) and was way ahead of it's time. Hudson's character goes through a sea change before the end of the film. Nowadays it may look naive and a little too "pat" but it was brave for its time. Beautiful photography puts it on a par with The Big Country and James Dean does a lovely job of passing from youthful rebel to the ageing tycoon complete with powdered grey hair. It had a profound effect on me as a kid, and it hasn't dated. You can't say that about many films. The theme is universal- troublesome children, social change, tradition versus money, it's all there. I think this film isd underrated, and will emerge later with a little more kudos than it is given at present.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A classic
I first watched this film whilst on holiday in America in 1980 and it has stayed with me. The recent death of Elizabeth Taylor prompted me to buy it on DVD and watch it again... Read more

Published 9 months ago by tgp

3.0 out of 5 stars Food Without Flavouring.
Orson Welles famously derided the Swiss as the character Harry Lime in Carol Reed's brilliant "The Third Man", by commenting that their long history of peace had only produced the... Read more

Published on 3 Sep 2009 by Bob Salter

5.0 out of 5 stars oliver twist
I found when thjs arrived that it had greasy fingerprints all over it,but however after a clean it played back ok

Published on 10 July 2009 by Mr. J. A. Theobalds

5.0 out of 5 stars Changing times require time to change
Giant is not just a film about a wealthy rancher who marries an East Coast beauty, raises a family in Texas and has an annoying low-life irritate the heck out of him by setting up... Read more

Published on 10 April 2009 by Wendy E. Whitbread

3.0 out of 5 stars Like a 3 hour episode of Dallas
George Stevens' 3 hour epic of Texan life strives so hard for serious statements that it ends up as a 3 hour episode of Dallas. Read more

Published on 12 Jun 2008 by Billy Ray Cyrus

3.0 out of 5 stars Dinosaurs were giant too..
Taken from the novel by Edna Ferber, whose also bequeathed the screen
Show Boat and Cimarron, Giant certainly lives up to its name. Read more

Published on 3 Feb 2006 by Richard Bowden

5.0 out of 5 stars Great extras!!!
The picture quality on the DVD is outstanding, but the extras on the second disk make this worth the purchase price. Read more

Published on 25 Jun 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars An often overlooked modern classic!
An epic tale filmed in a wild and bleak semi-desert setting. James Dean stands out in his brilliance and originality, and this was the last movie he made before his death. Read more

Published on 11 Oct 2001

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