“He’s unreliable, he’s evasive.”
So much has been written about James Dean, who has starred in a number of films and TV series before he passed away in a car crash on 30th September 1955. The young actor was on his way to stardom after becoming a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement through his role as troubled teenager Jim Stark in his most celebrated film, “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955). However, his enduring fame and popularity rest on his performances in only 3 films, 2 of which were not even released when he died.
He was only 24 years old.
As iconic a star as Dean has become, much of the public’s view of the rapidly rising actor was formed though the eyes of photographer Dennis Stock, who shot a series of remarkable pictures of Dean in early 1955.
Corbijn, who gave us a new insight into Joy Division’s Ian Curtis’s life with 2004’s “Control”, is now turning our attention towards an unlikely friendship between Dean (played by Dane DeHaan) and Stock (played by Robert Pattinson) in “Life”.
The synopsis is as follows:
LIFE CAPTURES THE NUANCES AND COMPLEXITIES OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHOTOGRAPHER AND SUBJECT IN A WAY RARELY SEEN OR UNDERSTOOD BY SOMEONE OUTSIDE THE BUSINESS. IN A NOD TO CORBIJN’S OWN PAST EXPERIENCE, THE FILM IS TOLD FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE LIFE PHOTOGRAPHER DENNIS STOCK WHO MEETS AND PROFILES DEAN FOR THE MAGAZINE, TURNING OUT SOME OF DEAN’S MOST ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHS.
According to Corbijn, the real story lies with Stock. He said:
WE SEE IT MOSTLY THROUGH HIS EYES…AND A LOT OF EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON HIS SIDE OF THE STORY AND HOW HE EXPERIENCES THIS FRIENDSHIP. JIMMY AND DENNIS LEARN FROM EACH OTHER; DENNIS GETS TO LOOK A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY AT HIS RELATIONSHIP TO HIS SON, AND FOR JAMES DEAN IT WAS QUITE INTERESTING TO HAVE A FRIEND WITH HIS OWN OPINION, NOT A YES MAN. I DON’T THINK STOCK WAS THAT KIND OF GUY.
Regarding the film, writer Luke Davies, who penned one of Heath Ledger’s last projects, “Candy”, said, “In a sense the movie is at some deeper level about how mortality should affect the way that we choose to live here and now. So it’s a celebration of life and an elegy for James Dean’s death.”
Watch the trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8uwcPKjfRY
UPDATE (17th November, 2:50pm):
“Life” has been staying under-the-radar since its first official trailer was released, but that doesn’t matter there’s nothing to love about this upcoming James Dean biopic.
A new trailer has just landed online via Apple Trailers, offering us another look at DeHaand and Pattinson as legendary actor James Dean and photographer Dennis Stock.
Check it out:
“Life”, which is a follow-up to Corbijn’s “A Most Wanted Man”, also stars Ben Kingsley and Joel Edgerton.
It is slated for release on 25th September 2015.
Source: Dazed and Confused Magazine.
