TORONTO – James Dean, the bad-boy American actor with beautiful windswept hair remains an iconic name in Hollywood.While revered on-screen for his mystery, the actor’s life in the public eye was constantly questioned, as rumours of bisexuality swirled.
The film Joshua Tree, 1951, is described as an intimate portrait of a young Dean on the cusp of fame. With a mix of biographical and fictionalized information, the life of the American icon is portrayed in an entirely new light.
“It’s not a biopic it’s a portrait as seen through the eyes of its director and writer Matthew Mishory, who did an incredible job of piecing together facts, fiction, some rumour,” said the film’s producer Edward Singletary Jr. on Global TV’s The Morning Show on Thursday.
Dean was most famous for his role in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and died in a car accident in the midst of his career.
James Preston, an actor and model who bears a striking resemblance to Dean stars in the film, and says the film gets to the core of the person Dean was.
“I think it’s really capturing the essence of the young boy who James Dean was, who struggled, and no one really sees the struggle that James Dean really went through,” said James Preston. “It’s this person that was created in the minds of the public of being just a rebel and this motorcycle riding bad boy, but there’s a lot to James Dean that a lot of people don’t know.”
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One of the only films to address Dean’s rumoured bisexuality, much of the film is based around this speculation.
“As a producer it was a big step and it was a little nerve wracking because I wasn’t sure how it would play out,”said Singletary.”But as we got into the material I realized that it was something that was both timely and it needed to be talked about.”
Though not confirmed, many have hinted at Dean’s bisexuality, including his biographer William Bast who stated that they were sexually involved.
“One of his quotes, whenever he was asked about homosexuality was ‘I’m not a homosexual but I refuse to go through life with one arm tied behind my back.’”
“That’s how I went into the film; I didn’t go in making a stance whether James was gay or straight,” said Preston. “He was who he was, going through Hollywood searching for something, whether it was love or searching for a connection and I think he was really brave in doing so.”
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Q&A: Matthew Mishory, director of Joshua Tree, 1951
Joshua Tree, 1951, is the intimate portrait of a young James Dean on the cusp of notoriety and fame. With a mix of biographical and fictionalized information the life of the American icon is portrayed in an entirely new light in the film.
The film, which makes its world premiere at the Seattle Film Festival, is one of the first to address Dean’s rumoured bisexuality.
Director Matthew Mishory intricately pieced fact, fiction and rumour together to paint a portrait of Dean he had never seen done before.
Mishory’s work has been shown at major film festivals and art galleries around the world.
Global News spoke with Mishory to explore the creative process behind the creation of Joshua Tree, 1951.
How did you come to the decision to portray James Dean in such a seldom seen light?
The story of James Dean the movie star and celebrity had been done so many times before. I was drawn instead to what came before: the period of struggle and formation. Ours is the story of a young man making his way and finding himself — as an artist and as a human being. The film is neither a biopic nor a biography in any sense of the word. It is a portrait, a moment in (and perhaps outside of) time. And for that reason, we really examine Dean from the perspectives of those who knew him best at that time, played very memorably, I think, by Edward Singletary, Jr., and Dan Glenn.
How does the cinematography lend to the biographical and fictional mix of the film?
The story is truly told in visual language — in portraiture and landscapes. I was lucky enough to collaborate with one of the great cinematographers, Michael Marius Pessah, and I think we found a balance in the look (as well as the content) of the film between Hollywood classicism and revisionist modernity. Places have always been important to me, and here the Mojave desert became the emotional landscape of our film.
Let’s say a younger generation, who may not know of James Dean’s iconic persona, were to come view your film; according to your films idea, how would you hope they viewed James Dean?
As a young man who, like so many young people, wanted to make something of his life and contribute something significant to the world. And after a period of intense struggle, he did. He changed the way actors perform on screen. But, as any artist can relate, there were real and personal consequences — a price to pay for his dream and ambition.
Joshua Tree, 1951, is your feature film debut; what inspired you to pick James Dean for this historic milestone in your career?
Ultimately, I think this film picked me. My father immigrated to America as a teenager to study music at Julliard, and he learned English by going to the cinemas. He saw East of Eden in first run as a young man in New York, and it was probably the first feature film he showed me when I was a little boy. It is among my earliest cinematic memories. I have seen thousands of movies now, but few if any screen performances can compare to James Dean’s. And behind that performance was a very compelling, very vulnerable young man. I wanted to make a film about him.
-Nicole Bogart, Global News
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