East of Eden, the miniseries

[SirenSongWoman]

Is FINALLY on dvd at Amazon.com. So very many times I have wanted to recommend this awesome production to all lovers of great stories and brilliant performances but it was out of print. I have an old scratched-up VHS tape and had long gotten out of the habit of checking over at Amazon to see if anything had been done about it. So a few days ago something at work had happened that reminded me of a scene in EOE and I started talking about it to my co-workers. I started telling them the story and they were just hanging on my words so I kept going. They were all like "Oh man... I have to see that." So I was online last night and thought I'd check. Oh happy day, it's on it's way to my hot little hands.

If you've never seen the EOE miniseries (the Kazan movie is C.R.A.P.) you OWE it to yourself to check it out. I am a total movie snob and have been less than thrilled by the choices actress Jane Seymour has made since playing the lead role in EOE. If you're thinking "Dr. Quinn, medicine woman... please" you're wrong. Even my late mother was shocked by her performance. Her character is a flat-out sociopath who makes tormenting men the entire meaning of her life. Great performances all around by everyone, especially Soon Tek Oh, but Seymour's Kathy will have the hairs standing up on your arms. Scary.

 

[tobermory]

I love that miniseries as well -- they are all good, even Bruce Boxleitner-- and who woulda thought? Of course, it really pays to read the book after -- so many more layers to the story and the miniseries skips some important stuff -- like what actually happens to Kate in the end. However, I think Sam Bottoms was really good as Caleb -- I actually prefer his interpretation to James Dean because his motives seem clearer. Too bad he just died.

Tobermory

 

[SirenSongWoman]

I love that miniseries as well -- they are all good, even Bruce Boxleitner-- and who woulda thought? Of course, it really pays to read the book after -- so many more layers to the story and the miniseries skips some important stuff -- like what actually happens to Kate in the end. However, I think Sam Bottoms was really good as Caleb -- I actually prefer his interpretation to James Dean because his motives seem clearer. Too bad he just died.

Tobermory

Oh my God. Sam Bottoms died from brain cancer last year! I had no idea. He was so wonderful in EOE. That scene where he set the dollar bills on fire, one-by-one... I loved Caleb and Abra, the way both were so wounded but you knew they were going to go on to be alright when they finally got together... His character was a continuation of Boxleitner's character, alone and unloved, stuck on a farm. Yea, Boxleitner was a heartbreaker, in that final scene of him, watching the train pull away with his estranged brother (whom he really needed) and that strange and crazy b*tch who came between them. You could just see how afraid he was for his brother.

I know the book but I think you really couldn't ask for a better distillation of such a huge, rambling tale. To include all the details would have been impossible and I think they pretty much got it perfect.

As for the Kazan movie, while I loved JD as young Jet Rink (Giant) I think his role in the EOE movie was virtually identical to that of Rebel Without a Cause. The movie raped the story to be nothing more than a vehicle for Dean's short, one-dimensional career.

I'm glad someone else here loves the tv production as much as me. If it weren't for all the people reviewing it over at Amazon I'd think it was only me and you, though.