KIDS WATCH CLASSICS

Big films tackled by little people

LOUIS JOLIN — 12 REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

What’s Rebel Without A Cause about? This kid keeps getting into trouble, and then he goes to a new high school and gets into a fight with the leader of this gang. They try and sort things out by driving to the edge of a cliff and jumping out of their cars. The leader of the bullies gets killed, and then it’s a combination of the kid making friends with Judy the girl, and Play-doh...

You mean Plato?

His name’s Play-doh. And the bully’s friends want to get back at him, and then it’s also interesting about Playdoh’s story and how he’s troubled.

Did you enjoy it?

I thought it was going to be a really boring old film, but it was actually fun to watch. It had one of the best bully death scenes I’ve ever seen. It was amazing when he fell off the cliff.

What did you think of James Dean? I thought he was very good. I thought he was very expressional. Is that a word? It’s a word now.

What did you think of Plato, then?

I think he was definitely gay and loved Jim. Which is interesting because in America in those times, you couldn’t portray homosexuality in films. They wanted to portray that in Play-doh.

And what about Jim’s relationship with his parents?

It was pretty accurate. The dad trying to connect with the kid when he really doesn’t want to. But then they love him very much. It’s very relatable. Apart from strangling your dad. But I feel like doing that sometimes, so, you know...