Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean

A movie that’s both timeless and “outside of time,” Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean was shot with the classic compositions of a 1951 film, the boundary-pushing sexuality of the Gay New Wave of the 1990s, and a touch of the explicit sexuality that can be found today. Inspired by the facts, and maybe some of the fictions, surrounding the too-short life of cinematic icon James Dean, the movie is a rumination on the dream of being a star and its subsequent costs. In the title role, James Preston (TV’s The Gates) captures the confidence and the talent of Dean, but also his appetite for fame, intimacy, and sex from both men and women. An early conquest and central character is known only as “The Roommate,” a friend from acting school who shares an apartment with him. Other characters also have anonymous names, like “The Roommate’s Mother” (Erin Daniels, The L Word) and “The Famous Director” (Robert Gant, Queer as Folk). Writer/director Matthew Mishory’s short film, Delphinium: A Childhood Portrait of Derek Jarman, is now part of the permanent collection of the British Film Institute’s National Film Archive. With Joshua Tree, 1951, he adds yet another cinematic gem. –SIFF