Splendor in the Grass(1961)- User Reviews

Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass is unquestionably an excellent film worthy of status as a classic. Set in the conservative 1920’s south, Splendor in the Grass portrays the 1920’s with precision and distinct style. The youthful faces of Deanie Loomis (Nathalie Wood) and Bud Stamper (Warren Beatty) bring an aspect of truth to a powerful and meaningful story. Both Deanie and Bud are the products of love-less marriages, of parents who fail to connect with them beyond the surface. The pair share a passionate love which becomes detrimental to their physical and emotional states as they feel forced to suppress their growing sexual desires. As teens they are simply unequipped to deal with emotional conflict as momentous as they are faced with. Splendor in the Grass presents love and heartbreak as tools which enable growth and knowledge with time. As written by William Wordsworth in Ode to Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood and as recited by Nathalie Wood in one of the most powerful scenes of the film:
“What though the radiance which was once so bright/Be now forever taken from my sight,/Though nothing can bring back the hour/Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;/We will grieve not, rather find/Strength in what remains behind...”(lines 180-185)
This story is inspiring and hopeful, but its easy to miss when distracted by the desire for a fairy tale ending. If there is one moral to take away from this film, it is to live without regret and believe there is truth in Wordsworth words.