36 | SEPTEMBER 3 • 2020 

I

n Václav Marhoul’
s new 
fairly literal and so “faithful” 
adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’
s 
influential, contro-
versial novel The 
Painted Bird, things 
are mostly what they 
seem. An unnamed, 
orphaned refugee boy 
(Kosinski described 
him as a “
gypsy or 
Jewish stray ... olive-
skinned, dark-haired and black-
eyed”) trudges between brief, 
fragile harbors amid the remote 
villages and elder forests of 
Eastern Europe under fascism, 
accepting any hospitality he can 

find. 
Over the film’
s near-three 
hours, he’
s received both well 
and poorly in 
discrete episodes, 
with true security 
and stability prov-
ing elusive. The 
large international 
cast of the boy’
s 
run-ins includes 
Harvey Keitel, Udo 
Kier and Stellan Skarsgård. The 
Holocaust is felt as a constant 
presence — but an atmospheric, 
generally destabilizing one rath-
er than an immediate threat. 
Marhoul follows the boy duti-

fully (he’
s played by Petr Kotlar), 
but The Painted Bird’
s screen 
adaptation never quite lives 
inside its lead character’
s mind. 
It could be the nature of stream-
ing this at home, but for this 
viewer the experience of watch-
ing ran parallel to the character’
s 
experience, never intersecting. 
The film is stately, attractive 
and precise — successfully con-
juring a sense of place and tone. 
Yet many of its gestures feel dis-
tant. Call it the burden of pres-
tige, the influence of film-histor-
ical bigwigs like Tarkovsky and 
Bergman. 
This remove leaves viewers 
aligned with the story’
s concerns 
and the character’
s experiences 
but not exactly “in” them. The 
procession of hardship and vio-
lence onscreen is modulated by a 
safe, too-tasteful distance for an 
adaptation of an offbeat, trans-
gressive and perverse novel. 
Bestiality, eye-gouging and 
dimly ironized bloodshed all fea-
ture, and Marhoul’
s team shoots 

them coolly, cutting swiftly over 
dead-on depictions of violence 
in a “
straight,” unglamorous way. 
 
The 1965 novel is kind of a 
morbid picaresque. Kosinski’
s 
protagonist doesn’
t understand 
what it’
s like to be deprived of 
basic human dignity because 
he knows of little else. It’
s this 
juxtaposition — of the boy’
s 
innocence with the adult reader’
s 
more jaded perspective — that 
makes for an immersive book: a 
vision of Europe under fascism 
delivered through a personal 
lens (although the author’
s early 
claim it was autobiographical 
has been extensively contested).
The film adaptation is accom-
plished and often beautiful. It is 
also the first major film to use 
the hybrid constructed language 
of Interslavic. But it’
s missing 
something personal beyond the 
inhumanity depicted onscreen. 
Well-told though it may be, it’
s 
ultimately a story we’
ve already 
seen. 

to help support local musicians 
while giving people access 
to the type of entertainment 
they’
ve been missing,
” said 
Witz, a Brandeis 
University grad-
uate who also 
has produced 
Menorah in the D. 
“
All events meet 
current state of 
Michigan event guidelines.
” 
While live concerts are popu-
lar at the annual event, this year’
s 
music will be offered Sept. 4-7 
in a drive-in setting at 6th and 
Main streets and online Aug. 
27-Sept. 3 with nearly 200 per-
formances. Among the perform-
ers representing a wide range of 
musical styles will be Thornetta 
Davis, Laith Al-Saadi, Eva Under 
Fire and Larry Lee & The Back 
in the Day Band. Each drive-in 
performance will deliver a pair of 
30-minute, high-energy sets.

Concerts are planned to ben-
efit local music performers with 
a total goal of raising $500,000, 
made possible with the addi-
tion of matching grant funding 
from Oakland County..
“We want to raise money 
for a hard-hit industry,” Witz 
said. “There will be application 
forms for monetary assistance 
for any musicians who have 
agreed to perform in concert, 
virtually or drive-in, if 50 
percent of their employment 
revenue came from the music 
industry prior to COVID-19.”
The “Eats” part of Arts, Beats 
and Eats will appear directly 
in communities as food trucks 

travel to unannounced areas.
“We’
re not announcing where 
the trucks will be so we don’
t 
overwhelm the neighborhoods,” 
Witz said. “We’
re trying to 
be creative, spread some fun 
around and keep people safe 
from a crowd perspective.”
Arts, Beats & Eats is main-
taining its associated health 
activities for eventgoers, live and 
online, while supporting people 
who have been out of work. 
A live Zumbathon 
Celebration goes virtual 
at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 5. 
Donations of $5 will benefit 
Forgotten Harvest and the Beats 
Go On GoFundMe campaign 

for unemployed musicians. 
“Stretch for a Cause, Yoga to 
Live Music” begins at 9 a.m. 
Sunday, Sept. 6, in the main 
stage area. The family-friendly 
program will feature live music 
by Blackman/Wailin, and the 
$15 donation fees will be split 
among local yoga instructors 
and musicians. 
“We do not know how long 
we’
re going to be dealing with 
COVID-19, so I think it’
s 
important to move the needle 
forward in the event industry 
in a safe fashion,” Witz said. “I 
think the decisions we make 
now in exploring creativity, 
how to do things effectively and 
what the public might be inter-
ested in will shape the future of 
the industry.” 

For more information on Arts, Beats 
& Eats – live and virtual – go to arts-
beatseats.com.

ARTS, BEATS & EATS continued from page 35

ARTS, BEATS & EATS

Jon Witz

“We want to raise money
for a hard-hit industry.”

— JON WITZ

Petr Kotlár as
“A Boy” in the new 
adaptation of Jerzy 
Kozinski’
s novel 
The Painted Bird.

Arts&Life

 fi
 lm review

GEORGE ELKIND CONTRIBUTING WRITER

 ‘The
Painted Bird’
Film adaptation is beautiful 
but impersonal.

COURTESY OF IFC FILMS

Where To Watch

‘
The Painted Bird’
 is 

now available on VOD 

rental for $6.99 from 

all major providers.

