Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, March14 68 Alook at... 'Closely Watched Trains' by Daniel Okrent Vaclav Neckar, the boy-hero of Closely Watched Trains, (open- ing tonight at the Vth Forum), is not to be referred to later in this article as "Neckar." Rather, in his portrayal of the initiate adult. station officer, Vaclav Is Vaclav. From the moment when we first see his mother dressing him for his first day at work, his gawky, jumbled composure makes an indelible mark. And, throughout the film, he remains gawky and jumbled, the essence of untainted youth, the perfect protagonist for this piece of Czech cinema verite directed by Jiri Menzel that, as structured, focuses on its actors. Vaclav, who sets out on a wartime road to adulthood with 'apt martial music heralding the way, goes through some quite incredible experiences. But perhaps the incredibility is to be found in the fact that it is all very credible. As we all know, sexual initiation is a difficult step to take, particularly for the shy and bewildered. To take that step like Vaclav takes it may not be the style we are all familiar with, but it makes things much funnier. And for Vaclav to take it without cinematic fanfare has an interesting effect. What Menzel has done, quite simply, is present the straightest narrative imaginable, keeping cinematically-induced dramas and effects to an absolute minimum. He tells a happy-sad story of the naive boy thrown into the middle of a knowing world (Vaclav's immediate superior has more success with women than any Hollywood character), and how that boy stumbles through the absurd, then the ludicrous, finally the sublime, before finally achieving his manhood. That the director saw fit to keep tech- nical intrusions to the minimum is the film's selling point; wheth- er it is a strong selling point, though, is hard to determine. The point here is that the average, fairly-literate American film-goer isn't used to this kind of treatment. Unadulterated nar- rative hasn't been the style since before D. W. Griffith and Birth of a Nation. When we see a film, we experience lapses into pic- torialized thought or dream (Ingmar Bergman), heavy reliance on flahsback (Orson Welles), or thematically-fitting use of film- atic techniqiue (Mike Nichols). When frills are reduced like they are in Closely Watched Trains, the film rolls off the reel in clear, chronological, factual order. The viewer sees things as they happen, and knows all along what is happening; when the end finally comes, there is no amazementort oshock, just a shrug of the shoulders and a "yesslr, how about that!" So little Vaclav, from the moment he clutches during his first sexual attempt with an all-too-eager girlfriend, through his even- tual death in a placidly heroic demolition of a Nazi munitions train, is never a surprise. Instead, he is a real character, achiev- ing sexual manhood immediately before his almost spontaneous destruction of the train. When he comes of age, he does so com- pletely; he handles himself like a man when in bed, as well as in the Czechoslovakian resistance. This is practically the only thing that Menzel "tells" Vs, and even in that there is no moral- izing, no comment. Is it good? As is, Closely Watched Trains incites no emotions, entices no quizzing response from the spectator. Nor does it serve as a showcase for the new grooviness in film technology. The camera angles are usual, almost shopworn. The editing is dry and uninspiring. The photography is good, but nothing spectacu- lar. All of the technical direction is generally bland. I'd say that I prefer the ever-commoner approach, in which the capabilities of the camera and the splicer are employed to 'their fullest. If directors choose film as their medium, they should use it. If not, then the medium of the theatre .- badly in need i records Blood, By LITTLE SUZY FUNN Rock'n' Roll Expert There has been a great deal of speculation surrounding the first Blood, Sweat and Tears al- bum, most of it stemming from the fact that B, S and T is one of the groups that is incorpor- ating horns into its arrange- ments. It's very hip to add horns to your band, a la Butterfield, Bloomfield, and even forgot- ten Lonnie Back. But if the horns don'tcontribute any unique effect, if they're noth- ing more than glorified rhythm instruments, then all of this talk about the revival of big bands and the new direction of jazz as it fuses with rock is in vain. Child Is Father To The Man, this first B, S and T offering, is a product of leader Al Kooper's dissatisfaction with his old group, The Blues Proj- ect. Kooper left the Project last year, planning to go to' England and "see what was go- ing on and get into the music scene." But Kooper never made it. After putting together an im- promptu group for his "fare- well blast" at the Cafe Au Go Go, he decided that it sounded "so good" that he stayed in the States. He added the horn section "he'd always wanted for the Project" and started putting together this album. The Influence of the Project on B, S and T is easy to spot. Or maybe it's the influence of Kooper on both groups. Kooper, who wrote such tunes as "Wake Me Shake Me" and "Flute Thing" for the Project, wrote seven of the 12 B, S and T cuts and arranged 11 of them. "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", the strongest song on the album, and."Somethin' Goin' On" are mostly in the Project's bag. "Meagan's G y p s y Eyes" sounds suspiciously like the Project might have done it, too, but that's because Steve Katz, B, S and T's other hold- over from the Project, wrote it and sings it. Katz, who did "Steve's Song" on Projections, doesn't seem to have much depth. His guitar is good and the arrangements are fine, but you get the feeling that he doesn't really have much to do with that sort of stuff. His writing is actually pretty nice, Sweat, but his voice is a quivering monstrosity. His song is one of the album's worst. Kooper's songs show a lot more influence than just the Project's.rThe chart for "I Love You More than You'll Ever Know" calls up images of The Famous Flames and the vocal is a cross between James Brown and Janis Joplin. On "So Much Love," Kooper does a Mick Jag- ger imitation and "Something Goin' On" starts like a Buddy Rich number. The horns make a couple of the weaker cuts entirely pass- able but they do even more for a strong number like "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know." The depth of the song is greatly increased by surpris- ing trumpet spots and especial- ly by the soft alto sax solo. It should be noted that the horns and the sax do not turn B, S ' and T into a jazz group. Tears, It's a temptation for all us label-happy listeners to throw out the easy-flowing tag "jazz- rock" when we hear this album But, as everybody has said three times, "Labels are mean- ingless! " (If you haven't said that three times yet, get on the stick). Kooper, of course, says that "I don't know what jazz. rock is. That's what they called 'The Flute Thing' but all it was was a rock band playing a very light jazz number. If Herbie Mann had played it, everybody would probably have fallen asleep." Don't get us wrong, now, the album is really excellent, but there are a couple of cuts thai are, to say the least, raunchy "Meagan's Gypsy Eyes" is one of them. "House in the Coun- try" is supposed to bring a chuckle to the lips of the lis- tener, according to Kooper, oi Cheers s maybe its about drugs (get it?) V but it sort of falls down trying. Thump. These tunes are more than made up for by the rest of the album. If you likerMick Jagger, S the Bee Gees, Procol Harum, Buddy Rich, Stan Getz, Paul s Butterfield, The Blues Proj- ect, the Buckingham's Time and Changes album, Schonberg, s James Brown and the Famous Flames, the Stax-Volt combine, the Byrds, the Beatles, he Electric Flag or John Philip Sousa there's something in the album for you. Buy it. It's good. (P.S.: The cover is the best since Sgt. Pepper.) Coral "CORAL GABLE Present Gables I -S" of BERKLEY s . * 11 CAPITOL RECORDS Nationally Famqus recording group "BABY HUEY AND THE BABYSITTERS ONE NIGHT ONLY Ten Dynamic Musicians Monday, March 18 GO GABLE GREEN ST. PAT'S PARTY Sunday March 17 I I MIN 0 Em a 0 Mok Shows at 1:00 - 3:30 - 6:15 - 9:00 Feature at 1:15 - 3:50 - 6:30 - 915 COMING! COMING HERE APRIL 1 HATS ! from 4 P.M. 'til 2 A.M. HORNS! "THE SOUNDS O F DAWN" 7 pieces of Musical Dynamite Entertaining nightly except Monday CORAL GABLES of BERKLEY V Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD is "EXCELLENT! SENDS SHIVERS DOWN THE SPiNc THE FILM IS ELECTRIFYING' IT LEAVES ONE CHILLED I" -Bosley Crowther, New York Times PAIL- LESS NOW $6 MICHIGANENSIAN 2245 N. Woodward-Berkley. Mich. 398-7333 -I- 420 Maynard J UBCRIBE TO TNlE M!GAN DAILY U Thurs.-7-9:15; Fri. & Sat.-3-5-7-9:15-1 1:20 Sun.-3-5-7-9:15, Mon. (See Announcement) The World's Most Influential Director Jean-Luc Godard & his latest film "La Chinoise" Monday evening only-Advance tickets at Cinema Guild, "Closely Watched Trains" will resume Tuesday, YOUTH MATINEE--ALL SEATS-75a Sat.-1 1:00-1:00, Sun.-l :00 JERRY LEWIS "THE FAMILY JEWELS" Theatre will be cleared before 3:00 show w± of revitalization - is the surest e path. The. immediacy of live presentation presents a better forum for individuals to play out roles. This is not meant as a cen- sure of Menzel, nor of the film itself; both did good jobs of what they set out to accomplish, and Closely Watched Trains is enjoyable. But it is not, as Life's Richard Schickel says, "The best film of the year." Nor is it even one of the best ten. It is something that might rate as a very well done videotape. f fi Thompson's PIZZA ' THIS COUPON IS GOOD FOR U r | -------off50C off---- ON A MEDIUM OR LARGE ONE ITEM COPN(OR MORE) PIZZA COUPON Is Good Only Monday thru Thursday, u March 11 thru 14 wwwm w rrwrwwwmm wr mmwwwrwmmm rrwrmmmmmmmwrrmm 0 Starting Today 4-m Dial 8-6416 Perhaps the most beautiful movie in history."- Brendan Gill, The New Yorker. Exquisite is the only word that surges in my mind as an appropriate description of this exceptional film. Its color is absolutely gorgeous. The use of music and; equally elo- quent, of silences and sounds is beyond verbal description. The performers are perfect-that is the only word."-'Bosley Crowther, New York Times."May well be the most beautiful movie ever made."- Newsweek. "Speaks lyrically to the 20th century and beyond."-Time Magazine. ,* VH Fi""""ra " J6tuA~u J . .. . I