4
Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday. March 19. 1968
...,, .... ... J f . , .... ,.... ....*
'CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS'...
...ANOTHER VIEW
By DEBORAH LINDERMAN
From Expo '67 and a smattering of commercially distributed
Czech films, one gets a sample of a "film culture" that is pretty
stunning. Sophisticated is not the word, for it suggests at most a
certain refinement in the handling of complexity; and though
Czech cinema has a superb sense of style, this is not of the western
sort. It is rather the style that shows you nothing of what went into
achieving it, like the art that conceals art.
In this sense, Closely Watched Trains is a feat of style. But
that style is really only a symptom of how the mature mind
integrates itself on many levels of awareness, an integration that
belongs finally to the kind of lofty humor that is at ease where
different kinds of experience come into "collision." The humor in
this film is of that supremely "mature" sort. Though the film has,
true enough, nothing of fierce clipping and zooming, or the tech-
nical "expressionism" that seeps through Western cinema from
France, this "lack" does not make it unfit for the cinematic me-
dium, nor a thing better fit to shore up "dead theatre" than to be
a fine film.
One assumption that the film starts from is that its audience
is not treacle-witted: i.e., we all have felt enough of life and death
to respond to these extremes of experience, even when they collide,
with a reflective self-amusement. Thus it has an easy integration
that, in its urbanity, outstrips by miles violent fantasies of anxt
and crisis and dizzying camera angles that mash you to a pulp.
But the film's themes are critical, if its texture isn't: a boy is
trying to become a man, Czechoslavakia is Nazi-occupied. And
this double situation is lightly turned into the most delicate of
ironies. For the lad is a whey-faced idler (he comes from a long
line of idlers-his grandfather had tried to stop Nazi tanks by
hypnotizing them) who dons a railroader's uniform and "goes to
war" at a station in the middle of nowhere to help watch over
Nazi munition trains. The uniform that he wears, with something
short of military verve, is a symbol of his official engagement. But
the station, despite its elaborate machinery of semaphores and
teletypes, and its pretense at bureaucracy, is full of other idlers-
lechers who are much more attentive to their own lusts than to
their patriotic duties.
Amid all the lechery, and little potentates making a great
show of toeing the line, the boy tries vainly to establish his
potency. Outdone, he goes to a brothel with the sole aim of cut-
ting his wrists. This accomplished, he ends up in a hospital bed:
a doctor diagnoses "ejaculata praecox" and advises an older
woman. The boy asks for the loan of the stationmaster's wife and
is refused. Finally, from out the underground, appears the "real
woman" delivering explosives to sabotage a German train.
She shows him how -- sex is a laughing matter. Then, in the
stream of things, it "accidentally" falls to him to blow up the
Nazi train with the (literal) bomb she had delivered. When it
explodes, shatteringly, every ne'er-do-well at the station doubles
up in hilarity..
Thus love and war, diffidence and duty, come smoothly to-
gether with nothing of public statement or wisecracking (though
the film is very funny). The camera is quite "sensitive" to its
ironies and uses the most unobtrusive "tricks" of dislocation to
back them up: with seductions in progress it looks at the tele-
types going gently awry; when there is strategic parlance, it
focuses on a pencil absent-mindedly scratching a breast. It fre-
quently seems somehow to "come upon" the railroader's cap-with-
brim, but treats the "dutiful" hat with tongue-in-cheek by putting
it off-center at bottom frame, or, at least once, with barnyard
pigeons perched underminingly on it.
Though active lechery belongs to the men, the women show
a ribald complicity; helped by a lecherous camera eye which sees
them sitting now grinding a pepper mill between the knees, now
with goose in lap stroking its neck.
The filming is always attractive - every frame is a picture -
and the Czechs have a talent for not letting the picture become
picturesque. The same talent keeps humor from becoming whimsy,
irony from being commentary, and idiosyncrasy from being bizarre.
RtRmusic
Reaction Revision in the Bo-Barty
7
By KEN SANDERSON
Liberation News Service
First of Two Parts
Writing in the May 25, 1965,
issue of Spider m a g a z i n e
(Berkeley), Charles Bordin
opened a new branch of radi-
cal scholarship with his sem-
inal essay "On the Question of
Revisionism in the Worker's
and Peasant's Music: Some Im-
plications for the Revolution-
ary Party, Party, Bo-Barty."
Seeking to test Bordin's ana-
lytic method, I have chosen
here to discuss the recent ap-
pearance of the all-white psy-
chedelic rock-group as an in-
dex of certainrreactionary ten-
dencies in our society and as
a cautionary example to those
who would take the capitalist
road. The method, it will be-
come apparent, is proto-psy-
choanalytico - crypto - cunni-
linguistic.
Consider the "fons et origo"
of white acid-rock, the Beatles.
Bourgeois scholars generally
interpret the name "Beatles"
as deriving from "the Crick-
ets," the late Buddy Holly's
group of the middle fifties;
they suppose it to be associated
simply with "Beat" and "Be-
atitude." Correct a n a 1 y s i s
shows, however, that in prac-
tice the name is pronounced
"Beadles," and "beadle" is a
British term for a minor church
official; in fact, Webster's New
World Dictionary defines
"beadledom" as "petty bureau-
cracy." In other words, the
group's name unconsciously be-
trays its true political leanings,
in this case toward Revisionism.
A fine example of Revision-
ism's tendency to turn into Re-
action is provided by the Mon-
kees, a group which "apes" the
Beatles and is widely recognized
as a shoddy Madison Avenue
product. "Monkees" is a dis-
guised form of "Monks," who
are, like beadles, associated
with religion. Moreover, "Mon-
key-on-the-back" is slang for
drug-addiction: no objective
scholar can fail to recognize
here an unwitting recognition
by the forces of Reaction that
religion is an opiate of the
masses (Cf. "Kick the habit").
Since the rise of the Beatles,
other groups have appeared
which have proved to be less
concerned about concealing
their reactionary leanings. The
"Grateful Dead," for example,
is favored by those who would
rather be Dead than Red.
"Moby Grape" proclaims an
outright slander on the strug-
gle of California agricultural
workers against the monopoly
of the grape-growers: the
workers are denounced as a
"Mob."
The "Kinks" achieved pop-
ularity with their song "A
TONIGHT
RIO, GRANDE
Directed by John Ford
JOHN WAYN E
"'A good movie !"-Wanda Reif
7:00 & 9:05
75c
ARCH AUD.
Petty Bourgeois Revisionaries
Well-Respected Man," which
seems to satirizerthe apathetic
middle-classes. Correct analy-
sis shows, however, that the
letter "K" is equidistant in the
alphabet (by four letters) from
the letters "F" and "P". In
other words, "Kinks" is a
merging of "Finks" and
"Pinks": seen in its true light,
their satire can be recognized
as the work of agents provoca-
teurs, a piece of dangerous in-
flammatory writing designed
to disrupt the smooth organiz-
ing of cadres in the suburbs.
Two right-wing groups which
openly trumpet their crimes
are the elitist "Cream" and
the vigilantist "Paul Revere
and the Raiders."
While friends of the future
classless society will, no doubt,
welcome this tendency of the
enemy to reveal himself clear-
ly, we must beware those
groups which deliberately blur
the line between Progress and
Reaction, hoping to attract
maximum support from all
sides. "Big Brother and the
Holding Company" is a good
example of this duplicity, for
the two terms in the name can-
not be reconciled. From one
point of view, "Big Brother" is
the national leader of emerging
anti-colonial revolutions, and
as such his name should not be
associated with a holding com-
pany, one of those nefarious
capitalist institutions whose
sole purpose is to conceal from
the people the true
monopoly capital.
nature of
Faculty Assembly Vote
On the other hand, "Big
Brother" may refer to some
chief of secret police, in which
case his name should not be
associated with a holding com-
pany, since to be "holding"
means to possess marijuana or
other drugs, and there are some
who regard drugs as an instru-
ment for building revolutionary,
consciousness. In any event, it
is clear that this group is in
league with the running dogs
of Wall Street who always
stand to profit from the politi-
cal confusion of the masses.
Tomorrow:
The Liberals
3020 Washtenaw Ph. 434-1782
Between Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti
WINNER OF
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Passes Elders
(Continued from Page 1)
proposed research" either "to
permit the discussion concerning
the appropriateness of such re-
search within the University" or
"to apprise colleagues in imme-
diate and related disciplines of
the nature and importance" of
the project's potential importance
to those disciplines;
0 The University will not en-
ter into anyicontract which re-
quires the prior approval of any.
outside person or agency for pub-
lication or dissemination of the
results of any research, with cer-
tain exceptions, and, with regard
to these exceptions, the Univer-
sity would not accept projects
which were "unreasonably re-
stricted" with regard to publica-
tion.
In addition to adopting the four
policy statements, Assembly vot-
ed to set up "a review committee
of nine members, broadly repre-
sentative of the entire faculty" to
examine research proposals and
field Report
make recommendations to the
Vice President for Research. The
recommendations would be sub-
ject to vice presidential veto.
Assembly also approved the re-
port's recommendation that it as-
sume the responsibility for the
creation of an inter-university
committee which would work
toward the reduction of federal
restrictions on publication and
dissemination of the results of
university research.
WNE BANCROFT. DUSTIN HOFFMAN-KATHARINE ROSS
GADDER WILLINGHAM. BUCK HENRY PIAUL SIMON
i0uI6L.GARFUNKEL .AIENCE TURMAN
-I-ENICHOLS TECHNiCOLOR PANAVISiON
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THIS WEEK
JEAN RENOIR
Two films by the great French director
Thursday and Friday, March 21,.22
BOUDU SAVED-FROMDROWNING
Starring Michel Simon as Boudu
"A shaggy man story" (Pauline Kael)
Saturday and Sunday, March 23, 24
PICNIC ON THE GRASS
"A fantasy with a pagan moral"
Call 662-8871
"Perhaps the most beautiful movie in history"-Brendan Gill,
The New Yorker. "Exquisite is only the first 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
eloquent, of silences and sounds
is beyond verbal description. The
performances are perfect-that is
the only word."-
B o s I e y Crowther,
New York Times.
"May well be the
most beautiful filmy
e v er m a de."
sometimes truth is more e.rciting
Written and directed by Bo Widerberg. With Thommy Berggren and Pia Degermark,
Winner, Best Actress. 1967 Cannes Festival. A Bo Widerberg-Enropa Film Production,
I
Truman Capote's
IN COLD
BLOOD
"LEAVES ONE.
CHILLED1"
-N.Y Times
Writen lot the screen and dreced by
Richard Brooks
Positively no one under 16 admnited unte~S
" accompanied by a parent or guardan
HILL AUD.
8:30 P.M.
CLOSE LY
WATCHED
TRAINS
A Carlo Ponti'prbes.tation.
fr ibuztd' 1- :3ig ma III-A Filuway. Company
I
I
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND DEPARTMENT OF ART
I A .Q'umbio rictures iReleose In Pnovisiorr I
From The Manila Times, Friday, June 9, 1967
"Within the Philamlife Hall fast night all was cozy cheer as the
some seventy-strong University of Michigan Glee Club poured
song after song from a wide repertory mainly distinguished by its
bright American character.
"Of the college glee clubs that have come here-Harvard, Yale,
Cornell-the boys from Ann Arbor, Michigan, appear most rep-
resentatively American in their program and style.
"The men from Michigan sing a style reflectively American-
bright, positive, humorous, utilizing only a soupcon of sentiment
--and above all, engaged precisely in the pursuit of 'excellence.
Be it the traditional Latin hymns, baroque music, traditional
ballads, concert chorales, popular medley, novelty numbers,
Negro spirituals, or varsity songs-each comes off in all its com-
ponent parts precise and polished to an excellent degree.
"As long as romance lives and college boys pursue girls, the
world remains young and croons itself to dream through popular
songs in taste and character as refreshingly American as The
Michigan Men's Glee Club."
4
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
GILBERT & SULLIVAN SOCIETY
Presents
PRESENT SMET ANA'S COMIC OPERA
"THE BARTERED BRIDE"
(English Translation by Josef Blatt)
March 21-24, 8:00 P.M.
T .VI A MW1nTb1 .QwQftMI TW A T A I
11
I