PAGE TWO
THE,,-MICHIGAN DAILY
FRID
PAE W TE IHIANDIL FI
cinema
'Napoleon' Outlasts The Siln Twenties Era
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
- -. .-- -- -i .
By ANDREW LUGG I
Second of a Three-part'Series
One of the highlights of the
New York Film Festival this year
was a film called "Napoleon,"
made between 1923 and 1927 by
the French film-maker Abel
Gance.
Many cinema "pundits" have it
that when a film is made it is
set once and for all. The life of
most films depends solely on the
changing cultural norms. What
we seem to see is different from
what we actually see. However
there are a large number of
movies, especially from the silent
era, which have a much more
dynamic life. "Napoleon" is one
such film.
It was made for and originally
shown on three screens. An apt
comment on all our excitment
about the multi-screen movies
now at Expo - polyvision was in
vogue in the twenties!
The F estival organizei1s were
unable to show three camera
triptych films at the Lincoln
Center, so instead we were treated
to a four-hour epic compiled for
theamost part from original uncut
prints.
What was presented then was
a compilation by the Cinemath-
eque Francaise of sections taken
from a number of versions of the
film. Some of the footage was
not very good, some was tinted
(as in the original) and some was
black and white (obtained from
later prints).
To add to the confusion the
original score by Arthur Honeg-
gar has been lost. (Some new
music was composed and played
by Arthur Kleiner). Thus the per-
formance of this "Napoleon," 40
years-after its.completion; must
have been as similar to the ori-
ginal as, say, a Peter Brooks pro-
duction of Shakespeare. The
words still remain. It is Gance's
language that we stand in awe
of today. Shakespeare, a great
playwrite; Gance, a great film-
maker.
A word about the color. Today,
we tend to think that color is a
comparatively recent innovation.
However tinting and handpaint-
ing was common even in the
earliest films. The Red troops'
charge in Eisenstein's "Potemkin"
was not led by white banners. In
the original these were all painted
red. All praise to the Cinema
Guild who are painting their copy
of the film for: the upcoming
Eisenstein Festival.) -
Now, something" about the film,
itself. The film starts with Na-
poleon playing with snowballs
and finishes with a fabulous
montage showing scenes to come
after the battle of Italy, which
is the effective end of the period
Gance wishes to depict.
Clovzot, the French cineaste,
says, "It is impossible to describe
the lyricism, the rhythm, the
dynamic plastic qualities, the elan
of t'Napoleon.' Our whole con-
,ception of' cinematic lyricism
changes . . . " To be sure, the
i
film is not a definitive comment tricolor as a sail. Authenticity,
or biography of Napoleon. There no; naive today, yes; but of how
is far too much of Gance's own beautiful!
personality and "art" for this. What an influence this film
For example, he shows Napo- was on later films! We see the
leon single handedly battling precursor to Jean Vigo's pillow
against a storm, and intercuts scene in "Zero for Conduct," to
this with an equally stormy meet- many double and triple exposed
ing of the convention. The con- shots that are the cinematic
vention-happenings are brown vocabulary of today, etc. etc.
tinted, the sea blue. Gance makes But I cannot begin to give an
his camera move in the Conven- idea of the overwhelming impact
tion to create the appearance of a that this film has. What a great
raging sea. Napoleon uses a giant art the cinema is!
Surrealism Effects Mood
I Polanshi Terror Film
.... , _ ,._ . 1
By RICHARD AYERS subtly introduced. When these
Polanski's "R e p u lsi o n" (at two elements combine to form the
Cinemanskhi's wkend)siso"atultimate climax (beginning with
Cinema II this weekend) is a the girl cutting off the rabbit's
triumph of "mood cinema." Mood, head with the razor), it is a logi-
tat often belabored and misusedcadelomn.
critical term, refers to the direc- cal development.
tor's creation of a particular at- The apartment, at the end, be-
comes distorted, becomes organic.
mosphere, a particular reality In this film, for the first time in
which, if it succeeds, defies pre- yearsh s ur r tef it timeh in
cise definition. years, surreal effects (such as
The lotof he flm oncrnshands coming out of the walls)
Ths e plt of. the film concerns are usedo sccessfully. This, again,
a French manicurist in London is yedangessu nd.fhrPg-n
who, because of a psychopathic sry dangerous ground for Pa-
fear of men, withdraws from hu- lanski to be treading; but the
'.i e , d development of distortions. com-
mans and, in the end, murders pletely justifies it.
two male intruders. .The mood of the film is the
As the film progresses in time, reality which Polanski develops
as her terror increases, the hero- within the 90 minutes. Whereas
ine's world becomes more limited the mood of Godard is a spon-
and more precisely defined. This taneous and natural projection of
world is, more specifically, her the actors, Polanski's mood is a
apartment, which is the scene ofsy
more self-consciously constructed
her sexual fantasies and eventu- reality. While Godard's films are
ally the murders, more honest (i.e. less contrived)
The Daily Official Bulletin is an
official publication of the Univer-
sity of Michigan for which The
Michigan Daily assumes no editor-
ial responsibility. Notices should be
sent in TYPEWRITTEN form to
Room 3564 Administration Bldg. be-
fore 2 p.m. of the day preceding
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Notices may be published a maxi-
mum of two times on request; Day
Calendar items appear once only.
Student organization notices are not
accepted forpublication. For more
information call 764-9270.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
Day Calendar
Center for Programmed Learning for
Business - "Management of Behavior
Change Seminar": Michigan Union, 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m.
Symposium-On "Neuropsychology of
Development," Drs. Elliot S. Valenstein,
Arthur Kling, Robert S. Isaacson, Har-
ry F. Harlow and Eric L. Lennenberg,
Rackham Amphitheatre, 9 a.m. to
4:30 p.m.
Thomas M. Cooley Lecture series,
Lecture V--Prof. Otto Kahn-Freund,
University of Oxford, "The Law in Re-
treat and the Law in Advance": Room
100, Hutchins Hall, 3:30 p.m.
Chemistry Dept. Colloquium - Dr.
J. J. Hermans, Chemstrand Research
Center, Durham, N.C., "The Elastic
Properties of Fiber Reinforced Ma-
terials," Room 1300 Chemistry Bldg., 4
p.m.
Botany Seminar-Dr. Grant Cottam,
University of Wisconsin, "The Analysis
of .Vegetation Gradients," Botanical
Gardens, 4:15 p.m.
Professional Theatre Program-Michel
del Ghelderode's "Pantagleize": Lydia
Mendelssonn Theatre, 8 p.m. ,
Block Tickets-For Simon and Gar-
funkel will be drawn today at 4 p.m.
in the SGC office of the SAB.
General Notices
English Language Institute, Testing
and Certificatio nDivision, and the
Center for Research on Language and
Language Behavior: Seminar Confer-
ence on Testing English as a Second
Language. 9 a.n. morning sessions and
1 :30 p.m. afternoon sessions, Sept. 28
to 30 in Basement Conference Room
of City Center Bldg.
TV Center Program: On Sun., Oct.
1, the following program produced by
the TV Center will have its initial
telecast in Detroit:
12 Noon. WWJ-TV, Channel 4 -
"The Canterbury Tales. The Shipman's
Tale." Chaucer's tale of a merchant,
his wife and a monk is dramatized,
then analyzed by Prof. Thomas Gar-
baty.
Honors Council, College of Litera-
ture, Science and the Arts: There will
be a special meeting of College Hon-
ors 199, "Humanities and the Law,"
presenting H. Daniel Feldman, J.D.,
(Continued on Page 8)
ORGAN IZATION
NOTICES
USE OF THIS COLUMN FOR AN-
NOUNCEMENTSis available to officially
recognized and registered student orga-
nizations only. Forms are available in
Rm. 1011 SAB.
UM Chess Club, Cancellation of plan-
ned meeting, Sept. 29.
Guild House, luncheon, 12-1 pm.,
Sept. 29, Guild House, 802 Monroe.
Speaker will be Prof. B. E. Garskof,
MS, "Citizens for New Politics: Goals
and Tactics." Also Sept. 29, 6 p.m.,
Middle East dinner, Guild House, for
reservations call 662-5189.
* **
Student Zionist Organization, Col-
loqulum of returnees from Israel, a
view of Israel before,duringand after
the war, brunch served, Sunday, 11
a.m., 1903 Washtenaw.
* * *
Baha'i Student Group plans informal
discussion, Fri., Sept. 29, 8 p.m., 520
Ashley. Call 662-3548 if you needtrans-
portation.
I
ATTENTION BOWLERS
BOWLING LEAGUE forming for
Tuesday nights on the
Michigan Union Lanes.
Individuals or five-man teams
sign up now at the desk in the
Michigan Union Bowling Lanes.
STUDENT ZIONIST ORGANIZATION
*COLLOQUIM OF RETURNEES FROM ISRAEL*
and BRUNCH
SUNDAY, 11 A.M.
1903 Washtenaw
A VIEW OF ISRAEL BEFORE,
DURING, AND AFTER THE WAR
I
U
4
A
Paper Plates Don't Matter;
Students PreferBursley Hall
(Continued from Page 1)
So many of the students, being
new here themselves, enjoy living
in a new dorm where they can
build their own traditions. Sue
Wagner, '71, said that "it is fun
just watching it grow."
Pamela Bargon, '71, expressed
a prevalent opinion when she
said that it "is the friendliest
place I've ever stayed In.' Rode-
rick Chu, '69, suggested that be-
cause Bursley is somewhat separ-
ated from central campus, a "cer-
tain feeling of closeness may de-
velop."
Not living on central campus
did bother some of the students
interviewed, a few saying that
the best thing would be a "Bur-
sley on main campus." Some of
the students interviewed com-
plained that many people don't
even realize Bursley exists.
Judi Cederbaum, '71, explain-
ed, "When you say you live at
Bursley, the typical response is.
'Where?'."
Waiting for buses is the big-
gest disadvantage.
Gerald Burkhouse, director of
Bursley, felt that the urgent
needs have beenmet.He said
that the schedule is still being
studied in order to tailor it as
close as possible to student need
and convenience.
Bursley is in the process of
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forming its government. The in-
dividual houses have formed their
councils and petitioning for gov-
ernment has begun.
A "March on Bursley" Satur-
day, Sept. 16, was Bursley's of-
ficial opening. There was a con-
cert by the Michigan Marching
Band in front of the music school
followed by a band - led "march"
of the audience from the music
school to Bursley Hall.,
A ribbon-cutting ceremony of-
ficially opened Bursley (does this
mean that students already living
there for three weeks were illegit-
imate?), after which an open
house and street dance were held.
On the whole, Michigan's an-
swer to suburban living appears
successful. As Jim Morgenstern,
'71, said, "Once they get done
building it will be the nicest dorm
around." H o w e v e r, Stephen
Hitchock, '69, added "talk to us
again on a cold morning when
we're waiting for the bus."
TON IGHT
The Burmese
Harp
dir. Kon Ichikawa, 1956
Japanese, subtitles'
From the director of
,Fires on the Pains,"
and "Tokyo Olympiad"-
Pacifism in a WWII
prison camp. The
dilemma of a Japanese
prisoner-
JAPAN OR PEACE?
Saturday and Sunday
MARIUS TRILOGY:
PART I.
7:00 & 9:05
ARCHITECTURE
AUDITORIUM
STILL ONLY 50c
Each threat she feels but does-
n't act upon in the outside world
(panting suitors, whistlers, etc.)
is projected on her own apart-
ment. The threats she fantasizes
become, in fact, real threats with-
in the self-made world of the
apartment, and her reactions areE
justified.-
The apartment becomes a
blood-smeared shambles, which is
merely a physical dimension
which is added to the horrors of'
her every-day life.
Working with a narration like
this, Polanski Is in danger of leav-
ing the viewer behind, making
the transition too abrupt or not
justified. But this is precisely
where Polanksi succeeds. The
apartment is introduced at the
beginning and subtle hints of
terror are included (the long
walls, the dead rabbit, and the
razor of her sister's lover).
in construction of the actor's
world, Polanski's films provide a
construction which is more eas-
ily analyzed.
0 This is, perhaps, the only ser-
ious criticism ones can make of
"Repulsion." Every technique for
creating the mood can be ex-
plained and understood. The
mood of this film, nevertheless,
effectively rises above any of the
pieces that is used to create it.
Thus, although "Repulsion" uses
self-conscious effects, the total
result is a, convincing narration.
'4
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Likewise, the
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PRESENTS 4
ROMAN POLANSKI'S
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1966)
"Hitchcock is too commercial. Repulsion
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-Roman Polariski
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