Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY St unday, March 16,' 1969 Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY S 's GUILD, HOUSE., 802 Monroe St. Mon., March 17-Noon Luncheon 25c PROF. JOHN PLATT, Physics & Assoc. Dir. of Mental Heaith Research Institute: "THE STEP TO MAN" Tues., March 18-Noon Luncheon PROF. TOM MAYER, Dept. of Sociology. "ACADEMIC AUTOCRACY" Film Festival: The fresh and the bland of it -MICHIGRAS APRIL 11-12 SKIT NITE * * CARNIVAL By MARVIN FELHEIM Thirty-two hours of film have been scheduled to be shown in this, the Seventh, Ann Arbor Film Festival. I've seen twenty- four hours' worth; so this re- port is not complete. However, in the history of film criticism, especially of the avante-garde, many people have walked out before the end. Let me begin with some ob- jections. Many experimental films, by their very nature, are made for selfish, or subjective reasons: young filmmakers need to find out the characteristics of the medium. They explore. They are fascinated with the, re- sults. Hopefully, others will be too. Mainly other filmmakers or devotees. Audiences? Well, not always. Many of these films are d u I 1 and pretentious. Without a script and without a specially composed musical score, t h e films are primitive. Like the early films from which they de- rive, they must depend upon the visual, that is upon images. The seashore, tree tops, buildings, especially slums, and the human body - these objects come readily (too readily?) to mind. The arty filmmaker will move on to abstraction, first black- and-white, then color. He falls in love with what he sees. And like mostlovers, he bores every- one but himself, occasionally even his beloved. Especially depressing, in this festival, are the films f r o m Academia. Northwestern Uni- versity, UCLA and USC are re- presented by films that are un- usually bad - pretentious a n d over-long and excessively "ar- tistic" or "real:" They are hu- morless, both in content and conception. Finally, let me generalize about certain overall characteristics: Indian music is "in" this year; so is the reverse negative, both black and white and color; ditto, the double exposure and the slowing down or stoppage of the film. There are a number of repeated motifs: the most ir- ritation is running across the fields, athletibally challenging, I presume, to young actors (but what does it mean?); surrealism is back, somewhat shoddily, and involving bad dancing. But the most disappointment aspect of the festival is the lack of gen- uine experimentation; there is simple nothing new. Improvis- ation on the Hollywood Ranch Market, with its vertical insert, allowing for contrasting tempo, but not realizing Its possibili- ties, was as close to technical invention as we got; the lovely _ graininess of Tomo, a film of Japanese boys studying judo, seemed inventive simply because it was somewhat different; the contrasting realistic sequences added another dimension. There are rewarding and excit- ing films in this festival. In- terestingly, the longer, f ull- length films are not only the best of the lot; they are stim- ulating and worthwhile in themselves. Richard Myers' Akran is beautiful. The story of a young roan, caught in all the bonds and toils of modern urban life, the film is both convincing and enjoyable. Like so much that is provocative in modern art i t s subject it, ultimately, art' it- self; its effective' use of film within film intensifies as well as extends the meaning. But the most striking aspect of t h i s film is its almost-complete lack of diaogue; it is essential cin- ema, a real achievement. Myers has a trained eye, not only for stunning visual effects but also for apt repetitions: what is monotonous in so many experimental films becomes an asset here, the repetition of se- lected images. He also has an eye for actors. Like George Manupelli, he has been able to find and, more importantly, to exploit the essential humanity of his performers. Manupelli's Dr. Chicago, also profits from the filmmaker's pictorial sense: shots of intense loveliness. Add some genuinely witty dialogue. All that remains for Manupelli is to edit out the excesses both visual and lin- guistic to make Dr. Chicago a brilliant comment on modern life - the retreat to the woods, the sacrifice of innocence (bril- liantly conceived here as silent) and the cynical but funny (ul- timately comic exposure) shod-, diness of Dr. Chicago and his gang." Manupelli's satire also brings to mind the festival's o t h e r amusing treatment of that mid- west metropolis, Tom Palozzolo's The Bride Stripped Bare, a colorfulwand lively treatment of the unveiling. of the Picasso sculpture, complete with Mayor Daley, the < Chicago, Symphony and e'cast of thousands. The third major film is Stan- ton Kaye's Brandy in the Wild- erness, the story of two lost souls who end up with a baby and a household full of pets. Twice told, by Simon and by Brandy herself, the film is a straight-forward narrative both comic and sad, with many truly wonderful shots of American life. Unlike Akrap or Dr. Chi- cago, Brandy wanders all over the United States, from N e w York to California; a kaleidi- scopic commentary on today's youth, the film comments with truth, humor and pathos on the dilemma of our current exist- ence. Among the most striking of the short films are those which take actual events, particularly musical, and record them. The Bridge Stripped 'Bare is such a film. Ed Seeman's Mothers of Invention and Magdalene Sin- clair's MC-5 are successful be- cause they present these r o ck groups in actual performance, colorful, noisy, and full of life. A number of other films con- cern themselves with actual but picturesque events which only the experimental movie makers seem interested in filming. God Respects Us When We Work, but He Loves Us When We Dance, a flower-and-love-in, and Waterslide, a picture of sum- mer life mer life in midwestern U. S., are such films, unpreten- tious and lively. A number of films, as might be expected, ex- plore the black world: The Blues Accordin' to Lightin' Hopkins and Bessie Smith show the tra- ditional jazz in the southern setting; Black Power is a docu- mentary on a meeting of t h e Black Panthers with all the vigor and color of that move- ment revealed; and Store is 'just that, a picture of a mod clothing store, clerks and cus- tomers and racks of colorful clothing intact; also there was a powerful dramatic piece bas- ed on an incident in the Algiers Motel materials. amusing pieces. Also in this vein of wit, with a little satire thrown in, are R. G. Barnes' Another Movie, a spoof of Hol- lywood, and a perfectly delight- ful photographic essay on Sean, a wise and wistful four-and-a- half year old boy, played by himself and photographed by Ralph Arlyck. This movie, if nothing else, demonstrates t h e beauty of the child and the wis- dom of the filmmaker in ac- cepting that beauty and mak- ing the most of it. I cannot conclude this re- view without a personal n o t e. Much in the festival is dull and pretentious and overdone. But there are amounts of beauty and loveliness and pictures of human beings who are wonder- ful and true. The distinction of this festival is important, both for experimental film in the United States and for the Uni- versity of Michigan. Those who work so tirelessly to bring these experiences of beauty and life to Ann Arbor are heroic persons, generous and committed. To them, I express the audiences' gratitude. PROFESSIONAL. THEATRE PROGRAM presents - -- - 1 RONALD YOUNG "Violence and Non-Violence in the Struggle for Social Justice" l An active member of The Resistance, Ron is currently under indictment for refusing to cooperate with the Selec- tive Service System. Ron has worked with SCLC, attended a conference in Uruguay on "Non-violence and Latin American Revolu- tions" and was one of 40 Americans to meet with repre- sentatives of the NLF cnd of North Vietnam in Czecho- slovakia in 1968. Dedicated to non-violent action to solve social problems, Ron is currently working with the Fellowship of Recon- ciliation. SUNDAY, MARCH 16-7 P.M. First Methodist Church Ron's apperance is part of the "To Pursue Peace" lecture- discussion series sponsored by: INTERFAITH COUNCIL FOR PEACE AND ECUMENICAL CAMPUS CENTER fIndividual lecture: students .50) U 9 11 I I 1I i I r "LEVELS OF RE)ALITY" Paintings by ALLYN LITE I i 11 1 11 THE SEVENTH ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL MARCH 11-16, 1969 Architecture and Design Auditorium SCREENINGS at 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 P.M. (excluding Saturday) SATURDAY MATINEE at 3:00 P.M. ALSO FEATURING CONTEMPORARY SUPER GRAPHICS Albers, Appel, Chryssa, Indiana, Lindner, Reinhardt, Rivers, Vasarey, Wesselman PREVIEW AND RECEPTION SUNDAY, MARCH 16 2:00-6:00 P.M. *1 I U - .