PAGE TIVO
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
TUESDTAY. APRIL 11. 1967~
FILMS
Walirol Experiments: Invitation to Critical Analysis
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Profile
By ANDREW LUGG
For the first: tine since I have
been writing for The Daily I find
I have to review a performance in
terms of explaining away the fact
that although a large number of
the audierice: walked out and al-
though about 80 per cent of the re-
Xnaiing viewers were hostile to the
show, the Warhol/Velvet Under-
grot d's "Exploding Plastic In-
evitable" was one of the finest
"film.pieces, Ann Arbor has wit-
nessed for a long time.
The show opened with the "New
Generation' from Detroit. This
group, contrary to 'populair be-'
lief" has nothing to do with War-
hol and. I will restrict my remarks
on these characters to simply
noting that their "light show" was
extremely pretentious, overt andI
uncointrolled.
Andy Warhol began his part of
the evening with an. halfhour ex-
cerpt from his new film, "Sin,"
which, when,. assembled, will run
25 hours on two screens. It is
worth noting, here, that due to
the abysmal projection facilities
at Hill,° the audience heard only
one of the two sound tracks, that
the two films, projected one on
top of the other, have.
"Sin" is a film dealing with
love, and the section we saw con-
cerned Judge Ondine pontificating
over a group of lovers, some self-
conscious, others oblivious to all
that is going on. Superimposed on
this are scenes of 'Nico waiting,
looking on sadly and attempting
to sing a Dowland-like song
against background sounds pro-
vided by. the Velvet Underground.
Technically the film is an ex-
tension of "Chelsea Girls," Warhol
using the zoom lens and fast pan
much more extravagantly than he
has done ever before. These tech-
niques are used beautifully, com-
pletely within the decorative tone
to the film-decorative, that is,
both as baroque and as with fash-
ion models.
Then Nico' and The Velvet ap-
pear on stage. Nico takes up the
chant from Nico-on-screen, The
Velvet begin to produce "sound,"
and Gerard Malange lies on the
floor listening. "Sin" finishes and
a black-and-white film of Nico
and The Velvet is projected to-
gether with slides-large patterns'
filling the stage area. A huge light
is shone at the audience and Ger-
ard begins to dance with, and
against, the strobes. The Velvet
play "Venus and Furs,"' "Run,
Run, Run," "Heroin" . . . .
And then its all over. The "per-
formers" move off and you won-
der what sort of performance this
has been. Gerard, Nico and The
Velvet seemed just there; they
seemed to say "here we are, super-
stars, what more do you want?"
And this is the first question,
namely "what is the nature of
kperformance?"
People used to say that the
superstar bit was a parody on
Hollywood. Not at all, they estab-
lish a reality which is peculiarly
theirs, which requires no explana-
tion, or perhaps all the explana-
tion in the world.
Two hours of their real live
time and two hours of yours, too
has been expended. The actual
fact, that it has been expended is
all that matters; not how or why
-that is the tradiional notion of
entertainment. Warhol says, "if,
the audience can take it for ten
minutes, I show it fiteen min-
utes." What does it mean, then,
to have an aesthetic of the ex-
crutiatingly bad? And how is it
that this aesthetic produces such
magnificent elegance, as in "Sin"
and such exquisite beauty as in
duroy pants. His black Beatle
boots are clean and new. I won-
R eview der if they will ever get dirty
since he seems to be floating two
By LARRY KASDAN inches above the ground.
The reporter is a smoothie who
The show is terrible. It goes looks right at Warhol's face while
on and on and on. The New Gen- he makes notes in his pad. Warhol
eration accomplishes the almost responds to many questions with
impossible task of making Beatle nods of his head that are barely
music sound bad. The light show noticeable. When he does answer,
is mediocre. The movies are long ;his voice is so soft that the re-
and boring-true Warhol. The Vel- porter must strain to hear. I am
Vet underground is totally un- ny
impessve.Eah oe o thirsongs standing ,a foot from him,, yet I
impressive. Each one of their s cannot hear most of his replies.
seems to last about three hours. He doesn't seem to say more than
The audience, filled with frus- three words at a time and it is
tration, starts to produce its own hard to tell if they are words at
entertainment. While one man all
plays harmonica, others create "What do you think about poll-
moving jungle yells - many just tics. Mr. Warhol?"
hiss. I take some pictures. Maybe His shoulders move a fraction
this is Warhol's mission-drive the of an inch, implying that Mr.
audience to creation through des- Warhol doesn't think about poli-
peration. tics
Wandering upstairs to the bal- "And have you ever taken any,
cony I notice the projection booth Mr. Warhol?" Like in the last half
from, which the light show is em- hour the reporter's look suggests.
anating. As I reach the door, a
man comes out. He barely misses Aitremor moves his hasig-
me, but doesn't seem to notice erfin that Mr. Warhol has nev-
our earcollsio. Wh ishe r taken any.
our earcolisio. Wy i he "What are you doing now and
wearing sunglasses in a dark pro- what are your plans for the fu-
jection booth? Wait a minute. ture, Mr. Warhol?"
Great doubletake. Andy Warhol.
He wanders among the glass Th ovies,"ieiehes
cases of ancient musical instru- hol's Newporter finshes, gets War-
ments. A newspaper reporter stops hlsNwYr drs n evs
him and begins an interview, Two One of the students takes off his
students move up to him to hear Tibetan prayer shirt and asks
the interview. I move in with my Warhol to sign it. When Warhol
camera like in "Blow Up." He agrees with a smile, he quickly
doesn't seem to mind my snap- adds-"All over it."
ping. I come up close. Warhol signs on front, back and
Warhol looks older than I had in each armpit. I am too embar-
expected. The hair in the front rassed to have him sign my Ann
of his head is bleached almost Arbor no-iron study shirt, so I
white. The rest of his hair is settle for an autograph on a slip
- of paper. '
GERRARD MALANGA does a flag dance with the Velvet Under-
ground.
the Nico performance.
Again Warhol's choice
ing for The Velvet sho'
master of "the visual"
it, perhaps, as a monun
fort to suppress visua
with the common-place,
banality.
And yet again, wha
place in cinema does W
mand as he gradually
his own repertoire of
niques, or as he (compl
vious of the cinema-ar
establishes a whole tradi
liar to himself.
And if you accept th
what do you define ar
the other hand you ma
the whole thing a put-on
this does not deny the
of the abovequestions (d
out of context: "No ar
art-), nor does this
impress me, since the
Warhol's critical insight,
plete devotion to his ."vi
the phenomenally fast
ment of that vision" ("i1,
"Empire" are only a few,
deny any such assertion
It is too easy to say
have to get inside th(
of light-t
ws what at
he is. Seer
mental ef-a
l masteryk
even intoa
t sort, oft
tarhol de-t
builds upr
filmtech-t
etely obli-i
rt norms)t
tion pecu-o
is as art,t
t as? Ons
y considert
. But even
world to understand the vision,
but is is important to see the con-
tinuity within his "ouvre," to ap-
preciate that that world does exist
and to attempt to investigate its
bases. Finally, maybe, it is simply
a world of paradoxes, austere and
insoluble. Nevertheless these ques-
tions-questions, that in a spe-
ialized sphere are ones of form and
more generally are concerned with
the nature of art itself-need some,
investigation. This makes Warhol{
the most important film-maker.
operating in America today. No-
body else is changing the conven-
tions of films so radically and pre-
senting such a pressing invitation
to sophisticated critical analysis.
PROTEST HEMISPHERIC SUMMIT
Pro-Cuba students and workers march yesterday toward Punta
del Este, Uruguay. Some 100 persons are marching to protest the
Inter-American Summit meeting that begins Wednesday. The
striped flag in center is Cuban. (See story on page Z)
'r~iIMA ei -t
U1LUM Lu u , 1 u, 4j
pears unnatural. There are deep
lines etched in his face. Light pur-
ple veins meander across his nose.
His skin is an unhealthy red, a
little blotchy. He is wearing a
mod blazer, bright tie, and cor-
U
'PRETTY DECENT':
GNew Garg Issue:
All-American Spoof
By DEBORAH LINDERMAN
There- is nothing at .all "dis-
gusting," as one of its subscribers
charges in LETTERS, about the
April Gargoyle; some of it is pret-
ty "decent,". If fault be' found, it
ies in the magazine's "repetitive-
ness," to quote the same letter,
and in its inconsistent tone.
Thus; though .the All-Ameri-
can Issue is consecrated to spoof-
ing America's "public enemies,"
and though some unity around this
theme is obviously ,.called for, by
the time one has reached the
terrific back cover (better than
the front one) and come through
several jokes apiece about Hoot
Gibson, LBJ and Ronald Reagan,
one grows bored. Not that they
are boring targets; as promulga-
tors of the- "in your heart you
know it's right" ethic, they are
inevitables for a, mock of "ALL
Americanism." But enough is fun-
ny enough, and a certain insisten-
cy implies limitations either of
the magazine's staff or of its
readers.
The Hoot Gibson Revival motif
-good scoundrel Bogart being re-
placed by goody good Gibson, un-
trusser of our "alienation and
anomy" C",. standing but 5'9";
like any of ussreally, Hoot be-
comes 10 feet of hell-for-leather
when forced to fight, and some-
times even when he's just pissed
off.") is too much respun else-
where. So is the obvious joke
about Reagan ("we're concerned
about the effect that the .talent
drain might have on our high
quality television industry").
LBJ is already getting "his"
from the press so that it's hard to
be fresh about him. An adver-
tisement for "Bird" cigarettes and
entries about "Ladys Bread" are
just clutter, but there are a few
really good caricatures of "LBJ
AS SEEN BY, . ."(especially
ehrough the eyes of "Lady Broad,"
'George, Linc In Rockwell," and
"'the Uncommitted Nations").
Good satire' may demand big,'
well-known targets,, but a humor
magazine in an ingrown Univer-
sity community has other possi-
bilities, namely the small, local
targets, and Gargoyle: has dealt
well with,. sorne- indigenous sons.
Reflecting the American scene are:
a serial cartoon of cop being eat-
en by "driver" as he dispenses 15
minute parking ticket; Arthur Mil-
ler's characteristic straight-from-
the-shoulder "Sesqui-visit" deliv-
eries ("I was the only student on
campus who could draw. I was
god-awful, but I had confidence").
Unless I misconstrue, there are
also these arrows: one at a local
merchant in the "Draw Fielding.
F. Raalf Contest"; some at the
local merchantry in the ads them-
selves. And a photo of-from the
magazine's own thematic point of
view-local "heros," twits them
with the device of the incongru-
ous :caption: "Mom?"
Amply surrounding the good
things are some joke columns full
of corny "old ones," a lot of soggy
writing that just lacks wit (e.g.,
"The Foxman Story") and a lot
that is sapped of its potential by
over-explicitness (e.g., the Gar-
goyle Philosophy on over-explicit
"bosom ads"). -
Phone 434-0130
EnLane o CRPENTER ROAD
OPEN 6:30 P.M.
NOW SHOWING
S nPFeaturewn
7 sonat9PM.Ol
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THIS WEEK
Thursday, Fridc
SALT 01
THE EARl
directed by Herbert
Biberman, 1953.
American. First tim
in Ann Arbor-
revolutionary worki
film for which the
writer, producer an
director were black
Saturday, Sund
THE
WILD ON
directed by Laslo
Benedek, 1954.
Marlon Brando, Le(
Marvin. The celebr
motorcycle morality
SHORTS:
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ARCH"TECTURE)
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relevance 7FaueTms
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Best Actress
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Best Director
M.j
AUD. Best Screenplay
0c.. Best Cinematography
- Best Film Editing
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IN ERNEST LEHMAN'S PRODUCTlON OF
M I ' EDWARD ALBEE'S
TS I
U' IiwSmi
Cinema I
presents
RITA TUSH INGHAM
in Richard Lester's
"THE KNACK
.. .& How to Get It"
FRIDAY and SATURDAY
7&9-P.M.
TUESDAY, APRIL 111
THE FILMS OF ROBERT BREER
with Mr. Breer ir person &
THE SEVENTH SEAL in.
. "FOUND FILM"
by George Manupelli
with Pat Olesko, Nick Bertoni &
Leslie Coutant as Teenie Chiffon &
The Incredible Fog Machine &
Gerard Malanga as Baron Manferd
Von Richthofen, April 21, 1918.
Henry Chapier as his OberKommandar
Proceeds contributed to the
Artistic Program of Dramatic Arts
Center of Ann Arbor
ARCHITECTURE AUD. STILL ONLY 50c
7:00 & 9:Q5
Angell Hall, Aud. A
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RIGHT UP TO THE THE 10 STORY
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AGAIN!l
In the
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where the,
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*2MthCENTURY-FOX PRESE?'
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_ - - -- ---
SEPT. 19.24 SWt. 26-OCT. 1
'The brilliant Belgian dramatist
Michel de Ghelderode's
"farce to make you sad."
OCT. 10-15, 17-22
The AMERICAN PREMIERE of
Eugene Ionesco's
-1-^ 0~
OCT: 24-29, OCT 31-NOV. S.I
One of the classic American comedies
of the Twenties.
by
Pulitzer Prize-Playwright
George Kelly
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"VIVID AND
IMAGINATIVE ... HIGHLY
ORIGINAL AND
THOUGHT-PROVOKING!"
--Strda"v Review
II
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A superb, harro ing,.
nostalgic drama of
the death of Everyman.
Distinguished success
of the 1967 Paris Season.
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