Page Two
THE MICHIGAN ]DAILY
Wednesday, October 13, 1971
Page Two THE MICHIGAN OAILY Wednesday1 October 1 3, 1971
James Earl Jones recalls 'U'
:-I
-Daily-Gary Villani
A ienation in the
By BRUCE SHLAIN
Enter Hector Bloom. A jock,
and a good one. An All-Ameri-
can basketball player at a big
college. Now he 'is about to
graduate, sign a juicy profes-
sional contract, and spend a few
years tossing in hook shots on
courts around the country be-
fore settling down to reap the
sweet benefits of his heroism.
Yet in Drive, He Said, direc-
tor and screenplay-collaborator
Jack Nicholson does not give
Hector any wide yellow brick
road to follow from the campus
to the outside world. Indeed, as
Nicholson would have us believe,
there is no road in sight.
Perhaps drawing from the
core of his own portrayal in
Five Easy Pieces, Nicholson uses
the college campus to commun-
icate, in a series of ferocious,
choppy images, a sense of utter
alienation' a nd homelessness
amid the chaos of a university.
Throughout the movie we are
subjected to Nicholson's styl-
ized, exaggerated portrait of
the University as a dense, ster-
ile jungle, clouded with rhe-
toric and ritualistic inanity. Al-
though shot exclusively on a
college campus. I cannot re-
call seeing one book in the en-
tire movie.
Surely the most, glaring mis-
conceptions ,are p r o v i d e d
through the dialogue of the
campus representatives of the
revolutionary' left. Their con-
versation seems so stilted and
tired that an almost incoherent
lunacy is suggested. This lost
sanity is made graphically ap-
parent at the local induction
center, where several long-
haired students are attempting
to beat the, draft by ;proving
their mental instability.r I
The wild rantings and ravings
of one of the boys. Gabriel (who
happens to be Hector's room-
mate), show him as beginning'
to confuse his insane play-act-
ing with reality His humorless,
bitter confrontations with the
Army personnel (consisting of
punching as well as shouting
characteristics that would justi-
fy his rejection of the violence-
oriented military values. The
intense Gabriel, like all of the
other staunch critics of the
.deathi culture in this movie, fit
into an unhappy post-Arlo-
Guthrie category.
According to Nicholson, it is
obviously no longer fashionable
to amble about, speak in a
drawl, and grin while plucking
a guitar. Admission to the
counter-culture is only pro-
cured through a freaky version
of "keeping up with Joneses":
the less you put up with, the
more you are unhappy with, the
better person you are. In one of
his magnificent tirades, Ga-
briel reaches a pinnacle of
sorts, showing his utter con-
tempt for capitalist civilima-
tion by ripping his toilet from
the bathroom floor and throw-
ing it out the window.
The political disappointment
on campus today, however, is
not being channeled into a sui-
cidal, morose, recklessness, as
Nicholson would have us believe.
It is more a case of introspec-
tive apathy that results in an
adoption of the philosophy of
Richard Brautigan, who ob-
served a hitchhiker sitting down
in a park, taking six apple turn-
overs out of his backpack, and
eating them in the sunshine.
Brautigan remarked that his
act was probably a more valid
protest than picketing a missile
base.
Young America has not yet
.rejected happiness as a non-
relevant value. So on the level
of a documentary on the cur-
rent mood of the American uni-
versity, Drive, He -Said fails
miserably because of its sheer
inaccuracy.
But there is more to this mo-
vie, which is basically the sad
saga of Hector Bloom, basket-
ball player. Contrasting with the
unreal scenes of the counter-
The ALLEY
This FRI.-SAT.-SUN.
ALBERT KING
2 Shows Fri.-Sat. 7:30-10:00
SShow Sun.--8:30
$2.50 ALL SHOWS
Adv. Tic.-SALVATION RECORDS
Coming Oct. 22, 23, 24
JIMMY REED
By GAYLE POLLARD
and LYNN WEINER
1953. Eddie Fisher, Jimmy
Stewart, Marilyn Monroe, Ko-
rea.
Crew cuts and saddle shoes.
The diag on a fall day.
James Earl Jones, star of
"The Great White Hope," jolts
back in time to his college years,
He returned to Ann Arbor last
week to receive an honorary
doctorate during the opening of
the Power Center for the Per-
forming Arts, but he also re-
turned to reminisce.
The soft-spoken actor intro-
duces himself as Jimmy, and
walks slowly across the diag and
down State St. as he reflects.
"I was the first one in the
history of my family to ever go
to college, and it was a time
when you had to pick one of the
big three: law, medicine, or en-
gineering."
He picked medicine, he says,
but soon found he had no affin-
niversity
culture at work and play are
the superably filmed basketball
action scenes, and all the pom-
poms, Pepsi, band music, and
unbridled crowd spirit that ac-
company them. And, wading
nonchalantly through all of the
adulation and excitement is
none other than the disheveled,
droopy-eyed, anti-hero, Hector
Bloom, played by William Tep-
per.
His predicament is that of be-
ing hopelessly caught in the
middle of a mad swirl of mani-
acal extremism. On one side, of
course, is the carefree life of
the average jock, complete with
giggling cheerleaders and the
ever-present father figure, his
basketball coach.
But on the other side is the
vociferous Gabrie, who engi-
neers a guerrilla demonstra-
tion over the PA during one of
the games. One can begin to ap-
preciate Hector's awkward po-
sition as he stands listlessly on
the court, waits for the police
to drag off his struggling,
kicking, screaming friend, and
then continues playing. In this
conflict of Hector's, the unsure
footing characteristic of com-
ing age in America today is
more closely captured.
What, then, is Hector left
with? The most evocative image
we get is of Hector standing
atop a ledge -with a basketball
in his hand,. with Karen Black
standing 50 or so feet below
him as he tries unsuccessfully to
convince her that he is capable
of loving her.
There is no place to go from
the ledge, no way to assert him-
self; he can only dribble his
basketball. It is quite an ac-
complishment to portray an All-
American athlete as a wayward
orphan of the storm without
seeming crassly overemotional,
but Nicholson has made it fair-
ly easy to swallow.
For the student body:
FLARES
by
SLevi
# Farah
SWright
SLee
Male
CHECKMATEj
State Street at Liberty
ity for chemistry or physics.
And he then followed in the
footsteps of his father and chose
to major in drama.
He lived in West Quad, then,
and characterizates Michigan
students of the 50's.
"We were the squares-the
silent generation, you know, the
guyswho were to go off to Ko-
rea and shut up about it, and
we did."
Although Jones did not go to
Korea, he was a soldier. When
asked if he would serve if draft-
ed now, he said, "I used to be
silly and answer I'd go if you'd
let me bring a woman in with
me, and all that, but that might
get possible, so I'd better change
tune. No I wouldn't go. If I had
a life to give, I'd give it like the
guys did at Attica."
While in school, he belonged
to the reserves. "I was in ROTC,
very heavy in ROTC, I made a
good soldier, another part of
the insanity."
He often returns to this con-
cerof'insanity, focusing on
America's orientation towards
''success" and "Struggle." 'I
used to think that it was the
American way and all, that you
had to hussle, and 6eing black
of course, that's brought home
doublefold, you've got to strug-
gle extra hard."
The massive yet gentle actor
talks about his involvement with
primal therapy, and childhood.
"There is no revolution pos-
sible if it doesn't start from
the cradle. The child has to
overthrow the crap from the be-
ginning.
"The reason this place is here
is because between childhood
and now there's a lot done to
help us forget what we knew as
children - just very simple
-Saturday Night
An erotic mystery, a
phantasmagorical film by
Nagisa Oshima, "Japan's
esthetically and political-
ly most radical film
maker."
Diary of a
Shinjuku Burglar
in the JAPAN festival
ARM/Michigan Film Society
at Natural Science Aud.
7:30 & 9:15
facts about life - that life is
creative, that life has no strug-
gle in it. You shouldn't have to
struggle for any of it," the dra-
matist said.
Most people believe that the
life of someone in the theatre is
a struggle. According to Jones,
"WhiteHope," was the so called
big break, but it was ;the result
of a hardworking career.
Now when asked where he
lives, he holds out paint-stained
fingernails from "just painting
my swimming pool" and laughs.
"I live in Hollywood," he says.
"Now I'm a star."
"That's the treat carrot that's
stuck out for everybody, that
you too can make it. But no-
body's going to make it."
Presently he has no definite
plans. However the one thing he
would really like to do dramat-,
ically, is the role of Malcolm
X.
"Actors like to do the figures
that affect the times we live in.
I think Malcolm is the most
meaningful. I think his life was
most particularly painful, pain-
ful like all black people go
through. It's easy to understand,
a black man's life through Mal-
colm's," he explains.
Sign-u for interviews
Mon.-Thurs. 4-5:30 p.m.
Room 3M, Michigan Union
4
k!,
i
,,
I
MEN
The Actors Guild
presents
4,- w
--
- MM
DIAL 5-6290
Today at 1-3-5-7-9
name
OUIS
poison
4CA
I~imRS.FILLER
PANAViSION TECHNICOLOR '
From Warner Bros. A Kinney Services Company
LSA Student Government
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
hmas a' vacancy
We Rent to 21 ear-Olds and Up
STARTING AT
$5.00 PER DAY & 5c PER MILE
i~ i
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
THE WHITE
HELL OF
PITZ PALY
DIR. G. W. PABST, 1929
One of the Little Known
Genre of German Moun-
tain Films.
-A Visually Stunning
Tole of Men V e r s us
Mountains of Ice. With
Filmmaker Leni - Riefen-
stahl.
ARCH ITECTURE
AUDITORIUM
7:00 and 9:05 75c
i
0
I
The Killing of Sister George
the story of three consenting
adults in the privacy of
their own home
PERFORMANCE DATES
FRIDAY, OCT. 15-7 and 10 P.M.
SATURDAY, OCT. 16-7 and 10 P.M.
SUNDAY, OCT. 17-Matinee 2 P.M.
Evening 7:30 P.M.
Residential College Auditorium
TICKETS $1.25 available only at the door
AN EVENING DEVOTED TO
{ F LMFEEFILMS AND DISCUSSION
PRESENTED BY THE
ann arbor film COOp
WEDNESDAY 7-9
ALICE'S RESTAURANT
Alice Lloyd Hall
r S .r x.r "". :i?:2 . pp:: n5Sn:is:: . y-;
4
Read and Use Daily Classifieds
SMARCH TO CITY HALL
To register to vote
against the war
Moratorium Day Wed., Oct. 13
,1
I
March leaves Diag at
12:75
matches) reveal none
of the
i
Professional
Hair Stylists
and Barbers
OUR REPUTATION
IS ON THE LINE
Michigan Uanio Barbers
I
TRANSCENDENTAL
MEDITATION
as taught by
Maharishi
Mahesh
Yogi
f
_
0?
i1
'Ii /4,yg,0
,;fl#94jiiy l0
r
GRAD COFFEE HOUR
Wed., Oct. 13
CIDER
and
DOUGH NUTS
4-6 p.m.
RACKHAM 4th Floor
Schedule for October
Wednesday, Oct. 13
Thursday, Oct. 21
Tuesday, Oct. 26
CLIP AND SAVE
BE THERE!
Transcendental meditation is a natural spontaneous tech- j
nique which allows each individual to expand his mind and
improve his life.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 13-8 P.M.
UGLI-Multipurpose Room
for further info. call 761-8255
I
4. _, _.___ .. ___._._.._ _..._... ._ ._ .. _... , ' _.... ,_.._._.._.__..
===
No"
ANTI-NIXON
Republican Congressman
DONALD REIGLE
talks on the failure of Nixon's Viet-
nnm Pnlirv_ Preventinn ANixnn's RP-
_ "The Devils"
is an imaginative, visual,
64brutal assault on the senses!
4;7 r Aturbulent movie onslaught!"
z..} Y-Cue Magazine
x's- 4 "Some of you are going to hate this picture,
some will love it, most of you are going to
hate it and love it at the same time, as I did, but
not one of you will be bored for an instant."
Gannett News Syndicate
"Ken Russell must be credited with a very dra-
+ matic chapter in film-making. Reed and Redgrave
'4 7 and Russell make a splendid combination in an
p 4, . ' explosive film which can't be sold short on the
absolutely brilliant way in which it was made!"
-ABC-TV
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