"Page Ten THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, October 15, 1971 Page Ten THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, October 1 5, 1971 Visconti: Improper use of aestheticism 'II (Continued from Page 2) ordered. Luckily, through the wonders of modern graphics, I'm able to show you what I mean. (How many reviewers are considerate enough to supply visual aids?):; er hand, is not so much a for- malist as a Teuton - an artis- tic soldier girding for battle against the sentimental sensa- tionalist hordes. When he blurts, "Creation is a spiritual act," he is boasting personal discipline in defiance of his senses. And when his shrill comrade, Al- fred, retorts petulantly, "No! Beauty belongs to the senses," he is being more of an artistic anarchist than a true aesthete. So, like Emil Jannings in The Blue Angel, when Aschenbach finally m does succumb to ideal beauty as embodied by the youth Tadzio, he is breaking with his past rather than living out his tragic destiny: punctilious- ness once again loses out to passion. Moreover, Visconti seems to pump up one of the book's sub- themes to major status by stressing Aschenbach's sene- scence. The artist, in fact, is a walking symbol of the impo- tence, both creative and sexual, that accompanies old age. With his powers ebbing away despite pitiful attempts at regenera- tion, Aschenbach soon becomes his own degradation. "There is no impurity so impure as old age," says his verbal sparring partner. Aschenbach knows, be- cause he's nearing the abyss. Perhaps that's why the film's protagonist seems so weak, so incapable of ever hav- ing produced great art. Ordi- narily an exceptionally well- modulated actor, Dirk Bogarde here is a limpid, fussy, pouting old fag, who wrings his hands, pats his mouth, purses his lips, 11 rolls his eyes and swallows em- barrassingly as if about to be caught in the act of ogling the young boy. Bogarde does have his moments, notably the death scene, but all things con- sidered, his is a very menstrual performance. And Bjorn Andresen does no better by Tadzio. Although An- dresen's long blond curls and girlish features make him ac- ceptably bisexual, he is by no means the package of inno- cence, charm and grace that captures the heart of the book's Aschenbach. He is more like Lo- lita, flaring his nostrils, dang- ling his wrists, planting his arms on his waist, and casting furtive glances at his admirer. If that sounds disgusting, it is. Of course, faithfulness in and of itself is no great virture for. an adapter, and I couldn't cas- tigate Visconti for reinterpret- ing Mann, if only he had some- thing to add. Certainly he has been faithful to Mann's word pictures and narrative, but the ideas have gotten lost in the shuffle, and he's wound up cre- ating prettified drivel: a story of gay Platonism with a few idiotic essays thrown in via CREATIVE . SHABBAT SERVICE Every Friday-6 P.M. at Hillel flashback (the worst scenes you're likely to see this year) to satisfy old-time cineastes. The symbolism is foolishly transparent - an hour-glass which sparks a discourse on the sands of time; a dye-job which becomes, ironically, a death- mask; an atonal chord signify- ing Aschenbach's fall from or- der; a plague sweeping the city. And yet even though Visconti comes off as either a fool, a per- vert, or both, you can't help but feel a certain sympathy for him. Like Aschenbach, he is trapped in an aesthetic double-bind. His film is about the excesses of a search for beauty; but as a good art director (which is how Visconti rose to the directors' ranks) who seems uncomfort- able with ideas, his film is an excess itself, Put simply, Vis- conti's obsession with Beauty vitiates any of Venice's themes, and in the end all we're given is form with some pretension to substance. Aestheticism tri- umphs, and we're out two bucks. You just can't win... . . . . For the student body: FLARES by SLevi Farah A Wright A Lee ' Male I The U of M Folklore Society PRESENTS uil l October 23 Crisler Arena 8:30 pm. $2-ALL SEATS RESERVED Tickets on sale beginning October 18 from 10 a.m. 'til 6 p.m. Michigan Union-Ann Arbor Folklore Center (516 E. William) 4 A CHECKMATE State Street at Liberty You might be able to see that Mann's Aschenbach is a clas- sically tragic figure whose de- cline is the overblown extension of his search for perfection. Vis- conti's Aschenbach, on the oth- 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 JAPEN festival ARM/Michigan Film Society at Natural Science Aud. 7:30& 9:15 FOLLOW SMOKEY'S RULES Read and Use Daily Classifieds I E f CREATION OR EVOLUTION? Face the facts honestly and openly COME and HEAR Dr. John C. Whitcomb Friday, 7:30 p.m. "The Creation of the World" Saturday, 7:30 p.m. "Genesis and Evolution" 11 i i : KODAK Color Prints from Slides (Y FOR THREE. THE FOURTH ONE FREE! Lighthouse Fanny I I * 4