Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, March 12, 1971 Puge Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, March 12, 1971 Revisiting the world we live in with film By JOHN ALLEN The Selection process, where- by films g e t screened during the five nights of the Ann Ar- bor Film Festival, is likely to remain one of the more secure mysteries in the cosmos. I use the last term advisedly, since Jordan Belson's film, Cosmos, was among the 150-plus films eliminated during the prescreen- ing. Happily, one of the judges (or two or eight of them) had the good sense to request that it be shown, and it was, and the 9 p.m. program on Wednesday was consequently enriched be- yond telling. Cosmos, like most of Belson's films, is an abstract evocation of a perpetually modifying and self-renewing infinity - de- signed for those who 1 o v e to "make the journey out and in." No one can aproach hirp in his work as a colorist. Few come close to him as a filmmaker who understands the filmic potential of a constantly expanding, ever- modulating universe of p u r e light. How his film happened to be excluded from a scheduled screening is hard to understand. But we saw it anyway, and God Bless Our Judges. There are some other inter- esting omissions. For example, J a m e s Broughton submitted The Golden Positions to t h i s year's festival, and it is n o t scheduled for showing. Along w i t h Bartlett's Lovemaking, Broughton's film shared top honors at the First Internation- al Erotic Film Festival in San Francisco 1 a s t December. An- other film, Don Fox's Omega, took top honors in both the At- lanta International and again in Buffalo - and was not deem- ed worth a showing here in Ann Arbor. Broughton's The Bed, by the way, was part of the 1968 AAFF and has become some- thing of a classic since then. The point is simply this: one knows that a good deal of schlok has been mercifully mailed back to the filmmakers without be- ing paraded across the viewing field of the Arch. Aud. audienc- es . . . but one d o e s wonder, now and then, how many ba- bies get thrown out with the bath. Wednesday evening's program was notable for more than the unscheduled inclusion of t h e Belson film, however. A num- ber of effective documentaries were screened, perhaps foremost among them being This Is the Home of Mrs. Levant Graham, produced by New Thing Flick Company. Home is a superbly understated a n d deftly edited film focussing on a black fam- ily in (I think) Boston. Without bitter irony it is the ghetto equivalent of Tricia Nix- on's TV special on the White House - w i t h the exception that the Grahams would like to move out to a larger place and they are m a d e of flesh and blood rather than plastic. Mrs. Graham works and pays for the electricity, the water, the gas, and the groceries. Her husband (?) pays the r e n t and buys booze. The kids are sort of ev- erywhere, the TV sells t h e m wind-up toys, Creme-Rinse and the White American Dream, and an occasional glimpse of Maha- lia Jackson. Put down in words, it sounds slightly commonplace, perhaps even a cliche; y e t the film's pulsebeat is basically the trag- edy of the ordinary -- when the ordinary is being black and poor in a run-down house in a run- ning-down urban society. Free Growth, by Alan Gorg, presents a similarly low-key look at another side of the run- ning-down society: public com- pulsory education. Beginning with an Indian who was sent off from home for five years to a "government school" where the lock-step was a literal truth - and ending with a.lyric tri- bute to the Los Angeles Free School - Free Growth is a ser- ious and generally wel-structur- ed plea on behalf of two ideas: the Indian's advice to "w o r k with nature,", and the instruc- tion of a f r e e-school teacher conducting an outdoor sensitiv- ity session - "Share yourselves with each other." See FILMING, Page 7 Nin-te-7 Academy for 1 Awards Best Picture Best Actress Best Director Best Actor AND OTHERS GP IN COLOR DOORS OPEN 12:45 Shows at 1, 3, 5, 7; 9 P.M. FREE LIST SUSPENDED fit Paramount Pictures Presents Ali McGraw r Ryan O'Neal John Marley & Ray Milland Program Information 5-6290 603 E. LIBERTY Director and soloist: The honors go to Menuhin By A. R. KEILER The last visiting orchestra pre- sented by the University Musi- cal Society, the Menuhin Fes- tival Orchestra, performed in Hill Auditorium on Thursday evening. Yehudi, Menuhin was both conductor and soloist, and in this dual capacity gave us the Bach E Major Concerto, the Mozart A Major, and, with or- chestra, Haydn's Symphony No. 83 and the Britten Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. The Menuhin Festival Orch- estra is a small one, indeed, compared to present day sym- phone orchestras, with some 30 players. It is very similar in terms of its forces to the orches- tra Haydn had available at Esterhazy, and still more simil- ar in the partnered role t h a t Menuhin assumes with his or- chestra. And this group is no dusty relic of eighteenth cen- tury musical life, in which the duties of conductor and soloist conflict, but rather a marvel- ously adaptable and expressive ensemble which is the result of a partnership between Menuhin and his musicians that is now well over a decade. The precision, balance and cultivation of sound could hard- ly be bettered. There is, further, a degree of ensemble which is not so much the result of being led properly, but of a one- ness of intention and spirit, of each section and each musicial listening to the others as he par- ticipates. All of this was espec- ially apparent in the Bach con- certo which opened the program. The effect that Menuhin and the orchestra 'produced in this piece was not one of soloist and orchestra at all. The older prin- ciple of concerto ,grosso pre- vailed, in which Menuhin's part was a textural contrast appro- priately relieving the fuller string sonority which surrounds it. Menuhin thus played w i t h the full orchestra in all of the tutti passage, and carefully ad- justed his own contributions to the sonority of the full orches- tra. In accompaniment passages, e.g., he did not allow himself to stand out soloistically at all, but provided only harmonic sup- port for the full group. When- eVer he played, it was w i t h wonderful vitality, careful rhy- thmic accentuation, and a straightforwardness that - this concerto demands. The spirited and polished per- formance of the Haydn s y m- phony which followed was cer- tainly the result of the splendid musicianship of all the players. It was also the result of the smallness of forces that were involved. Haydn's symphonies were intended for a group of this size, and the compositional and orchestral vocabulary he chose was, therefore, determined by this factor. It can never be the case that current symphon- ic organizations can play this music as appropriately (so m e play it very well, if one accepts these gargantuan realizations in the first place). They must al- ways adjust and compensate Delta Sigma Delta Dental Fraternity T.G. Fri., March 12th 7-10-p.m. 1502 Hill St. (even with their token string reductions) in order to achieve the very things that Menuhin's orchestra will do naturally and musically. It is mostly a matter of string and wind balances, and a lightness in texture which gives every section of the or- chestra a more solostic variety when it is called for. In Menu- hin's performance, therefore, each of the bassoon, oboe, and flute doublings of the strings, e.g., colored the latter in a way that was distinctive and audible. This appropriateness in p e r - formance was enhanced by the robust wit and earthiness that Menuhin was able to get out of Haydn's delightful score. By the time the Mozart con- certo had its turn, Menuhin was in full command of his instru- ment, and gave a performance of this work that came alive by the sensitive coloring, movement and careful phraseological ten- sion which he imparted to the line. He produced the warmest and purest sounding tone of the evening in the slow movement - all together a wonderful piece of lyric playing. In the Britten variations, the whole orchestra rivalled Menu- hin in the sheer exhuberance and expressiveness of t h e i r playing. This early work of Brit- ten is an inventive and imagina- tive* treatment of the Bridge theme. To be sure, there is more attention to purely orchestral variety and excitement than to real musical substance, but the close association which th e group has with Britten was surely responsible for the spec- ial affection and relish w i t h which his work was played. Mr. Menuhin is one of our most loved musicians. T he affection in which he is held is as much due to the gracious- ness and sincerity of his person- ality as his great gifts as an ar- tist. SUBSCRIBE TO THE MKCHGAN DAILY ,, , ~Te Twelve Chairs' 'is uproariousun!NGH TON IGHT AT Any true DOORS OPEN come 6:5 6:5has to s see it. -ABC-TV A wild and harious chase fora fortune in jewels. -Wa dHlewYr iNG -Wanda Hale New York Daily News ~r 4 RADICAL FILM SERIES (TONIGHT ONLY!) F. W. Murnau's TheLast Laugh Written by CARL MAYER ("CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI") "Brought on the revolution (of the subjective cam- era) ... more than a tour de force." --ARTHUR KNIGHT 75c o Canterbury Hse. s 7-9-11 p.m. I qk |: %;;5 fx% } ,f N®R 2. Jti::Q s:iy THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC and DEPARTMENT OF ART present KURT WEILL'S OPERA THE THREE PENNY OPERA (IN ENGLISH) Conductor: JOSEF BLATT Stage Director: RALPH HERBERT MARCH 26, 27, 29 and 30 at 8:00 P.M. MENDELSSOHN THEATRE ALL TICKETS $3.00. TICKET INFORMATION: 764-6118 3" '#5 :k, ix ; '..> yr.:'" t'-'t:::Yy; .::2% :a :f;:j4 ki:+i { :;( ;< "Y { '< k ° ri :;at t ;Y { .._ fi v' ';,;.-. f."'' . }:v ' z; } ?. : .!c:;r 3>';x ::Srr .,' ..K.;. '.t- MAIL ORDERS: School of Music Opera, Mendelssohn Theatre, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 dwi;:i ?n'J::k :"iifn::::'.r::i }',ie inti ).;:L} Nil' "Another Step Towards Complete Movie Freedom! Director Joseph Strick Broke Similar Ground with 'Ulysses,' but by Comparison the Frankness Was a Ripple! He Accurately Captures the Spirit of Miller's Famed Controversial Work-His Bawdy Humor, the 'Up-Yours' Attitude ... and Avalanches of Long-Taboo Vocabulary! Some of the Incidents Are Wild! Woe to the Prude!" -WILLIAM WOLF, CUE MAGAZINE "A Vibrantly Blunt and Lifelike Eyeful!" -N.Y. TIMES "THE U.S. CUSTOMS BUREAU "' " BARRED IT AS OBSCENE! READERS FOUNDIT SHOCKING AND SCANDALOUS! AND NOWFOR ANYONE1j OVER 18 IT IS A MOVIE!" - -.-TIME MAGAZINE . "- '.'. "9 ' PARAMOUNT PICTURES PRESENTS HENRY MILLER'S Sagng() RI N DAVID BAUER PHIL BROWN ELLEN BURSTYN JAMES CALLAHAN LAURENCELIGNERES 1 l d c ,JOSEPH STRICK sceenlay by JOSEPH STRICK and BETTY BOTLEY COLOR A PARAMOUNT PICTURE by the maker of "ULYSSES" and "THE BALCONY" o aiP'-PTH oruMiti Fri.-7:15, 9:00, 10:45 .+ N I Sat.-2:00, 3:45, 5:30, U INFORMA'iON I0 7:15, 9:00, 10:45 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE "Best'Foreign Film "SALLAH IS FUN! .. More than a touch of Tevya and the delightful score echoes 'Fiddler on the Roof.' We emerge quite in love with Sallah and all his works!" -Judith Crist, Herald-Tribune "OUT-ZORBAS ZORBA! . Sallah is plain marvelous! It out-Zorbas 'Zorba the Greek' for charm, color and good nature!" -McCall's Magazine "UNUSUAL, ENDEARING, COLORFUL!" A.HWeiler, N.Y. Times "A Palisades International Release" TUESDAY, MARCH 9: 4 & 7 P.M. THURS., MARCH 11: 4,7&9 P.M. 75c 9th ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL. Winners and Highlights. Three programs repeated in two auditoriums. SUNDAY 7:00 Architecture Auditorium: Program A Auditorium A: Program B 9:00 Architecture Auditorium: Program B Auditorium A: Program C 11:00 Architecture Auditorium: Program C Auditorium A: Program A Tickets go on sale at 6:00 P.M. Series tickets good at both auditoriums. at "SHALOM HOUSE" (Hillel) 1429 Hill St. (CORNER OF HILL AND WASHTENAW) FRIDAY, MARCH 12: 7 & 9 P.M IN THE EAST DINING ROOM BURSLEY, North Campus I DO NOT ENTER Io-+ You like people m -+ Are willing to listen to their problems 1-+ Want to learn how to help them jo - Are not lookingfor com- pensations 3-+ But are willing to pre- pare for a life of dedication to others by bringing to them the "good news" of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. This means prayer, work, study, and continued self-giving, life of the T ickets stilt available-but going fast ! ! The Project Coinmunity presents IKE& TINA TURNER. REVUE plus SRC SFa M cTICKETS ON SALE Fridav. March 12hh 4" - 'V.. JOHN WAYNE GLEN CAMPBELL KIM DARBY HAL WALLIS' PRODUCTION PLUS Shown at 9:30 .m. only Ai O LAERY VA L -STROTHER uiwT* -NMY IATHA WAY MAIfLA i UM - CHARLES EUMRT x IS We w ° 'TCNA R i. c. rnA ~ pt it p I . ApaaOx" oaR paULN~ just bugs the Establishment as coopHN i.UKE 4