Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, September 23, 1970 *1 Pa~e Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday, September 23, 1970 ' cinema Rent from'-this 'Landlord' By NEAL GABLER Almost by the nature of things, advertisements are deceptive. I mean, caveat emptor is what Madison Avenue is all about. They'd have you believe that Z is, in Gene Shalit's words, a "first rate thriller";' or that Ingmar Bergman's The Passion of Anna is a story of Swedish ecstsy; or that They Call Me MISTER Tibbs concerns black dignity; or that countless dumb, little pic- tures are this year's Easy Rider. I suspect that these ad-men .are oftentimes not operating out of any malevolence toward the public but are merely victims of their own mentalities; they don't understand their product, and who knows, maybe some ad-man really thinks The Passion of Anna is a sex flick. Now comes The Landlord and its ads do it an injustice. They bill it as a film about WASPs and the military-industrial complex and rent parties and arrows dipped in barbeque sauce and an attempted ax murder. Which is to say it's a fluffy modern comedy frosted with political ov- ertones. I've come to expect the worst from mov- ies frosted with political overtones (so maybe it isn't all the ad-man's fault), and the movies generally reaffirm my fatalism. These obnoxious concoctions are not so much films as sad ex- tensionsof the corporate mind- images that beam with middle-age pride at their own rele- vance; images, straining desperately to be with it; images that convey nothing about now except that there exist pitiful men in high places of the film industry. , But The Landlord is different. It's an incred- ibly likable film brimming with modern wit and charm - and even truth. That's right. If you. can disregard those ads which make it sound like Doris Day in Harlem, there is a lot of truth in The Landlord. It begins by asking the ques- tion, "How do we live?,". then switches to the lush green lawn of a suburban estate where El- gar Enders (Beau Bridges) lounges. Elgar is trapped in the bizarre life-style of the American upper c 1 a s s. He is twenty-nine years old, a WASP, son of an ultra-conservative industralist and a jet-set mother (Lee Grant) out-of the propeller age. His father is as understanding as any person who wears an Army uniform to a charity ball, and his mother meets his liberal concern with, "Didn't we all go together to see Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" Surveying his situation Elgar concludes that "We're all like a bunch of ants. The strongest desire we have, the only true life force is to gain territory." And he has the money to make his desire a reality. So he buys abrownstone tene- ment with the idea of throwing out its residents and converting it into a chic abode all for him- self. Through loosely connected vignettes we fol- low Elgar as he meets his tenants, tries to com- municate his decision to his parents, gains some- thing remotely resembling compassion and findg in a discotechque a mulatto (Is this symbolism?) girl who just might understand him. He needs understanding. His parents con- sider him an outcast from the class with none of the normal ambitions of a boy in his social po- sition - like adding a few million to the family fortune or marrying the queen of the deb co. tillion or getting written up by Charlotte Curtis. But the luxury of being able to live casually dooms his efforts at finding a rapport with the Other Half; his parents can't accept him be- cause of what he is, and his tenants can't ac- cept him because of what he has. What divides us then-among other things- is just how seriously we have to take our lives. How do we live? Well, if you're one of Elgar's tenants you live in fear of the white power structure and, more importatly, in fear of life itself. It's almost metaphysical, as if life is rife with dangers which only the strong can survive. How do we live? Well, most of us don't have to worry about taking life seriously. Until Vietnam came along we could, muddle through college and maybe even grad school and then move on to a profession and marriage and two kids and the suburbs. We could pass on without ever hav- ing to confiont anything. It's possible, you know. That's why the draft comes as such a rude awakening for most of us. Here it is-our moment of truth. For one brief period of our middle class lives control is lost; we face a decision that must be taken seriously. It isn't surprising then that students see themselves as niggers unable to live as they please without Uncle Sam swatting them down; and this sense of easy vs. hard living drives a wedge between black and white, poor and rich, young and old. When seen in these terms the gaps seem pretty much unbridgable for the time being; black and w h i t e life - styles conditioned by black and white differentials in control mingle only with great difficulty and hostility. Elgar, born into wealth, isn't a bad sort. Actually, he's a pretty good landlord but he has that extravagance of doing what he pleases with his building, with his tenants, with his own life, and none of his kindness can erase that fact. When he has an affair with the hairdresser on the first floor it is she who must finally accept the con- sequences, just as it is the tenants who will have to accept the consequences if Elgar ever builds his Xanadu, just as it is the poor who very often have to accept the consequences of deci- sions we make and take lightly. Pretty heavy stuff. Yes, The Landlord is heavy stuff but it carries its weight well. It is an easy film in style, reminiscent of The Grad- uate-slick and bright, seldom staggerng under ponderousness. Like The Graduate it makes points subtly with gentle humor rather than through sledge-hammer drama or broad parody. It is, in short, one of the better American film of 1970.1 A lot of the credit should go to director Hal Ashby, scenarist Bill Gunn and star Beau Bridges. Bridges, who looks like a blond bassstt hound, communicates naivete without being the wide-eyed rich boy in the big city. Ashby's direction resembles that of Landlord producer Norman Jewison. Like Jewison, Ashby is fas- cinated with the look of things: colors, com- position, transitions, overall polish; and he lets the fluidity of the film roll unsnagged moving quickly rather than languishing on each point. Gunn's screenplay is a gem of briskness. and preciseness, lean but sharp. This slickness and sharpness keep the film from falling all over itelf, and soits worst moment comes when the Style lapses, when Ashby slows down and Gunn gets too conventionally dramatic. At least it seemed to be the worst moment, but I can't be absolutely sure it didn't work out exactly the Way Ashby wanted it to. In the sequence, Elgar gets involved with Fanny (Diana Sands) and the involvement has repercussions. Her husband attempts to cleave our hero into little white pieces. Under the circumstances this seems too abrasive for the general flow of the film. Did Ashby 'goof? The scene certainly upset me. both emotionally and aesthetically, but maybe that's what it was calculated to do. It pulls us from the surface 'where Elgar cavorts down into the real tragedy of these lives. The film's flow is hurt but the scene makes us more conscious of that flow which paralleled Elgar's carefree attitude. How do we live? Well, some people's lives aren't all that funny or easy. That's one of the things The Landlord tells us. x:":::"::::; :: :i::~xs<;:.;:;>;::;:;;;:3;;>,can be reached in rmis. 22-24, Michigan TI I Y F IC A imniaio o Union (764-2148), Sept, 23. DILYj1 UJFFAj imuniationsorconsideration at this BULLETIN Placement Service General Division WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 3200 S.A.B. The 1971 College Placement Annual D-Calendar Inow available at Engineering Placement De dr Office, 128 H, W. Engin. Bldg. Statistics Seminar N. Starr, "Re- Registration Meeting for Placement marks on Sequential Information," 4205 Services, Sept. 23, 4 p.m. and Sept. 24 Arigell Hall. 4 p.m. at 2 p.m., Aud. B, Angell Hall. Find Astronomy Colloq.: Y. Pal, U. of out how Placement Services can help Maryland, "Perspectives in High Energy you. Astronomy," P&A Colloq. Rm., 4 p.m. Deadline for National Security Agency 'aComputer Lecture No. 2: Prof. Can- (Continued on Page 8) han. "The FORTRAN IV Programming ..- ________ . Language -I," Nat. Sci. Aud., 7:30-9:30 pm. Univ. Symphony Orchestra: Theo Al- scantara conductor, and student solo- ists : Hill Aud., 8 p.m. General Notices Regents' Meeting: Oct. 15, 16. Com- meting must be in the President's UNION-L hands no later than Oct. 1. N Computing Center to hold course on PROJECTACCOUNT, program which enables projetct directors and instruc- rors to allocate computeruresources, room 1011, No. University Building, on F i s t Sept. 24, 3-4 p.m. Inquiries should be directed to C. Engle, 764-2410. Foreign Visitors SI 047 N Mr. Y.Bien, U. of Tel-Aviv, Israel, S1 043 DE 043 DE GAY LIBERATION FRONT If you're goy or think you might be,/or straight and would like to help fight sexual oppression, come to GL F. NEW MEMBERS' MEETING-Wed., Sept. 23 8:00 P.M.--1 17 N. Thayer"-No. 4 GENERAL MEETING-Thurs., Sept. 24 8:30 P.M.-3-C Union Lecture and Discussion: "Counselinq" ________________i~ The place to meet INTERESTING people BACH CLUB presents RANDOLPH SMITH Boch Club president and found- er speaking on: "WHAT THE HELL* IS DEVELOPMENT IN BACH? Plus a Short election of officers includinq a new president. Refreshments and FUN afterwards EVERYONE INVITED! THURS., SEPT. 24, 8 P.M. SOUTH QUAD WEST LOUNGE No musical knowledge needed, for further info. call 663-2827, 769-2003, 663-9616 I' LEAGUE ie747 to Madrid 603 E. Liberty DIAL 5-6290 Doors Open 12:45 .0:. i9.1 g. 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