Friday, March 28, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
Friday, March 2, 1975 THE MICIGA AL oFv
CinemG
Pick of the week:
Seduction of Mimi What's playing t
Campus Three new commercia
Since very few Italian films directors lead the pack at
Over make it to American light entertainment departs
theaters, Francis Ford Cop- The Great Waldo Pepper,
pola's Godfather series provided Bogdanovich tackles a Col
most of us with an introduction BodnvctakeaCo
to the strange web ofrSicilian dancing would-be spectacu
mores. Nevertheless, Italian di- for more serious viewing,
rectors have been exploring and tion of Mimi finally opens
making fun of their brethern to At press time, here's w
the south for years. this weekend:
Lina Wertmuller produced Friday-Bananas, Aud.
The Seduction of Mimi i 1971, Swope, Aud. 4, MLB, 7:15
just before beginning her ex- ination, Arch. Aud., 7, 8:45
quisite effort Love and Anarchy.1 7, 9 Virdiana, Aud. A,:
Seduction is a light piece of
satire that perhaps once and for Hutchins Hall, 7, 9.
all breaks down the Sicilian Saturday-Four surreal
moral myth. ence on Surrealism, Aud. A
The film revolves around a 7, 9; .Children of Paradise,
leftist quarry worker, called Sunday-Dreams That M9
Mimi for short, who must leave Port of Shadows, Arch. Au
Sicily when his friendly neigh- 9:05.
borhood Mafia chief becomes All weekend-The Grea
disgusted with his radic l poll- 6290); Young Frankenstein,
tical views. Unon settling in. ofMi, Campus (668-641
Turin, Mimi meets and falls in
love with a beautiful woman- 9700); Murder on the Orien
and from there the fun begins. At Long Last Love, and Al
Seduction lacks some of the The Movies, Briarwood (7
depth and timirg of Love and
Anarchy, but it's still a funny
and quite illuminating film. In have down-to-earth voices, u
fact. Seduction is a most re- like the formal ones heardi
mrarkable piece of truly Italian many musicals, and Lerner an
cinema. Loewe's songs come at appr
-David Blomquist priate times so they don't inte
* * * rupt the drama. Truly, then
Young Frankenstein is a sense of magic in Camelo
-Joan Ruhela
State - . *
Weekend
,his Cinema Weekend
al entries from three excellent
the flicks this weeknd. In the
ment, there's George Roy Hill's
starring Robert Redford. Peter
e Porter score in a singing and
ular, At Long Last Love. And
Lena Wertmuller's The Seduc-
up in town tonight.
hat was scheduled at the movies
. 3, MLB, 7, 8:30, 10; Putney
, 8:45, 10:15; International Ani-
10:30; Camelot, Nat. Sci. Aud.,
7, 9; My Little Chickadee, 100
distic films, part of the Confer-
A, 7, 9; Camelot, Nat. Sci. Aud.,
Arch. Aud., 8.
Money Can Buy, Aud. A, 7, 9;
d., 7; Easy Living, Arch. Aud.,
at Waldo Pepper, Michigan (665-
, State (662-6264); The Seduction
16); Lenny, Fifth Forum (761-
nt Express, The Stepford Wives,
ice Doesn't Live Here An ,re
dency to include a scene merely
for the shock value.
-Melissa Harris
Lenny
Michigan Daily
I COLLOQUIUM
"LATIN AMERICANS
IN STRUGGLE"
SUNI PAZ in concert
"The Music of Latin America"
SUN., MARCH 30 AT 8:00 P.M.
MLB AUD. 3-$2.00
sponsored by the Group on Latin American Issues
- - ---------:
The
hero,
rently
status
Fifth Forum #
I a t e s t prevailing cult
Lenny Bruce, has cur-
risen to the ultimate
of chic. Anyone previous-10
ly sharing any relation with the
late comic, however slight, has
made it well known, while it
seems a intellectual-plus to have
shared Bruce's liberal ideolo-
gies back in an era of ranking
conservatism.
Thus, the Lenny Bruce phe-
nomenon has snowballed, and
has of late erupted into some-
what of a cultural explosion.
The Lenny Bruce "mystic" is
currently presented with text-
book clarity with the United
Artist production of "a Bob
Posse film" entitled, simpiy and
personally, Lenny.
The movie has been handled
as one of those rare cinematic
L ___ s AI*'11 IL. i_ e e ts ? ...La T ._.ango in
=,N
Young Frarlrenstein is Mel
Brooks' best film to date. He
has calmed down considerably
since his previous successes,
The Producers and Blazing,
Saddles. No longer does he ex-
hibit the frenzied, almost mania-
cal lust for laughter, the "do-
anything-for-a-ioke" humor that
characterized his earlier films.
Brooks frequently displays
flashes of genius in Franken-
stein, parody of horror movies
that is brilliant in places, great
in others, and uniformly good
throughout, with only a few
lanses into his former style.
The cast is sensational, with
the possible exception of Teri
Garr, in the thankless role of
the doctor's assistant. Once:
again, Gene Wilder (who co-I
authored the script with Brooks)
acts up a storm as Franken-
stein. Marty Feldman, a new-
comer to Brooks' stable of per-
formers,.almost steals the show
as Igor, the lovable retainer
with the movable hump.
-Melissa HarrisE
* * *
Camelot
Mediatrics, Nat. Sci. Aud.
Fri., Sat., 7, 9:30
Camelot suffers from some
of the flaws common to many
musicals. Its protagonists, Lan-'
celot and Guenevere, seem to
roles each of them plays, and'
love one another simply for the
the imprecise democratic ideals
of the kingdom may remind you
of impractical high school his-
tory textbooks.
The film is entertaining, none-
theless. Richard Harris portrays
King Arthur as a very person-
able anti-hero and has some
very funny lines. Vanessa Red-!
grave is a very attractive Guen-
evere but always seems to be'
play-acting.
Also, Harris and Redgrave.
Bananas
Ann Arbor Film Co-op
MLB, Aud. 3
Fri., 7, 8:30, 10:00
Woody Allen's Bananas is
crazy mixture of satire, parod
gags and flights of lunatic fa
tasy about a nasty New Yor
products-tester (Allen) wP
somehow becomes the preside
of a Latin American banan
iiu Lmbr tiav nre nyur, events, a la Last Tango in
69-8780). Paris. Employing the Michael
Todd theory of limited access,
the film has opened at "selected
n- advances, after which he hangs theatres" across the country at
in himself. showcase prices.
nd Inheriting half his estate, Viri- With all the hype surrounding
o- diana strives to adhere to her;the
r- moral principles by turning it viewig fort becomes rquired
re into a home for vagrant beg- vterestin contemporary cinema
t. gars of the area And to their dismay, it pro'ves
Their rancid and brutal re-ar
sponse forms the crux of this a dramatic disappointment.
withering film, and their "Beg- The film, n its strorlycrne-
gar's Banquet" scene remains' matic context, is extra rdinarv
one of the most remarkable particularly considering it is
sequences Bunuel ever filmed. only Fosse's t hird film. But
when one examines the direc-
a of nis one of the best tor's characters through the
y, of Bunuel's really downbeat black and white cinematography
n- films. Reflecting his view of of Bruce Surtees, we find only
rk Franco Spain, it voices little shallowness; not only :n Hoff-
bo or no faith in the possibility of man's interpretation of Lenny,
nt positive action for social change. but in the entire prescnt-past
-Kim Potter technique that Fosse r lis so
) I
republic.
The film opens with Howard
Cosell and the staff of ABC's
Wide World of Sports enthusias-
tically covering the Assasvina-
tion of the Week, that of the
President of the South Ameri-
can republic of San Marcos,
whose expiration, one cue, high-
lights a week of festivities.
Allen's view of the world is
fraught with everything except
pathos, and I find it highly
amusing. The film is a bizarre
amalgamation of love, Cuban
revolution, the C.I.A., Jewish
mothers and J. Edgar Hoover.
The few unfunny spots in the
movie are simply not that im-
portant; most people have come
to accept this rhythm as an
ineluctable part of Allen's comic
genius. In Sleeper, Allen sus-
tains greater continuity, but
Bananas is funnier.
-Nathalie Walker
Viridiana
Cinema II, Aud. A
Fri., 7, 9
Viridiana is Luis Bunuel's
most cynical and probably his
best film. Idealism versus real-
ity is the theme here, and
Bunuel leaves no doubt as to
the inevitable, savage victor.
A beautiful, chaste young nun
(Virdiana) takes temporary
leave of her convent when in-
vited by her rich uncle to his
estate. She resists his amorous
I
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Putney Swope
Ann Arbor Film Co-op
MLB, Aud. 4
Fri., 7:15, 8:45, 10 15
At a board meeting of an all-
white advertising agency, the
chairman drops dead of a heart
attack. The remaining board
members immediately vote for3
his successor. None of the men
can vote for himself, so each
one secretly votes for the token
black-Putney Swope.
From this potentially stimu-'
lating premise the film prompt-
ly dies. When it was first re-
leased in 1969, Putney Swope
was hailed as refreshing be-
cause it questioned the public's
values and broke all the old:
Hollywood taboos. In 1975, how-
ever, the characters are stereo-'
typed and the jokes are stale.
Much of the film is crude,E
vulgar and monotonous. Direc-
tor Robert Downey has many1
faults-among them. the in-
heavily on.
Julian B e r r y' s screenplay
strives desperately to become
an active support that rakes
Fosse's film more than ineely
a pretentious tribute.
Unfortunately, the handsome
craftsmanship of the film and
Valerie Perrine's superb per-
formance become secondvv to
the structural faults of 'Fosre's
a p p r o a c h. Ultimately, in its
frantic attempt to be taken ser-
iously, the f i 1 m squanders
where it matters most.
-Jim .alk
.r
If you are interest-
ed in re v ie win g
poetry, and music
or writing feature
stories about the
drama, dance, film
arts: Cnntact Arts
Editor, c/oaThe
Michigan Daily.
ability to sense when a joke
stops being funny, and the ten-
Records in revieew
T HE TALE OF THE STONE FLOWER was Prokofieff's last
ballet (1948-50), and to some modern ears it can sound miles
from that composer's earlier, more acerbic and experimental
pieces. This disparity was intentional, the piece having been
written as a musical atonement to Soviet authorities, who had
been harrassing Prokofieff since 1934 about his "anti-democratic
tendencies", that is, his originality.
It is a mistake, however, to assume that, because this
music sounds "bland" in comparison with Prokofieff's other
pieces, it should therefore be despised as the sort of State-
authorized "non-composed" music it was supposed to have
been.
III
, ""'S ' _ -i
BRIDGE:
Failure to take
available precautions
means defeated contract
b
EDITOR'S NOTE: Frank
Bell's column on bridge ap-
pears on Friday this week
only. It will return to its
regular Saturday morning
space next week.
Playing in a local swiss team1
of fours, my partner picked up:
the South hand and opened one
spade. I raised to two spades,j
and my partner bid three clubs,
ostensibly a game try, but in
this case a slam try. I raised to
four clubs, showing my king of
clubs, and my partner bid the
good slam.
NVul.
71 FRANK BELL -- "
Unon ruffing the first trick, What in fact emerges from this piece is the picture of a
declarernlayed the ace of =man who has decided for reasons of his own to work under
sndes and a shade to dummy's stringent artificial restrictions, but who was nevertheless deter-
queen sbth ppnnsfol-
lowed. He now led a diamond to mined to turn out a decent piece of music.
his ace and tried to cash the Prokofieff took advantage of the well-known fact that censors
king of diamonds, but the rozf are notoriously superficial in their censorship. With "unneces-
caved in when East ruffed and sary" dissonances gone and lots of "pretty" melodies, as re-
returned the queen of clubs, quested, the piece received official approval - however, it can
Winning dummy's club king, be argued that neither dissonance nor absence of "melody" was
South hopefully ruffed another ever a significant feature of Prokofieff's music.
heart, but when the ace did not I, for one, find most fascinating other things in Prokofieff's
fall, he cashed the diamond style, especially certain rhythmic features and the frequent and
dummy. Crossing to his hand curious characteristic of being not quite tonal at the same time
with the club ace, South ran his as being trivally tonal. But these are points which are per-
good tricks and conceded a club haps too subtle to expect any censor to recognize.
at the end to go down a trick. The first complete recording of the Stone Flower is by Gen-
Declarer correctly foresaw the nady Rozhdestvensky and the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra (Co-
nossible snags to his contract, lumbia M3 33215, a 3-record set). Their performance is spirited
but did not take adequate steps and accurate, at least in the sense that most of the notes are
to protect himself. Upon ruffin.g
.- U_ L,,AA there.,However, they play this piece as if it were nothing more
4*
4
North
QQJ3
K J 52
9982
6K43
I
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a the tfrst trick he shouldash;.._-.-
West East the ace of spades, the ace of than that bland ballet it was supposed to have been-witness
A 0 6 A 8 S 2 diamonds and then continue with the fact that whenever the music aspires to subtleties, the per-
V 10 9 8 6 V A Q 7 4 3 a snade to dummy's queen. formance doesn't.
* J 5 4 3 10 When both opponents follow to It is a pleasure to have a complete recording of this little-
South the second round of spades, it known work, but I can imagine better cases for it that might
A A K 10 7 4 will take snecifically a 4-1 dia- be made.
A Void mond break with East holding -Charles Smith
4 A K Q 7 6 the four diamonds and only two,* *! *
4. A K8Q7 6 ' spades to set the contract.
4 A 8 7For when declarer leads the JOHN McLAUGHLIN'S unique style of electro-jazz lost much
The bidding: second round of diamonds off of its intensity when the Mahavishnu Orchestra regrouped.
South West North East of dummy, East will find him- But with improved individual efforts, especially by electric vio-
14 Pass 2A Pass self in a dilemma. If he ruffs linist Jean-Luc Ponty, the new Orchestra has regained the Mc-
34 Pass 44 Pass declarer will play small and Laughlin energy on Visions of the Emerald Beyond (Columbia
64 Pass Pass Pass later be able to sluff one of PC33411).
Opening lead: ten of hearts. dummy's clubs on the long dia- McLaughlin remains one of the top contemporary guitarists,
West led the ten of hearts, monds and ruff a club with but his style hasn't changed since the old group's first album,