I
The Michigan Daily-Thursday, January 12, 1978-Page 7
Union Gallery offers
local art collections
By KAREN BORNSTEIN
LASSES HAVE BEGUN. The University Cellar is filled to capacity with
hyper students contributing to a mass of confusion. After facing this
onslaught of hysteria, unwind and relax at the Union Gallery by experi-
encing the unique collection of drawings and prints by three Ann Arbor ar-
tists, on exhibit January 6-29.
Larry Cressman, currently a lecturer in printmaking in the Residential
College, has also taught drawing and printmaking at the U of M School of
Art. His works range from pastel and pencil drawings to mixed media con-
structions. Each piece effectively reveals a harmonic balance of shape and
color.
In his various pastel and pencil drawings, two dimensional, square and
rectangular outlines are drawn with precision over a background of foggy,
washed-out gray. This field of faded color is incredibly soft, wavering so sen-
sitively from tone to tone that the effect is one of water mystically rippling
and flowing.
Cressman uses an innovative style to continue working toward balance
in his Line Drawing series. Rows of boxes made of transparant paper are
filled with three or four thin strips of black paper. These strips are arranged
creatively and uniquely in each box. As a result, each box is an isolated work
of art demanding full attention, as well as an isolated section, helping to
develop the work as a whole.
UNLIKE CRESSMAN'S ABSTRACT studies in balance and form,
another Ann Arbor artist, Joyce Schlesinger, works with subjects of a more
literal nature. She isolates parts of objects, reproducing them in a surreal
manner.
Schlesinger, holding a Master of Fine Arts degree from the U of M, takes
everyday objects such as dogwood, an electrical fan, an old vanity lamp and
a portion of a frayed patchwork blanket, and makes them almost unrecog-
nizeable by drawing their finely detailed, extremely small, isolated sections,
and accentuating shapes and curves.
For example, Hospital Plant focuses on a branch that is so exaggerated,
its winding and sinuous shape seems like a contorted limb, ready to
menacingly reach out and clutch the viewer.
SCHLESINGER'S COLORS are predominately neutral, intensifying the
errie and frightening aura of her works. The muted gray, taupe and beige
shapes creating a Mexican blanket are interspersed with faded yellow and
pink embroidery reminiscent of heavy coated dust and age.
Bill Charland, a Master's Degree candidate at U of M School of Art,
produces something entirely different by demonstrating that printing need
not be restricted to paper.
His intriguing three-dimensional intaglio prints on large, tin, fan-shaped
and butterfly-shaped configurations cover the gallery walls and are similar
of flattened sculpture or a Calder stabile.
Charland also has three drawings on exhibit which aren't quite as suc-
cessful in captivating the viewer, and lack in a sense of immediacy.
However, they tend to be interesting to observe.
THE DRAWINGS, each entitled Transformation, are a study in
metamorphoses. Lines,' shapes, curves, patterns and shapes of gray are
drawn with precision and travel up the large paper area.
Half-way up the paper a change occurs. The straight, rigid lines become
haphazard squiggles, light tones turn dramatically darker, and narrow
pathways resembling roots become rounded bulbs. The change is immedi-
ate,. void of any degree of smoothness.
Ironically there is an interesting stability in this expression of abrupt
change and movement that makes it easy to relate to. One need only make
the journey from the chaotic University Cellar to the calm atmosphere of the
Union Gallery.
Travolta ignites feverish flick
By DOBILAS MATULIONIS
S ATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (at
Briarwood) hay just turn out to
be the sleeper movie of the year. The
current popularity of the film has
been carefully calculated, but the
moderate critical success it is enjoy-
ing comes as a mild surprise,
especially when one considers the
film's venal beginnings which threat-
ened to expand the definition of
"crass commercialism."
The movie, and its public image, is
oozing with every hook imaginable -
the bankability of John Travolta, the
immense popularity of disco ( not to
mention the Bee Gees), and a
disgusting media blitz that was-
capped with an hour-long vainglori-
ous TV special aired just before the
film's nationwide release. Interest-
ingly enough, Saturday Night Fever
manages to transcend its faddish,
ephemeral nature and become a
truly memorable, entertaining, even
exciting experience.
The star of the film is John
Travolta, but it is a new Travolta,
one that is all but unrecognizable to
any oft his die-hard Kotter fans. In
Saturday Night Fever, Travolta ex-
plodes with formerly latent acting
and dancing talent. His previous
performance in Carrie was abomin-
able, but in this film he acts with
sureness and directness, never once
wi
slipping out of character.
TRAVOLTA'S portrayal of the
cocky, unsettled Tony Minero, king
of the discos, is effortlessly smooth
and believable. Perhaps it is this
almost careless acting that will cost
Travolta an Academy Award, since
his performance lacks the forceful,
dynamic tension that Academy
members favor.
However, it is Travolta's remark-
able dancing that steals the show. His
considerable dancing expertise was
honed with daily six hour practice
sessions, and the cinematic result is
superb. The dancing scenes, imagin-
atively choreographed by .Lester
Wilson, are a celebration of un-
bridled athletic energy, something
audiences have always found excit-
ing.
Douglas Fairbanks and Bruce Lee
built whole careers out of their physi-
cal prowess, and although it is unfair,
as yet, to compare Travolta to such
gigantic talents, his charisma is
based on the same principle. Direc-
tor John Badham (Bingo Long)
wisely eschews fancy expressionism
in the disco scenes; he simply pulls
his camera back to a safe angle and
lets Travolta dominate.
Travolta's dancing talent also en-
ables him to act more effectively, as
the physical side of Tony Minero's
character contributes much to his
total personality. Travolta is able to
actually live his part, and this helps
the film considerably. A double in the
musical numbers would have caused
a split, however slight, in the Minero
character, and the result would have
weakened the movie.
BADHAM AND scriptwriter Nor-
man Wexler have given us an inter-
esting view of New York, one which
lies somewhere between the dark
paranoia of Marathon Man and the
sleaziness of Midnight Cowboy. The
Brooklyn 'of Saturday . Night Fever
jumps and moves with the highly
percussive disco beat, and nowhere
is this more evident than in the
opening scene of Travolta sauntering
down the street to the tune of
"Stayin' Alive."
However, this slick facade almost,
but not quite, smothers the inter-
personal relationships present in the
film. Characters are quickly delin-
eated with bits and pieces of dialogue
and their interactions are fast and
real. Travolta's cocksure presence
seems to crack a bit under the accu-
sation of dancing partner Stephanie
(Karen Gorney) that he is a "nobody
going nowhere," but basically his
character remains faithful to its
quick development early in the film,
and thus is very believable.
The film moves with impressive
speed considering its relative com-
plexity, and its various subplots
usually mesh well with the main
narrative thrust. Saturday Night
Fever, consequentially, is more than
an inside look at a disco; it is a
depiction of a group of youths who
are confused and trapped by their
lifestyle and find a night's freedom in
their weekly Saturday night blowout.
Although Saturday Night Fever is
not a "great' movie in the classical
sense of the word, its audacious con-
fidence in its subject matter, along
with its energetic flair,; make it an
impressive achievement. The film is
a fine example of cinematic enter-
tainment, as well as one of the few
films of the year that has ultimately
managed to live up to its hype.
nY b M cYi.v^ M r
'Telefon 4
By MICHAEL BROIDY
F EW DIRECTORS (if any) have
had the opportunity to work with
Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and
Charles Bronson. If there is anyone
who could accomplish such a feat and
live to tell about it, it's Don Siegel, a
veteran director who is noted for his
hard-hitting action films such as
Dirty Harry (Eastwood), The Shoot-
1st (Wayne), and his most recent
effort - Telefon with Charles Bron-
son.
It's no accident that Siegel works
with today's mythic heroes. His lean,
no-frills style is beautifully compat-
ible with the acting of an Eastwood,
Wayne, or Bronson. Plot necessities
are often sacrificed in a Siegel film in
order to keep the film fast-moving
and energetic, and Telefon is certain-
ly no exception.
Adapted from Walter Wanger's
novel, the plot is sometimes in-
triguing, yet this silly premise has an
old-line Stalinist officer (shrewdly
played by Donald Pleasance) who is
resisting detente with the U.S., and
has activated an ultra-secret and
long abandoned plot which, if carried
out, would be likely to cause World
War III. This plot would cause deep-
cover spies planted in the U.S. some
twenty years earlier under drug-
induced hypnosis to blow up key mili-
-tary sites on a telephone cue (telefon
is Russian for telephone). For rea-
sons not explained, the cue involves a
Robert Frost poem.
BRONSON, playing a Russian
KGB agent, is recruited by the two
officials who are still aware of the
plan to eliminate Pleasance and the
potential closet Soviet agents.
Yes, it's silly and far-fetched, and
under another director the plot
loopholes would have surely done the
movie in. Yet this is a Siegel film,
and the director's rapid-fire cutting
and brutal set pieces bury these loop-
holes under a sea of powerful action
scenes that pummel the senses.
Particularly memorable is a se-
quence where Bronson is shown
stalking an executive who has just re-
ceived the telephone cue from Plea-
sance. Trailing the executive to a
plush hotel, Bronson remains a few
steps behind his quarry as Siegel
masterfully cuts from Bronson to
Pleasance to the executive.
FOLLOWING is a sequence that
leaves the viewer almost breathless
as Bronson blasts through scores of
people after realizing that his quarry
is about to get away. Fluid camera
work and tight editing come together
to create a powerful five minutes as
Bronson corners the executive in a
explosive
garage. Explosions, car crashes, and
other fiery goings-on ensue, all the
while our hero remains just as cool as
ever in true mythic fashion.
Siegel's control of the action scenes
is matched by his direction of less
explosive sequences, where tight
framing and tense acting leave even
such "quiet" scenes as where Bron-
son is shown poring over a stack of
newspapers hoping to gain a clue to
Pleasance's whereabouts, vibrating
with suspense and energy.
Bronson as the supercool agent is
no stranger to this type of character,
and carries it off with typical
aplomb. It's easy to say, after seeing
a movie like Telefon, that he is
capable of little else, yet such roles
as the inept bank-robber in From
Noon 'til Three bely such statements.
Bronson is a presence that adds
mythic qualities to a character, even
overwhelming the accomplished
emoting of Lee Remick playing a
double agent, and the smooth per-
formances of such character actors
as Alan Badel, Donald Pleasance,
and Patrick Magee. Along with
Siegel's tight direction and Bronson's
performance, Telefon is easy to
underrate.
DETROIT (AP) - "Fake" may be
a bad word to art museums and
collectors, but it's going to put money
in the till of the Detroit Institute of
Arts.
Capitalizing on the public's interest
in spurious art, the Institute is
planning a display of famous fakes as
a fund-raising promotion. The Insti-
tute of Arts, which houses some of the
finest examples of genuine art in the
nation, will stage a one-night display
Nov. 3 of fabulous phonies, with
tickets for $12.50 and $25 entitling
patrons to see Orson Welles' "F-For
Fake," a movie about art forgery.
The Carla Bley Band
in her American Debut
. IN CONCERT on
Sat. Jn.14,
n z Pease Aud.
Reserved Seats: $4.50 and $5 50
Available at:
h YPSILANTI-
McKenny Union Box Office
Wherehouse Records
ANN ARBOR-
Michigan Union
Schoolkids Records
Discount Records (on S. University)
Dearborn-Dearborn Music
Presented by:
Jade Productions, Office of Campus Life,
Division of Student Affairs, Eastern Michigan University
For more information call: (313) 487-3045
TREAT YOURSELF AND A FRIEND TO THE FINEST!."
The Professional Theatre Program
VARIETY AND EXCELLENCE IN ENTERTAINMENT FI.)
Broadways Family Musical Hit!
Tonm Mallow and Gordon Cro we
present
i" b er.
u.,, .1des*reone
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Q4-
a foot-stompin musica
,aBook and Lyrics by Musc by
~ALFRED UHRY ROBERT WALDMA
EDRA WELTY
-1 *
-SPARKLING! UNUSUAL! STYLISH!
FAMILY FUN!" .
LIVELY' SASSY! JOYOUS!
5 7 A HUMDINGER!".
A BROADWAY R)MP! I LOVED IT!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT'
TONY AWARD WINNER!
sun.,jan.22 2&8pi
at!
EDWARD ANNE
MULHARE ROGERS
LERNER O LOEWE5
ja28pu.
. 28&29-
~28m.
Queen
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By TIM YAGLE
UEEN HAS been known as a good
rock band that can change from a
so Freddie Mercury piano ballad to
'the hot guitar licks of Brian May with-
out batting an eyelash. The band's new
release, News of The World, contains
nothing really new, and doesn't turn me
on like their previous couple of discs.
Don't get me wrong. It's a good album,
but somehow, I was expecting more
from this quartet.
Played in the grand "Bohemian
Rhapsody"/Somebody to Love style,
"We Will Rock You" and "We are the
Champions," currently the hottest set
of musical twins around, open this
spontaneously-composed LP. This com-
bination was just recently the most re-
quested pair of tunes in Detroit.
If you are a New Wave fan, "Sheer
Heart Attack" (the title of their third
LP) should keep you glued to your
headset. With it's savage guitar and
vocals, it sounds similar to music the
Ramones would blast you with. Listen
for the end of this tune. It'll catch you
by surprise.
"SPREAD YOUR WINGS" sets itself
in the typical Queen mold, with a mas-
terful blend of heavy guitar, soft piano
and crashing cymbals. Unfortunately,
lead guitarist Brian May doesn't help
the song any with a dull solo at the end.
"Right From The Inside" begins with
all kjnds of bizarre guitar sounds, then
flows into a smooth rhythm. However,
the song sounds overmixed. Everything
sounds as if it was haphazardly thrown
together.
s no news
Perhaps one of the crudest songs I've
ever heard, "Get Down, Make Love" is
a punch and raunchy rocker with lyrics
about people "getting down" and going
at it. The way Mercury sings it, he
sounds like he's doing exactly that.
What is really strange about "Get
Down" is its midsection, which features
odd synthesizer sounds and demonic
voices popping in and out saying
"make love."
Seemingly back from their "off on a
tangent" music, "It's Late" sounds
more refreshing with its superb har-
monies (so what else is new), rhythm
variations combined with grinding
guitar, and well-placed crescendos.
In case you're still trying to figure out
the album cover, the members of Queen
are avid science-fiction fans, and found
the design on the cover of a 1953 science
fiction magazine.
PTP TICKET OFFICE MICHIGAN LEAGUE
MON-FRI 10am-1pm & 2-
TICKETS ALSO AVAi1LABLE THROUGH HUDSONS
FOR FURTHER INFO.,CALL(313)764- 0450
1NIVERSITY MUSICAL 8OCIETY presentS
Creative-Opportunities
UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES CENTER (UAC) is now ac-
cepting applications for the positions of President,
Personnel Vice President, and Financial Vice Presi-
dent for the 1978-79 academic year. UAC provides
cultural programming and entertainment for stu-
dents at the U. of M. Four energetic and respon-
sible individuals are needed to coordinate this to-
tally student run organization.