The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, September 21, 1977-Page 5 - Bob.*-- S 4 I Ii i . Japanese film overrated Vtv i I By CHRISTOPHER POTTER They don't make good sex flicks in' America. They don't make good sex flicks very often anywhere else in the world, either. Part of this failure lies in a chronic dual definition of the term: a sex film usually means just what it im- plies - a hard-core, low-budget no-plot quickie; a film about sex could imply a" great deal more in relevance to the hu- man condition, yet even our best film- makers seem shackled in such latter endeavors by the very existence of their stigma-threatening, cheapie- exploitation breathren, not to mention the collective weight of Hollywood's venerably protracted don't-offend- anyone paranois.- Although considerably more than half a century has passed since good Dr. Freud concluded that sex is the sun the human psyche revolves around, this ostensibly all-consuming subject was for years restricted cinematically to two polarized extremes: either straight story with no sex, or straight sex with no story. Carnality may be the obses- sion of our lives, yet in the movies the human race was invariably presented as, respectively, either all mind or all genitalia: Even now, immersed in our current overdue age of liberation from cine- matic taboos, sex is still treated as a kind of tolerated orphan, consigned largely as a moneymaking by-product of whatever adventure, cops-and-rob- bers or other mostly male-dominated action is occupying center stage. And even the relative handful of films bold enough to make the subject its prime preoccupation usually end up vulgariz- ing the male-female complex into a form of cartoonish timidity, as witness Carnal Knowledge, Diary of a Mad Housewife and other trivializations. While every now and then a Last Tango in Paris may shock the senses into self- recognition, there seem always a half- dozen films like Lipstick waiting in the wings to zap us back into the comfort- ing pit of fantasy garishness. While the trend toward sexual expli- citness still may make for occasional halting gestures toward reality in main- stream cinema, the corresponding skin- flick genre has hardly produced a simi- liar mating of the elements. To be sure, the new openness has resulted in a dubi- ous superstardom for a few athletically prominent hard-core performers, but the porn creators' determinedly slavish devotion to bodies without brains con- tinues unabated, a thematic malfe- feasance as much out of kilter with the here and now as were Andy Hardy's romantic musings on the monastic end of the celluloid pole. The resultant starvation for films containing at least the pretense of sex- ual maturity may account in part for the astonishingly rapturous welcome a number of critics have accorded the re- cent mass distribution of the Japanese film In the Realm of the Senses. Much of its fame had already preceeded its arrival, thanks to the heavy-handed bumblings of some of our myopic moral guardians. Following a brief appearance at last year's New York Film Festival, Senses was promptly seized by U.S. Customs agents in the grandest I am Curious Yellow tradition, and righteously de- ported back to Japan. When the film made a largely unchallenged reappear- ance a couple of months ago, its newly- annointed cause celebre status natural- ly accorded it a much larger audience, both high and low-brow, than would have been true a year earlier. Which is most unfortunate, because Sense is a cheat and a fraud, taken either on the pornographic or the main- stream level. As a skinfilm it fails flatly and boringly, its attemptsat tittilation unpleasant and endlessly predictable. As a supposed breakthrough commen- tary on male-female relationships the film is simply a joke, a rancid potboiler not worth even a one-sentence commen- tary were it not for the fact that some crucial literary tastemakers have de- cided to take this cardboard non- work quite seriously indeed. Although Senses contains a thread- bare plot, it still remains at times al-, most incomprehensible. As best I could decipher, the storyline involves a young prostitute named Sada, employed at a high-class brothel operated by a hus- band-and-wife team. The husband, Kichi, takes an immediate and lascivi- ous interest in his new employe, and the two of them are soon humping away in various locations and positions, usually complete with a small, entranced audi- ence of onlookers. (Voyeurism and ex- hibitionism seem constantly crucial to the film; it reminded me - unhumor- ously - of the Woody Allen-Louise Las- ser episode of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex. Sada's .and Kichi's daliances gradu- ally turn less frivolous and increasingly intense, as the initially shy Sada be- comes more and more the aggressor in the relationship. Eventually the affair turns downright deadly, with the in- creasingly obsessed Sada first pseudo- playfully, then literally strangling her lover, with Kichi calmly, stoically ac- quiescing to her ultimate act of love- hate. Then, possibly in celebration a male-female reversal of the Snuff films, Sada proceeds to slice off the dead Kichi's genitals in the most sto- mach-erupting ,scene I have ever in- voluntarily witnessed in a film. At the end, physically and spiritually fulfilled, Sada curls up next to her lifeless, man- hood-less lover, bloody trophies in hand. Sheer edification, folks. Is all the gore in any way redeemed by what may have sounded like a sub- tle, intriguing character development? Not on your life. Sada and Kichi are given absolutely nothing to say about themselves or each other, save the standard grunts, groans and lewd utter- ances standard to the skin genre. While the two actors involved seem rather more talented than their American E zombie counterparts, they simply have no material with which to build their . roles into anything more than the paper mache figures they remain to the end. Technically, Senses' camera work may be a bit sturdier than our grainy, jiggly . domestic product, its music just a shade less banal. Otherwise, the film's aesthetic kinship to the Deep Throat crowd is complete and inextractable. Why, then, all the fuss? Anti-Puritan frustration? The sheer, repressed des- peration to turn dross into gold, no mat- ter what the intellectual and moral cost? I have no desire to play sociologi- cal pundit; let me simply state that In the Realm of the Senses is a cheapjack, noxious imposter of a film which carries about as much social-sexual relevance as a worn-out vibrator. Sure- ly we have a crying need for adult films - just as surely we can find better champions than this one. PASS THE PEACEPIPE The United States signed its first Indian treaty on September 17, 1778 with the Delaware Indians. Later trea- ties featured specially medals, many of which are on display at Henry Ford ;, Museum, Dearborn, Michigan Q-eG~lpse MASS MEETING Maybe this time FOR 'USEIS MICHIGAN UNION ASSEMBLY HALL THURSDAY SEPT. 22 7:00 p.m. Would-be dancers try out for roles in Musket's upcoming production of Cabaret, premiering Nov. 3 and running .through Nov. 12. Local art galleries: A sensual treat By KAREN BORNSTEIN After days of seeing nothing but dreary, gray Ann Arbor rain, treat your senses to the colors of The Contempor- ary Miniature exhibit on view until Sept. 30 in the University of Michigan Gallery and John Brunsdon's Welsh landscape etchings at the Alice Simsar Gallery1on 301 North Main, on view un- til Oct. 12. "The best things come in small pack- ages," is a phrase describing the cur- rent exhibit, The Contemporary Minia- ture. Miniatures, as the name implies are small works of art, often times no larger than a picture postcard. But miniatures are tiny in size alone while grand in every others aspect that con- stitutes high quality art. Miniatures include all forms of the artistic media created on a small scale. Oil paintings, etchings, woodcuts, prints, sculpture, stitchery, and photo- graphs are some of the 92 featured works of 72 artists from the United States and Canada. These small artistic treasures are by no means an addition to modern art. Gallery director-Martha Reesman says, "The miniature has been repre- sented throughout history in all manner of artistic expression.. This exhibit demonstrates that works of art need not be large to be of great artistic value, and that the miniature still thrives." Most of the miniatures demand that the viewer look at them closely until he or she is drawn into a separate world, experiencing the intricacies of the Romantic opera arias are soprano' s forte materials that are used. Each stitch, line, or dab of paint is meant to be ex- amined. The result is an intimate ex- perience between the work and the viewer. For example, in Rita Dibert's "Rela- tionship Fragment," strands of silver braided wire are arranged on wood. Upon closer examination sparkling green and black threads are apparent which add to the total effect of the work. The idea for the show was originated by Ralph Wolfe, printmaker'and for- mer teacher at U-M's Residential Col- lege. Jurors consisted of U-M history of art Professor Clifton Old and School of Art Professors Frank Cassara and Lewis Sadler. Besides chosing 92 works for display from the 500 submitted, they also awarded five prizes. Award winners are Robert Mauro of Mantua, N.J. for the serigraphs "Intervals, Twin, Triad"; Harvey Gordon of Kalamazoo," MI for the watercolor "Flower Pot"; David Bigelow of Murfeesboro, Tenn. for etching and watercolor "Blue Bear"; Pat Garrett of Ann Arbor for the metalwork "Josh in S. English"; and Nancy Hansen of Ann Arbor for the pencil drawing "Pears". "The Contemporary iniature", sup- ported through a grant from the Michi- gan Council for the Arts, is the first ex- hibition of the Union Gallery's 1977-78 season. The gallery's hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and noon to 5 p.m. week-ends. Much larger and more expansive than miniatures are John Brunsdon's "Welsh Landscapes." Brunsdon, born in Cheltenham, England studied at the Cheltenham College of Art and at the Royal College of Art. Mr. Brunsdon has exhibited extensively in both one man and group exhibitions in Europe, Aus- tralia, Japan, South Aerich', Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. The exhibit reflects Brunsdon's ex- ploration of light and different atmo- spheric qualities on the English coun- tryside. His etchings, once abstract, are cur- rently more literal in composition. He creates a large, general impression of a landscape with huge, broad areas of colors ranging from deep emerald greens to sandy beiges. He explores ev- ery possible shade of the colors he chooses. Unlike the miniatures that demand intimate inspection, it is even more ef- fective to step six feet back from the et- chings. The color patches slowly begin to fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and a very overall effect is achieved. Despite the lack of detail there is nothing ambiguous about the landscapes and forms are always recognizeable. ViewingbBrunsdon's etchings is sim- ilar to looking out of an airplane win- dow five minutes after take off. Per- spective changes, detail diminishes, but instead of colors fading away they remain bright, intense, and the very opposite of a rainy Ann Arbor day. SORORITIES A' SPECTRUM OF EXPERIENCES registration 9-14-21 in the f'shbowl or call 663 -4505 r r b' f MASS MEETING SEPTEMBER 21 7:30 in the f i shbowl By MELANIE POTASHc Mirella Freni is the title of a newly-1 released Angel album consisting of op- eratic. arias sung by that world-. reknowned soprano - you guessed it - Mirella Freni. Freni, known mostly for4 her interpretation of Mimi in La1 Boheme (a role she has sung in houses from Seattle to Sydney - and one she1 does not quote on this disc), sings most- ly from the same repertoire - Puccini, Bellini, Donizetti, etc.1 Listeningto this album, one of songs which could be called her "greatest hits," I was able to get a reasonable feel for what this woman can do. While it is true that the full impact of the drama and eotion that should characterize any well-performed opera cannot be appreciated when listening to a few short arias on a record, Freni's talent allows for beauty, serenity, and feeling to exist even in the disembodied voice. The clear and precise tones flow smoothly along and seem to almost car- ry you through the song. So many times it can be an effort to simply listen to such music,'yet not so with this brilliant. soprano. None of the notes, no matter how high the degree of difficulty, sound forced or strained. Freni sings with such natural ease that a type of music often strange to the untrained ear be- comes more familiar sounding. The first piece on the album is a se- laetinn frnm Mdame Rutterfly (one of A major complaint about operas (and one that I must say I frequently have had myself) is that they are in a foreign language making the story-line nearly impossible to follow. However, a singer who knows how to properly manipulate vocal patterns can convey the plot as clearly as if it were spelled out in the boldest print. Such a person can, with a simple change in inflection, invoke any- thing from laughter to tears. Mirella Freni seems quite capable in this re- spect as she demonstrates in the selec- tion from Verdi's La Traviata where she skillfully communicates the tender moment when true love is revealed. Freni is famous simply for her seri- ous works. In the course of her career, Freni has had occasion -to associate with some of the biggest names in opera and music and she enjoys the praises of them all. She is perhaps not as well known in this country as in Europe but this year's tour could indeed change that. All Grad Students interested in teaching will find G700 SEMINAR ON COLLEGE TEACHING extremely useful in your own classes THURSDAY, SEPT. 22-10-12 a.m. Room 215 SEB Contact Prof. Murray Jackson 764-9472 Perspective MMA Students Cuiong Iluuugh Rprrauul Alaterialmn and Prclidcnt of Na op a IIII1III! c