Arts' EntrtaimentTHE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, September 30, 1976 RPige-,Five Wertmu tier By JAMES HYNES 1ENA Wertmuller's S e v e n Beauties is a film about sur- vival. It chronicles the adven- tures of an ordinary man in ex- traordinary times, who becomes by the end of the film a dis- illusioned, embittered man. Pasquilino (Giancarlo Gianini) does not merely survive his ordeals, he excells at surviving, deliberately sacrificing his honor and human dignity in order to comeout of World War II alive. Unlike the radical seaman in Swept Away, Wertmuller's last film, Pasquilino shows a rather horrifying tendency not to care at all even as fascism rises in his country. He develops into a totally vicious man-the common man who, through ignorance of hard reality, is forced into situa- tions in which a choice between dignity and survival must be made. THE STORY of Pasquilino's choice is presented by juxta- posing two segments in his life. Before the war, Pasquilino is a strutting, swaggering man of the streets whose main concern in life is maintaining the dignity of his family name-his family, being his mother and his seven fat, ugly sisters. The film's title does not refer to his sisters, of course, but seems to apply to seven qualities about him which attract women (although he re- fers to himself as "ugly"). When one sister's fiance hires her out as a prostitute, Pasquil- ino kills him, Set against this scene is his struggle to survive in a Nazi concentration camp during the war. Ile abases him- U. Utah' sings aLJord Ark self in order to live., first by making love to the immense commandant of the camp and then by shooting a fellow pris- oner-in contrast with the first murder, performed for honor. WERTMULLER makes it clear that it is the common man's lack of concern for politics that gets him into such fixes. For instance, the film opens with newsreel footage of World War 11 battles and . a voice reciting a bitter litany of those who didn't care. The only people in the film who merit any respect are an antifascist prisoner Pa~- lino mieets whileon1is way to prison (for murdering the pimp) and an old anarchist he gets to know in the concentra- tion camp. For Wertmuller, the onlv dinity worth having is that gained bv working for a cause grenter than the individual. Pasquilino, instead, seeks re- snect only for himself and be- comes rather a buffoon. The murder of the pimp, a stomach- turning sequence in which the body is cut up and shipped to three cities (labelled ':pro- volone'), becomes a slapstick routine. And when he is finally camyht and tried, all seven sisters slhw tn in the courtroom in the heavv makeup and tight dresses of whores. PASQUILINO is not a mere L i1m ol circumstance, ihe mtrkes his. choices quite delib- eratelv. 1k loses all iliusi4)ns and ideals and becomes defi- antdy self confident-so hard- ened that when, in the last scene, he returns home to find both mother and girlfriend are whores, he doesn't care. le has rejected honor completely; all he can say in the fndeout is tYes I'm alive." This film is Wertmuller's first masterpiece, perfectly balanced a richly detailed. Ghanini is stunning creating with his per- formance a sort of Everyman. Seven Beauties places her Wert- of itaian cinema. Have a or If '.ou re e eet- poetrv. an mu"e or wr Io, fe r i "rin d e un di t or. wo Toe By SUSAN VINTILLA [THE DUDE in the line at the Ark last Saturday night with a western twang was B r uic e Phillips, otherwise known as U. Utahi Phillips ._ when's he's singing, playing guitar and spinning yarns, that is. Utah seemed to enjoy teas- ing and amusing his audience w i t h outrageous anecdotes more than anything else, but he also proved to be a compe- tent guitar player and folk singers The tone of most of his songs was based on support of various downtrodden humans. The first was a "Kids Liberation Song" inspired by two small people in. the front row, and from there! Utah took off. He sang a work- ers' song to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean", which voiced regret of the gov- ernment's callousness on the unemployment situation. ONE OF the funniest parts of the evening was when the sing- er complained of harassment from a Nashville firm for using the "Wabash Cannonball", which was writtenin the 390's before copyright laws. He then proceeded to sing the song to a different tune, and his audience enthusiastically joined in. The remainder of Utah's re- pertoire was devoted to songs about hobos, railroads and la- bor songs. U. Utah actually hails from Spokane, Washington, where he pursues alternate life-styles of farming and writing. One of his big complaints to the audience was that vegetables are boring ("Have you ever looked at a turnip?"). He explained to the listeners that he- was dressed up in his "Saturday night shirt" and jokingly derided them for their relatively grubby appear- ance. UTAH'S joke - telling style was without equal, but he would, be a better overall entertainer if his story-telling time was more evenly balanced with his singing. Actually, behind the quips, he is a pretty sober fellow. lie calls himself an anarchist - defining anarchy as leading a' creative life free from con- straint. He introduced his fans to make their own music at home for enrichment and to avoid "feeding the capitalists by buying rock and roll re- cords." He himself will hole up in Spokane, Utah announced, until he finishes his book - entitled Fundamental Anarchists. 4 C STEVE GOODMAN, guitarist and songwriter, wil play at Power Center tomorrow night along with jazz fiddler Vassar Clements. The concert touches off another season of Major Events from UAC. lay I D RINKING &DA NC G Fria38p.m.' By JIM STIMSON POLK MUSICIANS Steve Good- man and Vassar Clements will appear at the Power Cen- ter tomorrow night. The word "folk" is used here for lack of a better term. Both artists span a broad range of musical styles. Vocalist - songwriter - guitarist Steve Goodman is noted for writing John Denver's "City of New Orleans." An articulate and topical songwriter in a' class with John Prine, he's re- corded songs ranging from Mike. Smith's mournful bail ''Spoon River" to vintage rock 'n' roll like Bbbv Lewis' "Tl oss;in' and Turnin." VASSAR CLEMENTS is a modern fiddle player, if there is such a thir. He was a men- ber of the Virginia Boys in the SO's e early 60's, and help- ed r luegrass to its cur- rent i { of acceptance in this count V, More recertly, ClemenS has played with Dicy Betts of the AlIman Brothers a Gar- cia of the GadteflemDead. Goodman iand Clem-ents have played tu eiber befare, on GOod- nan's 19 release,',Jessie 's Jig And Other Favorites.'' What will yoa hear at the con- c 1r Probablv a lot of differ- cut styles, held together by G nlmam's sense of humor and 1 eo t virtuosity. But what- ever they play, you can expect to hear mme relaxed profession- al and ha e a good time. Ticket are S5, and the show stai'5 at7: :30. NOON LUNCHEON Homemade Soup and Sandwich SOc Friday, October 1st Two members of the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Assn: IMPRESSIONS OF CHINA at Guild House 802 MONROE NO COVER 0 **Thet CAL At The an arborInn FRIDAYS - SATURDAYS AT 8:15 THF MUSICAL HIT & I DO! I DO! ** oo* *Lyrics"ey OM )O AS Say~y ARV[Y CHMID STARRING MEG GI-ERT AND ROBERT JAMES : *s s Srce AvaosweSefo4e Show sedDurng ntemisionHuron at d+t * ,,Tne-Roujnd Seating Asa~gn ,n the 0' ,Order of PhnOe Rese,,aons ReRco,\ k oc -- j? 5o( JOIN OUR P HPPY HOUR!! SUNDAY y + p , 7thru "Cotas10 PA - A-M- THURSDAY Cottage INN Mess of SmeIts 512 E. Wiliams - Ann Arbor .. 663-3379 All Drinks at Reduced Prices NEW MENU-NEW PRICES 6 H WE reMeals nr0 99c to 2.7 611 CHURCH 1 nr the Dower level of the Campus Arcade) Phone 6,55-5955 SINGLE SALES BEGIN MON OCT From the ProssioalTed/n? Program 4 PTP BOXOFFICE, MENDELSSOHN LOBBY __. e ,1 , -.( /t.