Tuesday; Seoter be 9, 1 975 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Pete Five ..soS~ebe ,1~ HEMCIA ~L Jewison's 'Rollerball ': More future schlock By JAMES VALK legitimately become accepted doesn't really look that bad A few years ago, Norman as a potential medium for ser- when you do just that-look. In Jewison had everyone fooled. ious artistic endeavors, Norman fact, if a few of the dialogue Copping the Oscar for Best Pic- Jewison will be damned if he sequences were cut out and ture with a trite little melodra- is going to be just another the' film was viewed without ma, In the Heat of the Night, shmuck director who simply any soundtrack, it might be Jewison became a director of makes movies that simply kind of fun. Unfortunately, au- social awareness in an era yet make money. And thus comes diences tend to get restless unaffected by the "new wave" Rollerball. when they pay $2.50 a head of the late '60s. His prominence Rollerball was a conception and hear only the film running as a Hollywood highbrow as- that simply looked too good to through the projector. sured him security as a bank- be true in terms of the prevail- The basic fault that plagues able filmmaker, thus affording ing Hollywood mentality: a fu- Rollerball is its determination him the status as a legitimate turistic film (science fiction) to take itself too seriously, with cinematic force. that features a superstar stud Jewison again responsible for Evidently, Jewison's m i n d (played grudgingly by James drastically overstaging every- was exhausted from the exces- I Caan, who has yet to button thing he touches (remember Superstar?). Even those carcin- .-ogenic sequences where John Houseman dictates the evils of wj CONCERT SERIES USHERS NEW USHERS -Anyone who ushered on a part-time basis or has never ushered but would like to, come to the meeting at 5 p.m., Thurs- day, Sept. 11. VETERAN USHERS - Anyone who was a permanent usher or security team, come to an organizational meeting at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 10. No new ushers will be signed up at this meeting. BOTH MEETINGS AT THE PENDLETON ARTS CENTER 2nd floor of Michigan Union Bring ID t t r i f Michigan Daily ts the corporate philosophy are shot in the now passe stark white interiors, a scene that is literally put to shame by George Lucas' far superior THX-1138. The decadent "de- struction parade" of the social elites, where flame-throwing handguns destroy what little is left of nature for mere plea- sure, is filmed so reminiscent of Bergman's procession in Wild Strawberries it's embar-! rassing. And the final climax, Jona- The shame of things to come James Caan proves once again that all is not bleak and impersonal in the not too distant future by expressing a moment of grief over the death of his rollerball teammate in Norman sive cerebral demands of "ser- up his shirt, to the direct ap- than E's victory of individual ious" cinema, and he relaxed peal of the star gazers) engaged humanity over mass conform- his output with the film adap- in the world's roughest sport ity, complete with freeze frame tation of Fiddler on the Roof, (sport fans) who fight to re- and Andre Previn's swelling which in retrospect proved tain his individuality (democ- strains of Bach, may be the where his real directorial tal- racy, morality, decency, apple most garish finale since Billy ents lie. Unfortunately, his urge pie) in a world dominated by Jack surrendered to the fascist for cinematic relevance was gigantic corporations (big authorities amid sobbing sup- again aroused, and his semi- business, a villian everyone can porters while 'One Tin Sold- ambitious Jesus Christ Super- hate), despite temptious lures ier' raised goose pimples onk star bore the burden of his of beautiful women (sex). those who didn't know better. pseudo-auspicious instincts. The amazing thing about the u.i But in a time when film has film is that the entire melee Buetting aside the v _________ual pretentiousness, it may be! Jewison's vision of a morgue-to- can give us that without the pretension. The simplicity of the wholeI affair becomes even more ob- vious when one stops to ques- tion exactly what anything means. The game itself, which is supposedly some deviant re- placement for global war, or the need thereof, remains nothing more than just that. There is no metaphorical significance here; just a largely unsubstantiated spectacle that has even less to do with society itself that it does with the corporations. We are told that the game of rollerball illustrates the futil- ity of the individual effort, but that doesn't explain the evolu-k tion of rollerball in place of war. Even worse yet, it as- sumes some quasi - literate cor- relation between war and indi- a theoretical "loss" of individ- uality becomes enraged, deter- mined to fight for survival. But survival of what? His rights, his life, the entire ex- pression of humanity? Hardly-. he just wants to play rollerball. It taxes one's attention to ac- cept this unmotivated reversal of ideology, especially since Jonathan E has absolutely no identification with the masses who widely support his human-' istic effort in the end except for that superficial relationship be- tween superstar and fan. But perhaps they are cheering him blindly for the wrong reason, them out of blood thirsty addic- tion for the game, while only Jonathan E realizes his final victory of the individual effort. One could only interpret this as a fleeting bit of irony on the part of Jewison, but then his entire premise is even more un- substantiated than it stands now. For if Jonathan merely represents himself as the last individual ideologically on earth, there is absolutely no victory relative to anything. money on an effort that never si y Wednesday is Barqain Day should have been pursued in! at all Butterfield Theaters! the porportions it was. Futuristic films that contem- Shows at7&9 p.m. pplate the human condition tend P S4 Open at 6:45 to become self - indulgent any- way; with Rollerball, it was simpply a case of trying to make too much out of too lit- tle. And when we are asked to believe that a Machiavellian t version of roller derby becomes a substitute for the conscious entity, the only thing that be- comes futile is the rationale. I t Records in review: safe to assume that Jewison has. advanced on a faulty premise. Granted, no one is going to ar-, gue with the foundation-after all, who wants suppression or IS CURRENT INFORMATION ON STUDENT GROUPS AVAILABLE? YES! .. . Current information on campus student organiza- tions and how to contact them is always available at Student Government Council. Also, the Student Organizations Board of SGC coordinates and assists the more than 400 groups on campus. am pa so abolition of individual expres- viduality that simply isn't made sion by gigantic corporations clear - if there even is one. WILBUR LANDREY i ano with the composer pianistthat now control world politics? Perhaps we are to assume By Obviously, there is no argu- that those who watch rollerball United Press International Claude Bolling, billed as Ram- ment here, and thus, there is are less of individuals than The flute of our day is ac- pal's first jazz recording (Co- no argument with the film. The those who don't, and from that counted the most perfect of all umbia M 33233). one intellectual purpose the bit of logic extrapolate that no wind instruments. If one takes Finally, among the latest film dvae is taig of ne old eeraque the the number of recordings of the Rampal releases is a re-issue, om a vances is a s agin one would ever questionlthe past couple of years into ac- on the Budget Odyssey label, ofsm hftacorporate system ofpo count, it is also the most fash- music for flute and harp with sort of peep show into a spec- Jurisdiction because they knew ionable. Lily Laskine (Y 33520). The se- ,ltthve visiono a. ty couldn't possibly ever par- Many of the recordings, if not lections include "Greensleeves' But then, that s all Forbidden ticipate in the spectacle. But most, are by the fabulous and pieces by Rossini, Ibert, Plant ever did throughout all this, what has French flutist, Jean-Pierre Faure, Damase and Krumpholz. Jewison allows no intellectual happened to self-righteous indig- Rampal, usually playing with Rampal is not, of course, the involvement with his material nation? Are we really to be- his partner of 25 years at the only flutist who is recording. A - there is never any question lieve that a culture had be- harpsichord, Robert Veyron- rare recording is a two-record of right or wrong in a reason- come so callous that a game Lacroix. album from Das Alta Werke able perspective presented, nor of sheer physical contact be- There is a new three-record (6.48074 ER) of the flute sonatas is there any reason for anyone comes a substitute for moral set of Bach's complete works of the 18th century composerto feel the least bit uncomfort- consciousness? for solo flute from RCA, which Jean-Maria Leclair played by able over any issue anyone or To complete this entire se- is marketing the French label Christian Larde with Huguette anything takes in the entire quence of incoherency, we are Erato in this country (CRI 3- Dreyfus at the harpsichord and film, for there is never any pre- given the personna of Johna- 5420). Jean Lamy on the viola da gam- vailing threat that penetrates than E. the rollerball whiz-kid These works include four so- ba. The recording won a Grand past the boundaries of pure con- of the world. A true corporate natas for flute and harpsichord, Prix du tisque inFrance. trivance. The only reaction to parasite, this world - famous three sonatas for flute and con- It is obvious just from reading be elicited is purely a gut reac- superstar rubs elbows with the tinuo, two partitas for flute and the names that France has pro- tion to the physical violence of multinationals to his material continuo and, finally, a sonata duced more than her share of the game, and hell, Peckinpah advantage, but when faced with for flute, violin and continuo. fine flutists. For Seraphim (S- There was another release a 60247), another of them, Michel - couple of years ago of Rampal Debost, plays virtuoso pieces and Veyron-Lacroix playing entitled "The Golden Age of the COFFEE only the sonatas, but the RCA Flute" by several 19th century KOL BO C F EE HOUSE imports are all new recordings. composers, including Theobald An entirely different thing is Boehm, who was responsible forr WEDNESDAYSEPT.10-8 P.M Rampal's delightful recording of the development of the modern.D 1- 8 P the Suite for Flute and Jazz Pi- instrument. Kolbo-"It's all there. i t t i t C Obviously, Jewison never got this far in his reasoning, for if he did, we might be chewing over Jesus Christ Superstar Part II. Unfortunately, a lot of people spent a lot of time and SGC Trying to make UM a better place for students to live. 3rd floor, Michigan Union-M-F 9-5-763-3241 F i 1L i a,, d a .> a 1 6 THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 9P ofes siona 1 ORTHE POWER CENTER 'N 'Wjea tre Trogr am PRESENTS K i I moo" 1 som- PAT (CAR ROLL, h C REFRESHMENTS, CONVERSATION, and MUSIC Mixed League Bowling SIGN UP NOW! Michigan Union Bowling Open 11 a.m. Mon.Sat., 1 p.m. Sun. at HILLEL---1429 Hill 663-3336 #' pm I A; I Calculator Questions? Hewlett-Packard's factory representative will be at ULRICH'S BOOKSTORE Monday and Tuesday (SEPT. 8TH AND 9TH) Nfi~l.) SIIuT r f FO SA' "A GREATODELIG- udm {r <:DANCING. CHORE PUNCH LINES AN IPRATFALLS'- C "THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE HIGH HOPES and many more A MUSICAL SPOOF FOR MYSTERY LOVERS September 19, 20, 21 Evenings: 8pn,,. heLrod ,m~ay Ma nee: 3pm1) S-U ,day Matinee: 3px 1,oo - . v, .fir ,... .. ror r 45VM 'N ?ORD AND Feb. 27-29 or April 16'-18 HT.. 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