THE MICHIGAN DAILY
rts & Entertainm ent Wednesday, April 7, 1976 Page Five
A CROSS_
EUROPE
BYBU
LONDON TO:
ATHENS S57* - ROME $44'
PARIS $25" ZURICH $40'
MILAN $44 - BARCELONA $40'
AMSTERDAM TO ATHENS $61
IFYOU CAN DRIVE
ACAR
YOU COULDSV
YOUR FRIEND'S
LIFE.
Seven
Beauties'
Wprtmullpr's best
w w %WE WE N a
By JAMES VALK
IT IS INDEED the sign of a
great artist to follow one
mtnificant work with another.
But if Swept Away was any in-
dication of a consummate work
of art, then Lina Wertmuller's
Seven Beauties is a dream of a
film - her piece de resistance
that defies an equal in con-
temporary film.
On the strength of this film
alone, the 47-year-old director
could end her career and still
remain a filmmaker of historic
proportions, holding her own
with the artistic intelligence of
a Bergman or a Fellini.
LIFE HER past works, Seven
Beauties again stars Giancarlo
Gianniii in the title role, and
again Wertmuller uses the
camera to scrutinize his char-
Acter. Every move is choreo-
graphed to his demeanor, flow-
ing with his every expression,
filling the screen with a mere
twitch of an eye or a tip of a
hat - seemingly minor details
that raise the Giannini figure;
from a literary character to a
cinematic image.
beast is a heart." Iuse of creative disorder that one
The assertion of his manhood would expect from Pedro's "new
that almost got him killed in man." "We don't want order,"j-
Naples is now his saving grace he explains, "that's what the
via an erection. The comman- Germans have."
dant yields to Pasqualino, Ed- And thus speaks Wertmuller,
mitting in disgust that "the Ger- allowing her cinema its own
mans will never have a master flagrant disorder. An ingenuous
race because subhuman larvae aspect of Seven Beauties is its
will survive simply because resistance to adhere - nothing
they can attain an erection even is right, nothing is wrong. Wert-
when half dead." muller hands down no moral
verdicts, allowing her film its
IT IS TO this subhuman larva own beguiled artistry. In the
Giancarlo Giannini portrays Pasqualino Frafuso, Lina Wert
macho masculinity, in "Seven Beauties," now playing at T
Her use of film technology is camp to the blinding yellows of vation - not so much his mnas -
shattering, with Tonino Delli Italy or from her brilliant open- culinity itself, but his belief in
Colli's cinematography making ing sequence depicting the exe- it. Whether on the streets of ,
Giannini's opening scenes some cution of Jews in a mis-ry Naples or confined within +he
of the most dazzling on filmI forest to a cut of a colorful cor- walls of the German prisn, Le
Andt Enzo Iannacci's score, sage that adorns the thigh of a is convinced that one tip of his
which alone can add another di- sleazy vaudevillian performer hat or a seductive gesture alone
mension to a film, appropriately (who, we learn, is Pasaualino's can make him invincible.
elevates Seven Beauties into its, sister). The murder of people It is in the prison sequences
rightful position. by the Germans to the murder it sqinorsn seqentc
of art by the Italians - in oneh Pasqualino's "Neopoliian
The film follows Pasqualino simple cut. gentleman" diminishes to a man
Fra'fuso, a small time Mafioso, ithsnhnglstanraped of his manhood (the exact4
who struts the streets of World It is thus nothing less than reverse of Raffaella of Swept
War II Naples while his seven remarkable that Wertmuller can Away). Here Pasqualino loses
umpling ssters (and hee maintain this feverish pace de- his false pride; no longer does
name, Seven Beauties) stuff spite her lurid charm, deriving he carry a gun that he never
mattresses at home. her humor from the very atro- intended on using - now his
cities that shock and appall. very survival depends on his
HE INSISTS on maintaining So it is not surprising that ability to pull the trigger, as he
his honor and dignity, and thus Pasqualino becomes the char- mst shoot a fellow prisoner in
kills the pimp who made his acter through which Wertmu.'ler order to satisfy the comman-
sister a whore. He is caught, draws her most fleeting ironies. dant. No longer does he wear the
sent to a mental institution, It is Giannini who was caught d"bious title of "The "Monster
agrees to join the army in order in the "battle-of-the-sexes" of of Naples" with honor - he
to escape from the hospital -- her last four films, and It is now lowers his head in realiza-
and subsequently compromises Giannini who now carries this tion of where his quest for sur-
his position as a prisoner in theme to its end - the fallen ial has led him.
order to escape from a Nazi masculinity that exerts itself
concentration camp. in the name of self-esteem and THIS BECOMES the passion
family "honor." of Seven Beauties - the abiltv
'IFW FILM divides its time to survive against the desire.
between Naples and Germany, BUT Pasqualino's masculinity It is here where Pasgqualino's
with Wortmuller establishing her is pliable. It is this flimsy as- charm dissolves into its mere
links with ironic ease, from the set that he deems so vital which contrivance: the "neceS3 I
cloudy blue of the'concentratinn ultimately proves to be his sal- of Nales, hm "respect" nd
"honor," become meanin;ess
Ii tokens of a daserted dignit..
; that Wertmuller seems to grant end, one is neither pushed nor
her final reprise, with Pasqual- forced toward any specific an-
ino'sdetermination to survive swers, only made exceedingly
ultimately no more frivolous in aware of decisions yet t) be
Germany than it was in Naples. made.
It was, as it always had been,
the immediate needs that dic- The sun, the controlling body
tated the immediate goals: he of our solar system, is a star
choose food over sex when he whose dimensions cause it to be
encountered a woman in a classified among stars as aver-
lonely cottage, yet insisted on age in size, temperature and
sex with the commandant (" ... brightness.
but I love you!" perhaps the
most outrageous line of the film)
despite her charges that it was i
Sfood he was after. (The tech- Award
nique used in these two scenesW
l r' m o a n is brilliant; thematically con-
mullers image of traditional nected by the accompaniment
Detroit's Towne theatre. of Wagner's Traume.)
Survival is no longer the fight And in the end, it is Pas-I
for social status as it was in j qualino the survivor returning to
Naples, but is now, a hard-fought the girl of his dreams who has,;
choice - one between comnro- in yet another crowing irony,
mise and life or idealism and become a prostitute along with
death. The choice is between the "seven beauties" in the! SHOWS TODAY at:
the apolitical Pasqualino and name of survival. But Pasqua- 1:00,3:05, 5:10,7:20, 9:30
Pedro, the failed anarchist ("I lino is quick tohforgive, for -__________i__ry
in a k e lousy bombs") who getting that he had killednis
drowns himself in a vat of:sister's pimp because he had
human excrement rather than made her a whore.
accept Pasqualino's compliance Pasqualino has gone through TheatrePhone 6454290
with the Germans. so much yet has learned so
But it is not just political little: he has deprived others
compliance t h a t Wertmuller of their lives and has murdered "A fine film.
deals with, and her now in- to save his own. He has raped --Penelope Gilliat a
famous sexual innuendos are a helpless insane woman tied The New Yorker
brought to a resounding finale spread-eagle in a hospital bed
when Pasqualino attempts to and "seduced" the unpassion-
seduce the grossly overweight ately submissive commandant,
female commandant, honing Even the lecture that Pedro S w e p t
that "at the center of every gave him about the ills of over-
-nowvlation ("In 300 years there.
will be so many peonle that wew
. will have to fight for a single R
Ha,, a fli, fr apple") has become confuising SHOWTIMES
artistic writinii? to him, as he tells his bridle-to- Tadao at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9
It you are stic - be they will "have 25-30 children
ed Inarevewii ~ so we will be able to fight for
poetry, and music our share of the apples.
or writing feature
stories about the
drama, dance, frm IS WERTMULLER grie'rousj T. P
arts: Contact Arts over the fate of Pasqualino?
Michigan Daiy. Her resolution is oblique, as has Now
been msany oaf her nonconcir- N w S o ig
sions. She provides all but an
answer, relying instead on the COLUIAP CTUPRESdRASTARPICTUAE$
"ROBIN
erform ance shakey A RICHARD LESTER ni'.
I O]A RAY STARK-RICHARD) SHEPHE.RD c ..+.
ECONOMY HOLIDAY S/1324 LEX. AVE. For free nformtti aWrte t.
NYC/N.Y.10028/212-348-5961 DRUNK DRiVE aox 2345
"+10% TAX. SERV. CHARGE Rockvile. Mairylad 20832
-0
1) UAC/eclipse jazz
PRESENTS
C
CECIL
j TAYLORo
IN CONCERT 0
Thursday, April 15
Power Center-8O P.
TICKETS NOW ON SALE
All Seats $4.50 Reserved
TICKETS AT
TICKET CENTRAL, HILL AUDITORIUM
Also available at HUDSON'S Downtown, Northland, Briarwood
D-001 the MOV ISfAT BRIARW 0
ADJACENT TO J.C. PENNEY 0769-87806.1=94 A S.STATE, ANN ARBOR
DAILY EARLY BIRD MATINEES - Adwits $1.oo
MON. TRU SAT. I A.M. Tit 1:30 P.M. SUN. & HoTS. 1? NOON Ti It130 P.M.
n M mmMIfCITI OUNTS(xFi.&SaM t. .0s.0
Declarer must play
RIDGE. dummy carefully to
BRIDGE* garner more 'tricks
Dance p
By MARK
West
S K 7 6 3
H 108
1)AQ
C J 10 9 8
South
1 NT
3 NT
North
S A J 4
H 6 5 3
D J 108
CA
4 South
5 10 8 2
By CAROLYN SMITH
FRIEDLANDER - JMAGINE yourself in the
world of childhood: hopping,
contract with an overtrick. So leaping, and play-acting. The
he started clubs from the top, Gelman ' Palidofsky Dance
cashing the ace-king, and groan-st' Theatre performance at Arena
ing when West showed out. j Theatre last weekend attempted
And Sg h w ws rih tod oan. to take its audience back to the
because he had just thrown the uninhibited, ridiculous antics of
contract away. After playing the childhood - but instead jour-I
e nr~at y... ter playing the neved to a rather bizarre land.
7 4 2 East
S Q 9 5
H J 9 4 2
D653
C7,3
C. 7 ,)3
)
LI E
E
19
'n
P
f:
pened the effect. more than banging on pots and
IN GRASSHOPPERS, t h e pans accompanied by violin,
dancers hopped around and another trivial antic.
portrayed insects, using bent The performances major fault;
legs and stiffened arms. How- concerns the fact the audience
ever, the unity of the number. was not kept in mind. The
is not clear; the selections did strange and sometimes irritat-
not visibly correlate. ing music along with the truly
The final selection, Six Im- weird poetry and sketches cov-
possible Things Before Break- ered up much of the artistic, in-
fast, consisted of bizarre rhym- novative potential. The thea-
ng and typically strange, child- tre itself was too closely situ-
ike skits. You began to feel ated to the performers which
ike an onlooker to a psychia- lessened the illusive effect. The
tric ward; amidst the carnival professional quality will have to
music and spastic thrusts of the ,be upgraded in order that the
bodies. The act, Concerto for company may survive in the
Violin and Kitchen was nothing competitive world of dance.
-U
SHOWTIMES
Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri.:
7:00 and'9:00 p.m.
Sat., Sun., Wed.:
1:00. 3:00. 5:00. 7:00. 9:00
I --
I
I
%- / a J
HAKQ7
DK9
CKQ62
West
pass
All pass
North
3D
Opening lead: J of club
When dummy has a long
in notrump, declarer's str
is most often to establish
run the suit, leaving the
fense twooptions: run its
suit first or deprive the dec
of the ability to run the
West led the jack of
against South's three not
contract, and dummy ha
win the ace. Declarer set
establishing dummy's long
by leading a small diamor
his king and West's ace. R+
ing that diamonds would b
up before his clubs, West
to knock out dummy'ss
entry while he still had the
diamond. To have a chant
be successful, South mus
missing the queen of spad
So West switched to the
of spades! If dummy du
another spade to East'sc
and a third spade would
declarer off from the diam
Theref ore North won the
spade and cleared diamond
East eventually topped dum
jack of spades with hi.s q'
isolating the diamonds in
now - unreachable dummy
holding South to eight tric
North
SA
H853
ace of ciubs, the contracL can hi
never be madeTheir creativity is question- i
eer lay s able. For example, in the first Il
The proper play is a low club number, Your Feets Too Big, .
away from the AKQ at trick Linda Gelman paraded and t
two. Although this may give up lept about in an over-sized pair n
East an extra club trick, declarer of shoes. Clever?b
pass only needs five clubs and the
four major suit tricks to make In Cat's Cradle, the stagebwas
,three notrump. And the advan- webbed in long white ribbons.
s tage of the low club lead is Two dancers stalked; chasing
that it sets up the suit while each other while trying to avoid
suit'South still has a low club in getting tangled in the web. At
ategy j his hand to get to dummy. If the conclusion, a girl is caught
and:more declarers would be careful' in the ribbon and her pursuer
lon g about their entries, they wouldI sits back and smiles. Although
,a make many more tricks and far the act was uniqte, it presented
larer fewer groans. a uncomfortable twist that dam-
suit.
clubs --- ^
rump!
d to:
about JOSEPH VON STERNBURG'S 1934
suit
nd toSCRE
eali- THE SCARLET EMPRESS I
e set
had
spade Marlene Dietrich plays Catherine the Great in
high this h i g h I y romanticized biography. It's a
t be cinema classic more for its superb visual flair
[es. than its dramatic sense. A f a n t a s y to be
king relished..
cked,
queen
I cut THURS: Rita Hayworth as COVER GIRL
onds. !
frt CINEMA GUILD TONIGHT AT OLD ARCH.
amy's
lueen. ___________________
n the
m
FRI.-SAT.-SUN. $
COONEY
2.50
I nMUSKET
and SOPH SHOW.I
I
Now Taking Applications for Fall Musical
Central Committee Positions
DIRECTORS . CHOREOGRAPHERS
MUSICAL DIRECTORS SET DESIGNERS
PUBLICITY HEADS, ETC.
It's a Great Way to Meet New People and Gain Experience!
APPLICATIONS DUE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14
AT. UAC OFFICE, 2ND FLOOR UNION--763-1107
Songer of old songs
on
12 string, 6 string, banjo, fretless
b a n j a, concertina, tinwhistle,
jawhArp, hrmonic
TUES.-April 6th--BIFF ROSE!
I
I
1421 HILL
8:30
761-1451
t'e resk en isl COI e, e er-
and
ks.
West D 1075
S09762CAKQ
H J1042
DK83 S
C J South
0G * O S * * op,
WED., APR. 7
HEARTS AND MINDS
(Peter Davis, 1974) AUD. A-7 & 9:30
I
East
742SJ84
HQ96
DA4
C 109 6 5
3
I
I