Page 10-Friday, May 25, 1979--The Michigan Doily A SECOND OPINION OF 'MANHA TTAN' Alen takes egotism too far By CHRISTOPHER POTTER While sitting through Manhattan and trying guiltily to deduce why I felt I was watching just a very enjoyable movie instead of the greatest film of the year, decade, or all time, as it has been variously trumpeted, I formulated a test theory: Try to picture George Segal instead of Woody Allen in Man- hattan's lead role of Isaac Davis, and see if the film would hold up as ec- statically as most folks seem to feel it does in its present form. The point I was trying to make to myself was a suspicion that the mere force of Allen's visual aura and per- sonality, his presumably irresistible ubiquity, was sufficient to make Man- hattan seem a much cleverer, much deeper film than it actually is. I took the concept home with me, slept on it and woke up to a rather startling contrast: I had absolutely no trouble envisioning George Segal as Isaac, could in fact pic- ture him as being considerably more sagacious and entertaining than Allen himself. Could it be that the writer- director's omniscient presence, far from being Manhattan's saving grace, is actually its greatest liability? Has Allen, flirting with a risk which befalls other multiple cinematic talents, gotten too close to his work, too absorbed in the cosmicity of his own hangups to In yesterday's Daily, critic Owen Gleiber- man gave Woody Allen's "Manhattan" a highly favorable review, calling the film "exhilarating" and "awesome" along the way. Today, Christopher Potter airs some of his reservations about the movie. -Arts Ed. maintain the delicate but crucial ar- tistic distance so necessary for a suc- cessful film? THIS IS hardly to say Manhattan is a lousy movie. In many ways it's an extraordinary, even unique film-Allen's bittersweet tribute to the city he both worships and hates, to the Beautiful People he often despises yet can't live without. Perhaps never has a love affair with urban living been por- trayed in such irresistibly seductive images, from the complex mosaics of the Big Apple's buildings to the equally mulitextured layers of its inhabitants faces. Rarely have the self-constricting tactics of the supereducated, who em- ploy intellectuality to barricade feelings, been more incisively ex- trapolated, yet they remain tinged with a forgiving gentleness that is inevitably the most pervasive element in all of Allen's films. The romantic tug-of-war Isaac Davis (Allen) undergoes choosing between the two women in his life provides the perfect thematic fulcum to turn the plot: Does he want Mary (Diane Keaton)-gorgeous, passionate, culturally intimidating yet neurotically fragmented? ("I always get the feeling people are uncomfortable around me," she frets); or should he be true to Tracy (Mariel Hemingway)-young, innocent yet wise beyond her years, able to cut through all the intellectual gamesmanship to clear, plain truths about life ("Just have a little faith in people," she says unsappily at Manhat- tan's climax). PREDICTABLY, Allen handles all his characters with an intelligence and love that's a joy to watch. Yet his own alter ego Isaac remains very much the film's focal point; and since Manhat- tan is Allen's first "straight" comedy, eschewing his previous atmosphere of absurdist crazyness, one becomes un- comfortably aware of a reluctant but stifling conceit which the director is no longer able to modify or conceal with laughter: It's not Isaac Davis' dilem- mas and predicaments up there on the screen, it's Woody Allen undisguised, constantly and embarrassingly begging the viewer for love and understanding. Beginning with Love and Death and progressing through his subsequent films, Allen has transformed himself into perhaps the most self-obsessed filmmaker in the history of the art. Never has one's own tormented soul- twisting angst been thrust so un- disguisedly-albeit tenderly-at an audience. In terms of such naked autobiography only Fellini and, much more obtusely, Bergman come to mind; yet both at least maintain the pretense of disguise-neither has opted to appear perpetually as himself in his own films. Allen seems convinced that his own quandaries involving sex, death and other isms are, if not universal, at least universally appreciated-sufficient that he can use his audience as a kind of public purgatorial sounding board. It's a risky artistic assumption in .the best of situations; and the irony is that as Allen develops and grows as a film- maker, as he progresses from comic surrealism to tragi-comic realism, his presumption turns downright perilous. It's obvious Allen craves an audience's love; he's always been able to claim it through laughter, but now he craves See WOODY, Page 11 Gong strikes a clinker By MARK COLEMAN The average listener may never have heard Gong before, but that may be as much by design as by accident. Since Gong's conception in 1969, Daevid Allen and his communal art rock ensemble have pursued the elusive cosmic muse diligently despite -endless personnel changes, record contracts, and changing social climates. Throughout these changing times, one thing remains constant; Allen's commitment to ignoring convention while ex- perimenting with a number of forms, is preserved on The Michigan Daily 420 Maynard Street AND Graduate library musical and otherwise. This present day incarnation of Gong (there is a splinter group performing more straightforward jazz-rock under the same name) appeared Tuesday night at Second Chance in a concert dubiously advertised as "Floating Anarchy: No Wave Planet Gong." Featuring a number of acts, each committed to a unique interpretation of music, the show lives up to the anar- chistic style promised in the title. AFTER A fairly mundane perfor- mance of progressive instrumental rock by a four-piece outfit known as Zu, the show rapidly spaces out. During a half-hour saxophone improvisation, Yochko Seffer bends notes and hops scales dynamically, making up in energy what he lacks in profundity. The climax of his set, however, is an exten- ded jam with a tape of what sounds like a foghorn. Then, as Yochko stands en- tranced, the tape switches to a droning choral effect accompanied only by chanting. Yochko mercifully joins the Zu band for some watered-down fusion to conclude the set. The plot thickens considerably when Gilli Smyth takes the stage. Dressed in an obscenely colored, feathered dress, Smyth brings a new dimension to the term "middle-aged hippie." Reciting an endless stream of inaudible "poetry," she leads her band Mother Gong through some increasingly grating noise-mongering. At times the band achieves some pleasant, jazzy climaxes, but things go awry each time. See GONG, Page 16 Look Who's Fifty! Michigan League 1929-1979 When attending a concert or play, CAFETERIA HOURS, Plan to dine at the League on the way. 7:15-4:00 The good food, without doubt, 5:00-7:15 Will enhance your night out- Snack Bar Closed And they'/l/clear the dishes away. for Summer T ih* a PH Send your League Limerick to: TMy ch a -' 'H' Manager, Michigan League 227 South Ingalls --u- leNext to Hill Auditorium Youwill receive 2 free dinner Located in the heart of the campus. tickets if your limerick is used in it is the heart of the campus . one of our ads.