Thursdoy, Moy 5, 1977 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five Thursday, May 5, 1977 THE MICHIGAN DAiLY Page Five Altman's latest triumphs By OWEN GLEIBERMAN ROBERT ALTMAN has al- ways been a director who takes chances; he experiments, does what he wants to do, and doesn't worry about audience reaction. As last semester's Robert Altman festival pro- gressed, Ann Arbor audiences witnessed the way in which Alt- man's style varies with every film he makes. Altman's latest effort, 3 Wo- men, now playing at the Michi- gan Theatre, represents a great- er stride than he has ever tak- en before towards a new direc- tion, and the result is a film that ranks withrhistbest. 3 Wo- men was based on one of Alt- man's dreams, and though per- haps far removed from that original inspiration, it is very dreamlike in quality. In a dream you encounter the ap- pearance of everyday life with- out the logic, yet you don't question it, and the same is true of 3 Women. Altman's dream- file displays such consistency, articulation, and beauty of style, that its enigmatic quali- ties serve to enrich rather than confuse the experience. Briefly, here is what happens: Millie Lamoreaux (Shelley Du- vall) and Pinky Rose (Sissy Spacek) meet at an old age health spa where they work. Pinky immediately attaches herself to Millie, and moves into her apartment. tILLIE LAMOREAUX is per- fectly groomed, looking for love, and rejected by just about everyone. With Shelley Duvall's performance, we feel compassion for Millie, even though her lifestyle (organizing recipes by how long it takes to cook them) is enough to make anyone keep their distance. She- is ridiculous, but in a curious way, unaffected in her ludi- crous self-delusion (she says she is "famous" for her dinner par- ties, even though no one ever shows up at them). Pinky, on the other hand, is cild-like, with an acute sense sf mischievousness coupled s ith antabsolute naivete regard- ine just about everything. The third woman is Willie Hart (Janice Rule), who paints tho murals seen throughout the filn on walls and on the bot- tont of swimming pools. She is pregnant, and almost never speaks. Her husband Edgar (Robert Fourtier), a degen- erate - machismo character, is an ex-stuntman, who ,spends most of his time on the shooting range. Willie and Edgar own both the apartment where Millie and Pinky live, and the bar where they hang out. Millie grows increasingly less patient with Pinky, and after a particularly nasty fight in which Pinky tries to stop Millie from sleeping with Edgar, Pinky tries to commit suicide. It is at this point, as Pinky lays in a coma in the hospital, that the two women undergo the mete- morphesis; they taking on the passive and aggressive charac- teristics of each other. THIS "PLOT" serves only to underscore t h e major themes of the film, the fore- most of which is a frenzied con- flict between the sexes. The murals that Willie paints depict a man in bitter, teeth - baring antagonism with three women (one of them pregnant), and the picture Altman conceives pre- sents a frightening, gripping vi- sion of matriarchy. and Millie's apartment to say that his wife, is having her baby, we can feel him being phased out before the final climax. Millie shouts to him "she doesn't need you", and they leave him to wallow in his new subserv- ience. As the baby is being born, Pinky is only a passive observ-- er, but it is she that fails to get a doctor, and the blood on her face after Millie slaps her confirms that, in the large sense, all three of them are re- sponsible for the baby's still- born death. It is a frightening vision, but Altman has the skill to bring it off without a trace of melodrama. The matriarchy foreshadowed by the murals finally comes to pass. ALTMAN CONCLUDES 3 Women on an enigmatic note: We see the three women as grandmother (Willie), moth- er (Millie, and daughter (Pinky). Edgar, we are told, has been killed in a shooting accident, and as the camera shifts from their house to a pile of discarded tires (perhaps the last remnants of the moter- cycles Edgar and his buddies rode and used to assert their dominance), we hear Willie say, "Why did he have to be sto cruel to ber'?" As always, Alttan eleaves the viewer with something to ponder. In this case, it is whether Willie's fin- al statement is an allegorical presentation of our current situ- ation or something else, vary- ing with each individual's in- terpretation. But regardless, it is Altman's ability to create a personal dreamscape that makes 3 Women a fascinating and beautiful film experience. TONIGHT Pitcher Night No Cover 6'11 CHUReCHAF GM15- 956 Arts Starve no more. By DAVID KEEPS 1F those faded Van Gogh "art-print" reproductions that you bought in the Fishbowl at the start of the term are starting to make your skin crawl, and Picasso's "Don Quixote" is only good for a few appreciative moans, then where do' you turn? Would you believe a shopping center? Well, ordinarily, most people would laugh, but crafty arts and crafts patrons will probably head for Arborland Shopping Center on Washtenaw this weekend to pick-up some incredible and orig- inal art bargains at the summer's first "Starving Artist's Sale". TOM LONDON, the brains behind the operation, is trying to attract business to the shopping center, and coupled with the regular Saturday flea markets in the front parking lot, he de- vised this unique sale, scheduled for all day Friday and Satur- day. "It's a great opportunity for artists in the community who often are unable to display and sell their work," London ex- plains. "And a great chance for the public to meet artists and pick-up original artwork at reasonable prices." You don't have to be an undernourished painter in order to participate, the event is open to apone who brings their crea- tions to the inside mall at 10 o'clock to be assigned a spot. And you don't have to be a high-roller either, if you want to buy something unique, the one limitation put on the participants is that they keep their price tags under $25. Besides being cheap, the art promises to be exciting, if not technacally equivalent to the work at crowded and overpriced Ann Arbor Art Fair, and the atmosphere will undoubtedly be buzzing, with unusual displays and on-the-spot poetrait artists " s " + " " w e" . . . . " + TONIGHT is, "0 STUDENT NIGHT admission 50c for students with .. cand Sd Appeorinq thru Sunday. , 9 31 RFOXXT . 94-s3s0 516 E. LIBERTY 1i s " r " .w o . . r . Spacek Whether this is a warning, a prediction, or a manifestation of guilt on the director's part, I'm not sure, but Altman defi- nitely creates this feeling with words and images throughout the film. His efforts are often best realized on the white, bar- ren desert of the shooting range, where Altman creates images of extraordinary power, such as when Janice Rule, shooting at targets, suddenly points the gun straight at the camera and fires, her bullet hitting a target of a man's silhouette right in the neck. As the film progresses, and the Pinky - Millie metamorphe- sis takes place, an-ever-increas- ing sense that the three women are one develops. The names of all three are practically the same (Pinky reveals earlier on that her real name is Mildred), Willie's husband Edgar sleeps with all three of them, and fin- ally, all three are connected with the death of Willie's baby (he is stillborn), symbolizing man's ultimate death. As Edgar staggers into Pinky Who is Walter Egan? For a few licks, call 1-800-323-0654. I ALL YOU CAN EAT Thursday Special 5 to 10 P.M. Freinch Fi'ied Siielt DINNER INCLUDES: * French Fried Smelt " French Fried Potatoes * Large Pretzel Bell Salad with Choice of Dressing " Steaming Hot Basket of Russian Rye Bread $3.95 ADULTS CHILDREN Under 12-$1.75 Friday and Saturday Night Live Bluegrass Featuring: THE R.F.D. BOYS The Pretzel Belt Restaurant SERVING DINNER S TO 10 P.M. 120 E. LIBERTY 761-1470 On Columbia Records and Tapes.