ARTS
The Michigan Daily -Sunday, March 7, 1982 Pager
I$1ijKtt a Tesich: Growing up in America
By Richard Campbell
C AN A 12-year-old Yugoslavian
immigrant find happiness growing
up in America? That is the question
confronting Danilo Prozor, played by
Craig Wasson, in Four Friends, a movie
expertly written by Academy Award
winner Steven Tesich and precisely
directed by Arthur Penn.
Tesich has written about a subject
with which he is intimately acquainted,
just as he did in his earlier movie
Breaking Away. He was born in
Yugoslavia, grew up in East Chicago,
and went to Roosevelt High School,
events which have their parallel in the
film.
Three boys, played by Wasson, Jim
Metzler, and Michael Huddleston, in
high school are in love with the same
girl, Jodi Thelen. It is 1960 and life is
just beginning to get complicated for
these four friends as well as with
America.
FouriFriends is as complex as a
novel. Tesich's screenplay is prac-
tically overwhelming in its scope. It
crams into the film everything about
America-from Kennedy's
assassination to landing on the
moon-that relates to growing up in the
'60s.
What is remarkable about this at-
tempt is its success. Even though the
combination of history with the charac-
ter story is somewhat far-fetched, it
never turns unbelievable. The audience
is never beaten over the head with the
symbolism because of the understated
presentation.
Although everything in the movie is
contrived, the extremely high quality of
writing, direction, and acting makes
sure that that contrivance is what gives
the film its relevance.
Underscoring the movie is an earnest
love of America. Danilo is a "Star
Spangled Banner" freak, going to foot-
ball games just to be a part of the crowd
singing the anthem. He is never shaken
in his admiration for his adopted soun-
try, but becomes increasingly
bewildered by the myriad of
possibilities that the land of opportunity
represents.
Friends is critical of America, but
Tesich obviously regards those flaws as
a central part of this country's per-
sonality. Penn films these scenes of
racism, the idle rich, and irrespon-
sible youth with compassion. They are
not presented with the outside obser-
ver's cold objective eye, but with a par-
ticipant's wisdom.
Tesich has recently completed the
script to the movie version of The World
According to Garp and it is interesting
to note the similarities in style between
Friends and the structure of that novel.
Both deal with personal stories against
a wild, inventive backdrop where the
surreal becomes real.
It is very likely that foreign audien-
ces will not get the same reaction to this
movie that an American would,
because the incidents of the story touch
on a common sense of history. These
.....-
reactions are what give the film its
power.
A lot of movies have tried to be the
seminal work of growing up in this
country, like American Graffiti or
Breaking Away. What distinguished
Four Friends from this crowd is its
broad scope. It tackles everything
about the American dream, from the
immigrants point of view to the chaos of
the '60s.
The film is extremely episodic and
tends to interrupt itself with quick pe-
sonal explanations added over tle
soundtrack. Only after the first half-
hour do these seemingly interfering
elements work together to form A
poetic, and nostalgic look back.
Four Friends doesn't gloss over
mistakes, and it doesn't dwell on them.
It is a moving commentary on a period
of adjustment that people as well as
nations must undergo. It is one of the
best movies of the year.
Count Bill of Rights
Article VIII:
The Delivery Act
Sek a Delivery"
Fast and to
Your Home!
Have a Pizza Delivered to Your Home
By the Fast and Furious
Grand National All-Star Delivery Squad
Just Phone 668-8411
Nightly After 5:00P.M\
Iimited Delivery Area
1140 S. University at Church
668-8411
"
N
Jodi Thelen and Craig Wasson share a midnight rendezvous in 'Four Friends.'
The Rovers mix folk and
By Robin Jones
RISH OR NOT, the enthusiastic crowd listening to
The Rovers felt Irish by the end of their Thursday
night concert, when the well-known Canadian folk
group appeared at the michigan Theater. Tunes in-
cluded their first hit-single "The Unicorn," and
recent top-40 hit "Wasn't That A Party?"
Audience involvement is essential to The Rovers.
From the first song on, the crowd hand-clapped to the
music. Group leader Will Millar entertained with
Irish jokes, and bantered with the crowd to establish
a warm camaraderie. Many in the audience already
knew the group from their early days in the '60s,
when they had a television series with CBS. Perhaps
a small reason for the audience's involvement was
the green beer sold in the lobby. Nevertheless, The
Rovers put onagood show.
The concert opened with folk ballads, and their own
characteristic instrumentation, which included
an electric bass, piano, and amplifiers. They blended
the old tunes and new instruments into a catchy, folk-
country sound. Lead singer Jimmy Ferguson is the
comedian of the group, punching others in the arm
when they teased him about his portly size. His good-
natured style and strong, lively singing combined to
make him the most popular in the group, as in "Wasn't
That A Party." Will Millar's cousin, Joe Millar, was
featured in love song solos, which included "Bridget
Flynn," and the old ballad, "Molly Malone."
The band had the audience singing along to "The
Unicorn," which was a hit with both old and new fans.
opular music
In the second half of the concert, the group performed
more folk melodies, the most popular being "The
Dunken Sailor;" and finished with their loud and
rowdy "The Wild Rover."
The Rovers formed into a group in 1964, and have
been popular the world over. Their distinctive ren-
dering of Irish folk music is enjoyed wherever they
go. Their recent LP release, The Rovers/Wasn't That
A Party features the return of the group to top 40
radio with "Wasn't That A Party" written
especially for them by American songwriter Tom
Paxton. It is unlike anything done before by the
group, and is a hit in both Canada and the USA.
Though the Rovers have deviated both in in-
strumentation and format from the traditional Irsh
folk music, their style is one of a kind, and very in-
teresting.
$IOOFF
On your College Ring
,,, : y.
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I
THE
PUZZLE
Stay Tuned
By Don Rubin
It's the fall of 1969, and
NBC is calling it "the Septem-
ber you'll remember," a star-
studded television season peo-
ple would recall perhaps a
dozen years later.
We'll see.
Pay no attention to the sta-
tion affiliations, time slots
and date. We're just looking
for the names of the shows.
LAST WEEK'S SOLUTION:
Last week's puzzle was sur-
prisingly difficult, despite the
fact that we actually gave you
the answers. Take another
look - that wasn't Walter
Alston; it was Mateo Alou.
The correct solutions (in no
particular order) were:
Reg Cleveland
Don Drysdale
Hank Greenberg
Babe Ruth
Manny Sanguillen
Henry Aaron
Mateo Alou
Dagoberto Campaneris
"Boog" Powell
Chris Chambliss
Nelson Briles
Andy Messersmith
Willie Mays
There were no winners in last
week's contest.
Fed up with these crazy puzzles?
Would you like to get even with Don
Rubin and win $10 to boot? Then
send your original ideas for The
Puzzle to The Michigan Daily, 420
Maynard St., Ann Arbor, 48109.
All entries will become the property
Thursday
EVENING
6:00 _ _ _ _ _
In a bizarre and Gothic tale, the
agents probe sinister disappear-
ances at a health spa. The trail leads
to the Sedgewick family, who live un-
der a terrible curse. West: Robert
Conrad. Artemus: Ross Martin. (Re-
run; 60 min.)
"Another Windmill to Go" opens the
series' 11th season. A dapper old
man rowing a boat across dry graz-
ing land? That's the quixotic scene
bewildering all of Virginia City
Sr. Bertrille soars into a third sea-
son on a cloud of baseball fever
San Francisco Bay Bombers vs.
Northwest Cardinals. (60 min.)
"Sleeping Cutie." Grandpa's in-
vented a pill that changes water into
gasoline. Herman: Fred Gwynne.
8:30 ID1
--Drama ~
Debut: Michael Parks stars as Jim
SBronson who quit his job with a
San Francisco newspaper to em-
bark on a personal odyssey.
Mundy's plans for romance in Rio de
Janeiro are wrecked by oddball
rogues who think he's muscling in on
their intrigues.
.©l and the Sponsor." Rob's old
Army buddy Sol Pomeroy stops by
unexpectedly and he's in no hurry to
leave--even though Alan Brady's
sponsors are expected any minute.
.The Long Walk." Nazi soldiers in
American uniforms have been infil-
trating the lines, and Saunders' men
are suddenly machine-gunned by a
G1. (60 min.)
9:00 L©OQ_______
Pete: Michael Cole. Linc: Clarence
Williams Ill. Julie: Peggy Lipton.
OfficersMalloy and reed investigate
suburban neighbors whose joint
ownership of a boat ignites an in-
creasingly violent squabble.
Kathy's father and Uncle Tonoose
both come to visit at the same time.
9:30 4 _______
Colonel Crittendon bungles again.
0©11
Debut: E.G. Marshall, David Hartman
and John Saxon are "The New Doc-
tors" in this series about spaceage'
medicine.
"Easy to Love." Script by co-star
Robert Culp (Kelly). Scott: sill
Cosby. (60 min.)
Return: "Operation Rescue: Part 1"
leads off the series' eighth season.
At Venezuela's man-made Lake Gu-
ri, co-hosts Marlin Perkins, Jim Fow-
ler and Stan Brock test animal-
capture methods.
10:00 40)
Debut: The 20th Century-Fox movie
studio is the setting for this fictional
behind-the-scenes Hollywood series.
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Celebrities: Alan Alda, Arlene Fran-
cis, Anthony Roberts and Gail Shel-
don. Host: Wally Bruner.
Steed and Mrs. Peel come to the
rescue of a disrupted top-level min-
isters' conference.
Victoria travels to Heath's birthplace
to learn about her late husband's re-
lationship with Heath's mother. Bar-
bara Stanwyck. (60 min.)
VA Jrv ,Imm.na.nt Raaa..n Is Was-.