w w w w w w w lqw/ qw 7' _j MV w -qw- -qw- -1 Kr? Last hurrah Fanny and Alexander Starring Pernilla Allwin and Bertil Guve Directed by Ingmar Bergman Now playing at the Campus Theater By Dan Desmond T HANK HEAVEN for Ingmar Berg- man, who returns to the screen every once in a while to illustrate what excellent filmmaking looks like. Fanny and Alexander is vivid proof that Bergman has not lost his acute ability to create evocative cinema. In fact, he has honed that talent. It is time now to abandon furry little forest dwellers, high school seniors in heat, and rampant ruffians with names like "Yori," in favor of going to movies that make you think. Bergman elegan- tly re-introduces human beings to the screen. And in Fanny and Alexander Bergman offers us an experience that is as visual as it is intellectual. Bergman places us in the company of the Ekdahl family. They are wealthy and have servants to do just about everything (including romping in bed with them). Like every family, they have good times and bad. During their Christmas celebration you can almost feel that holiday atmosphere as if you, yourself, are involved. However, times are not always so wonderful. Among the family's middle- aged sons, Carl has fallen into debt and feels humiliated, Gustav is an over- sexed philanderer, and Oscar, well, Oscar dies. An old friend of the family, Isak, is a cynical but sensitive com- panion to Mama, who worries terribly about all of them. Oscar is Fanny and Alexander's father and his death has a marked ef- fect on everyone. Implicit in many Bergman films is a constant fear of death. The grey reality of losing his father stares Alexander square in the face, and this young boy must contend with the trauma. Alexander initially blames his father for dying. Alexander's mother, Emilie, remarries to a painfully puritanical Bishop who succeeds in ruining her life. He takes the children under his care but is more a Dutch uncle than a step- father. He cruelly punishes Alexander, who defies the Bishop's austere ways. Alexander now must grapple with the restricting nature of a religious up- bringing. The chaste you-must-fear-me-to-love- me atmosphere the Bishop imposes on Alexander suppresses the boy. By way of an allegorical story about the Bishop's natural children drowning, Alexander conveys that he is suffocated by this miasma of religious discipline. Sorting out the possible reasons his father had died, Alexander tries not to blame his father and wonders if God is responsible. Alexander declares that if such a thing were true then "God is a shit." The lesson Alexander learns is that the dead may be tangibly gone but they are still close to us. He derives his gen- tleness and sensitivity from his father - he is still a part of Alexander. A slightly unpleasant note is that the Oh my .God'1 Lords of the New Church Prism Productions St. Andrew's Hall 803 Congress, Detroit Saturday, November 19, 11 p.m. By Bob King ISNOTHING sacred? Even L.A. punk- whose seeming immutibility stemmed from the belief that what doesn't live doesn't evolve - is no longer what it was in '81. At the front of this new movement are the Lords of the New Church, the Dolls-like quartet from Los Angeles, who for our culture, with those neat clothes and wild pleasure will be on stage at St. Andrew's Hall tomorrow night. Following on the heels of X and the Cramps, the Lords will face an audience spoiled by the West Coast's best. Without the likes of Fear or Black Flag in recent memory, however, Detroit may also be failing to notice the relatively mild man- ners and polished edges of these bands. Vince Bannon has been playing some tricks lately by pulling in musicians-not just punks-to his counter-cultural nir- vana. From the outside, it looks like for- sight. The Lords are certainly not what would have been called "hardcore" last year (a term that should start thinking seriously about a headstone). Bator may be a for- mer Dead Boy, and Guitarist Brian James an ex-Damned, but the Lords are what they are, now. With hardcore following the likes of Generalissimo Franco, what's emerging from L.A? Apparently groups like X, and like the Lords, groups who have slowed Alexander and Fanny: Childhood curiosity despotic Bishop ominously returns af- ter his death and- warns Alexander, "you can't escape me." So, Alexander has that to hover over his head through childhood. So, the dead can still exist inside us, but what is important to the living? Un- cle Gustav offers an answer. He en- courages us to find joy in the little world, that is, the family and friends that give subtle pleasures like gentle smiles. Gustav says, "ignore the big things" (like religion) and. cultivate and be content with your own little world. Bergman also asserts that imagination is a gift that should not be silenced. Under the heavy hand of the Bishop, Alexander is forced to lock his healthy imagination in the closet and become a contrite and moral youngster. How boring. Eventually, Alexander is freed from this stifling en- vironment and his grandmother offers a bit of optimism as she tells him, "imagination spins out and weaves new patterns." Such imagination is necessary to enrich the touching little world Gustav speaks of, and to avoid the emptiness of the Bishop's world, which is about as warm as a morning frost. A zeal for affinity with the people closest to them is what is central to the Ekdahl family in Fanny and Alexander. Even after one has passed on this con- nection is the most pervasive experien- ce in life. Icould not begin to do justice to the subtitles and details that accen- tuate the elements of this film outlined here. Bergman's intricate storytelling and masterful care in developing Fan- ny and Alexander make it a must-see. With the simplest techniques Bergman creates a beauty and poignancy on the screen. His close-ups, for instance, are extremely telling. The camera's perusal of a character's face can offer the deepest meaning or feeling. Bergman stands out as one of the elite among today's directors. I can caution the movie-goer about only two things. First, this is a lengthly film. But if you do not mind slightly more than three hours of good Bergman, then you'll be OK. And if you don't mind reading subtitles for that length of time, everything will be fine. The story is so engaging oftentimes you aren't even aware you are reading them. Despite these two drawbacks (and they are trivial enough to overlook) Fanny and Alexander is a splendid and alluring film. Ingmar Bergman often ends his stories with a hopeful touch and this film is no exception. And there you have another refreshing ingredient that makes this movie a wonderful step back into intelligent movies. There is an awful rumor that this will be Bergman's last film. Hopefully, this retirement will not be permanent. Since1935 $1.99 an 8-PACK on %A liters of All Pepsi Products KEGS TO GO OVER 100 CHILLED WINES DRIVE-THRU Open 7 days until 2 a. m. 996-9683 303 N. Fifth Ave. Across From Farmers Market The Lords: Not so holy down their style and who have stopped despising the world in general in order to focus in on its truly pathetic aspects. Fear collectively might want to spit on them, but they've always been a minority. Read on: Lords of the New Church have even waxed intellectuals at times. A song like "Tales of Two Cities" from their new LP, which includes references to both Dickens and the bible, demonstrates a clear recognition of the continuum of Western culture (is that not intense?). And a line like you fill me with inertia, from "Bad Thing," which was lifted right from the Peter Cook-Dudley Moore film, Bedazzled, is almost shocking. As punk enters our culture, with those neat cloths and wild songs, our culture is entering punk-"The Decline of Western Civilization" is history. What will the Lords be playing tomorrow? "Live for Today" is one song which has taken airplay in a big way, though having been produced by Todd Rundgren, that was almost inevitable. If you've heard what resembles a Byrd's tune covered by the Ramones, you've heard "Live for Today." The range of the Lords is dynamic. Like X, who can play "We're Desperate" and "Please Come Back to Me" back to back, The Lords of the New Church flow effor- tlessly from harsh, post-hardcore rock to lyric new-wave tunes like "Dance with Me." The Lords, in short, think. Ergo, they change. Does this exclude perfec- tion? Hard-rock is how they describe them- selves now, and I can't argue with this ap- pelation. I can't let it go without ex- planation, not seem hardcore, t alternative of both X a no outlet fo they becar standpoin autonomou tal, and th are four, bi As a war of slammii be changir Go's crows Punk is disciples h social light balcony thi floor to the Follow his nose Cyrano de Bergerac Professional Theater Program Power Center Wednesday, November 23-Sunday, November 27, 8 p.m. By Joseph Kraus and Michael Fisch QUESTION: What do you say to the greatest swordsman, gambler and romantic of 17th century France? Answer:"Gezundheit." Cyrano De Bergerac, that famed gallant warrior with the "magnificent" nose will be coming to Ann Arbor star- ting November 23. Never mind that he has been dead for almost 300 years, he is being ably represented by the University's own Erik Fredricksen. Fredricksen stars in the University John Guilgud, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., creation, Player's presentation of Edmond Christopher Plummer, and Errol a rather Rostand's Cyrano De Bergerac. Direc- Flynn. school at ted by Walter Eysselinck, chairman of Although there are parallels between numerous the Department of Theater and Drama, the real Cyrano and Rostand's semi- ce in the c the show promises an evening of cluded comedy, romance and adventure. duelling. Fredricksen is a member of the and a phi University's performance faculty and romantic, current president of the Society of depicted American Fight Directors. produced He has appeared most recently in Ann goers for Arbor as Brick in the Michigan Ensem- In Rosi ble Theater's production of Cat on a Hot love with Tin Roof and in the one-man show The maiden. F Diary of a Madman. He spent this nose as ug summer with the Colorado him. Wh( Shakespeare Festival as Richard III. officer in In doing this project Fredricksen has a mutual reunited himself with his friend and siderable mentor Patrick Crean. The world- his friend renowned fencing master/fight direc- Roxann tor has been teaching the male fighters Fleming, of the cast to fence as smoothly and ef- Hopper, v fortlessly as Cyrano himself once did. student a He is also the play's fight in The Ri choreographer. For this reason one It appe should expect to see both wild and won- there is a derous fight scenes. a healthy Patrick Crean is certainly qualified help 'to to be a teacher. His auspicious acting Tickets a career included over 300 plays and 50 ticket off films. Some of his students include Sir Duelling: On guard! For furthe 4 Weekend/November 18, 1983 _rV