4 ARTS The Michigan Daily Friday, March 16, 1984 Page 6 4 Fish out of water By Bob Learner SPLASH is a good movie about mermaids. Director Ron Howard manages to overcome the complete silliness of the premise, and turn it into a believable romantic comedy. It suc- ceeds because of realistic characters, and caricatures who reveal some sym- pathetic emotions behind their acts. Tom Hanks plays Alan, a young businessman with a gap in his life. He is looking for someone to love, but no one ever seems quite right. That is, until he meets Madison (Darryl Hannah). The romance that develops has a hitch, however, in that Madison is a mermaid, and can only stay on land for six days. Another hitch is that Alan doesn't know of her actual species because, being a true amphibian, Madison sprouts legs a- shore. Hanks and Hannah make a likeable couple and play off of each other well. Although somewhat bland at first, Hanks does a good job of conveying Alan's fear of neter finding the right woman. In the more difficult role of Madison, Hannah is believable as a mermaid. Wow! Her reactions upon seeing civilization for the first time feel easy and innocent. Alan's brother Freddy (John Candy) is hilarious as a big guy in search of a good time. It is to his credit that he is able to transcend this caricature, at times, and convey some genuine emotion. A similar ploy is used by Eugene Levy, who plays a nerdy professor in search of the mermaid. Levy is funny as an obnoxious scientist, but then manages to elicit sympathy from a line like, "I'm really a nice guy. If I had any friends they'd tell you." The success of Splash reflects a shrewdness on the partof the writers, actors, and particularly its director, Ron Howard. Howard knows exactly how far he can take silliness before it will undermine the central romance. This sensibility was evident in his first movie Night Shift, and has been further developed here. The only noteworthy lapse in Howard's judgement concerns a chase scene near the end of the movie. Army trucks charge after Alan and Madison as they try to make it to the safety of the ocean. The chase is played too straight and is too big in what is essentially a small scale movie. The scope of the chase is jarring in this context. This is small criticism, however, of what could have been an awful movie. Instead, Splash is that rarity: a mer- maid movie that works. Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks share a tender moment befoWe Hank's strange condition is revealed. ANNARBOR AT LAST I said, this is the Count!I've been waiting at the bus terminal for three hours-now where the devils my limousine.., hello? Hello? 'The By Byron Bull N HIS 1979 film The Warriors, Walter Hill concocts a quirky, gauche urban fantasy about street gangs run amok. He constructs a cinematic pastiche of ideas borrowed from various genres -everything from westerns to samurai epics - thrown together in a story that is over 1400 years old; the tale is called Anabasis by the ancient Greek writer/historian Xenophon. Hill updates the story to present, moving the locale from Persia to the Bronx, changing the warrior tribes to the punk gangs of New York. He con- centrates on a small gang called the Warriors, from Coney Island, who, at a mass gang meeting, are framed for the Warriors murder of the city's most powerful gang leader. Trapped far from their own turf, the Warriors are faced with having to fight through every gang on the way back. What story there is is blantantly con- trived illogical, weakly plotted. Hill's emphasis is on the style and in this respect he succeeds. The New York he captures is eerie, desolate, eternally dark and hostile. The buildings lining the streets through which the gangs tread seem solid, like sheer rock cliff walls. Mysterious silhouettes peer down from above. The city seems deserted but for the gangs and the police, the few people glimpsed are merely part of the background. The gangs, clad in elaborate, often colorful costumes, look like garish ex- trapolations of the droogs in A Clock- surreal. flair work Orange. They're visibly distinct, separate ethnic groups in identifiable garb. One gang, all black, sports color- ful martial arts robes and brandishes hockey sticks, while another runs about in pin-striped baseball uniforms and painted'harlequin faces. The Warriors themselves are a mixture of blacks, Hispanics, and whites, wearing long hair and leather vests. * Any sympathy the viewer might develop for the Warriors is thwarted by Hills insistence on making them icons, noble savages, proud and fearless, but devoid of depth. A romance between Swan, the leader of the Warriors, and a girl from another gang, is handled so sloppily and insen- sitively that it's inconceivable. The characters in Hill's story don't breathe or bleed, they're just elements of an ab- stract composition to be manipulated. The action scenes do have a taut, calculated excitement to them. Par- ticularly one in which the gangs fight with baseball bats, wielding them in a sequence choreographed like a swor- dfight. Characters are bashed over the head again and again with pipes and clubs, going down only'to reappear in the next cut, swinging away again, only slightly ruffled. In a harsher more realistic vein, Hill couldn't have gotten away with the trick. Here, in the slick, surreal canvas, it works. The Warriors, with its glossy, theatrical inclination, is no Concrete Jungle. Its roots lay with the absurd, escapist romanticism of West Side Story. In that respect, it's an amusing though hardly affecting movie. The tragic wilting of 'The White Rose' By David Novak D URING THE film's scene, im- mobile on the edge of my seat, I stared at the screen, elbows on knees, and chin on hands. Mesmerized, and affected, I watched this film of suspense, intrigue and emotion draw to its con- clusion. When it was finished, I dropped my head and gazed at the tiled floor. Filtering through my thoughts came the muddled sounds of the projectionist packing away the film (the two of us were alone for the screening). After approximately two minutes of silence, he hesitatingly informed me' that the film had ended. Moving for the first time, I slowly turned to him, acknowledged his perception, and ex- plained that I needed a few moments to regain my composure. Eventually, I found the energy to leave. For the remainder of the evening, however, I could not escape that desire for solitude induced by all emotionally draining ex- periences. Chil 2 1n a comedy aboutadults" ~fl reflby A.R. Gurnev Wednesday-Saturday 8pm Sunday 2pm March 21*,22,23 -25 March 29-April 1 preview performances New Trueblood Theatre tickets available at the PTP Ticket Office in the Michigan League 764-0450 g"" Michigan Ensemble Theatre Directed by Terence Lamude Foreign films seem to recognize the value of silence. Unlike American directors, they are not compelled to rely upon unending dialogue and sexual innuendos; varient camera angles, and changing colors and shadows can con- vey the director's message. Michael Verhoeven illustrates this talent in his film The White Rose (German, with subtitles). Set in Nazi Germany, 1942, this true story depicts a student organization's attempt to defeat Nazism. This covert group's impact escalates from a limited distribution of flyers at their university to mass distribution covering numerous cities and thousan- ds of people. As circulation and goals increase, so does their danger. As their predicament becomes increasingly, precarious, tension and suspense mounts reaching its peak at the num- bing conclusion. The unflinching determination and courage of the White Rose (the name of the organization) captivated me. I feared their capture as much as I would NS (T-SHIRT PRINTERY TEAM -WNFS SHOP lflOUR SOWROOm/STORE so& GM Z.J I 10'. .1Surplus 994-1367E Shirts 3/$5.50 l Yrn my own. I both admired and dreaded their brash, sometimes incomprehen- sible methods. I became a part of their ambitious fight, for Verhoeven woul not allow me to remain a passive spec- tator. He introduces us to each character through unflinching - often uncomfor table - camera work. We soon learn their weaknesses, both as a group and as individuals at the same time as we begin to note each of their loves, hates,f and political ideals. Although only the lead character (Sophie) is fully developed, we understand how each member thinks and acts within the con- text of his own resistance. Yerhoeven's perceptive, penetrating camera demands our empathy. Rarely does film achieve the realisn of The White Rose. There is something magical about this film, for characters never seem to degenerate into actors. The lighting, use of color and camera angles all reveal a brilliantly directed film, but the actions and passions of those involved suggest life - without script and stage direction. In addition to its artistic merits, The White Rose offers a valuable history lesson. Many of us feel Nazi Germany was a unified nation, and tend t categorize, assuming that all Germans were Nazis in the early 1940's. This film helps remove such biases. We learn that forceful, overt resistance like that of the White Rose may have been limited, but that unvoiced dissension, was strong. Woven within this historical enlightenment are many enigmatic morals and philosophies; the most prevalent dilemma is how to deal with a situation over which one has no control. Unlike many recent films, this one for- ces introspection. This highly recommended Ann Arbor premiere (brought to us by Cinema 2) will be showing Saturday, March 17 at 7 and 9 in Angel Hall, Aud. A. Elvis Yes, Elvis is coming. Hill Auditorium will greet him April 22, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $13.50 and $11.50 and go on .ale Friday, March 16 at the Union Ticket Office and other Ticket World Outlets. For more information call 763-2071. ANN. ARBOR INDIVIDUAL TN9ATR6S nfAriV 1 nA 0 A CUA IC AAMN TUDII DI mmmmo.mmmmommA