4 ARTS The Michigan Daily Monday, September 16, 1985 Page 6 'Spider Woman' res By Byron Bull ON ONE SIDE of Kiss of the Spider Woman criticism you have self-declared intelligentsia-who are automatically predisposed to consider any foreign film a few notches above anything domestic, who take the film to heart as beautiful, vulpinely artsy tragedy, while on the other side are the more pedestrian moviegoers-who are inherently distrustful of anything that smacks of esoterics, even if it's in their own language, who suggest it is a preten- tious, overwrought hackpiece. The truth of course is somewhere in bet- ween, with valid arguments on both sides; though the film is severely flawed, it is as compelling and absor- bing as anything to play on a local screen in the last six months. The setting is a cold, dark cell in a prison complex somewhere down in South America-probably Argentina though it's never stated-where live two men so completely opposite in temperament and outlook that the few feet between their bunks might as well be thousands of miles. Valentin (Raul Julia) is an interned revolutionary, all scarred and hun- ched over from constant physical in- terrogation, his pragmatic, dispassionate outlook turned despairingly black. Across from him, on the side of the cell crowded with dozens of bottles of make-up, colorful print silks, and stills of old Hollywood starlets, is Molina (William Hurt), A flvilous, nervy aging queen, imprisoned for corrupting a minor. For Vanetin's imprisonment is a cruel twist of fate-rotting in a hole for relatively minor contributions to a cause he'd already grown disenchan- ted with. He's filled with a sneering contempt for the fussing priss of his cellmate, who is more concerned about dirty bedsheets than the prisoner across the hall being clubbed nightly by the guards. The two men pick at each other, teasing and criticizing one another, yet they are drawn together nightly by Molina's recollections of his favorite old movies-often quite awful ones-that proivide the only escape from their grim reality. One film they discuss, seen in vivid flashbacks, is a tawdry old Nazi propaganda pieces, a romantic thriller so garishly overstyled and rts on power overacted it's virtually self- men learn from each other-Mo parodying. Yet it becomes very im- finding some of the nobility that u portant to both men, not only as enter- to fire Valentin, who himself lea tainment, but as a crucial, pivotal something of tenderness and capac point of self-redemption in each man's for fantasy that Molina thrives on. personal, tragic destiny. Artistic license is granted, bu The original novel by Manuel seems curious that Babencoa Puig-an Argentinian writer who Schrader would stick so reverently originally started out as a filmmaker the novel in detail but essentiallyj in Rome before switching tison the author's tone, which % mediums-was a precisely calculated probably at the root of what inspi but tender little fable about how these Puig to write the novel in the f two desperate men found some frugal place. source of solice, and even a tiny The crucial film within the fi precious bit of redemption, through meticulously rendered and - wicke each other's private identification farcical, throws the film too far with Molina's movies, not unlike track, engaging in so many cam Woody Allen's similarly bittersweet shenanigans that when the focus sw and self-romanticising The Purple ches back and forth betweent Rose of Cairo. Director Hector remembered film and the story oft Babenco and scenarist Leonard two men-which itself is laden w Schrader, in paring down the stodgy melodrama-the flip-flopp novel-already very script-like-to tone negates much of the stor the bare narrative bones, have left potential power. most of the dialogue intact, capturing What makes Kiss strike up inten the details of Puig's work, but without emotion is William Hurt, whosea any of its heart. sorption with the role is so consum The thrust here is in "humanist" and intense he just grabs you a drama, the change being that the two 'pulls you in. For all the hype, Willia lina sed erns City t it and ly to jet- was red irst ilm, dly off npy wit- the the vith ing y's mse ab- ing and iam of one Hurt is not an actor blessed with a chameleon versatility; he's so bur- dened with a formidable screen presence, by his signatory speech rhythms and intensely jerky movements, that he's about as able to submerse himself into a role as Bogart or Burt Lancaster. But that works to his advantage here. Any good character actor could have ren- dered Molina on screen, but then Kiss would have been merely a sincere but stuffy piece, or neo-romanticism. What Hurt does is stand at the cen- ter of the film, sucking in all of its scattered ideas and sentiment. In his blinding absorption with his perfor- mance, Hurt thinks so consciously about his every utterance and step up can practically hear him ticking away. I doubt if Babenco was conscious of this when he cast Hurt, and I very much doubt Hurt was consciously aware of what he was doing - he's always come across as a thoughtful but never particularly cognizant actor. But the end result works marvelously, especially with Hurt buffeted by Raul Julia's bright, heartfelt, though much more naturalistic, performance. * Two convenient campus locations . Eleven NBD 24-hour Banker locations " Experienced help with Guaranteed Student Loans " No-service-charge checking with $299 minimum statement balance; $5 monthly service fee if below minimum balance ANN ARBOR % SUBSIDIARY OF NB0 BANCORP, INCIMEMBER FOIC CIRRUS Campus Area: East William at Thompson Michigan Union, Lower Level Main Office: South Main at Washington Nine other convenient locations 1*1o010 mm m m... i "ni n * * SPECIAL OFFER: I $ 695 i per semester (regularly $135.00) U * CALL 996-0894 1 1 FOR MORE INFORMATION I * I 1 Sign up at 617 E. 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This interplay between the three plays served to strengthen the polarized themes of trust/mistrust, dependence/independence, frien- dship/hate that formed the threads of the greater tapestry surrounding them. The first in the series was Al Sjoer- dsma's "The Big Box Boogie." Set in some back alley of the world, Sjoer- dsma presented us with two bums, played by David Bernstein and Raphael Metzger. Their world is not friendly; they seem almost numb to their surroundings except for paltry humor left to them. In such a tran- sient world, their friendship is their mutual support. Or is it? Suddenly ,a box invades their territory and their friendship is tested. What is in the box? Could it be a treasure enabling them to escape from their surropn- dings? Whatever it is the two swear to share it between themselves, as only good friends would do. Of course the box serves only as a tool of mistrust and manipulation to break the bond of friendship between the two bums, leaving each less satisfied than before the box arrived, proving their frien- dship to be as temporary and empty as the world surrounding them. Though "The Big Box Boogie" left the pity and black humor of its world like an unsavory taste in our mouths, it became long-winded and repetitive as it progressed, driving home its point to a fault. The audience has un- doubtedly seen this universal theme of desperation before, which is fine as long as the playwright has something to add.He does, but it's a little much and heavyhanded. Next was Rachel Urist's "Take Two." Two actresses of opposite tem- peraments, Liz and Binky, have been assigned to create an improvization around a box. Sound familiar? This play within a play within a play ex- plores the give and take within relationships. The play follows the interaction between the two characters. They* start and stop playing various roles and games with each other. And the clever ending lent depth and am- biguity to the play's title, "Take Two." Is it a play we are watching, or supposed real life? The play becomes one of those pictures within a picture withina picture that fascinate tosno end. The audience was left a bit sur- prised at the end, but it worked well( though it could have been tightened up I V ( $13.45 per month = $1i. Based on 9 monthly payments. *Console TV @ $23.35 per month = $210.15. Based on 9 monthly payments. *VCR @ $17.95 per month = $161.55. Based on 9 monthly payments. STUDENT ID GETS YOU 10% OFF Now you can have a roommate you're guaranteed to get aloug with. And all you have to do is call Granada TV Rental. At Granada, companionship comes cheap. When you rent 'til the end of the school year, your student I.D. gets you a Magnavox, RCA or Hitachi color TV for as little as $13.45 to $23.35 a month. A VCR for as little as $17.95 to $22.95 a month. 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