4
ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Monday, February 10, 1986
Page 6
'Hannah ':dynamic chapter in Woody 's career'
By Seth Flicker
FROM THE stupidly hilarious
Take the Money and Run to the
play-on-morals in Love and Death, to
the overly seriousness of Interiors to
the gross realization of everyday life
in The Purple Rose of Cairo, Woody
Allen's films have made us laugh and
think.
Hannah and her Sisters takes us one
step further. Of course, we still laugh
and think but in a different way. We
are no longer laughing about a
misconceived plan to kill Napolean or
a talent agent's mix-up with the
mafia; we are now laughing about
ourselves. Hannah is about us, about
our lust, love, infatuation with death,
and our infatuation with life. It is no
longer slapstick comedy but rather
the slapstick life we lead.
. Hannah incorporates everything:
adultery, birth, family, religion, art,
music, etc. We see a different Allen
here-an Allen not afraid to expose
these subjects without hiding it behind
a facade.
Hannah, played by Mia Farrow, is
the stable one of the family; the per-
fect wife, mother, daughter and
lister. But, as Hannah soon realizes,
being perfect brings problems. You're
responsible to patch up family
problems, to give advice and to lend
money.
Perhaps Hannah is too perfect for
her own good. This could be the
reason why her husband, playedaby
Michael Caine, has a lusty and
secretive affair with Hannah's sister,
Lee (Barbara Hershey) or why Han-
nah's other sisterHolly (Diane Wiest)
is so jealous of her.
Farrow is commendable in her part.
Though not the finest member of the
ensemble, we like Farrow as we do
everyone else in Hannah and Her
Sisters (an accomplishment on
Allen's part, in itself).
Unfortunately, Hannah's sisters are
not in such good shape as Hannah,
herself. Lee is the Annie Hall-ish type
of character; really not going in any
direction. Lee is living with an ornery
and stubborn artist (Max Von
Sydow). Lee takes courses and goes
through her life without really
knowing where she is going. This is
just why Hannah's husband, Elliot
loves about her. While Hannah -is
predictable and staid, Lee is not. Bar-
bar Hershey is fantastic for this part;
she's beautiful, lovable, and in-
telligent.
Michael Caine seems to be moving
away from his stereotype he's built
for himself as the serious Englishman
(as seen in Educating Rita). We saw
this in his other unfaithful husband
part in Blame it on Rio. But here,
Caine is both serious and silly.
Holly, Hannah's other sister played
by Diane Wiest is even worse off than
Lee. Like Lee, she doesn't know
where she is going but Holly changes
colors for each different situation that
she is in. If she'S not a coke-snorting
punker or a frustrated and jealous
sister, then she's a singer or a caterer.
Wiest is effectively dynamic, as she
makes you feel and experience every
emotion that Holly feels-from her
rejections at auditions or when her
best friend steals the man she likes.
Woody Allen plays a super-
hypocondriac named Mickey. Mickey
is Allen's typical quest for life, death
and religion character. He has been
with two of the three sisters-the ex-
husband of Hannah and on an ex-
tremely bad date with the wild Holly.
Mickey is another character who in-
tially has no direction as he changes
religions as much as Holly changes
characters. But Mickey offers us a
fresh new look at Allen's predictable
character, as finally, the loser finds
success in the entertainment
business.
Hannah and Her Sisters is a near
perfect movie but it does have it's
problems. Though the script is crisp,
funny and touching as usual, Allen
seems to underestimate his audience.
He seems to be telling his audience
right off, "This is Life. This is Death.
This is confusion." The audience can
easily figure this out wihtout the over-
explanation. A second problem is with
the part of Mickey. Mickey is seen
quite often throughout the movie but
without any real connection to the rest
of the characters until the very end.
Of course, he is Hannah's ex-husband,
but that has hardly any bearing on the
plot.
Hannah and Her Sisters is a very
hard movie to swallow at first. But
Hannah grows on you and leaves you
asking for
throughout
shows us
more. If Allen's films
the past two decades,
how he matured and
changed then it is hard to picture
Allen showing more maturity than in
Hannah and Her Sisters.
Watts' piano recital mesmerizes Hill
A NDRE WATT'S recital at Hill
Auditorium Friday night may
have made many pianists feel that no
matter how hard they practice, they
will never be able to equal his
amazing feats with the music of
Franz Liszt.
Everything that Watts did at his
recital was superhuman. His
technique was so spellbindingly stun-
ning that his piano probably needs
retirement (or at least a long sab-
batical). His octaves (both solid and
broken) raced by at lightning speed.
His musical ideas were provocative,
inviting the listener to become as in-
tertwined in the music as he was.
Programming an all-Liszt recital is
undoubtedly an extraordinary under-
taking. However, from the beginning
of the Etude in D flat (Un Sospiro),
Watts seemed comfortably at home
with the music, shaping each phrase
intimately. The Sonata in B minor
was a staggering, hair-raising and
equally refreshing performance.
Watts, taking time with the lyrical
sections of the piece, reflected Liszt's
tender qualities.
Watts also brought fiery passion
and appropriate bombast to the Liszt
sonata, making it one of the most
musically satisfying performances
of the piece I have heard in a long
VAN DYCK DOBOS STUDIO
VA LENT INE
SPECIAL
2 - 3" x 5"s for $5.00
Appointment must be
made by February 17th
663-6966
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* Resume - Application
-Portraits
407 E.
WILLIAM
time.
A Hungarian Rhapsody (No. 13)
seemed to be a necessary
requirement for an all-Liszt recital,
and although the Rhapsodies are not
among his deepest works, it is always
fun to watch and hear a pianist do
circus tricks with octaves, runs,
skips, scales, etc. Watts followed
formidably on that muscial treatise.
Later works by the composer
followed, the most provocative being
the Bagatelle Without Tonality which
runs the gamut of key centers without
committing itself to any given one.
And then, what a perfect way to close
but with the set of Six Concert Etudes
after Paganini! The works, all
modeled on themes from Liszt's
violinistic counterpart, are among
the pinnacle of difficulty in the piano
repetoire. Watts performed all of
them superbly and with energetic
verve. The third one, subtitled La
Campanella, is one of the best loved
works in piano literature, containing
generous groups of repeated notes,
skips, and octaves. Watts performed
it at the fastest possible speed, with
sparkling clarity. In spite of a slight
"crack-up" at the end of the piece, it
remained a brilliant, hueful perfor-
mance, in keeping with the entirely of
his recital.
-Neil Galanter
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4
4
Comedy and classics from P.D.Q.
By Rebecca M. Chung
LAST FRIDAY night's P.D.Q.
Bach concert convinced me that
the active and voluntary pursuit of
the "worst musician ever to tread
organ pedals" is due to more than
simple insanity. It is a cult, with an
active and extremely amused
following.
As I sat down, the audience, just
waiting to laugh at anything. The
tfore experienced devotees were
hissing. Professor Schickele hadn't
even arrived yet.
As rumored, a man in a red plaid
jacket and even more distinctive tie
was explaining that Prof. Schickele
vas trying to charter a helicopter
from East Lansing. "Ladies and gen-
tlemen, and those of you who came
lite ... " Then the good professor
himself came rushing. into the
balcony, slid down a rope to the main
floor, and stumbled onto the stage.
The show had begun.
,,The concert itself was an exquisite
.tix of good jokes and good bad jokes
('Did you hear about the show
featuring an opera singer turned
police officer? They're calling it
'Beverly Sills Cop'."
Hisssssssss. . . ). But, more impor-
tantly, and my reason for calling
bWD.Q.Bach a movement, it was also
a blend of the familiar with the less
familiar. Anyone who's read the
Definitive Biography (Random
House, 1976) knows that "the ex-
tremely accurate alcohol-dating
technique has proven that the
hangover in P.D.Q.'s skull has a half-
life of over 140 years. "But everyone
roared at the line last Friday anyway.
Everyone knows that the thrust of
P.D.Q. jokes is that the man had no
talent... but they were still very,
very funny. Most of P.D.Q.'s com-
positions are available on the
HAVE A
OR GIVE A
FEBRUARY 14
With DAILY
CLASSIFIEDS
MESSAGES FROM THE HEART
"VANGUARD " lable, but the sur-
prises, such as the beautifully ill-
timed cymbal crashes in the Hinden-
burg Concerto (S. LZ129), and the ob-
stinate brass in the Echo Sonata for
Two Unfriendly Groups of Instrumen-
ts (S. 9-9-9-9-9-9) were still fresh and
effective.
I think that the blame for this suc-
cess should be directed at Peter
Schickele himself. He is a tremen-
dous comedian, able to pull off slap-
stick and subtlety simultaneously.
He was able to get the audience to
laugh at itself as well as the music -
"How many of you own The Definitive
Biography? Pause. "P. T. Barnum
was right."
University Activities Center
Executive Board Applications
SUMMER POSITIONS AT
TAMARACK CAMPS
Brighton, Ortonville, Camp Kennedy,
Agree Outpost and Teen Adventure Trips
Positions for: Cabin and Specialist Counselors,
Service Staff, and many other positions
INTERVIEWING:
Feb. 12 at Hillel (663-3336)
Feb. 18 at Career Planning and Placement (SAB)
Tamarack is the Jewish residential camping agency
sponsored by the Fresh Air Society of Metro Detroit
-President
-Vice Pres. of Finance
-Vice Pres. of
Human Resources
-Vice Pres of Programming
and Development
-Vice Pres. of Promotion
-Vice Pres. of Publicity
Applications available at the UAC offices, 2nd floor Michigan Union
Return by 5p.m., Thursday, Feb. 13
Interviews to be held Tues., Feb. 18. Sign up
for time. For more info, call 763-1107 ,
TEACH ING ASSISTANT
**** OPENINGS IN ****
WOMEN'S STUDIES,
Summer 1986, Fall 1986, Winter 1986-87
pick up applications in the
Women's Studies Program Office
234 WEST ENGINEERING
763-2047
Applications DUE by 4 p.m. - Monday, March 3, 1986
DAYTONA BEACH
SPRING BREAK86'
- A SERIES OF EYE-WITNESS REPORTS -
Tuesdays, 12 Noon
*February 11-- "PEACE MARCH THROUGH CENTRAL AMERICA"
Speaker: MARK WEINSTEIN, just returned from 61/a weeks in the
area from Panama to Mexico
*February 18 - "A VISITOR'S REFLECTIONS ON THE SOVIET UNION
Speaker: JOHN POWELL, participant in the 1985
National Council of-Churches Delegation to USSR
4
'I
*March
4-
*March 11-
"ANALYSIS OF THE PHILIPPINES ELECTION"
Speaker MICHAEL CULLINANE, Center for South and Southeast Asian
Studies who was there for the pre-election campaigns.
"LAO AND CAMBODIAN REFUGEES IN THAILAND"
a slide report
Speaker: WINIFRED O'DELL TAN, teacher of high-school-age
refugees for Save The Children Federation
1y
AT THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER
603 E. MADISON STREET
Lunch available: Students $1.00
Others $1.50
Co-sponsored by The EcumenicalCampus Center, The InternationalCenter
I UNCH PREPARED AND SERVED BY CHURCH WOMEN UNITED IN ANN ARBOR
For additional information please call 662-5520
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rare classics
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