ARTS The Michigan Daily Wednesday, March 23, 1988 Page 5 'Highway' : A simple By Andrea Gacki The countryside is a potent melange of sensuality and brutality, a simple world where both life and death are thrust into the forefront of everyday life. A child's coming of age is engendered in such an envi- ronment, and the film The Grand Highway depicts nine year-old Louis' immersion into the mysteries of adulthood during his vacation in the French countryside. Received favorably in Paris, Highway is a film written and di- rected by Jean-Loup Hubert. His tale of a boy's enlightenment resembles that of the young protagonist in John Boorman's Hope and Glory. Boor- man's film, however, centered upon the boy's experiences in his suddenly chaotic world, while in Highway, Louis is merely a cute specimen in a simple world. Life in the country is perhaps simple and basic, but Highway is often simplistic and base to the point of predictability. Because his mother is expecting a second child, Louis (Antoine Hu- bert) must temporarily stay with his mother's childhood friend and her husband, the Lucases. This couple, Marcelle (An6mone) and Pelo (Richard Bohringer), could not possibly have more animosity for each other. To escape the marriage, Pelo drinks and buries himself in his carpentry, while Marcelle goes to church and skins animals with a brilliant flair. Louis becomes a tool for the vengeance of each, but as these stories usually go, Louis suc- ceeds in endearing himself to them, thereby strengthening their relation- ship. In the process of mending this love, Louis is exposed to many facets of life and death with the help of the tomboy Martine. She goads him into climbing the roof of the church, throws chivelles (tiny eels) down his trunks, and vicariously in- troduces him to what "it" is, as in Pelo can't get "it" from Marcelle anymore. All this, and Louis realizes the distressing truth of the nature of his much worshiped, rarely seen fa- ther, too. Yet despite these shattering events, Louis remains undisturbed except for scenes of lip quivering and foot stamping; he is the very model of sweetness and innocence through- out the film. The only change comes about in the relationship between Marcelle and Pelo, and this succeeds in making them the real focus of the film. With The Grand Highway, Jean- Loup Hubert has crafted a calculated "delight," a film that blatantly in- tends to evoke emotion from the ride in the viewer. From Marcelle's ghastly dictabil skinning of a rabbit, when she Per bluntly sticks the knife in its eye, to ity, The the slow motion take of Louis ant, a falling from the roof of the church, You've director Hubert only succeeds in your ei making his film rather emotionally ever, a shallow and formulaic. The perfor- mances of An6mone and Bohringer, however, redeem the movie. The, chemistry of these actors, and in par- ticular Andmone's skillful display of veneered sensitivity, allow for several delicate episodes Nevertheless, they countryside ity. whelming cuteness in a young lead haps because of this simplic- actor as an asset to a film. After all, Grand Highway is a pleas- the countryside should be a welcome lmost endearing, movie. retreat from heavy thought and got to be willing to have startling events, and, in this respect, motions manipulated, how- The Grand Highway is indeed a nd you should regard over- vacation. CLASSIFIED ADS1 Call 764-0557 do not fully eclipse the film's pre- Books ..:CBN News News from around campus and around the world 5:30 report weekdays 88,3 FM WCBN 650 AM WJJX International Sports National Features Business Weather For those interested in contact JasmIine a~ 747-608 Krazy Kat By Jay Cantor Random House $16.95/hardcover In his second novel, Krazy Kat, Jay Cantor has chosen a clever means of developing "flat" characters into full "rounded" humans. Cantor be- gins with George Herman's comic strip characters Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse. They live in an Arizona town, Coconino County, where the comic strip backdrop is continuously changing, but the scenario is always the same: Krazy Kat loves Ignatz Mouse. Ignatz spurns Krazy and ar- ranges new and clever methods for hurling bricks onto her head, but Krazy accepts the pain as tokens of Ignatz's love. And so the story continues until Krazy and Ignatz witness the event that changes Krazy's way of looking at things: the first atomic bomb. The Kat is awakened to the world of three dimensions where people such as "Oppie" and the other "new clear fizzyits" have sides, not just the backs and- fronts that limit comic strip characters. Krazy falls in love with the human world, but she is also troubled by the pain that stems from what -she sees. Ignatz's bricks suddenly begin to hurt. Krazy can no longer work on the comic strip. Her newly found aware- ness is making life complicated, and Ignatz and the remaining Coconino characters spend the rest of the novel trying to con the Kat back on the job. Calling to mind the format of a comic strip, Cantor writes his story in five panels. In each, the characters 'experiment with situations that are found in the human world. They Sgrapple with unfamiliar language and feelings, gradually come to an under- standing of them, and incorporate their knowledge into their flat, comic world. In the second panel, "The Talking Cure," the characters try psychoanal- ysis. Ignatz vows to figure out the process from what he has read in books. He does, but the complicated parent-child sexual relationships that he applies to the Kat's case are too 'much for Krazy to comprehend, especially when Ignatz tries to con- vince Krazy that she is sex-hungry. Krazy replies, "I don't want it [sex]! I can't want it 'cause I don't understand what it means." When his zany doctor-ing tactics fail, Ignatz tries to lure Krazy with thoughts of Hollywood fame. He flies in a movie producer who turns the county into an uproar. The pro- ducer continuously changes his mind concerning what "the people want" to see. With every new motif the pro- ducer creates, the comic characters fight amongst each other for his at- tention and for leading roles. Krazy is amazed at the power of the producer and at her peers' cutthroat behavior. In this panel Cantor presents a comical but also a frighteningly truthful glance of the media world. In the last section of the novel, "Venus in Furs," Krazy and Ignatz fantasize about life as humans, in- corporating experiences that previ- ously eluded them, such as sex. Cantor presents erotic scenes in which he challenges definitions of gender, as when Ignatz questions, "Am I a man or a woman?" Also, in a sexual encounter with Kate (Krazy's human name), Ignatz takes on the role of the woman. Through their fantasies, Ignatz and Krazy's understanding of one another's needs grows to the point where they lose their flatness and become full, "round" human beings. Cantor's scenarios illustrate con- fused characters whose relationships involve love, affection, and pain. He manages to penetrate the minds of flat characters and to use their lan- guage to communicate. Krazy's in- ability to pronounce words such as "Cy, Go! Annielies!" and "new clear fizzyits" (say these out loud) causes us to stop and take a closer look at those words, their context, and all of the connotations that follow. Cantor has questioned issues prevalent in a world threatened by nuclear war, racism, and terrorism, a world bombarded with media hype and stereotypes. He allows the reader to examine the issues from a new and innovative dimension. -Jill Pisoni CLASSIFIED ADS! Call 764-0557 Cuban Rhythms Alberto Nacif will appear tonight along with Steve Morris and Francisco Mora in an Eclipse Jazz lecture and hands-on demonstration of Cuban music. It will be held in the Pond Room of the Michigan Union at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $3. soundstage presents --4 i I . Th u rs d AH ' THE wAith nfl T M- 10pm lay March 24 Special Student-and Youth Fares to EUROP-E from Chicago on Scheduled Airlines DESTINATIONS OW RT LONDON from $300 $399 PARIS 235 449 COPENHAGEN 320 590 ATHENS 350 669 MADRID 250 525 ROME 325 625 WORLDWIDE DESTINATIONS OW RT AUSTRALIA from $580 $1070 TEL AVIV 390 739 RIO 375 715 NEW ZEALAND 540 980 Similar low fares from most major U.S. cities are available. We have special Student and Youth fares to all major worldwide destinations. We also issue Eurail Passes and International Student I.D. cards. CALL OR WRITE FOR A FREE COPY OF THE STUDENT TRAVEL HANDBOOK AND RESERVATION INFORMATION TO: THE STUDENT TRAVEL NETWORK 7nm I Simonian .(312) 525-9227 3249 N. Broadway Chicago, IL 60657 STA TRAVEL UNIVERSITY CLUMB between sets ... f .....:A":::::::...... ...................".."............:. ::.V:::::::::.": ... ....1..."..... S .y .f. . tS ....... .5 ................. ............. ........A..".. .... 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".......5................ ... .............VA....... .A.......... Aa., A. . v.. .l Yl TA's & RA's: The Administration has included something on your tuition bill today.. A tax on your tuition waiver. NOW YOU MUST CHOOSE 1. GETASECONDJOB 2. TAKE OUT A LOAN 3. DON'T PAY YOUR RENT.... OR 1. REFUSE TO PAY YOUR MARCH TUITION BILL 2. GIVE US.YOUR BILL SO WE CAN GIVE IT TO THEM UNION BASEMENT, MARCH 30, 10AM-2PM GEO OFFICE 2-4PM WEEKDAYS 3. PROTEST MARCH 31st, 12:30 PM DIAG