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Christine Choy
Film maker talks on her film on the
murder of Vincent Chin, justice in the U.S.
INTER VIEW
Christine Choy - the critically acclaimed documentary film maker--is
the first speaker in University of Michigan Asian Student Coalition series:
"Asian Americans: Making an Impact - Directions for Social Change
Education." Tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Rackham Amphitheater Choy
brings her latest film, "Who Killed Vincent Chin" to Ann Arbor for a
special, exclusive screening followed by a lecture. This film has won
numerous awards including this year's Best Documentary Film in the
Global Village Documentary Film Festival.
Choy is an associate professor in the Tisch School of Arts within the
film department at NYU and a visiting professor at Cornell University.
She has won many other awards including first prize in the 1974
International Black Film Festival for "Teach our Children" and the 1982
Ann Arbor film festival's award for subject manner for "To Love ,Honor ,
and Obey."
On Sunday Choy will host a workshop on the impact of media on
racism and racial stereotypes at the Michigan League, room D. Choy
recently spoke with Daily news reporter Donna Iadipaolo.
WEEKEND: You have worked as producer, director, and cinematographer
on some documentaries and narrative films. Why do you chose
documentary films as your form of expression over reenactments or so-
called "artistic films"?
CHOY: Well, actually I don't like to distinguish between documentary,
non-fiction, and fiction. To me what's important is not the form itself, its
how you tell a story and how you are either able to - with that particular
story - influence people, raise a question, or change people's minds.
Documentary is interesting because you are directly relating to the subject
manner. Unfortunately in America, documentary has a very negative
connotation. Historically, documentary has always been looked upon as
propaganda or newsreel rather than a creative art form. Thank god things
have changed in the last few years.
W: Although we have seen documentaries receiving more exposure in
recent years, they still don't get the same play as mainstream films. Do
you worry about some of the "dry" images that people have about
documentaries?
C: Well, that's precisely what I'm trying to change.. And, the reason the
Vincent Chin film is different from any other documentary film is number
one: there is no narration. A documentary usually demands a narrator, this
Joe-Blow-X/God-voice to spoon-feed you or the audience. It's never going
to happen in my films. The audience is a participant in the film itself. It's
almost structured as a narrative form: there's drama; there's a story; and
there's the way pf telling it. So it's both entertainment as well as
educational.
W: Your film has been said to cover a lot of complex as well as disturbing
topics in it's ninety-minute frame. How effective do you feel you were able
to tackle such issues as the economics of the automobile industry, the
history of Asian immigrants, blue collar aspirations, and justice all in one
film?
See INTERVIEW, Page 11
The Da1i
Well elections are over; the bal-
lots have been cast; and voters are
left to face four years of George
Bush et al. When I talk about elec-
tions, I don't just mean Bush vs.
Dukakis, I mean the premier event
of the season: It was bigger than
the Emmys, Oscars, Tonys, Joes,
or Moes -- The Michigan Daily
Elections. You might be thinking,
The Daily, big deal, but check this
out.
When approaching the brown-
brick, two story building on 420
Maynard, one cannot help but no-
tice the unkempt lawn. Grass
patches here and weeds there; it
represents a lawn with eczema if
such exists. The Student Publica-
tions Building casts a grey and
gloomy shadow even on the sunni-
est of days.
Once inside the gloomy double
doors, you are hit with the smell of
dust and old musty, yellowing
newspapers stacked on a wooden
bench near the door. The foyer con-
tains more hard wood benches and
marble window ledges. The con-
gested placement of the furniture
and the maze of doors and hallways
would make even the most stable
people a bit claustrophobic. The
brown and orange specked pattern
on the linoleum floors is reminis-
cent of a bus station lavatory.
ly's
The air gets hotter and the smell
of decaying papers more pungent as
you climb the black marble stairs
to the second floor. Ah yes, the
second floor, a hub of activity. At
the top of the stairs used to stand an
old Coke machine, and when I say
old, I mean the thing dispensed 10
oz. bottles of Coke, Sprite, and
Crush for 35 cents. Recently a
modern, more expensive one was
installed. Looking across to the
main room or news room of the
Daily, one spots the stained glass
windows on the wall. Decoration
not ventilation is about all they're
good for because the windows open
and close when they want to. The
lift or pull of a human rarely has
any effect on them. Also in this
room is a long row of Macintosh
computers. Piles of computer disks
are scattered between them along
the long, grey formica table. Some
of them have been given silly
names like Summer fun, Nightmare
on Elm Street, and Safe Sex.
Sometimes the disks stick to the
table, bonded by old sticky pop or
big(
UR SHEALA
DURANT
0 r
lecisions
pizza cheese, both of which - if
allowed to sit long enough -make
a cement that rivals Krazy Glue.
Looking across the foom to the
left, one spots a row of desks. I
chose one of them to describe, and
upon it rested papers, books, pop
bottles, a pizza box, hair pins, a
jacket, a spoon, a tennis shoe, and-a
styrofoam cup, but such is the state
of many of the other desks. Before
you sit down, it is a good idea to
remove the loose strands of long
hair that become imbedded in the
upholstery of the swivel chairs.
Official reports show that the Daily
has had five janitors since Septem-
ber. After you've seen this place for
yourself, you really can't blame
them for leaving.
Amidst all the conversations,
hooping, hollering, keyboards
clicking, and multiple phone lines
ringing, blares a Bob Dylan song or
some such nonsense from a
portable radio. All these factors add
to the general confusion of the sec-
ond floor, but what could one pos-
sibly expect?
The weird thing about the Daily
elections is that there are actually
people vying for control of this 99
year-old bohemian landmark. The
elections for Editor in Chief of the
paper began at 5 p.m. last Friday
See DURANT , Page 11
RECORDS
Conti nued from Page 4
But it's the ballads which really
entrench themselves with you.
Torn from their cinematic context,
they seem obsessively romantic and
loaded with poetic despair. "The
Darkness sheds its Veil" medley
includes an unaccompanied Suzanne
Vega intoning "Stay Awake" (from
Mary Poppins), and Syd Straw
singing the lusciously melancholic
"Blue Shadows on the Trail." My
personal favorite is Betty Carter's
"I'm Wishing." The world's great-
est living jazz singer turns this
song into an evocation of painful
lacking and aching desire. You'll
die a little every time you hear it.
Another lyrical cry of need comes
in "Someday My Prince Will
Come" from Sleeping Beauty.
Sinead O'Connor makes it into the
lament of, an old prostitute who,
although her dreams of finding true
love have faded, is still trying to
convince herself that romance is
just around the corner.
There's more slippage in "The
Mickey Mouse March" which
Aaron Neville and Dr. John turn
into a plaintive, yet heroic anthem
rivaling "The Red Flag." Neville
sings his with such painful sincer-
ity that one is forced to think of the
60 year-old rodent as if he were Che
Guevara or Ho Chi Minh - a real
hero. There are a few throwaways
on the album, however. Sun Ra &
his Arkestra romping 'through
"Pink Elephants On Parade" sound
great in theory, but the cosmic
wonder is unusually restrained here.
Likewise the Replacements don't
do much to "Cruella Deville" other
than crank out another of their te-
dious bar room rockers. Harry
Nillson and James Taylor have
great material to work with in "Zip
A Dee Doo Dah" and "Second Star.
to the Right" respectively, but I
hate their voices, so the tracks
passed me by. Now if Captain
Beefheart and Scott Walker had
done these songs...
The instrumental tracks on the
album almost all evoke sorrow,
pity, and romantic yearning.Stay
Awake is so appealingly depress-
ing. If you love Billie Holiday, Pet
Sounds, Patsy Cline, Phil Ochs,
Chet Baker, Astral Weeks , and a
whole record cabinet of depressants
(which ultimately uplift), then
you'll love this weird and essential
collection.
-Nabeel Zuberi
Roger Eno
Between Tides
Warner Bros. I Opal Records
Having always caressed the
ambient richness of Brian Eno's
aural soundtracks and pop produc-
tion efforts (U2), I can see how the
expectations I had been holding up
to Between Tides are the kind that
have made his act so tough to fol-
low. One might expect to see
brother Roger Eno eager to prove
he can really do his own thing with
this new LP.
Even so, the opening track -
"Dust at Dawn (The Last Cowboy
in the West)" - comes off as
somewhat of a shocker. Employing
an ensemble' of three strings,
woodwinds, and percussion to ac-
company his own piano, Roger
Eno creates a sound so pleasantly
mannered that the first thing which
springs to mind is perhaps Manto-
vani or some brand of "beautiful"
mus
oter
to 1
brot
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MOTHER
Continued from Page 6
parents; Liam Neeson (Excalibur,
Suspect ) is convincing in the role
of Anna's new boyfriend; and little
Asia Vieira is quite talented for a
seven year-old. Director of
Photography David Watkin should
also get a nod from the Academy
for his beautiful footage of Anna's
grandparent's home and her Cam-
bridge, Mass. neighborhood.
The Good Mother has a few mi-
nor flaws. Keaton's narration of a
flashback is a little stilted and takes
some getting used to. Elmer Bern-
stein's music is effective, but the
punky music of Sinead O'Connor
during love scenes? Come on,
,.Anna's not that hip. Also, Nimoy
overlights a few scenes resulting in
an unnatural look.
Still, these criticisms are petty in
comparison to the quality of the
rest of the film. The plot of The
Good Mother borders dangerously
close to sappiness and melodrama,
yet because of Nimoy's direction
and Keaton's performance, there is
not a single dishonest moment.
This is not the film to see if you
go to Showcase Cinema and find
that Halloween IV is sold out. In-
stead, go see The Good Mother
when you want to see something
serious and worthwhile.
THE GOOD MOTHER is playing
at the Movies at Briarwood and at
Showcase Cinemas. Call for times.
OFF THE WALL
Hypocrisy - America's leading
export
-Alley outside Tally Hall
Only a dead fish goes with the
flow
-Alley outside Tally Hall
Drugs make your eyes bleed
- Alley outside Tally Hall
Prosecutors will be shoplifted
-Mason Hall
No matter who you vote for the
government always wins
-Mason Hall
Political Awareness Pop Quiz:
The Republican nominee for
president is:
A). Mr. Bush
B). Mr. Rogers
C). Mr. Magoo
D). All of the above
- Undergraduate Library
Everyone who votes for Bush
is out of the loop.
(IN RESPONSE)
Everyone who votes for
Dukaka is out of their mind.
(IN RESPONSE)
I ain't votin' for neither, and
I'm outta here- Toronto here I
come.
-Graduate Library
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PAGE I Q,
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