ARTS Monday, February 6, 1989 The Michigan Daily Page 7 4 4, S S #. F S 4 4{ The Day I Became an Autodidact By Kendall Hailey Dell Publishing $8.95/paperback At one time or another, most people have considered quitting school to "find themselves" and live life on their own. After a rough day of classes, many college students have felt the urge to drop out and teach themselves what they need to know. This concept of becoming self-educated, is called autodidactism, and is illustrated in Kendall Hailey's new book. The Day I Became An Autodidact tells the story of the personal quest Hailey began at the age of 15 to become a self- taught and a self-made individual. The daughter of playwright Oliver Hailey and best- selling novelist Elizabeth Hailey, Hailey was always given the freedom to pursue endless literary ; possibilities. Therefore, when she received a high sch summer reading list her junior year, Hailey decided didn't like being told what to read anymore, gradua early and became an autodidact. This book chronicles events of her life from the ages of 15 to 19; in th four years, Hailey made many discoveries about hers her family, life in general and how to live it. . Not only did Hailey learn about how to live life,l she intended to read as much about it as possible.t began a book tour to read just about everything e published, ranging from Aristotle's Ethics to Mo Dick by Herman Melville. She believed this wo give her a test of life, and by passing it, she would hz the best of life, allowing her to take on the rest of li Hailey wasn't worried about succumbing to p pressure but instead to life pressure, something we will face sooner of later if we aren't already. Through her readings, Kendall learned about hist and literature in almost all areas. With this knowled she became inspired to write a mystery, a comedy novel and a play called A Bar off Meirose which s acted in as well. The Day I Became An Autodida written in somewhat of a journal form, highligl Halley's accomplishments both intellectually a personally. She is often witty and offers a candid vi( of life through an autodidact's eyes. To make the decision to become an autodidact at t age of 15 is quite a step. In fact, in writing the boo Kendall feels that she has to prove something to hers as well as her readers. Does she succeed? Yes and n Yes, phe proves she can write and write well, but n she dbesn't prove that she has taught herself everythi she needs to know about life. That is something whi can be learned only over time and through experience. Ami Meh U DAL(f BY ALYSSA KATZ The movie industry has long re- lied on the biographical film as a crowd- and critic-pleaser. A movie based on someone's life is often au- iool tomatically regarded as important, she merely because it tells the story of a ited significant person. Would Gandhi, the Out Of Africa, or The Last Emperor ose have won Academy Awards for best elf, picture if they had not been about real people? Would they even have but been nominated? She However, filmmakers have a ver problematic tendency to let such )by theme material overwhelm their work uld - sometimes, it seems, because ave they become so enamored of their ife. subjects that they present them in a eer highly idealized fashion. Eleni suf- all fered acutely from this; in that film, Kate Nelligan seemed to have the ory word "noble" suspended over her head age like a halo. Hanna's War is a more a recent and more pathetic victim of he this syndrome. ct, Menachem Golan, the Israeli-born hts co-head of Cannon Pictures - the nd studio which brought Bolero and ew Superman IV into the world - has taken one of his occasional forays he into directing, with results one might )k, expect from a man who spends much elf more time behind a executive's desk no. than behind a camera. His subject is no, Hanna Shenesh, a Hungarian-born ng Jewish poet who, as a teenager in ch 1937, moved to Palestine, having decided that life as an agricultural ta worker would be preferable to what she was experiencing in an increas- ingly anti-Semitic Budapest. Shenesh adored her adopted land, but feared for her mother, who re- mained in Nazi-occupied Hungary, so she enlisted in the British Royal Air Force, hoping to eventually find her way to Budapest. She did make it there, in the end, but never left. After being tortured by Hungarian officials for refusing to divulge Allied secrets, she was executed on a charge of trea- son against Hungary at the age of 23. To Israelis, she became a legend, -. someone whom every child learned about at school. Her story clearly had ' . .> Biographical travesty Menachem Golan's Hanna's War transforms an Israeli legend into cinematic pap. 4' .4 . Auo T an influence on Golan, who in his film depicts her as a nearly flawless martyr who fights valiantly and suf- fers greatly yet almost always man- ages to wear impeccably applied, un- smudged lipstick. A few readers may be grumbling at this point: "What a lousy critic! She just revealed that the main char- acter dies at the end! I hate when they do that...," and so on and so forth. But you see, the issue is irrel- evant; this movie isn't worth seeing, so knowing its outcome can't really hurt. In fact, its ending provides a good example of exactly why Hanna's War is the sort of film that is only watchable late at night on pay-cable, when, unfettered by theater etiquette, viewers can shout back at the screen. Upon learning that the Russians are about to invade Budapest, Hanna's captors have hastily arranged for her execution by firing squad. But she is brave, as always. She marches self- assuredly to her doom, looking absolutely radiant. She calmly re- fuses a proffered blindfold. The squad's commander slowly shouts orders, in Hungarian (strangely, when Hanna speaks Hungarian, it sounds like English). Three or so shots pen- etrate her unwrinkled white blouse; blood flows like milk from her breasts. She falls in slow motion, and we are subjected to a dizzying shot depicting her point of view as she drops (Golan is fond of such camerawork). We also hear her thoughts: in her dying moments... she is composing poetry! This se- quence is high schmaltz and is typi- cal of the film as a whole. Also bothersome is the anachro- nistic electronic music which blares heroically or thuds menacingly every now and then, guiding us patroniz- ingly like the laughtrack in a sitcom. The screenplay is laden with innu- merable clich6s, as well as some bizarre and inappropriate (but unin- tentionally funny) Freudian undercurrents. Surprisingly, though, some of the actors survive this debacle. Mar- uschka Detmers, who looks like a cross between Debra Winger and the young Jane Fonda, is quite good as Hanna - her performance is not very subtle, but then neither is her role as Golan apparently envisions it. Ellen Burstyn, here affecting a vaguely European accent, does what she can in her relatively small role as Hanna's beloved mother; most of the time she is just required to look shocked and dismayed. Donald Pleasence, though, looks like he's having the time of his life playing Hanna's evil torturer: his eyes bulge wildly as he thrusts his face near hers and, in a great moment, expresses his dismay at having had to remove her pretty fingernails. Pleasence obvi- ously understood from reading the screenplay that Hanna's War was to be a showcase of camp, and crafted his performance accordingly. HANNA'S WAR is showing at Ann Arbor Theaters. Let Them Know How You Feel I I DAILY PERSONALS 764-0557 KENDALL HA LEY I I CLASSIFIED ADS 764-0557 ATHLETICS HELP WANTED HELP WANTED a Y { RESEARCH ASSOCIATE I HEALTH SCIENCE Cancer chemotherapy research opportunity. U of M,.Ann Arbor Study the molecular mechanisms of anticancer drugs in tissue culture. Opening for Research Associate Y' aster's degree) or Research Assistant (achelor's degree). Send a resume or call for details: Dr. LL Wotringc OF MICHIGAN Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065 (313) 763-0288 A non-discriminatory, affirmative acton mpoyer TEMPORARY Part-time R4search secretary II or III. Ave. 15 hrs/flexible schedule expe- rienced IBM, Microsoft word. Call 747-3214 School of Public Health. Non-discrim., af- firm. action employer. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN De- partment of Dermatology research unit needs volunteers to test new therapies fon hives and eczema. Clinic visits and medication are p o- vided free for eligible persons. Call 313-936- 4070 for more details. WANTED PARTTIME BABYSITTER Monday-Friday noon-5:30s in our home, SE Anm Arbor, for 8 mont old infan. Own transportation non-smoker. Bus route 2 blocks away. X4.50 per hr. Call 668-7967 af- ter 5:30 pm. PERFECT FOR STUDENTS! Part time jobs with MAJOR telemarket- ing company working evenings. $5- $8/hour. Flexible hours. Located 2 BLOCKS from Student Union. Call 996-8890. 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