A Doge 10 -The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 12,1989 r , 1 r * i e PNK r::. ; '. b . The a Lectrice ir. Michel Deville wY MARK BINELLI Woody Allen wrote a short 'story, "The Whore of Mensa," ,bout intellectual prostitutes who are paid to discuss Milton or Kant with their clients. The hero of the story, private eye Kaiser Lu- -powitz, goes undercover and hires one of the women in order to rcrush the vicious crime ring: "VWhenever I offered an insight, -she faked a response: 'Oh, yes, Kaiser. Yes, baby, that's deep. A ,platonic comprehension of Chris- tianity - why didn't I see it be- Anyway, Allen's story, on a basic level, has much in common with La Lectrice (The Reader), the acclaimed comedy from inno- vative French director Michel Deville. The film, which was France's official entry for the 1988 Best Foreign Film Oscar, is about a bored woman, Marie, .who has a really nice voice. She 'decides to put her talent to use by hiring herself out as an oral reader for those in need. Marie is played, joy of r4 fittingly enough, by French film star Miou-Miou (Entre Nous), who received her nickname be- cause someone once commented that her soft voice sounded like the meowing of a cat. In La Lectrice, reading to people for money is much like having sex with them for money; Marie is providing her customers, and herself, a means of escape from the troubles of the world. The particular authors chosen by Marie fill voids in the lives of her clients. She reads erotic poems by Maupassant and Baudelaire to Eric (Regis Royer), a somewhat sexu- ally frustrated teenager who is re- covering from an accident that left him paralyzed. She reads Alice in Wonderland to Coralie (Charlotte Farran), an ignored lit- tle girl who identifies her rich mother with the March Hare, al- ways late for an important date. And she reads Tolstoy and Marx to the nostalgic widow of a Hun- garian general, the film's most endearing character, excellently portrayed by Maria Casares (Orpheus). Deville, either through visu- ally illustrating the passages or simply through Miou-Miou's eading fine reading, manages to do jus- tice to all of the works of litera- ture used in his film, from Mar- guerite Duras to the Marquis de Sade. In fact, the entire film is it- self based on works by French au- thor Raymond Jean. La Lectrice begins with a woman (also played by Miou-Miou) reading aloud to her boyfriend. Of course, she is reading La Lectrice, and she places herself within the story as Marie. Deville makes use of interest- ing techniques, both visual and through his dialogue, to keep the scenes flowing together. But the film, although it is able to con- vey on screen a celebration of reading, falls short because of the way the individual stories are loosely strung together. Switch- ing from one client to another, one story to another, becomes very tedious after awhile, no mat- ter how good the separate seg- ments are. While the film suc- ceeds at its primary goal of excel- lent storytelling, it fails on a whole as an excellent story. LA LECTRICE is playing at the Ann Arbor 1 and 2. I I Robert De Niro and Sean Penn are, for once, running away from something other than a photographer. In We're No Angels, they play convicts on the lam who have to pretend they're nice. The two actors handle this immense challenge well. De Niro meets Dante Sorcerer conjures joyous humor IY GREG ROACH To some it might be offensive to call a production a joke, but in he case of the Gilbert and Sullivan Soci- ety's The Sorcerer, it is only, and justly, appropriate. Always amusing with moments of brilliant comedy, the cgst presented two hours of thoroughly joyous humor entwined with some of G&S's most undersung but wonderful melodies in a fast paced and uplifting perfor- fance. Sorcerer itself, as any G&S operetta, is a spoof on Victorian attitudes, and this particular production went afi extra step (actually it's closer to a mile or so) to nmke the show a farce of the show itself. A farce sguared, so to say. This tactic worked very well for a dhow that, because of its inherent weaknesses, is one of the lesser performed in the G&S repertoire. As the young lovers Alexis and Aline, Barry Nay- back and Leah Fitsthen were quite capable. Fitschen's lovely soprano, filled with romantic intent and Nay- back's portayal of the idealistic, corndog hero provided the necessary straight material to counter the mayhem surrounding their prenuptials. Far and away the performance of the night belonged to Jonathan Hammond. He brought a new light to the title role of the Sorcerer, John Wellington Wells. This wacky yet sublime necromancer performed with witch- doctoresque fervor conjuring up ghouls and imps, cast- ing his patented love philter and escaping death in Obi Wan Kenobi fashion. His voice dominated Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre with ingenious characterizations and a strange breed of lunacy. Hammond, only a sophomore, is definitely someone to keep your eye on in the future. Director Eric Gibson and choreographer Susan Filip- iak created new variations upon the standard G&S line blocking as well as one chorus number that could have been from 42nd Street. Music Director Goran Staxang kept the pit orchestra tight and well paced. His work with the chorus was admirable in that they actually had a sound more like a rehearsed choir than a typical chorus while keeping a level of stage presence. Unfortunately the men had trouble being heard at times. Memorable performances were turned in by all the principals. The Cockney accents occasionally sounded more like the Beverly Hillbillies, but hey, it made it all the funnier. Of special note Patricia Petiet (Mrs. Part- let), Lynn Bennett (Constance), and Matthew Grace (Dr. Daly) worked together well with sharp comedic timing and wonderful voices. This particular production of The Sorcerer will go down in the memories of G&S buffs as something dif- ferent, something special. We're No Angels ' dir. Neil Jordan BY BRENT EDWARDS I Robert De Niro and Sean Pennt are actors best known for theirt tough, dramatic roles: De Niro withl Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and The1 Deer Hunter; Penn with The Fal- con and the Snowman, Colors, and Casualties of War. They both have created, however, two of the funniest characters of the '80s. DeNiro's Ru- pert Pupkin in the dark comedy King of Comedy has to be one of the most painful losers to watch on- screen, while Penn's Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High is one of the most outrageous. It should thent be no surprise to find out that theirt first collaboration, We're No An- gels, is a comedy about convicts. 1 The film takes place during thet Depression era. It begins with ouri two heroes in a prison that resem- bles one of the inner circles of Hell more than it does a government-] funded penitentiary, where the war-I den must certainly be the right-handI man of Satan. Our two fallen angels are soon carried out of this nether- world in the wake of a prison breakt of a vicious killer. It quickly be-1 comes obvious that these two had been horribly misplaced there; De Niro is a funny, street-smart con and Penn is his dumb, well-intentionedI friend. Director Neil Jordan (Mona Lisa) is wonderfully atmospheric in depict- ing the prison and in producing the rugged seediness and poverty of the town in which De Niro and Penn take refuge. Consisting mainly of di- lapidated shacks along the Canadian border, the town has a monastery where the pair masquerade as priests while they attempt to cross the bor- der. Needless to say, the two stick out like sore thumbs with their rough manners and uneducated way of talking, but they always seem to bumble their way around potential discovery. De Niro is hilarious, pushing the dichotomy between his robes and his actions to full hilt, constantly cut- ting off his threats and foul language to press his hands together in prayer and mumble a "Bless you." When a person on the street offers him five dollars for a charitable cause, he immediately runs to Demi Moore who has just told him that she'd sleep with anyone for five dollars. His rough character is constantly bursting out of his facade as a kind priest. Penn's character is brilliantly stupid and childlike. Whenever he speaks he threatens to expose the two, as when he gives the dinner blessing before everyone in the monastery. He is the perfect Twee- dledum to De Niro's Tweedledee. The sharp dialogue, scripted by playwright David Mamet, is respon- sible for allowing De Niro and Penn to make their characterizations so in- teresting. However, the storyline tends to be too obvious and unbe- lievable too many times. You'll find yourself rolling your eyes whenever they try to cross the border - the foils for their attempts seem tog contrived. Most of the religious overtones are hokey as well: prayers for shoes coming true, an inspira- tional speech about the bible by Penn (requiring a little more intelli- gence from him than we've seen), and a truly absurd finale with p Madonna statue saving De Niro from drowning. These faults diminish the movie quite a bit, for it is the story' after all that isbthe main focus of a movie. But there are many other qualities of the movie - at the fore- front De Niro's comedic characteriza- tion - that provide the moviegoer with a reason to see this film. WE'RE NO ANGELS opens this Friday. ITHE SPOTLIGHT ,a k b 4I CLASSIFIED ADS! Call 764-0557 The 13th Ann Arbor Folk Fes tival kicks off at Hill Auditorium 4 6 p.m. on Saturday, January 27, 1990. With tickets in high demand it would be advisable for all you folk lovers to snap them up before the Xmas vacation. The excellent and varied line-up includes Sweet Honey In The Rock, Michael Hedges; Loudon Wainwright III, Josh Whit Jr., Alain Montagne, and Robin and Linda Williams. Tickets are $17.50 and available at Ticketmaster outlets. ;im Pnewozik ry- bWeekcend OPENING SOON! THE ULTIMATE ONE-HOUR VACATION e 1 IInA d fl LJ d VVV A #- Our Gift Tins and Mini/Boxes make Great Christmas Gifts! 715 N. University 761-CHIP Mrs. Peabody's wishes you Happy Holidays! i (IVA) i VV Hair Styling with a Flair - 7 Barber Stylists for MEN & WOMEN " NO WAITING!!! DASCOLA STYLISTS Opposite Jacobson's 668-9329 4 AAAA I . I I AI A 444 t. THE SIXTH ANNUAL MICHIGAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE .., jO49l 5 January 20, 1990 Michigan Union L on Ins ra PRIVATE HOT TUB SUITES IN LAVISHLY LANDSCAPED GARDEN SETTINGS INDOOR & OUTDOOR SUITES * STATE OF THE ART WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM * LICENSED BY THE STATE OF MICHIGAN HEALTH DEPT. Register in the Student Organization Development Center, 2202 Michigan Union. Registration is $15.00 per person. (Includes materials, refreshments and keynote luncheon) I