The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 5, 1990 - Page 9
I
Fantasia
Continued from page 5.
mation allows for dream-like
transformations is evident
throughout. The sequence set to
Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite
is an enchanted forest of fairies
and the minutiae of nature.
Fairies dance fluidly among flow-
ers and spider webs that glisten
with dew. The flower turn into
whirling, human-like dresses in a
ballet. Indeed, one of Fantasia's
special gifts is its ability to give
human, animate form to images
of nature and fantasy. Flowers,
mushrooms, brooms, and classic
Greek mythology come to life in
a poetic of painterly image.
The famous sorcery sequence
with Mickey Mouse stands out as
the one true narrative of the film.
Mickey, with all the petulance of
a child who resents the conde-
scension of adults, feels he can do
all that the Sorcerer can. As the
Sorcerer's apprentice, he's ex-
pected to clean up after the Sor-
cerer goes to bed. Mickey's fan-
tasy is reminiscent of every
child's desire to create a home-
work machine, that innocent be-
lief that supernatural or mechani-
cal shortcuts exist for the respon-
sibilities of life. Of course, he
gets in over his head (literally, as
he conjures upathe floods) and re-
sumes his identity as a child with
much to learn.
Fantasia is a classic of child-
hood, no doubt about that. But
for me, I glorify things that af-
fected me as a child, and often
when I go back to these special
experiences with an adult perspec-
tive, the scale seems sadly re-
duced. Now, Fantasia is less im-
pressive both because I've grown
and because it's been bypassed by
the very technology that made it
'so amazing when it first came
out. But it's still Disney, and it's
still Fantasia, so the poetry of
the image outweighs some of the
initial disappointment.
FANTASIA is showing
Showcase Cinemas.
at
The geeky Dead
You might not completely get it unless yer from the east coast, but The
Dead Milkmen's "Bitchin' Camaro" certainly ranks among the ten best
songs of the '80s, if not of all time. In their tradition of amazingly
precise parodies of Americana, "Bitchin' Camaro" gave pop culture
lines like "don't forget to buy your Motley Crae t-shirt/All the proceeds
go to get the lead singer out of jail" and rhymes like "Bitchin' Camaro,
bitchin' Camaro/Doin' donuts on your lawn/Bitchin' Camaro, bitchin'
Camaro/Tony Orlando and Dawn." Besides Jersey Shore decadence,
the Milkmen also tackle such poignant topics as love between
disaffected youths ("Punk Rock Girl"), terminally trendy people
("Instant Club Hit"), and the ever essential Yes satire ("Anderson,
Walkman, Buttholes, and How!"). Of course such overt hipness causes
the band to think that they are the coolest people ever, and their charm
comes from the fact that they are about the geekiest guys ever
amassed this side of the Feelies. But no matter, The Dead Milkmen
bring their brand of hardcore meets Camper Van Beethoven meets
James Thurber into The Blind Pig tonight with Fat Albert's favorite
band opening, Captain Dave and the Psychedelic Lounge Cats, opening.
Doors open at 9:30, cover is $10.
Truth
Continued from page 8.
He's a mechanic who understands the
scientific principle behind thermody-
namics, and he explains it in a sim-
ple and spiritual way. She visits him
later at the garage to give him a
book, and he asks what she's read-
ing. "The Misanthrope," she
replies, "by Moliere." "What's a
misanthrope?" "Someone who
doesn't like people." In class, she
plays the flirt, but "the bad thing
about flirting is that it leads to
harder things."
It's really an ensemble cast,
though, and Audrey and Josh are the
two main characters only because
there's something unresolved about
their lives. He has a history, they
both like to read. They're clearly go-
ing somewhere the other characters
aren't, but they're unmistakably
products of the people around them.
CINEMA
Continued from page 7.
film is based, but the changes are in-
telligently made and make this one
of the best films of any kind of the
'80s.
Bladerunner is showing at the
Hillel 8:30 & 10:45 on Saturday.
-Brent Edwards
Save the LP!
Daily Arts
Although Josh seems like a loner, a
serious misfit, his Long Island ac-
cent starts to come out when he
speaks more than a few sentences.
Audrey's father's name is Vic(tor)
Hugo, and he wants her to go to col-
lege -- in a sort of disgruntled way;
he's not ambitious but roundabout
in his goals for his daughter. She
doesn't want to go to school at all,
but they make deals. What we see of
their relationship consists of deals,
but there's more there. Not a mushy
underlying love, but a simple and
pure recognition of the fa-
ther/daughter relationship. He be-
lieves in the compromise of the
deals as if they have some underly-
ing virtue in and of themselves, but
she thinks that the human relation-
ships consist solely of deals so she
makes them to get what she wants.
They have different reasons for mak-
ing the deals, but they both want
what they want so they make them
nonetheless.
The movie is punctuated by writ-
ten words, white on black, that say
"Meanwhile," and then "After a
While;" "But," "Then," "A Month,
Maybe 2 Months Later." They help
communicate the film's special kind
of time, a time that has chronologi-
cal progression but no points of ref-
erence. Tirme passes normally, but
without numbers. Audrey dumps her
ex-boyfriend, Emmett, because "you
disgust me." Later, her father runs
into Emmett who's moping in the
middle of the street out of heartache.
"Were you and Audrey having sex?"
"Of course we were." Characters
speak honestly because there's no
reason why anybody shouldn't know
anything. "It's 1988! We've been
having sex since we were 15." It's
1988, but again, there aren't any real
markers to prove it. It could be any
place, any time.
Maybe a perfect movie proves it-
self by eluding category and descrip-
tion, and the unbelievable truth isn't
something we can put in a pigeon-
hole. Every once and a while some-
thing comes along that can't be re-
duced, because you have to see every
image and hear every line. A film
that utilizes all of the resources of,*
its medium, that tips its hat td its
own filmic-ness without ever calling
attention to its own devices; a film
that conveys personal, macrocosmic,
insightful, and ultimately simple
truths; a film that keeps your atten-
tion by the affecting profundity of
its story. The Unbelievable Truth
has a point but you .won't know
what it is because it's too simple.
Instead, its beauty and its wisdom
will settle into your unconscious and
you'll always remember it, without
ever quite knowing why.
THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH is
playing at the Michigan Theater,
WRITE FOR ARTS!!! CALL 763-0379!!!!
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