0 ARTS The Michigan Daily Monday, Director Lynch takes Sailor and Lula to twisted Oz , September 10, 1990 Page 16 Wild at Heart dir. David Lynch by David Lubliner "This whole world is wild at heart and weird on top," moans Lula (Laura Dern) in David Lynch's latest film,Wild at Heart.. This, from the director of such cult classics as Eraserhead and Blue Velvet , as well as one of the men responsible for hooking America into Twin Peaks. Lynch uses Barry Gifford's eponymous book for the backbone of the film, and then tosses in his own share of shocking violence, grotesque bloodshed and sultry eroti- cism. Lynch grabs hold of his audi- ence and refuses to let go. Just released from the Pee Dee Correctional facility, Sailor Ripley (Nicholas Cage) and his longtime lover Lula Pace Fortune take off to- gether in search of their own life, in an attempt to rid themselves from the evils of a Lynchian world. The intensity of their journey swells as they flee from Lula's insane mother Marietta (Diane Ladd) and her boyfriend/private detective Johnnie Farragut (Harry Dean Stanton). Adding his own touch to an overworked genre, Lynch spices up the typical road-movie storyline with the various eccentrics that Sailor and Lula encounter along the way. Lula's bizarre cousin, Dell (Crispin Glover), wishes that every day were Christmas and stays up all night in the kitchen fixing himself hundreds of itsy-bitsy tea sandwiches. Al- though these minor diversions tend to detract from the story at hand, they are fascinating in their own pe- culiarity. Part of Lynch's appeal rests in his ability to take a situation that seems very lifelike and boost the ter- ror so that it seems almost fantasti- cal. Late one night, Sailor and Lula come across a bloody accident on the side of the road, with only one sur- vivor - played by Sherilyn Fenn, Audrey on Twin Peaks. The scene is so disturbing because it feels so real, especially in the way that Lynch calls attention to something that can seem so normal within a surrealistic context. He takes the real and makes it seem surreal, and then switches the two yet again. Lynch seems to revel in the mis- fortunes that he creates for his main characters. When the two arrive in the rat-infested town of Big Tuna, Texas, they meet a psychotic ex-ma- rine named Bobby Peru (Willem Dafoe). In what is perhaps the movie's most suspenseful scene, Peru scares Lula into thinking that he is going to rape her. Later, he tricks Sailor into helping him rob a local bank. The scene ends with the most disgusting massacre of them all. By this point in the film, how- ever, the audience should be used to it. Willem Dafoe is perfect in the role of Peru. His odd features and strangely shaped mouth give the character a dreadfully frightening grin. The movie works best, however, when it centers on the plight of its two innocents, Sailor and Lula, and their quest to find a world free of sin and evil. Cage and Dern steam up the screen together in two extremely energized performances. Dern brings a heated lustfulness and enormous passion to the role of Lula. Her every utterance and groan overflows with intensity. While the film strays off in too many different directions, Lynch is successful in bringing it back to- gether to reinforce his themes. In one of the film's most telling scenes, the couple is driving along trying to find some music on the car radio. When all Lula can find is news of murder and rape, she jumps out of the car and screams for Sailor to find her some music immediately. Sailor (Nicholas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern) relax after one of their many they've just been out dancing to speed metal again. rigorous sexual interludes. Or maybe The two dance to the radio, wildly by the side of the road, without a care in the world. Sailor and Lula just want to live in a world where they can dance and be free. At times, Lynch becomes guilty of going too far over the top in his attempts to shock his audience. The more implicit horror of Blue Velvet is replaced here by blatantly grotesque violence. Where Blue Velvet suggests its terror, Wild at Heart leaves less to the viewer's imagination. And although some of it can be difficult to stomach, it is still- one of the most innovative films today from an American director. And in the words of Sailor Ripley, "That's rockin' good news, baby." So rockin' that perhaps Sailor and Lula still really can see the Good Witch and the mythical Yellow Brick Road for which they keep' searching, with a few twists, turns, potholes and bumps, of course. WILD AT HEART is showing at the Ann Arbor 1&2. Money conscious students can fight inflated movie prices by taking advantage of their student rates. Just don't forget your student i.d. or you lose. 4V 1 ia4{ aaVl UV1lfV f1!l.aV1V l la V4 ft.{Wl T o - 4 I Duran Duran Liberty Capitol Gee, when I was 14 Duran Duran were amazing for a teen kind of pop group. Before I listened to their new record, I listened to my favorite DD records, Duran Duran, Rio, and Seven and the Ragged Tiger so I would remember what they sounded like. Now, those albums still rever- berate with better pop/rock tunes than lots of current releases, includ- ing their own. After Andy and Roger Taylor left, things looked bleak. Would Duran Duran become a pop/dance outfit with no real guitars and drums? More or less, but they weren't as cheesy as they could be. Actually, "Notorious" was a damn prime sin- gle. But now they have two new "permanent" members, Sterling Campbell and Warren Cuccurullo, to replace the Taylors on those instru- ments. They don't fill those shoes. Liberty tries desperately to be what Duran Duran once was, pop/rock. They found someone who could play guitar solos but unfortu- nately not good guitar solos. The drumming is acceptable but then so is a drum machine in its own cold way. All of the songs, save two, paw with the sexy, synthy sound of Duran Duran in yesteryear. But the magic chemistry of the original band is not recreated in this new incarna- tion. At least one of the new dudes resembles Roger Taylor a little. Simon le Bon had thoughtful po- etic yearnings but he overdoes it on this album. He cries on the title track "Help me out/I live in doubt/ suck me out/yea!" He used to be slightly more subtle and did play with metaphors and images in songs like "Union of the Snake" and "Hungry like the Wolf." The music also used to be much more effort- less. Everything seems forced on Liberty, so perhaps Duran Duran can reclaim its former glory. The two songs that are somewhat standable a second or even a third time, "All Along the Water" and "My Antarctica," hint that maybe, just maybe, this band could ride again. "All Along" features a serious dance opening, a good simple riff, and is about control. It has all the elements of a good Duran song but it just doesn't click. No other song on the album comes together as well so its goodness is very relative. "My Antarctica" sounds more dreamy and Arcadia-like. Its pseudo-thoughtful- ness is very reminiscent of "Lonely in Your Nightmare" and "The Chauf- feur" but the song ultimately re- minds one of the solo project more. And it has the best line on the al- bum: "We make love to make our heat." The scariest thing on the whole album, "Read My Lips" reminds me of Soundgarden's "Big Dumb Sex" with its metal-like chords and stoopid lyrics. But's not nearly as funny or as obvious. The fact that I am sitting here and comparing them scares me. Did I just act as a "Divine blasphemer?" ("Venice Drowning")? -Annette Petrusso Hugh Harris Words for Our Years Capitol For a guy with a touchy way about words, Hugh Harris is a bit of a homebreaker. He's the 24-year-old Londoner - if you haven't yet hehrd - for whom chart star Sinead O'Connor recently left her husband. (Harris was her opening act at the time.) He's an up-and-coming singer/songwriter who, like others in the Prince school of total control such as Karl Wallinger of World Party, also plays most of the musi- cal instruments himself. The prob- lem with his debut album Words for Our Years, though, is that someone at Capitol gave him the green light to handle most of the production du- See RECORDS, page 18 CANTICLE OF THE STONES Film directed by award-winning Palestinian Director Michel Khleifi A love story with the Intifada as background All these good looking people are going to a not-so-nice place as they take the old adage of "Leave well enough alone" and run it through a food processor. Going one step beyond Flatliners dir. Joel Schumacher by Trinna Frever Intellectually speaking, Flatliners is about as complex as the straight line that gives the movie its title. For a movie that attempts to explore the boundaries between life and death, its plot is surprisingly - and disappointingly - simple. But it shouldn't be written off all together. In terms of entertainment value, this movie is definitely worth seeing. Flatliners' strength lies less in its script than in its visual appeal. Lorch Hall Auditorium, 611 Tappan 7:30 p.m. (two showings) Sunday and Monday, Sept. 9 & 10 $4 Admission Public Welcome Arabic with English subtitles Supplementing the optical sensa- tions is the interaction between the principal characters which is simul- taneously tense and energetic. , The basic plot centers around five curious med students who decide to take turns being "killed' and bring- ing each other back to life, in order to know what death is like. The twist comes when each one returns from land of the dead with some ex- tra moral baggage that they must un- load before they can resume their normal lives. The answer to their dilemma is, not surprisingly, atonement and forgiveness. Flatliners solves the sticky problem of seriously addressing death by never dealing with the ob- vious questions that accompany the issue. For example, what accounts for variation in the death experi- ences? Some of the students have negative feelings during the death experience, while others experience negativity only after returning. More importantly, what was it that these students actually experienced? Each of the students who undergoes death sees something, but the movie makes no effort to explain what this something is, or even to explore the options of what it could be. Cer- tainly these are complex issues that can never be satisfactorily explained, but they ought to be acknowledged. By glossing over unanswered ques- tions, Flatliners neither challenges nor pacifies the viewer in terms of plot and script. The weaknesses of the script are somewhat compensated for by the chemistry between the actors. Kevin Bacon gives a strong performance as the atheist who discovers the key to escaping the negative death experi- ence. Though it isn't always easy to tell where his character stands, Bacon gives the part a hard edge and con- See FLATLINERS, page 18 Sponsored by the Center for Near Eastern & North African Studies dow careers Campus Visits THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY Presents RALPH W. BOEKER VP, CORPORATE INFORMATION SYSTEMS University of Michigan Alumnus "THE ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN GLOBALIZATION" Tuesday, September 11, 199 5:00 P.M. - 6:400P.M. Michigan Union - - Kueuzel Rom We're adopting new f-s I* family members! We offer a variety of positions, FULL AND PART TIME. WAITRESSES/WAITERS I U Lights, Camera, Be a Part of the Action! Weres. arching I i