91 4. ARTS . f The Michigan Daily Friday, March 6, 1992 Page E i Perel's painful journey illuminates atrocities Europa, Europa dir. Agnieszka Holland by Austin Ratner Europa, Europa is the astonishing rue story of Solomon Perel, a German Jew who survived the Ho- locaust as a teenager through a com- bination of fortuitous circumstances and ingenuity. Only truth could be so strange as this unique tale of survival, horrifying suspense and tragedy (despite what Holocaust Revisionists may have to say - or advertise). The film begins in Peine, Ger- many in 1938, where Solomon (Marco Hofschneider) and his fam- ily suffer brutal terrorization in the Nazi pogrom known as Kristall- nacht. From here on, events unfold with such devastating speed that we Are hardly aware two hours have passed by the film's end. After moving the family to Lodz to flee persecution, Solomon's father sends Solomon and his brother, Isaac (Rene Hofschneider) east, hopefully to safety. While crossing a river, however, Solomon is separated from his bro- ther - one of many separations and losses he suffers, and one of many poignant representations of the destruction wreaked on individual lives during the Holocaust, in which the victims are known to most sim- ply as statistics. As Solomon says at one point after the death of a friend, "I won't go on, I can't go on." After being sent to an orphanage by Russian soldiers, where he is trained to be a good communist, So- lomon is captured by the Germans. Concealing his Jewish identity, he maintains that he is a German or- phan who was captured by the Rus- sians. So begins Solomon's adventure as a member of the German Wer- macht and his struggle to maintain secrecy about his identity - dif- ficult because he is circumcised and because he has no one to confide in. Each of the locales and scenes is photographed with a realistic frank- ness appropriate to the shocking turn of events. Two surreal dream se- quences deliver through eerie im- ages a sense of the internal horror and fear Solomon feels. Besides the unusual facts of Perel's life, the perspective offered by the film is a unique one, in that it depicts the German point of view in World War II - and even sheds ad- ditional light on the perplexity of the Holocaust. There is probably some general- ity to Solomon's means of survival among the gentile Germans and other subjects of Nazi rule. As Eu- ropa indicates, to join was clearly the surest way of surviving Nazi ag- gression and terrorization. Furthermore, Europa suggests Solly (Marco Hofschneider) is consoled by Leni's mother (Halina Labonarska) in Europa, Europa, a realistic and wrenching portrait of the bizarre circumstances of Solomon Perel's survival. the tremendous intoxication of po- wer for the persecutors, the arbiters of the fates of the persecuted. And finally, a total immersion in anti- Jewish and anti-Bolshevik propa- ganda among the soldiers and citi- zens of the Third Reich is apparent - a fundamental assurance that the Jews and Soviets are a dire threat and the cause of all their woe. Hofschneider's adequate perfor- mance, which doesn't register the full emotional trauma of the events as completely as it might and occa- sionally lapses into incongruous, lightheartedness, doesn't detract enough from Europa to reduce its impact as a stirring, moving docu- ment of the Holocaust. EUROPA, EUROPA is playing at the Ann Arbor 1 & 2. 01 Some Morrisseys ar b Andrew J Cahn ow's this new Bill Morrissey disc?" a middle-aged folk music devotee asks the resident folk expert h( one of Ann Arbor's finer record boutiques. "Well," says the all-knowing one, O'He's great, but his stuff keeps get- ting sadder and sadder. I'm almost afraid to listen to this one." When I relate the conversation to the New Hampshire-born folk singer, he responds, "Are you sure he wasn't confusing me with the other Morrissey? ... My last one, Standing Eight had a bit of depresso stuff on it, but the new one's nothing like that." If the record guru was afraid of another sad disc, Morrissey says, "he's really going to like the new one." In the liner notes for his latest release, Inside, Morrissey dedicates the album to his fiancde, Ellen, but that does not mean the record is filled with soft love songs, like John Lennon's pledges of eternal devotion to Yoko. He does admit, however, that "Off-White," which is about preparing for a wedding, is based on his relationship with Ellen. "Chameleon Blues," which de- scribes a woman who changes com- pletely to go along with each new lover, is about an old girlfriend of his. "One good thing about songwrit- ing," Morrissey says, "is that I get to lash out at people in a public way." He is sure that she has heard the song, and he knows that her current boyfriend likes the song, but he doesn't know if either of them "get it." But Morrissey says he generally thinks of his songs as fiction. His storytelling ability is evident in "Man from Out of Town" and bigger th "Everybody Warned Me." The set- tings of those songs, possibly be- cause of the minimal production, or the fact that they are folk songs, make the listener think of New England, which is where he has lived all his life. Though he currently resides out- side of Boston, he is originally from New Hampshire. Unless you've spent the last month studying for midterms or partying in some colo- nized Third World island, you would know that the New Hampshire Presidential primary took place a few weeks ago. "If you listen to the state's local satirist, Barry Crimmins," Morrissey says, "Every one thinks we're really smart for a few weeks every four years, then all of a sudden we're stupid again.". That, however, is not the reason why he moved away. "I wanted to be near a major airport," he says. Morrissey says he also wanted to be near a bigger folk music scene. Along with Colorado, Boston has always been a center for up-and- coming singer/songwriters. Morris- sey says that he sees the genre expanding to many other areas of the country where it hasn't been excep- tionally popular before. Including artists like Christine Lavin, John Gorka and Patty Larkin, Morrissey an others sees himself as part of a group of young performers involved with, and partly responsible for, this folk mu- sic renaissance. They are only partly responsible, since the relatively small labels they are on have been promoting the artists a great deal. When Robert Johnson went gold last year, Mor- rissey says, "There were literally people at Columbia who said, 'Can we get this guy on Letterman?"' Although he is happy when other artists, such as Suzanne Vega, who sings on Inside's title track, are signed by major labels, he feels that he is in the best possible environ- ment. The people at the indie Rounder, Morrissey says, "are fans of their artists, care about the music, and give me complete artistic free- dom. My friends who are on the ma- jors feel a pressure to crank out hits. "All I have to do," he says, "is write good songs." At least he knows what his priorities are. BILL MORRISSEY plays at the Ark Sunday with Johnny Cunningham. $9.75 for members, students, seniors and $10.75 for everyone else. The show is at 8 p.m., but you can catch Morrissey playing for free at Schoolkids' at 1p.m. x . The University of Michigan SCHOOL OF MUSIC Sun. Mar. 8 1 Tue. Mar. 10 Thu. Mar. 12 Faculty Recital by Willis Patterson, bass Premiere of Gabriel's Call by DaCosta and music of Scarlatti, Mozart, Handel, Wolf, and others School of Music Recital Hall, 4 p.m. University Choir Jerry Blackstone, conductor Scott Van Ornum, piano An American Program : Lauridsen: "Mid-Winter Songs" and works by Pfautsch, Gershwin, Ives and Undine Smith Moore Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m. Jazz Combos Ed Sarath, director Free Admission North Campus Commons, 8 p.m. New Works from the Electronic Music Studios Music of Angell, Chambers, Costa, Hogan, Morrison, Palmer, Newby and Phan Guest artists Matthias Biehler, Tom Frank, Doug Hagley, Jeremy Steward and members of the University Dance Company Rackham Lecture Hall, 8 p.m. Faculty Artists Concert University Musical Society Selections from the Edison Collection, with Karen Lykes, mezzo-soprano, and Jerry TPuit niano 99 0 CANON COLOR LASER COPIES 24# Laser print, white, 8.5x11 . .. Dollar Bill Copying 611 Church Phone: 665-9200 Fax: 930-2800 .I gold bond cleaners Quality Dry Cleaning and Shirt Service 332 Maynard St. across from Nickels Arcade 668-6335 Members of Malini Srirama's dance troupe display the eleg ant costumery that accompanies Indian classical dance. Throw away those toe shoes forIndian ballet by Diane Frieden After being exposed to canonized ballet, it can be a refreshing change to view another culture's representation of the classic art form, one that has been performed for over ten times as long as our country is old. Absent are the cotton candy tulle skirts and the stark leotards. The troupe of Malini Srirama is wrapped in traditional costumes which Srirama brought back from one of her many trips to India; they wear exotically colorful lane scarves and elaborate gold ornaments. Billed as "Classical Indian Dance Ballet," Srirama & Troupe offer Nritya-Ganga, which translates to "The Divine River of Dance." The three movements flow through the history of east Indian dance style, starting with the gods and ending in the present. "This is a new, original dance ballet." Srirama said. "I wanted to d something different, with Hindu mythology and a historic perspective df dance." Srirama culled ideas from both ancient and modern poets, from Sanskot text dating as far back 2000 B.C. The music includes "a small interlude of drums," played on stage, said Srirama, and what she called "famous lyrics," written by the poet/historian/sage Bharatha Natya in the book Natya Sastra which covers dance, drama, and music. Bharatha appears as a character in the first movement, who receives dance instruction from the gods and translates it to those on earth. The second episode in Nritya-Ganga leans more toward fantasy than history, where "dancers perform for the queen Shantala in 1080, in a temple, as beautiful sculptures," said Srirama. The queen has built a beautiful temple, full of carvings, and she falls into a trance-like state and "visualizes celestial dancers," Srirama said. That the title's translation evokes images of water is no accident. The performance is a benefit to aid the Rural Drinking Water Project, to provide clean and safe drinking water in several villages in India. Aside from that positive and environmentally sound outcome of the performance, Srirama thinks that people should attend the ballet to stretch their experiences. "Ites good to be exposed to another culture." she said. "And it's very good entertainment." NRITYA-GANGA will be performed March 6 at the Power Center at 8 p.i. Tickets are $7 and $5 with student I.D. For more information call 763- TKTS or (313) 645-6666. Sat. Mar. 14 Doe s your resume have all the punch of a 98-pound weakling? PUMP IT UP. : rf Sun. Mar. 15 0 r. I