ARTS The Michigan Daily Rivette's Belle paints falsely * Well-actedfantasy is still not art Monday, April 13, 1992 Page 5 La Belle Noiseuse dir. Jacques Rivette by Aaron Hamburger It's obvious that La Belle Noiseuse was dreamed up by filmmakers, wri- ters, and producers - everybody except artists ... If you're looking for a movie that reveals the mysteries of the creative process, La Belle Noiseuse isn't it. Instead, the latest film from French New Wave director Jacques Rivette offers a four-hour allegory about art which manages to be compelling and fascinating, even though the allegory doesn't always work. La Belle Noiseuse, based loosely on a story by Balzac, opens with young artist Nicolas (David Bursz- ten) and his girlfriend Marianne (Emmanuelle Beart of Manon des Sources) paying a visit to the reclusive Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli), an old artist who hasn't painted in 10 years. Frenhofer is haunted by a painting he abandoned called "La Belle Noiseuse;" which, loosely translated, means "the beautiful madwoman." Nicolas offers Marianne as a model to inspire the old man to get back to work, and Frenhofer accepts. Marianne agrees to model for Fren- hofer, at first because she wants to spite Nicolas, but ultimately, be- cause she is intrigued by the creative process. The strengths of the movie lie in the tension-filled modeling sessions between Marianne and Frenhofer. Their relationship affects every other character in the film. Beart skillfully conveys defiance with a quick glance or in the way she stiffly holds her body in Frenhofer's demanding poses. Jane Birkin (Daddy Nos- talgia) is exceptional as Frenhofer's wife, who is too old to pose for him, yet sympathizes with his need to paint the lovely Marianne. Difficulties arise when the movie tries to describe the process of creat- ing art. Part of the problem is rooted in the fact that La Belle Noiseuse is a story about artists made by people who know too little about art. Much of the conflict in the film is supposed to arise from the fact that Frenhofer doesn't just want to capture the way models look - he wants to capture the essence of their souls on canvas. Apparently, this essence captured on canvas is too overwhelming for any model, including Marianne, to bear. It's interesting that the actual finished painting of mythic power is never shown. Beyond the thematic context, the reason behind this move is simply because no painting in the history of art could ever do what Frenhofer's canvases are supposed to be able to achieve. This phenomenon of capturing the deepest essence of someone's soul is something that does occur in writing and filmmaking, but rarely, if at all, in painting. When the filmmakers try Frenhofer (Michael Piccoli) speaks to his objet d'art Marianne (Emmanuelle Beart). "Move your head dammit, I'm trying to capture your soul." to generalize this phenomenon to apply to all the arts, the concept just doesn't work. The film's depiction of the art- making process is inaccurate. Fren- hofer is supposed to be some kind of genius, yet the sketches we see in the film, done by the French artist Bernard Dufour, do not indicate any great talent. Furthermore, as Frenhofer sketches, he mumbles me- lodramatic meditations on painting, such as, "I want to capture the blood, the fire, the ice, all that's inside you." These things have little to do with. the arrangement of visual forms, which is the true business of art. Somehow these are excusable in light of a terrific production. Every member of the cast, except for Bursztein, is first rate. The screen- play, by Rivette, Pascal Bonitzer and Christine Laurent, does an excellent job fleshing out a memorable por- trait of each character's unfulfilled longings. The photography of the French countryside is breathtakingly expansive, while the interior of Frenhofer's studio is intimately beautiful. See La Belle Noiseuse for its real- istic depiction of a group of disen- chanted friends in the French coun- tryside. As far as art goes, however, the film is pure fantasy. LA BELLE NOISEUSE is playing at the Michigan Theater. raaQ kMoon buried in the Basement --s by Vicki Briganti Lost in the shuffle of this week- end's publicized events was the Basement Arts production of Eugene O'Neill's Moon For the Misbegot- ten. Basement Arts produces its shows in the Arena Stage, tucked away on the first floor of the Frieze Building. Perhaps this theater is less well-known around campus due to the limited seating capacity and lack of funding for elaborate publicity. However, it should warrant larger crowds since audiences can see ori- ginal theater free of charge. All Basement Arts productions are directed and acted by students. It is a unique venue to test new scripts and explore various texts, such as Moon for the Misbegotten. To see students take this difficult play and deal with it effectively is an impressive feat. Producing O'Neill's work poses aachallenge to profes- sional directors, let alone undergrad- uate students, since his writing often contains characters who express many levels of emotional turmoil; and in addition, Moon for the Mis- begotten, the Irish dialect is tough to mimic. Despite these difficulties, director Clint Bond Jr. says he chose Moon for the Misbegotten because, "It is my favorite play; it has a romantic,. poetical style. O'Neill's plays are kept on shelves of libraries, or may- be studied in literature classes, but they aren't brought to the stage, be- cause they are considered dated. This play deals with finding love, and we still look for that today." Rather than tackle the entire play, Bond focuses on Acts I and II in which Josie Hogan's father, Phil (Tom Daugherty), devises a scheme I - -aasano to bring Josie (Sara Mathison) closer to her love, Jim Tyrone (Hunter Foster). Bond's goal was to use these acts as an performing exercise. "The actors have to be honest with their characters," he says. "They can't fake anything, or the au- dience won't believe them." On- stage, the performers engaged in an intense interaction between two real people who need one another. Bond finds this truth of emotions with a highly talented cast. Mathison's portrayal of Josie was candid. The actor possessed the rare ability to remain open to impulse and not get ahead of the moment. Nor did she stifle her emotions; instead, she allowed the audience to share in her discovery of her cha- racter. Her performance was so engaging that I saw the play twice. Foster, as Jim Tyrone, mastered the monologues in which the chara. quality due to the strong exploration of character development and the risks taken by the cast. Bond was also able to draw out the intricate subtleties of relationships, making it -the best play I've seen from Base- ment Arts in the last three years. The Arena Theatre can hold many more than the fifteen people who attended last Thursday's per- formance. If the show had been bet- ter publicized in the glossy-poster tradition, a larger audience might have been assembled. The intimacy of the Arena, perfect for O'Neill's intense drama, would not be chosen by larger-scale University shows be- cause of space restrictions. By the same token, University Productions would not chose Moon for the Misbegotten for a Power Center show since only three cast members are involved. These are not Joanne Leonard's 1991 photograph with collage, The Mansion of Happiness (2nd version) recalls the past. Joanne Leonard's photographic memories trace her fanily s past If the show had been netter publicized in the glossy-poster t~aditiow:. a larger audience might have been assembled. The intimacy of the Arena, perfect for O'Neill's intense drama, would not be chosen by larger-scale University shows because of space restrictions. Not Losing Her Memory: Stories in Photography, Words and Collage University Museum of Art Imagine living in a vacuum, a world where memory and past experiences were destroyed, and history had to be rewritten. It's a scary thought. University Art professor Joanne Leonard is currently exhibiting her latest series of work at the University Museum of Art called Not Losing Her Memory: Stories in Photography, Words and Collage. It focuses on the central themes of memory and loss, mortality and immortality. Memory becomes a catalyst for Leonard's ideas. The artist focuses on generations of women in her family, using recent and antiquated photographs. She juxtaposes the prints with personal letters, images of candlesticks, wallpaper, dalmations, statues of women, teapots, cups, ladders, stairs, maps, newspapers and roads. Even when the actual photographs of the mem- bers of her family are not clearly depicted, their sil- houettes symbolize their integral place in the artist's memory. Many of the images are accompanied by handwritten Leonard exposes a great deal about her personal his- tory. She tells her story again and again in the context of her artwork, helping her to realize where she comes from, and where she'll go. The artist's work shows the progression of her life from year to year, generation to She tells her story again and again in the context of her artwork, helping her to realize where she comes from, and where she'll go. generation. She discovers her roots by exploring genet- ics, personal and political histories, feminism and pho- tographs. Teapots and cups are used to represent women as holders of treasured memory and important information. Photos, cards, kept letters, and invitations are all tacked to a bulletin board as a storehouse of memorabilia. Leonard writes that she has always had a photogra- phic memory. Her mind is like a camera which captures images and freezes them in time, creating a space for them to become immortal. Leonard writes in one photograph/collage, "In these photos I am like an actress portraying myself portraying my grandmother. Is there a tendency for daughters to ter discloses his painful regrets of the past. He was able to successfully make the difficult transitions from present conversation to his memo- ries, while remaining personally in- vested in the text. Daugherty interpreted his charac- ter energetically, keeping O'Neill's potentially somber writing style from becoming too depressing. However, Daugherty's melodramatic movements intended to liven up the performance were unnecessary, and reminded me of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. Overall, Moon For the Misbegot- ten glimmered with professional enough of a draw from the pool of theater students. Basement Arts can use a vehicle like an O'Neill play primarily be- cause it is non-profit. Why aren't more people, aside from the theater majors I recognized in Saturday's audience, taking advantage of such good productions, especially since it's free? Perhaps it's because the performance time is at 5 p.m.; per- haps it's because the Basement Arts shows are not always consistently effective. However, the fault proba- bly lies more in the lack of funding for publicity. There is a cost for priceless theater. Newly married shock comedian SamKinisonis deadatage38 Controversial shock comic Sam Kinison was killed in a head-on collision with a pick-up truck Friday night. He was 38. Ironically, the hard-living comedian - who even extolled the virtues of drinking and driving in his stand-up act - was hit by two drunk teenagers. Despite pandering to the c,.