ARTS
Poet Raptosh keeps it in the family
by Darcy Lockman
Diane Raptosh's dedication of her
firstbook ofpoems"JustWestofNow"
to her family is especially appropriate
considering that much of the poetry
rings familial. The book isaprovoking
delve into Raptosh's own past, replete
with uncannily familiar images and
emotion.
"My focus on family is a question
of housekeeping," said Raptosh, whose
family life based itself upon a close-
ness bespeckled with great difficulty,
burdened by her father's death when
Raptosh was just seventeen, "In addi-
tion, (I write aboutmy family because)
they are a great cast of characters, and
I've known them longer than anyone
else."
"Just West of Now," the poem that
supplies the title for the collection,
brings up issues that tie the brunt of the
poems together. Is it better to be within
a place you love, or simply to keep
remembering the place from afar?
"Since returning to Idaho (where
Raptosh was born), I've decided that
you can have the best of both worlds,"
she said.
The two sections of the book, titled
"PlaceNames" and "Blood Ties," both
deal with emotional bonds, the former
to places and the later to people. "Place
serves like a character in one's life,"
said Raptosh, "It has personality, si-
lences, contours, voluptuousness.
People and places are very similar
things."
Herpoetry illustrates this principle,
as poems in the "Place" section focus
on the contours of the land, as well as
the people. In "Weather Watch"
Raptosh writes, "Talking about the
weather again / in this letter from
Stanley, / Idaho, John covers every
inch/of precipitation, saying he thinks
/ of me every time he watches / the
weather channel. No snow / in Michi-
gan, I write, though / hail's falling
heavier than a shot/ fowl to the earth."
The poems in "Blood Ties" are
replete with detailed memories of fam-
ily pictures and dialogues. In "Black
and White of My Mother at Twenty-
One" she writes, "The year's 1953.
She's looking up,/unafraid and slightly
left, / black eyes pearl-lit. It's as if /
she's looking straight into / her life. Or
it's that /she's matched eyes with one
/she'd ask to be her lover. /At this point
sheknows/she'll marry. Who. /Where.
When. She figures time / irons things
out."
The rhythm and meter Raptosh uses
is unpredictable, changing with almost
every poem. The one consistency is
the calm and gentle yet persistent tone
that each stanza creates. "I try different
rhythm and meter in my work. I like to
have each poem decide for itself what
rhythm and meter to take on," she said.
Raptosh believes that poetry is re-
turning to the forefront of literature, a
point she sees illustrated in the in-
crease of poetry readings, and in Presi-
dent-elect Bill Clinton inviting a poet
to read at the inauguration. "Poetry is
very much blossoming rightnow," she
said.
Currently, Raptosh, who earned her
Masters in Fine Arts at the university,
is teaching at Albertson College of
Idaho and working on hersecondbook
of poetry. "The book is about half
finished. This one is less about family,
morepoems about offspring and birds,"
she said.
So will Diane Raptosh dedicate her
next book to children and birds? Prob-
ably not. But as she illustrates with her
first book, the poems' intended audi-
ence is quite irrelevant. Diane
Raptosh'spoems speak to awide audi-
ence. Another great poet emerges.
DIANE RAPTOSH, author of "Just
WestofNow, "willreadselectedpoems
from her book, as well as previously
unpublished work, tomorrow atSp.m.
at the Kuenzel Room in the Michigan
Union. Admission is free.
Raptosh
Film doesn't get outta here 'Alive'
Brutal story of cannibalism gets soft Hollywood film treatment replete with too-cute stars
Madonna laughing all the way to the bank. What else is new?
Madonna s film 'Body'
by Michael Thompson
Sex, death, courtrooms, more sex and Madonna! Welcome, ladies and gentle-
men to the worst film of the year
Now I'm sure that it comes as no surprise to anyone that "Body of Evidence"
is a bad film. It's got Madonna in it, how could it possibly be good? But,
surprisingly enough she isn't the worst thing about it.
Let's begin with the utterly ingenuous plot. Rebecca Carlson (Madonna) is
accused of screwing her lover to death. While defending her, Willem Dafoe gets
laid and a nice hot-wax treatment. Is she guilty or innocent? Is anyone in the
audience paying attention to the plot? Did someone actually direct this film or was
it just left up in the air?
Yes, there are many questions in this
brilliant mystery, but the biggest one
of Evidence has to be: what in the hell Willem "I'm
Directed by Uli Edel; written by Brad Jesus Christ" Dafoe and Joe "I'm
Mirman; with Madonna, Willem Dafoe, Mamet's main fucking man" Mantegna
Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer. are doing in this film? And how in the
hell didanyone convince Joe Mantegna
to say "Do you believe in karma?"
The acting is bad from start to finish. Madonna simply plays the character she
has created for herself in real life, so she's neither good nor bad, just redundant.
WillemDafoe isn'tsleep walking, he's dead. Hedelivers "I don'twant to lose you"
with the same intensity you get when you hear "I'll haveadiet Coke." Anne Archer
is the saddest case here. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse than lines like
"You get him, Jack," poor Anne is now stuck in the role of the pathetic horny
secretary to the deceased.
This script was obviously written after "Basic Instinct" became a success. It's
also a rehash of all the old film noir films of the forties and fifties. But Willem
Dafoe is no Robert Mitchum and Madonna certainly isn't Barbara Stanwyck.
The script could have been cut by probably a hundred pages. Willem Dafoe is
married for no particular reason. His wife's in the film for about five minutes ,so
who cares if he's cheating on her?
No one, no one cares about anything in this film because the producers are
obviously trying to capitalize on the success of "Basic Instinct." No, "Basic
Instinct" isn't the greatest film, but it has several things that "Body of Evidence"
lacks. The first would be a director with a sense of humor. Uli Edel has no idea of
what he's doing - if he was actually doing anything at all. What kind of director
allows his actors to look bored during masturbation?
Another lacking feature would be in the department of cinematography. It was
obviously this guy's first day. The camera drags all over the dead man's house
before we even see him and then cuts before we can tell if he's dead or just bored.
I will admit that "Body of Evidence" does have two redeeming characteristics.
The first is that it's cheaper than Madonna's book and just as silly. The second is
that in comparison, every film I've seen recently is great. "Toys" is suddenly a
masterpiece. And I'm sure that every Amy Fisher movie was just as titillating,
although probably not as boring. At least there would have been commercial
breaks where you could eat, sleep or run to the bathroom and throw up.
With any luck, people will see "Body of Evidence" for what it really is,
exploitative crap. I have a feeling that the new Van Damme movie is better.
BODY OF EVIDENCE is playing at Showcase and Briarwood.
* 49
Ann ounc in g
Siblings Weekend 93
* WFrr m nr i ofn
by Sarah Weidman
"Nibble your bum?" is not a ques-
tion you'd want to ask when leaving
"Alive," the new cannibal film from
director Frank Marshall. It's atrue story,
adapted from Piers Paul Read's best
seller, recounting the 1972 tragic plane
crash of an Uruguayan rugby team over
the Andes Mountains.
Alive
Directed by Frank Marshall; written by
John Patrick Shanley; with Ethan
Hawke, Vincent Spano.
For all psychological purposes,
"Alive" is a fascinating movie. The
story itself is jarring when you realize
that the survivors braved sub-zero tem -
peratures with no food (until the fateful
first bite) for 72 days. The survivors fall
into roles of leader, follower and an-
tagonist, much like "Lord of the Flies."
The role of leader passes on from Anto-
nio (Vincent Spano), the captain and
therefore the natural leader of the team,
to Nando (Ethan Hawke) once Antonio
loses faith in his ability to lead.
Religion is important to the men,
who are primarily Catholics. Carlitos
(Bruce Ramsay) serves as the group's
spiritual leader and regularly guides
them in prayer. The lone agnostic is
even converted when threatened by an
imminent avalanche.
Eventually, Nando and Roberto
Canessa (Josh Hamilton) evolve as the
leaders and keep the survivors some-
what sane. Unfortunately, the perfor-
mances by these four men are some of
the few that stand out. You would think
that twohours watching the same people
in the same location would allow one to
get know the individuals and under-
stand theirbehaviors. Instead, you touch
just below the surface of Nando and
Roberto, but can't keep the other survi-
vors' names straight.
When there is no connection with
the characters, it becomes hard to get
into the movie, and you realize that this
is nothing more than a Hollywood take
on a truly tragic story. The majority of
the actors don't put on an Uruguayan
accent. A few do, though, and only
make the others' lack thereof more ob-
vious. Frederico is an injured teammate
whose flimsy accent sounds like the
hero from "The Princess Bride" when
he says "My name is Inigo Montoya.
You killed my father, prepare to die."
This flaw brings laughs, not tears.
A little more realism could be added
to the appearance of the actors as well.
Two and a half months in this dreadful
situation would take some meat off their
It's a law of nature that
their teeth would at
least become dull and
grungy without
brushing, especially -
after eating human
flesh for so long.
bones (no pun intended), but by the end,
the survivors look as heavy as they did
when they crashed. In addition, there is
no way the entire rugby team was as
good-looking as the team portrayed.
Every character had dark tousled hair,
stunning blue eyes, and shimmering
teeth. It's a law of nature that their teeth
would at least become dull and grungy
without brushing, especially after eat-
ing human flesh for so long. Finally, the
beard situation. Now, I don't know if
Ethan Hawke justhas a facial hair prob-
lem, but after 72 days, I'm surehe could
grow more than a scraggly goatee. Only
one of the burly Latin men ended up
with a full beard.
The true story is an intriguing one,
yet at times it was almost mocked.
Whether or not such light-heartedness
was present at the time, I don't know,
but it is a bit insensitive to build up the
drama and then crack a joke. Immedi-
ately after the crash, a survivor begins
walking in the wrong direction and is
turned around by a friend who explains,
"He bumped his head." Of course he
bumped his head - he just slammed
into amountain. This sort of comment is
prevalent, and tarnishes the emotional
impact the story could have had. Al-
though somecomedy couldhave worked
to lighten the mood, which it actually
did at times, the movie incorporated so
much humor that it became difficult to
empathize with the survivors.
In general, I would much rather see
the story in documentary form. The
elements are fascinating and the hero-
ism is commendable, but Touchstone
and Paramount have put too much Hol-
lywood in to make it believable. My
recommendation is to read the book and
then see the movie. That way, you will
already know the characters so you can
sit back and watch the spectacle.
ALIVE is playing at Showcase.
"Alive": the story of way too healthy-looking starving cannibals.
LS&A SCHOLARSHIP
LS&A Scholarship applications for Spring-Summer 1993 and
Fall-Winter 1993-1994 are now available
In 1402 Mason Hall
To qualify for scholarship consideration, a student must be an
LS&A undergraduate and have completed one full term in
LS&A. Sophomores must have a U of M grade point of 3.7 or
better and Juniors and Seniors must have a GPA of at least 3.6.
The awards are based on financial need and academic merit.
MARTY'S .IN APPRECIATION OF THEIR CUSTOMERS GOES DUTCH TREAT WITH A
DUTCH AUCTION*
Jan. 20 through 23
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