Page 8-The Michigan Daily -Monday, January 25, 1993


Non-
Partisan
'Ve il':fai
fascinating
by JonAltshul
Documentaries on the Israeli-Pales-
tinian conflict are invariably partisan
projects. A side is chosen, and, from
there, arguments are virulently ex-
pounded. Concessions are rare.
Images of young men often decorate
the screen - Palestinians throwing
rocks, Israelis toting guns - while the
older, feminine perspective is discarded
as superfluous. Why have the media
and filmmakers so insisted upon
peripheralizing the less rebellious and
more weathered factions of these two
populations?
Through the Veil of Exile
Directed by David Benchetrit
In this sense, "Through the Veil of
Exile" is completely original. "I have
made a very pro-Palestinian film, but it
is not anti-Israel," director David
Bencherit explains. Indeed, by concen-
trating on the lives of three antitheti-
cally different middle-aged Palestinian
women, he has painted a compromising
portraitof the conflict that brutalizes the
Middle East.
The empathy that the audience feels
for the women is palpable. Oppressed
both by gender and genealogy, each
suffers from the fringe of society.
Dalal Abu-Kamar is a 33 year-old
former political prisoner relegated to a
loveless life in a refugee camp. Mary


Hazy but not horrible 'Hexed'
Still, avoid this movie, a weird, unfunny attempt at comedy

A Palestinian woman contemplates the issues in the Middle East.

Khass is a proud elderly Communist,
torn between activism and apathy, liv-
ing in Gaza. And Um-Muhammad is a
stoic widow, clairvoyant beyond her
years, yet as simple and illiterate as the
most common peasant.
Bencherit weaves their stories to-
gether with an admirable poignancy
and grit, imbuing their individual narra-
tives with a hodgepodge of distinctly
Palestinian shots-the land, the people,
the culture - which serve to glorify
their common ancestry. The women are
celebrated subtly, as courageous survi-
vors, forced to accept their unenviable
castes.
Their grievances are not necessar-
ily anti-Semitic in nature, but have a
more universal resonance. Bitter at so-
ciety and disillusioned by youthful revo-
lutions, they seem to have given up.
Their contempt is not directed at any-
thing specific, but at something farmore
vague. The film's premise, then, is not
political, but humanitarian.
To disrupt established documentary
practice even more, Bencherit, himself,
isaJew. This apparentparadox -apro-

Palestinian film from a Jewish film-
maker- comes in the wake of a more
progressive approach from both Israelis
and Palestinians to understanding each
other's perspectives.
As a result, the documentary be-
comes even more laudable. By divert-
ing our attention away from the
squabblings between Arafat and Rabin,
Bencherit has established a common
link- of individual suffering- be-
tween all people. "Through the Veil of
Exile" is truly a breakthrough, both as a
work of art and as an international plea
for peace.
THROUGH THE VEIL OF EXILE is
playing Monday at 8:00 at Hillel.
Director David Benchetrit will be on
hand, and will answer questions at
the conclusion of the screening.

by Chris Lepley
Normally, when I come out of the
theater, I at least know if I'm pissed off
for wasting five bucks or not, but I
honestly don't know what to think
about "lexed," a new "comedy-
thriller" starring Arye Gross and
Claudia Christian.
Hexed
Written and directed by AlanSpencer;
with Arye Gross, Claudia Christian,
Adrienne Shelly.
Gross plays Matt Walsh, a typical
nice guy with a vivid imagination. Matt
works at the Holiday Palace hotel, but
wishes he didn't. When faced with the
possibility of spending his twelfth New
Year's Eve behind the hotel desk, he
pretends to be a customer at the hotel in
order to find a date, but this potentially
funny gag gets dropped before it gets,
well, funny.
Claudia Christian plays the interna-
tionally famous model Hexina in what
I can only describe as truly maniacal
fashion. Hexina, for some unknown
reason, visits the podunk town Matt
lives in and stays in the Holiday Palace.
Matt lies to everyone, saying he used to
have a 'relationship' with her, and man-
ages to take her on a date by posing as a
man whose message to Hexina he has
intercepted. This gag doesn't get
dropped before it gets, well, un-funny.

Unfortunately for Matt, themanhe's
impersonating was trying to blackmail
Hexina with photos of her taken seven
years ago when she weighed a ton and
was in a mental institution for murder-
ing thirty-two people. Hexina sleeps
with Matt, right before she tries to mur-
der him, and Ihave to say it was the most
god-awful parody of a sex scene I have
ever witnessed. I'm sure it was intended
to be funny, but as they say, the road to
hell is paved with sex scenes like this
one.
The plot grows more and more con-
voluted in direct proportion to the audi-
ence growing more and more bored.
Matt bypasses the traditional slightly-
geeky anti-hero role and goes straight
for 'total dork'. The supporting players
are culled from the annals of bad televi-

sion: the assistant manager is played by
Michael E. Knight, Tad on "All My
Children", and the hotel's manager is
Norman Fell, who played Mr. Roper on
"Three's Company". The cigar-smok-
ing police detective (an unavoidable
convention of the genre) is played by R.
Lee Emry, the drill sergeant in Stanley
Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket," and I'd
say "Hexed" is about as low as his
career can fall from that height.
If I had a better idea of what the
makers of "Hexed" wanted to do with
the movie, I'd know if I was supposed to
laugh at some point during it. The
problem is, "Hexed" isn't funny, it's
downright weird, and it isn't quite bad
enough to make a good date movie.
HEXED is playing at Showcase.

01

Even the stars of "Hexed" are amazed at how bad this movie is.

Perenmal class
by Melissa Rose Bernardo
The School ofMusic's annual "Collage Concert"
is the concert of concerts. I'm talking about 17 pieces
and almost 200 musicians packed onto Hill's stage.
There are no applause breaks or scene changes -
just an hour and a quarter of intense musical experi-
ence. For those of you who were lucky enough to get
in, the concert was, as always, a spectacular event.


1 & 2 BEDROOM FALL RENTALS

I. ' I't1
Collage XVI
Hill Auditorium
January 22, 1993

ic concert is a c
Choir and Chamber Choir and the Winwood quintet
to the University Trombone Choir (yes, that's right,
trombones), all the selections were brilliant ex-
amples of the performers' virtuosity.
The program ended
triumphantly with the finale of
Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No.
4," conducted by the
flamboyant Gustav Meier.
A highlight was the USO strings, who tiptoed
through the Scherzo from Tchaikovsky's "Sym-
phony No. 4," executing the subtle dynamics by
simply plucking the strings of theirrespective instru-
ments. Soprano Jennifer Smith soared over
Monteverdi's "Se i languidi miei sguardi." Led by a
hopelessly charming Danny Gurwin, a quartet from
the Musical Theatre program entertained us with a
charming rendition of the Cole Porter classic "Let's
Do It."

)lage of delight
The program, however, was not without disap-
pointments. The ContemporaryDirectionsEnsemble
performed "Break Dance," by Poul Ruders, an atonal
piece with no particular meter or phrasing whatso-
ever. At one point the trumpets imitated ambulance
sirens, eliciting painful groans from the audience.
In Schubert's "Sanctus," the University Choir
and Chamber Choir's 120 combined members pro-
duced a beautiful, unified sound; regretfully, the
words were obliterated since the choir was shoved
behind the orchestra chairs.
Fortunately, the program ended triumphantly
with the finale of Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No.4,"
conducted by the flamboyant Gustav Meier. The
spine-tingling movement combined energetic pas-
sages with soft sectional interludes.
Because of its wide variety of performances and
its fast-paced structure, the Collage Concert (along
with the Halloween Concert) has invariably become
one of the two biggest traditions in the School of
Music. And what a collage it is! If you missed it,
you'll have to wait until nextyear. Butmake sure you
get there early.

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The program began with the University Sym-
phony Band's playing Leonard Bernstein's "Slava,"
a piece dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. This
march-like piece was an exuberant echo of the big-
band era, with its booming percussion and wailing
brass.
An endless parade of talent followed, as widely
varied as you can imagine. From the University

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by Amy Meng
An artist starts with an idea or a strong desire to pursue an
action to the end. Unaware of where initial impulses may
lead, the artist perseveres and strives for organization and
unity of purpose. Unity, in case of the Asian American Art
Show, comes from the student artists providing insights into
what it means to be an Asian American.

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Students provide insight with art

Asian American Art Show
(Michigan Union Art Lounge

travelling at dangerous speeds. Gabert Farrar recalled im-
ages and memories of past existences in his playful yet
serious paintings. His self-portrait showed a multi-colored
face topped with a magician's hat.
Henry Fung's work is full of paradoxes. Crucifixion
represents man overcoming his own convictions and con-
frontations. Man's sight is split in half and his physical being
is pushed into contortion. Christine Kymn explored such
issues as oppression and objectivity in her "Oppression"
where a figure with huge hands tried to lift herself out of the
unjust boundaries that man creates. I-Chin Lee also explored
the liberation and entrapment that the human form imposes.
Jimmy Huang in "My Headache with 51 People" shows
people seemingly content at working in procession, but
bound by the bountiful land where they labor. They appear
minute in comparison to the land that owns them.
Catherine Seto emphasizes shifting generational tides in
her paintings which portray her grandfather as an overseer
who is slowly losing his status as the symbol of authority,
ready to pass on his prosperity to the next generation.
ASIAN AMERICAN ART SHOW will be on display in the
Michigan Union Art Lounge through January 29.


L


Mia Song, a painter, juxtaposes textures such as the cloth
from overcoats to form interesting spatial organizations.
Some of these textures can be interpreted as patterns or
structures that form the lands of the earth. M.H. Paik, another
painter, portrayed domestic scenes as seen through someone's
home. An outsider could feel the warmth simply from the life
in the walls.
Akira Ikuma exhibits a series of intricate photographs
reflecting life through his own eyes. The underwater exist-
ence of a fish is portrayed, as is the viewpoint on a motorcycle

underclassmen


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For more information and an application, call
us at 764-7521 or visit us at
Alice Lloyd Hall
100 South Observatory Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2025
TODAY!!!
Preliminary Deadline Is January 31, 1993.

*I

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*GSTA salary (.40 fraction)
*Tuition waiver
*Residence hall single room
AA4a"

The Pilot Program in Alice Uoyd and
Couzens llalls is seeking Resident Fellows for
1993-94. Resident Fellows live in the residence
hall and teach first-year courses. They have both
. . . .. . ...,,-

Academy of American Poets Prize
Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize

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