14 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 20, 1998 'Dalloway' By Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud Daily Arts Writer Like a painter's brushstroke, "Mrs. Dalloway" unfolds deliberately, revealing layers of colors and textures previously unseen. Based on the Virginia Woolf novel of the same name, "Mrs. Dalloway" breathes new life into a frequently explored sub- ject - London upper-class society. "Mrs Dalloway" is not to be confused with the numerous Merchant Ivory productions that treat the same material. At once elegant and surprising, the film finds unexpected complexity in the story of Clarissa Dalloway, a woman of means and charms. The film runs like a stream of thoughts and unburied memories, with chance encounters revealing a deeper meaning. Clarissa, played delicately by Vanessa Redgrave, is a middle-aged woman married to a prominent parliamentarian in early 20th-Century London. The film opens a young soldier shouting as an explosion rips his world apart. In contrast to this brief sobering prelude, the film then continues with the dawning of a new day, revealing Clarissa dressed exquisitely. She spends her time planning parties and arranging dinners, with another such event planned for that evening. We follow Clarissa through her day, as she walks through the English gardens, passes old acquaintances and smiles gloriously. Clarissa appears carefree and the movie follows the tan- gents of her life just as smoothly as her gait. Staring at bouquets in a flower shop, her gaze lefines the indescribable 6 ".4 finds it way to the eyes of a young man outside the store. A veteran of the war, none other than the soldier at the film's beginning, he looks as if trans- fixed by memories of exploding bombs and decap- itated limbs. Later, Clarissa is visited by her former beau, Peter, who stirs up memories of young woman- hood. Flashbacks ensue all of her encounters and Clarissa's story is clarified. Clarissa abandoned Peter, uF|V||@| the one who loved her pas- sionately for Dalloway, an Mrs. elegant man who could pro- Dalloway vide security and ease her fears. Peter, on the other hand, offered only his sense At the State of adventure and more mod- ern tastes. Clarissa, raised prudish by her prim parents, chose the safer choice. Yet regret does not tinge her thoughts nor does the movie pass any judgment on the wealthy woman's life. She has never suffered, as one char- acter tells her daughter, nor will she ever. Can knowledge, or indeed satisfaction with one's life, be gained without pain? That question seems to remain unanswered as "Mrs. Dalloway" ends, ambiguously leaving us dancing with melancholy. Those searching for greater meaning will be dis- appointed by "Mrs. Dalloway," for indeed there is no moral to this tale. Rather, the filmmakers have eloquently captured an ordinary woman's story. Clarissa sees in the young veteran's suicide an act of courage. He has abandoned life, with its sor- did wars and evil characters, while Clarissa enjoys the fruits of her planning - in her party she finds enough meaning to live on. Clarissa spends more time thinking than she does speaking; as she observes her party, sa smiles inwardly at her success. She wishes t make others happy to live, she says to her hus- band. Every flower, champagne-filled glass and sump- tuous appointment contributes to the perfection of the party. Yet the event lasts but a brief moment, returning all its guests to reality. Clarissa lives an escapist fantasy - her parties help her avoid the questions of life. The young vet- eran's death, her love for Peter, her ambiguous relationship with her woman friend, her feelings for her husband -- all these concerns can#a ignored with the planning of the party. Redgrave offers a subtle performance, showing the older woman's attention and concern for every detail of the party. Her expressions gracefully sup- plement the voice-overs that indicate what she is thinking. The ensemble cast is also marvelous, including a notable performance by Rupert Graves, who plays the young veteran. His bloody visions com- pare starkly to the calm and ephemeral Mv Dal loway. "Mrs. Dalloway" takes the viewer on a ride through life. Ambiguous and subtle, the film somehow manages to define an indescribable something that cannot be explained in words. Courtesy of Miramax Vanessa Redgrave stdrs as the titular lady in the film adaptation of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway," also starring Natasha McElhone and Rupert Graves. The Daily is like a box of chocolates ... you never know what you're going to get. Call 76-W DA I LY for more information. 'Cattle Killings' tackles spirituality, love and racism vU T-SHIRT *PRINTING * LOWESTPRICES! HIGHEST QUALITY! FASTESTSERVICE! I * 1002 PONTIAC TR. U 994-1367 U.... U The Cattle Killings John Edgar Wideman Warner Bros. John Edgar Wideman, two-time PEN/Faulkner Award winner and National Book Award nominee, has published a new novel tackling spirituality, racism and love -- heavy topics for most writers, but well-mapped ground for this talented Pennsylvainia native. "Cattle Killing," Wideman's newest book, is centered on the historical annihilation of the Xhosa tribe's herd of cattle in an attempt to ward off European domination. Directed by a prophecy, the Xhosas murder their cows, hoping to end the plague and destruction visited on them by their new European colonizers. In doing so, however, the Xhosa people destroy their food supply and, unaided by the Europeans, are enslaved or starve to death. This actual event, however, plays a very small role in the novel's chronicle of black life. Wideman explores inter-racial relationships, religious conviction forced on African cultures by European colonizers, loss of faith, blindness (both literal and metaphorical) and the emo- tional wreckage left by slavery. Spanning more than 200 pages, "The Cattle Killing" attempts no explanations, no judg- ments, none of the bravada sone victims hide behind when detailing their experiences. Instead, Wideman approches his subjects with a bare lyrical approach, touching his prose .with a tangled series of metaphors and leav- ing the reader to experience his story, not just read it. Wideman's various narrators (who shift both sexes and races seamlessly, forcing the reader to abandon preconceptions about either to follow the thread of the story) face frightening truths about themselves. Lamenting his own enslavement, one of Wideman's characters admits his desire for an effortless relief: "In the darkness, the quiet of the room (pumpkin breath wheezing, part of the quiet, the figure against which the ground of quiet defines itself), he wishes to be a white man. Holds the wish long enough for it to become a wet intimacy his tongue traces inside his pursed mouth, inside his lower lip, against his teeth, the sour, vacant spaces where teeth once rooted. A wish he could whisper aloud -- wouldn't you be one of them if you could ... " Wideman allows another of his enslaved characters to vent his fierce hatred with a hor- rifying and brilliant internal explosion. He writes, "They forget the flesh and blood beneath their airs and their finery, forget they are women just as surely as I'll be a man someday whether dressed in rags or king's robes, a , man the day I rip the clothes off their bodies and stuff my truth between their legs." Shifting from narrator to narrator, Wideman also tclls stories through the voices of black women, white women, free and enslaved peo- ple, rich and poor. The white slave owner is given the need he has tojustify his actions to his slaves, presenting them with gifts and assuming their forgiveness. The brave and lonely voice of a poor white maid who has run away with a rich black man grows stronger and stronger, only to turn into ashes on the page when angry villagers burn down the home she and her lover share. Blind women and men litter the pages, encouraging Wideman's wordplay with sensuality as well as accusing his readers with their own metaphoris- cal blindness. In the same instance, Wideman lifts away notions of guilt, asking for a reckoning and redemption, a request for one's blindness hide the color of one's skin rather than the humanity beneath it. After obliterating barriers between time, races, languages, nationalities, sexes and class- es with his dazzling onslaught of metaphors, Wideman explains the reasons for his ambigu- ity and his view of the ultimate-harmony -he sees in the notes of every human being. He writes, "Tell me, finally, what is a man. What is a woman. Aren't we lovers first, spirits shar- ing an uncharted space, a space our stories te@ a space chanted, written'upon again and again, yet one story never quite erased by the next, each story saving the space, saving itself, sav- ing us. If someone is listening." All prose should be this good. - Amy D. Hayes ha _ Check out Oakland University and get ahead of the game next fall. Need a general education course? A course in your major? At Oakland University you can choose from more than 1,000 spring or summer classes offered at our beautiful, convenient campus. And many are scheduled for evenings or Saturdays, so you'll have plenty of time for working a summer job, soaking up the sun or having fun with hometown friends. You can transfer the credits back to your home institution in the fall, so Get Smart and Jump To The Head Of Your Class. For a complete schedule of classes and application, contact the Office of Admissions today. By phone: (888) 757-OAKU or by fax: (248) 370-4462. E-mail: ouinfo@oakland.edu ply for spring classes is April 24. Last date to apply for summer classes is June 19. We're opening 'Doors!' Miramax Films and Paramount Pictures, not to 4 mention Daily Arts, are presenting a special sneak previews of Peter Howitt's "Sliding Doors," starring Gwyneth Paltrow. This charming roman- tic comedies follows a British lass as her life liter- ally splits in two when the subway's sliding doors close in her face. Exploring the nature of fate and the consequences of one's everyday actions, "Sliding Doors" will be screened tomorrow evening, lust stop b and pick up your pass for two in the Student Publications Building today after noon. Supplies limited. On Saturday, April 25th you can bring your old furniture, clothing, unused toiletries, unopened food, and recyclables to... " The cor' er Tf *air4 and Thompson " The corner ofWiilard ad South Forest Starting at Recycle:; :;|truck from to take: "Hard" furniture (desks, file'cabints, chairslofts, bookshe Clean Clothing Buildin materials & R*usehold fixtures i usable conditio Recyclable materials (ahuinun, glass, plaic, and cardboa Unopened food>< Unused toiletries It's an EASY wary to have a "green" moveout!!! We 11 see you there... selves) fn yard) Sposoed y licikn Rcyles Rcyle nntA~bo.& heUnierit Gruns ad ast Dl Itw.n 1' Think Success. Think Oakland University. spring session: May 4 - June 24 9 1998 summer session: June 30 - August 19 1998 Law Schoof Prep Program University of Nevada, Las Vegas If you have been accepted to law school.. . ... this program is for you! You have spent thousands of dollars on college. You are about to spend thousands more on law school. Make it count by attending the 1998 Law School Prep Program. This program provides first-year lawschool students with a competitive advantage in the most competitive of professions! Imagine the advantage of: * attending a program based on materials and preparation techniques utilized by the vast majority of law schools " understanding the basic legal concepts involved in each 0***~ ....... @00555 *SCSE*O** O0*****s *S** s S055SS***S*S * *****Ss*@* as.******sss* s~sese**s~sRo~s50S@r *s**s**S*** Ye S. I am interested in finding out more about Oakland Iniversitv's snring and summer session classes. Name /^ -~t A 1 -1 College Address l II