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michigandaily.com/arts

ARTS

TUESDAY
NoVEMBER 20, 2001

8

NOVEMBER 20, 2001 8

'Man' disappears
into film noir genre

Broadside Press
exhibit features
Detroit creator

By Andy TaylorFabe
Daily Film Editor
"The Man Who Wasn't There" is another example
of how the Coen Brothers can use similar story lines
and themes in a film while completely switching the
time, place and circumstances. They can go from a
bowling alley in Venice, Calif.
to a snow covered country bar in
North Dakota without blinking
an eye. In this case, the back-
The Man drop is a small town in Califor-
Who Wasn't nia following World War II. The
There film, shot in black and white, is
an homage to the film noir of
Grade: B+ the '40s and '50s, from the
At State Theatre smoke and shadow filled visuals
to the highly stylized lighting to
the ironic and tragic story.
Ed Crane (Bill Bob Thorn-
ton) is a barber. (Actually, as he
says, although he works in a
barber shop "I never considered
myself a barber.") Ed is a zombie, for he walks through
his life, doing little and saying even less. He is a man
who, although he is alive, doesn't know how to live his
life. He doesn't even care when he finds out that his
wife, Doris (Frances McDormand) is having an affair
with her boss, Big Dave (James Gandolfini), because,
after all, "it's a free country." His only real comforts are
chain smoking and listening to a friend's daughter
(Scarlett Johansson, "Ghost World") play Beethoven.
When a fast talking, toupee wearing businessman
(Coen Bros. regular Jon Polito) comes in for a haircut
Counte enor

and starts gabbing about a
venture capital opportuni-
ty in a wondrous new
industry called "dry clean- n, \},[
ing," Ed makes the deci-
sion to blackmail Big
Dave for the $10,000 nec-
essary to finance the deal.-
It seems simple enough. Courtesy of USA Films
However, when Big Dave Things get interesting when Tony Soprano stops by the set of "Sling Blade."
ends up dead and the finger is pointed as Doris, Ed is style and the cigarette dangling from his lip are
drawn into a complicated and more dangerous sce- unchanging. Considering that he is playing a barber,
nario than he imagined. Thornton manages to look mysterious and sometimes
It would be wrong to reveal any details of the plot just plain cool. (Imagine if Albert Camus had quit
beyond this point, because although they are pre- writing "The Plague" to take up the haircutting arts.)
dictable, it is part of the experience to go along for the His character isn't a hero, but he's not pure evil either.
ride. Many of these plot twists mimic the familiar He fits into that big gray area into which many people
events of many of the original film noir. But in this fall.
movie, the story itself is not necessarily as important Gandolfini, even in this small role, further shows
as the amazing visuals and the style of the film. This is that he will not be typecast, giving a convincing por-
not unheard of for the Coen Brothers, which explains trayal of the manager of Nirdlinger's department store.
the mixed reviews of "O Brother, Where Art Thou" Tony Shalhoub ("Galaxy Quest," "Barton Fink"), one
last year, which featured stunning sound, visuals and of the best character actors around, gives a hilarious
general style but (some felt) lacked a deep and mean- performance as Freddy Riedenschneider, a slick big
ingful story. "The Man Who Wasn't There" is a seri- city lawyer called in to defend Doris.
ous film, but it is filled with dry, dark humor from the "The Man Who Wasn't There" is similar to classic
supporting characters. Sometimes Ed's deadpan narra- film noir in many of its themes, such as the ironic con-
tion, which is featured throughout the film, provides viction of the right person for the wrong crime and the
comic relief as well. idea of the little, timid man trying to rise out of his sta-
Thornton does an unbelievable job of conveying his tion in life. Twists of fate and a sense of impending
emotion (or lack thereof) using only his eyes, because tragedy keep us wondering what the meaning is, but as
the rest of his face changes very little, and he never Ed informs us, Freddy tells the jury in his summation
smiles throughout the entire film. He has two or three "to look not at the facts, but at the meaning of the facts.
expressions that he chooses between, and his posture, Then he said the facts had no meaning."
dreasScholl Derforms

By Rosemary Metz
Daily Arts Writer
The Broadside Press is currently
being celebrated in an exhibit in
Special Collections on the seventh
floor of the Hatcher Graduate
Library until tomorrow. Equipped
with a sweeping poetic vision, 12
dollars in cash

Broadside
Press
Graduate Library
Through Tomorrow

and a spare
bedroom in his
room, Dudley
Randall began
the Broadside
Press in Detroit
in 1965. Since
that modest
beginning, the
Broadside Press
has grown into
a respected and
authoritative
voice in literary
publishing cir-

Iles.

latest work at Mendelssohn Theater

By Meissa Gollob
Daily Arts Writer
One of the best contemporary coun-
tertenors in the world will be visiting
the University tonight. Andreas Scholl

Andreas
Scholl
Mendelssohn
Theatre
Tonight at 8 p.m.

graces the stage
of the
Mendelssohn
Theatre accom-
panied by Karl-
Ernst Schroeder
on the lute. His
program tonight
contains material
from his recently
released CD and
other songs from
the Renaissance

period.
Countertenors are one of the most
interesting parts in vocal music. This
distinct male repertoire is above stan-
dard tenor and covers an extremely high
range for the male voice. This range is
also shared by some women vocalists,
which make it the most demanding part
to sing.
Scholl began his studies in Germany
at Kiedricher Chorbuben, where he sang
in a boy's choir learning Gregorian
chants. Even when his voice broke at
age 13, he continued to sing the soprano
and alto parts. He battled to overcome
his shyness and earned a diploma in
Ancient Music. Scholl based his reper-
toire especially for this concert on the
music he learned while in the boy's

choir. "For me, the most wonderful
thing about this choir was the amount of
Baroque and Renaissance music it per-
formed. This means I never grew up
thinking of 'early music' as some spe-
cial category. To me if has always been
as familiar as Beethoven and Mozart,"
he said.
His expertise in this music resonates
in tonight's Renaissance program. Ile
has sung some of the most prestigious
roles in opera, such as Bertarido in
"Rodelinda" and will make his debut
this season as Guilio Cesare with the
Royal Danish Opera. Scholl is known
for his flawless diction and complete
breath control. His music is technically
sound and as a true musician he pro-
vides his audience with the full range of

D
Bal
in I
of t
Birr
four
the
" Foi
her
thro
Call
W
tion
to p
side
8.5
eac
mad
and
ty t(
sid
ince
crea
the
els,
entr
writ
in t1
hour

)udley Randall's poem, "The
lad of Birmingham," was written
963 in response to the bombing
he 16th Street Baptist Church in
mingham, Ala. and the deaths of
r little girls. Randall expresses
mother's grief in this stanza:
r when she heard the explosion,
eyes grew wet and wild. She ran
ugh the streets of Birmingham,
[ling for her child."
While ensuring copyright protec-
for "Ballad," Randall was able
publish the poem on a "broad-
e." Broadsides are single-sided
x 11 sheets with one poem on
h sheet. This simple format
de publications accessible to all
gave Black poets an opportuni-
o be read and heard. The Broad-
e Press was, in its earliest
option, a black-owned business
ted to serve the literary needs of
black community. On many lev-
Broadside was an artistic and
epreneurial phenomenon. Black
ers who could not be published
he mainstream white publishing
ses were welcome at Randall's
r.
wendolyn Brooks, the poet lau-
e for the state of Illinois, was
of the first to be published.
dually, her works became dis-
inated in the mainstream press.
[e of her personal, hand-written
rs to Dudley Randall are on dis-

Courtesy of Broadside Press
Randall's acclaimed poem.
play in the exhibit. Ron Allen and
Stella Crews edited an anthology
entitled, "HIPology: The study of
attitudes: A fresh jive in the wake of
post-modern wreckage." Sonia
Sanchez, Melba Boyd and Etheridge
Knight are members of this unique
and distinguished pantheon of poets.
Ill health forced Dudley Randall
to refocus the Press. Hilda Vest, a
poet/friend of Randall, and her hus-
band, Don Vest, brought new energy
to the Press, which they purchased
in 1985. The Vests' business sense
led them to seek grant funding as
they changed the Press to a non-
profit entity. With this infusion of
cash, Don and Hilda Vest were able
to take the Press toward new and
challenging directions. Broadside
programs reached out to nontradi-
tional venues. Taking poetry into
homes for troubled teens, drug-
addiction centers and veterans
homes allowed for fresh, new voices
to be heard. The Broadside Poets
Theatre was re-born during this
renaissance, featuring open mike
sessions. In 1998, the Vests passed
the torch to a new group of poets
who brought a different vitality to
the Broadside Press.
Broadside Press archives will be
housed in the Special Collections
unit of the Grad Library. Peggy
Daub, Head of Special Collections
outlined their post-exhibit life in
this manner: "This exhibit is only a
taste of what the archive contains.
You can read about Broadside Press
here or you can come in and use the
whole archive for original research."
"Dynamite Voices: Broadside Press
of Detroit" will continue to crackle
and ignite ideas for many scholars
and researchers.

I


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Renowned vocalist Andreas Scholl. door
emotions. G
The program's highlight will be reat
Scholl's selections from the Renais- one
sance. It includes titles by Holborne, Gra
Caccini and many selections from sem
Robert Dowland, who compiled an Som
anthology of music in 1610. Dowland lette
had not traveled much outside of Eng-
land and so it is said that his father,
John, influenced most of his song choic-
es, encompassing selections from Eng-
land, France. Italy and Germany. Scholl
will sing IDowland's best-known song of
the time period, "Flow My Tears."
Another composer Scholl will present is
Giulio Caccini. He created the vocal
technique "stile recitative," which has
developed into the foundations of oper-
atic style.
Schroder will also perform two lute
solos during the concert displaying his
exception talent on the beautiful instru-
ment. A lute is an instrument that has
pairs of gut strings. A luteist strums the
lute just as guitar would be played.
Schroeder has appeared throughout
Europe specializing in Renaissance and
Baroque music.
Scholl recently released his newest
album, titled Wafaring Stranger, which
includes the most well loved English,
Irish and American folksongs. Scholl
believes this is a more relaxing album
because the songs tell stories. Broad
'Seduction'
By Neal Pais sedu
Daily Arts Writer deli

6

Courtesy of Broadside Press
dside Press founder Dudley Randall hard at work on his trusty typewriter.
explores psyche

ction and urges his readers to
hft in its decadence"TeAto

Manipulation, ethical maneuver-
ing, subtle exertions of influence -
in some form, knowledge of these
tools are necessary in order to sur-
vive in contemporary society. Like it

You've got th
the Business
You will sell c
territory, crec
time experie

TeArt of
Seduction
Robert Greene
Viking Books

or not, we are
always forced to
commit minor
deceptions in
our daily lives;
whether it be in
the political
arena or within
the confines of
an intimate rela-
tionship, the

ght1ILO d4c1 Utnl.' "Th11Arf1c V
Seduction" is elegantly separated
into two parts: "The Seductive Char-
acter" and "The Seductive Process."
In the section dealing with char-
acter, the author details the different
personas that the seducer may
assume. He carefully explains the
attributes of each of these characters
and uses prominent historical figures
as his examples, citing Cleopatra,
Napoleon, Errol Flynn and Marilyn
Monroe as some of history's most
masterful seducers.
The second section of the book
deals extensively with the mechanics
of seduction. Very technical in its
scope, this part of the book is a veri-

The real ingenuity of "The Art of
Seduction" lies with the snippets of
celebrated writings that accompany
most of the pages in the book; in
addition to his own theories, Greene
manages to comprehensively synthe-
size the works of such monumental
;thinkers as Freud, Kierkegaard and
Ovid. These short takes on seduc-
tion help to legitimize Greene's
claims while shedding further light
upon the intricacies of human
nature.
"The Art of Seduction" is both an
exceptional study on the inner work-
ings of the psyche, as well as an
entertaining collection of historical
accounts. It is provocative and intel-
lectual, serious, yet fun - and it is a

0