The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 =- 5A

'Rhinoceros' to
confront absurdity

Filmmak
diSCUSS S(
ByJOHN BOHN receive
Daily Arts Writer nomin
in 1992
"I see (Agnieszka Holland) as Jewish
a transnational emigr6 director," vive N,
said Screen Arts and Cultures an Ary

Theatre de la Ville
to bring Ionesco to
Power Center
By TEHREEM SAJJAD
For the Daily
Over the past few years, The
Theatre de la Ville's produc-
tion of Eugene Ionesco's "Rhi-
noceros" has
been praised Rhinoceros
for its intuitive
and authentic Thursday at
personation. A 7:30 p.m.
famed French and Friday
playwright and Saturday
and drama- at 8 p.m.
tist, Ionesco is
considered an Power Center
iconic figure in From $18
modern litera-
ture. Alongside artists like Samu-
el Beckett and Jean Genet, many
regard Eugene Ionesco as one of
the founders of the Theatre of the
Absurd, a movement that empha-
sized the meaninglessness of life.
The Theatre de la Villa's Paris
premiere of "Rhinoceros" in
2004 received popular acclaim,
prompting the production to
provide international audienc-
es a taste of European theater.
This year, the Thietre de la Ville
ensemble brings Ionseco's emo-
tionally ridden and inspirational

play to Ann Arbor audiences as it
tours some of America's top ven-
ues.
As the director of the Theitre,
Emmanual Demarcy-Mota
approached the stage with his
contemporary designs and his
ability to elucidate challenging
art to audiences. In his interpre-
tation of "Rhinocdros," Demarcy-
Mota is determined to provide
U.S. audiences with a classic and
theatrical re-staging of the play.
A three-act play, "Rhinoceros"
is set in a small French town.
The protagonist, Berenger, is an
everyman slacker dependent on
alcohol, who lacks interest in his
office work as well as the society
and culture around him. In Act I,
a half-hearted Berenger witness-
es a rhinoceros running through
the town square, his fellow citi-
zens are appalled at the sight of
the animal. However, despite his
degraded persona at the begin-
ning of the play, as the story
progresses, Bdrenger's transfor-
mation is considered a true meta-
morphosis.'
"He's an existentialist hero,"
says Theater and Drama prof.
Martin William Walsh when dis-
cussing Berenger.
According to Professor Walsh,
"Rhinoceros" 's concept is what
makes it such a unique piece of
theater.
"The play is fairly simple ...

a very ordinary observation of
life," says Walsh. "(Characters)
are almost crushingly boringly
normal, low expectations, just
wanting to carry out their lives,
which makes them susceptible
to rhinoceritosis. It represents
a particular post-war position,
a totalitarian ideology," Walsh
added. "You're a normal human
being and suddenly a rhinoceros
passes by and you say, 'Oh, a rhi-
noceros!' but eventually there's
more and more of them passing
by and eventually you are turning
into one yourself."
"Rhinoceros" targets the
domineering features of social
and political ideologies and their
powerful grip over ordinary
individuals, whose identity and
intellect are extracted by these
notions. As Ionesco himself
stated, "People allow themselves
suddenly to be invaded by a new
religion, a doctrine, a fanaticism
... At such moments we witness a
veritable mental mutation."
The conformity on display
throughout the play complements
Ionesco's own personal view and
emotional response to the rise of
political paradigms such as fas-
cism and totalitarianism before
and during World War II. Viewed
as one of Ionesco's finest works,
"Rhinoceros" is regarded as an
enthralling piece of the Theatre
of the Absurd.

Prof. Dan Her-
bert. "I think A
her identity as
a person and Conversation
a director is With
more trans-
national than AgniesZka
national." Holland
On Oct.
9, Herbert Wednesday
moderated a at 5 p.m.
question ses- Michigan Theater
sion with Free
Holland, the
Polish-born,
Czechoslovakian-trained, criti-
cally acclaimed director. The
discussion was part of a series of
events centered around Holland's
trip to Ann Arbor. The Michi-
gan Theater hosts free viewings
of her films, leading up to her
appearance at this year's Annual
Copernican Lecture. Additional-
ly, REEES 410: "The Lens of His-
tory: Holocaust Memory through
the Films of Agnieszka Holland"
was offered as a mini-course this
semester.
The complexity of political
events surrounding Holland's life
explains the difficulties in pin-
pointing her identity. A student of
the Academy of Performing Arts
in Prague during the 1960s, Hol-
land came into contact with many
of the directors who were a part of
the then-emerging Czechoslova-
kian New Wave, and was exposed
to other avant-garde European
cinema of the era.
Holland is also an acclaimed
screenwriter, particularly for her
film "Europa, Europa," which

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:er Holland to
)Ciety, cinema
ed an Academy Award in a way that is never sure wheth-
ation for Best Screenplay er the main character is simply a
l. The film follows a young positive or negative hero," Duda
boy as he attempts to sur- said.
azi oppression by posing as This theme is prevalent in
an in the Hitler Youth. "Total Eclipse," in which the poet
hen you look to place Rimbaud leads an outsider's life
ska Holland in the his- of nihilistic nonconformity that is
Polish Cinema, she is defi- incapable of assimilation into the
associated with the Cinema bourgeois. Verlaine, impressed by
ral Anxiety," said Paulina the poet's writings, invites Rim-
a graduate student in the baud to live with him, commenc-
tment of Slavic Language ing a destructive relationship
iterature and Screen Arts between the two. Verlaine slowly
iltures. deteriorates, abusing his wife and
child in drunken fits of existential
crisis.
lland makes It's not surprising that Hol-
land's lecture is titled "A Film-
A2 debut maker's Approach to Society's
Most Vexing Problems."
"She will be mostly talking
about what it means to make
e definitely made films and films that are truthful, emotion-
films that were about the ally deep, and at the same time,
lual, a larger social strut- deal withvery complex and tragic
nd the moral ethical prob- periods of our history," Duda said.
hat the individual faces," An example of this recourse to
idded. truth can be found in Holland's
land experienced first- most recent film, "In Darkness,"
his tension between indi- which will be discussed in the
and society; she served lecture.
n prison for participating "To preserve the truthfulness
Prague Spring of '68, a of the story of Jews hiding in sew-
uprising in Czechoslova- ers in Lviv, she wanted to stick to
ter, she left Poland just as the linguistic reality of the peri-
lish government declared od." Duda said. "As a result, her
al law to suppress politi- characters talk in Polish, Yiddish,
rising. German and Lviv jargon called
of Holland's films played at Balak. This alone shows how
chigan Theater this semes- seriously she takes the historical
ludes "Total Eclipse," about accuracy in making films."
rant terrible of French Sym- After the attention she gar-
, Arthur Rimbaud, and his nered from her appearance at
ffair with the French poet the 2011 Academy Awards for,"In
erlaine. Darkness," Holland makes this
e common theme of all event an opportunity for students
orks is to show the com- to hear an acclaimed and experi-
iappenings between people enced director speak about her
sed by society and history, art.

'Nashville' breaks out
of southern stereotype

"So am bringing the cups ... or?"
Nerdy, sexy'Pitch' dazzles

By KAYLA UPADHYAYA
SeniorArts Writer
"Pitch Perfect" didn't exactly
come with perfect timing. "Glee"
has defamed
the modern
musical with ****
its heavy-hand-
ed morals and Pitch
sloppy direc- Perfect
tion. Despite
the juiced-up At Quality 16
renditions of and Rave
recent chart Universal
toppers and the
nearly 30-year-
olds playing college students, this
is not "Glee: The Movie." Instead
of getting preachy, "Pitch Per-
fect" is a dependably nerdy and
surprisingly sexy self-parody
that's hilarious in its hyperbole.
It's much more in tune with the
endearingly self-aware "Bring it
On." Just replace the cheerlead-
ing with a capella.
The result is nothing short of
magical.
Beca (Anna Kendrick, "Up
in the Air") is a loner girl who'd
rather be in L.A. producing music
- or becoming P. Diddy, as her
professorial father puts it - than
starting her freshman year at
Barden University. But after pres-
sure from seniors Chloe (Brittany
Snow, "Hairspray") and Aubrey
(Anna Camp, "The Help"), she
joins Barden's all-girl a capella
group, the Bellas, and uses her
mashup-mixing skills to bring
some needed edge to their act.
Kendrick is killer, as always,
but it's the other young stars
- some of them relatively
unknown - who fill the film with
so much spark and spunk that
they make admittedly cardboard
characters come to life.

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energy
one coi
openin
compo
rousing

ip plays tight-lipped mance of "Don't Stop the Music"
y, who runs the Bellas and from the Treblemakers while
s to deviate from the sug- Elizabeth Banks ("The Hunger
ttoned-up act they've per- Games") and John Michael Hig-
d foryears,with acharming gins ("Bad Teacher") get their
that makes it hard to hate Christopher Guest on as the hilar-
'en if she does say things iously inappropriate- and plastic
cascuse me?!" Rebel Wil- competition commentators.
("Bridesmaids") bizarre An audition sequence in
ny - which she calls her- which a capella hopefuls belt
"twig bitches" won't say it out an electric rendition of Kelly
i her back - never runs out Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone,"
rious quips or movements. followed by Beca's much qui-
eter, gorgeous cover of "You're
Gonna Miss Me" by Lulu and the,
Lampshades, is nothing short of
Glee' would masterful - both'musically and
visually.
e in a riff-off But the film's crowning jewel
comes by way of the riff-off, a
inst this film. "Stomp the Yard"-like show-
down that's as perfectly absurd
as it sounds. Musical directors
Ed Boyer and Deke Sharon flex
ight from Broadway, Sky- their musical muscles, resulting
tin ("Hamlet 2") is irre- in fresh harmonies and inventive
adorable as the movie recreations of familiar tunes. The
ovingromantic interest for scene could have lasted anoth-
And as leader of Barden's er 15 minutes, but ending with
le a capella sensation the a smooth rendering of Black-
makers, Adam Devine's street's "No Diggity" is hard to
"Workaholics") Bumper argue with, and not only because
ik Bieber, but with 100% we get to see Kendrick rap.
douchiness - has deli- No, "Pitch Perfect" does not
divatude, the male Regina offer a realistic depiction of col-
e of a capella. lege life. It offers something bet-
re's nothing particularly ter: a glitzed-up remix of college
Ibreaking about the story, life. It's a world in which the
ere doesn't need to be. worst thing that could possibly
writer Kay Cannon (TV's happentoyou is anodes diagnosis
ick") piles on the punchy and you literally never have to go
s, and debuting feature to class because you're too busy
ir Jason Moore's (Broad- making music (with your mouth)
"Avenue Q") camerawork and a naked Brittany Snow could
with an unstoppable at any moment barge in on you in
that makes "Pitch Perfect" the shower and demand that you
ntinuous dance party. The sing David Guetta's "Titanium".
g scene sets the quick, yet while she harmonizes with her
sed pace right away, with a junk out.
g- and arousing- perfor- Who could resist that?

By KAYLA UPADHYAYA
Senior Arts Editor
It sounds ridiculous, but one
of the reasons some people didn't
tune into the wonderful "Friday
Night Lights"
was because
they didn't like * *
football. But Nashville
the premature-
ly offed series Pilot
wasn't about Wednesdays
football. It was atl0 p.m.
about the tur- ABC
moils of grow-
ing up and the
rich and complicated lives of the
people in a small Texas commu-
nity, and football was merely the
lens through which we viewed it
all. Similarly, ABC's new family
soap "Nashville" uses a divisive
device - country music - to
unfurl its story.
"Friday Night Lights" 's own
Connie Britton is Rayna James,
an aging country legend whose
singles aren't charting and
shows aren't selling. People pass
over her true-country blues for
the bubblegum country-pop of
Juliette Barns (Hayden Panet-
tiere, "Heroes"), a young and
reckless starlet with huge cross-
over appeal. Their label offers a
compromise: The ladies can co-
headline, with Rayna opening
for Juliette. Rayna, too proud to
even touch the trust fund set up
by her controlling father (per-
fect soap villain Powers Booth,
"24"), doesn't take too kindly to
the idea.
Pitting Panettiere - who
despite her longevity has always
been the most forgettable act
in everything she's ever been in
- against the formidable Britton
was a risk, but the carefully con-
cocted Juliette Barns allows for
Panettiere to show off more range
than we've seen in the past.
It would have been easy to
write Juliette as simply a bitch,
but instead, the pilot starts to
unravel the character's com-
plexities and insecurities, while
still giving her some bitchy-belle
grit that yields brilliant tension:

"What do you mean the Titans suck?"
"My mama was one of your big- Other than Panettiere's secret
gest fans. She used to tell me she - acting abilities, "Nashville" is
used to listen to you while I was full of plenty of other little sur-
still in her belly," she tells Rayna prises that hint at its capacity to
through a plastic smile. be the year's unexpected run-
It also would have been easy away hit, much like "Revenge" in
to write "Nashville" as a simple 2011. It's more reserved than its
girl-on-girl showdown, and even ABC companion and there are
though the promos play up the no Nolan puns to be found, but
Rayna-Juliette rivalry, as Britton between Rayna's marital prob-
puts it, "This is not a catfight" lems, Juliette's self-destructive
tendencies, Deacon's striking
sadness and a pilot reveal most
So good it'll shows would save for a season
finale, "Nashville" jumps into
make you like enough drama to elicit aVictoria
ake y u hie Grayson eyebrow raise.
country music. You wouldn't write off
r m "Breaking Bad" because you
don't like drugs or "The Wire"
because you don't like crime.
Underneath all of the country Even if you hate country music,
music ooze and clashing egos is the pilot will have you swept up
a heavy sense of entrapment for in "Nashville" 's drama. Plus,
the pilot's characters: Rayna is can you really turn down the
held back by a blinding attach- return of Britton's "y'all" 's to
ment to the way things used to television? Or Britton singing,
be. Her husband Teddy (Eric for that matter?
Close, "Suits") feels helpless, And if you do like country
sidelined by his wife's success. music, "Nashville" quite literally
And Juliette is trying to break hits all the right notes - boy can
free from a less-than-glamorous some of these supporting actors
past that keeps creeping back sing. Sam Palladio ("Episodes")
into her life. whips out-some absolutely kill-
"Nothing," Rayna replies er notes and newcomer Clare
immediately when her band Bowen seduces with her lilt-
leader Deacon Claybourne ing voice and wide green eyes.
(Charles Esten, "Big Love") asks The original song that scores
what she'd change if she could the pilot's final, superbly paced
do it all over again. scenes might just be more beau-
Beat. tiful than Connie Britton's hair,
"Everything." y'all.

I