michigandaily.com/arts AR T S
MONDAY
MAY 17, 2004
By Raquol Laneri
By Raquel Laneri
Daily Arts Writer
M!VE REVI EW *
epicting suicide in a movie is a tricky task,
manding delicacy and attention to achieve
emotional balance. Filmmakers often approach
the subject with too heavy a
directorial hand, making Wilbur
suicide the culmination of Wilbur
depressing event after Wants to
depressing event in an Kill Himself
attempt to force the viewer
to feel sympathy or pity for At Michigan
the characters. Other times,
it is handled all too lightly ThinkFilm Inc.
- mocking the suicidal
*racter and reducing him or her to a carica-
ture.
But "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself," the lat-
est film from Lone Scherfig ("Italian for
Beginners"), retains a quirky sense of humor
that prevents the film from either turning into a
muadlin tearjerker or falling into comedic
hyperbole.
This balance between pathos and comedy is
perfectly illustrated in the opening scene. The
lar Wilbur (newcomer Jamie Sives, "One
st Chance") runs around the house, frantical-
ly searching for all the pills he can get his
hands on and turning the gas of the oven on
high. The look in his murky eyes as he waits
for the drugs to kick in is not one of despera-
tion, but of resignation or weariness, and the
audience immediately feels an affinity for him.
However, the attempted suicide scene is
brought back down to earth with the arrival of
his brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins, "Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"), who
breaks into Wilbur's apartment to save him
r receiving a call at work. Wilbur yells at
sbrother, telling him that he shouldn't have
come; he should just let him die in peace. But
Harbour retorts, "You're the one who called
lives become increasingly complicated with
their psychologist's insistence that Wilbur move
in with Harbour. When Harbour and Wilbur fall
in love with the same woman (Shirley Hender-
son, "Intermission"), their mundane lives are
further obscured.
"Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" provides an
intriguing character study. Wilbur's suicidal
tendencies have more to do with habit than
with actual depression, which makes the film's
dour subject matter a bit lighter. He has devel-
oped the suicide attempt into an art - you use
the toaster to electrocute yourself, not the hait
dryer, and you drown yourself in the river
instead of the bathtub. Each attempt is a per-
formance, and Wilbur makes sure he has the
phone handy to call his brother every time,
maximizing the drama of the situation.
Scherfig's direction, however, is decidedly
undramatic with its dreary sets and unobtrusive
camera work. She lets the camera linger on the
actors' faces rather than move it about erratically
during tense scenes. She stays out of the way
and allows each scene to unfold, and the film is
more genuine and organic because of it.
Luckily, the subtly nuanced performances
of the film's actors allow for Scherfig's mini-
malist camera work. Rawlins and Sives have
both mastered droll comedy and deliver their
Courtesy of TinkFitm Inc. one-line zingers with perfect nonchalance,
and they communicate with such ease that it's
hard to believe they aren't actually brothers.
Sives' grey eyes give him a sexy, tormented
magnetism that calls to mind a pudgier and
less in-your-face James Dean, and his stellar
portrayal of the jaded-but-loveable Wilbui
should catapult Sives into stardom - or al
C IDE least more mainstream lead roles.
"Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" is not sc
much about suicide than about the intricacies
ugh, to the kids' of relationships. The film actually reaffirms
aught in a bitter life, but not in a way that reduces h1ope and
attempt interrupts joy to sappiness. It treats its subject with a
of group therapy rare honesty, creating an entertaining film that
normality. Their expertly mixes comedy and melodrama.
What act is illegal to attempt but not to commit?
To DIE FOR
'WILBUR' EXAMINES SUI(
me." and teases them (oddly enot
Harbour and Wilbur have fairly predictable delight). The brothers are c
lives. Harbour works at a used and rare book loop: the occasional suicidea
store attached to his modest flat, and Wilbur life and, after a few weeksc
works taking care of children, or rather insults sessions, things revert back to
Mission of Burma return with skillful OnOffOn after 20-year hiatus
By Alex Wolsky
y Arts Writer
!Music REVIEW *
Boston-based Mission of Burma's
latest release, OnOffOn, was
released 20 years too late. Their
first full-length studio album since
1983, immediate-
ly sounds as if it
could've been Mission of
recorded when Burma
the band was at OnOffOn
early peak.
Orma's distinct Matador
influence is
noticeable today: stuttering
rhythms, irregular shifts in time and
booming vocals which contribute to
an aural onslaught have become
standard tools for underground
musicians. They were art-punk
without being too pretentious
re's looking at you, Talking
Wads) and wrote gripping anthems
with an untamed ferocity. And
while these traits have trickled
down to modern acts, no one ever
MISSION OF BURMA
sounded like Burma.
In the early '80s, Mission of
Burma were the loudest club band
around, which unfortunately con-
tributed to guitarist/vocalist Roger
Miller's acute tinnitus and the band's
early retirement. But, unlike
Burma's contemporaries (Pere Ubu,
Gang of Four, Black Flag and X)
their volume wasn't overbearing. It's
apparent on OnOffOn's "Falling"
and "What We Really Were" that the
band rumbled and boomed more
than they thrashed and shouted. The
tunes float along on a steady diet of
heavy vibration and softer, more
matured theatrical leanings by
Miller. Songs like "The Setup,"
"Hunt Again," "Fake Blood," "Dirt"
and "Fever Moon" sound like noth-
ing less than lost classics rescued
from the Burma archives.
To go along with a handful of new
tracks, OnOffOn revives three songs
from the unfinished Burma record-
ing sessions. Miller plays off of his
changing moods with "Hunt Again"
and "Dirt" as well as the ferocious
"Playland," which would be filler if
they didn't provide context for the
rest of the album. Finished and
fleshed out by original producer
Rick Harte, the three tracks hold the
same tenacity as they did in demo
form and act as a reference point for
the new material's similar bite.
OnOffOn contains innovative
material as well. The clanky, coun-
try-esque track "Nicotine Bomb"
and the wistful "Prepared" show a
band still honing their craft. The vit-
riolic "Max Ernst's Dream" shows
that Burma's sound is still fresh and
that their 20 year dormant period
didn't harm their ability to create
complex and fiery music.
The most striking aspect of OnOf-
fOn is the way Miller, bassist Clint
Conley and drummer Peter Prescott
- separated for nearly 25 years,
each exploring music outside of
Mission of Burma - still comple-
ment each other. There's a hint of
stability that has endured across
decades, and although they've lost
some hair and gained weight and
wrinkles over the years, Mission of
Burma's members still sound com-
mitted to the music and each other.