The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Monday, March 27, 2017 — 5A
Classifieds
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
ACROSS
1 Ponzi scheme,
e.g.
5 Impersonated
9 Your __ Highness
14 Drilled bowling
ball feature
15 Artist Magritte
16 Shah of Iran, in
1979-’80
17 Bahrain big shot
18 Writer’s chief
work (Latin)
20 Sphere of
influence
22 Drinking glass
edges
23 Ambulance initials
24 Done deal
(French)
28 Farm country
skyline highlights
29 Nissan model
33 “Take me for a
walk!”
36 Expel from office
38 Amazon’s
business
39 With 42-Across,
cars like BMWs
and Audis ... or
18-, 24-, 53- and
63-Across
42 See 39-Across
44 Rhett’s last words
45 Siamese, now
47 __ dye: food-
coloring
compound
48 Live (in)
50 Lover of Euridice,
in a Gluck opera
53 English, in many
non-English
speaking
countries (Italian)
58 Word with health
or day
61 Oboist’s need
62 Lagoon-enclosing
isle
63 Young sensation
(German)
67 Sinister
68 Cortés subject
69 Wrinkle, as a brow
70 San __, Italy
71 Suppose for
argument’s sake
72 Many van Goghs
73 Killed, as a
dragon
DOWN
1 Harvest bundle
2 Grammar class
subject
3 Legal defense
mechanism?
4 Advantages
5 Shortstop’s asset
6 Green soup
veggie
7 Thoroughly
absorb
8 Jeans fabric
9 Dreaming phase
10 Kitchenware
brand
11 Frightened
exclamation
12 University fund-
raising target
13 A smaller amount
of
19 Quartet assigned
to bases
21 Mai __
25 Plumber’s
challenge
26 Dracula’s title
27 Avid about
30 Skater Lipinski
31 Nabisco cracker
32 “Wait, there’s
more ... ”
33 Miles away
34 Traveled by bike
35 Abbey titles
37 Princess’
headpiece
40 Oscar winner
Jannings
41 Roundabout, as a
route
43 Offend slightly
46 Entertainer who
often got tied up
in his work?
49 Part of DOE:
Abbr.
51 Historic period
52 Many top-rated
TV shows of the
late ’50s/early
’60s
54 Gordon __, “Wall
Street” antagonist
55 James Joyce
work
56 Weather, in poems
57 Permit
58 Tit for tat, e.g.
59 “The Godfather”
novelist Mario
60 Teeny colonizers
64 Agnus __
65 Zip, in soccer
66 Wino’s woe
By Morton J. Mendelson
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/27/17
03/27/17
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Monday, March 27, 2017
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
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INDEPENDENT RELEASE
Still from “Acts and Intermissions”
‘Intermissions’ uses archives
to discuss political disruptors
Daily Arts Writers review Ann Arbor’s 55th Film Festival
FILM REVIEW
“Pachinko”
Min Jin Lee
Feb. 7, 2017
Grand Central
Publishing
BOOK REVIEW
‘Pachinko’ an intimate yet
expansive immigrant tale
New novel explores the intersections of family and heritage
Min Jin Lee’s second novel is
a sprawling saga about a Korean
family
during
the
Japanese
occupation of Korea. Spanning
four
generations,
“Pachinko”
explores questions of immigration,
discrimination, political unrest
and national identity. The family’s
mindset is introduced in the
opening line: “History has failed
us, but no matter.” Their resilience
is woven through the rest of the
novel, a tale of an ordinary family
that tumbles and endures.
Lee’s straightforward yet fluid
prose
contextualizes
personal
stories within the wider scope
of political history. The novel
spans from 1910 to 1989, and first
introduces readers to Hoonie, a
poor countryside boy in Korea.
His wife, Yangjin, takes charge
of their humble boarding house,
toiling long hours to put food on
the table of the unofficial family of
boarders and maids packed in the
small quarters.
When
Yangjin’s
daughter,
Sunja, gets pregnant out of
wedlock, she enters a marriage of
convenience with a visiting Korean
minister. The couple migrates
to Osaka, where Koreans are
treated as second-class citizens.
They struggle to make Japan their
home, since the Korea they know
as “home” eventually splits into
North and South Korea, and their
family and friends scatter.
Their
children
Noa
and
Mozasu,
as
second-generation
immigrants, face a different set
of struggles. Born in Japan, but
ethnically Korean, they embody
an in-between state between
cultures that makes them question
their identity. They
grew up attending
Japanese
schools
and
assimilating
to the culture, yet
they
are
never
fully
accepted
by
Japanese classmates
and employers. On
the other hand, they
are removed from
the experience of
growing up in Korea,
so they lack a strong emotional tie
to a single nation.
Meanwhile,
political
unrest
continues, changing lives for
both the Koreans and Japanese
in the story. Japan is rumbled
by its involvement in World War
II, changing the socioeconomic
landscape of the family’s story
once again.
These
political
events
transpire in the backdrop. They
appear indirectly, in the way
they impact characters’ daily
lives, relationships and decision-
making. What makes Lee’s novel
so rich is the use of national politics
as a foundation upon which a set
of fully developed characters is
built, molding a unique family
identity that blends culture with
the personal.
The novel’s title, “Pachinko,”
which
refers
to
a
Japanese
gambling machine, is a fitting
descriptor
of
the
immigrant
experience.
It’s
the
family’s
gamble of moving to another
country,
the
questions
and
confusions that come with the
unknown.
It’s
a
gamble
with
the odds stacked
against
them,
forcing immense
sacrifice,
pain
and loss.
Yet at the same
time, working at
a pachinko parlor
is the occupation
that
eventually
helps the family
establish
themselves.
It’s
a
gamble that holds the beaming
hope that through hard work and
resilience, families can win the
opportunity to etch their story
permanently into the history and
community of a new country.
“Pachinko” is a novel that
winds
through
lifetimes,
cycling through new worlds as
the political climate evolves.
But whether the world involves
Korean
countrysides,
tightly
sealed
bottles
of
kimchi,
urban ghettos, police visits or
university schooling, one force
remains present throughout:
The fierce loyalty the characters
have to protect the people they
love. Through the web of family,
four generations ultimately find
home.
VANESSA WONG
Daily Arts Writer
The notion of history repeating
itself is a well-known adage,
but rarely has it been pleaded
with as much fervor as by
Abigail Child, whose film “Acts
and Intermissions” played at
the Ann Arbor Film Festival
this past Saturday. “Acts and
Intermissions” retells the life
of Emma Goldman in America.
Goldman, a Russian Jew who
moved to America at age 16,
quickly became a leader of
anarchist-communists and later
defended other causes. By the
time of her death in 1940, she
had taken on capitalism in the
Industrial Era, militarism during
World War I and gender politics
during the suffrage movement
(though
her
politics
strayed
from the suffragettes, for she
reviled political participation).
Goldman was a radical rebel,
giving speaking tours around the
country and calling for political
assassinations.
“Acts and Intermissions” tells
Goldman’s story in the United
States, from her auspicious rise
among her peers, to her rhetorical
peak, to, lastly, her retreat back
to Europe. The film is a collage of
archival film stock from the past
century — even the present —
and reenactments of Goldman’s
life, solitary and with peers,
captured in grainy black-and-
white. Snippets from Goldman’s
personal
diaries
and
other
contemporary texts are read
aloud by a voice actor. The voice,
disembodied and omnipresent,
is defined by its strong Russian
accent, with a tone that indicates
a sort of weathered smugness, a
jovial disdain for the lesser minds
of capitalism and statism.
Like its subject, the film’s
form
is
radical,
too. By juxtaposing
archival
footage
with
present-day
cell phone footage
of protests around
the
country,
Child’s film invites
its
audience
to
contemplate
how
we
think
about
political disruptors
nowadays.
In
a
comment
before
the
screening,
the
director
explained she hoped to combine
genres in the film. The result
does not clearly demonstrate this
idea — though there are clear
elements of film noir and kitchen
sink drama, two disparate genres
— but perhaps that’s the point.
Life and the struggles contained
therein aren’t easily definable; the
films that seek to answer the core
questions of life needn’t be either.
For Child, the correctness of
Goldman’s convictions is beyond
question;
the
only
question
is how Goldman’s ideals are
translated to the present. Child’s
argument isn’t subtle: Those
chanting in the streets, calling
for a $15 minimum wage or to
oppose
low
quality
working
conditions, are her heroes and
model citizens. Child did not
expressly advocate for radical
political killing, her outward
criticism of President Donald
Trump and her celebration at
his
recent
healthcare
defeat
notwithstanding,
but the message is
clear: don’t trust
elites.
The
most
jarring shot in the
film comes fairly
late. We’ve come
to recognize the
actress
playing
Goldman.
After
all, her face is
occasionally
shown
before
or after an actual image of the
historical figure, plus she wears
a long string of earrings that
would seem out place a hundred
years ago. But in one brief
sequence, we see the actress in
the staged room, dressed in her
regular 21st century pedestrian
clothes, seeming to indicate that
Emma Goldman was not some
anomaly: She’s a role anyone
could play. Save for a moment in
Haskell Wexler’s “Medium Cool,”
another film about protest, it’s a
pertinent shot that captures the
real behind the screened quite
unlike anything I’ve seen before.
AMAZON
Richard Madden stars in Amazon’s new “Oasis”
‘Oasis’ is a stunning pilot
Technically beautiful, emotional ‘Oasis’ sets strong precedent
There’s no better feeling than
watching a well-executed pilot.
It’s invigorating knowing that
there’s a new show with endless
possibilities — like there’s a vast
world just waiting to be explored.
I came away with this feeling after
watching the premiere episode for
Amazon’s latest science-fiction
project, “Oasis.” The pilot dazzles
with
its
distinct,
compelling
storyline and an accompanying
soundtrack that perfectly matches
the dark tone of the series.
Examining the intersection of
religion and space travel, “Oasis”
follows a devoted chaplain, Peter
Leigh (Richard Madden, “Game
of Thrones”), as he accepts an
invitation to join a conglomerate
colonizing a new planet. Serving
as
the
company’s
religious
resource for its employees, Leigh
begins to discover the truth
about the corporation and the
planet itself. It’s a premise that
is as new as it is exciting and
provocative. The show’s unique
setup prompts thought-provoking
questions about the future of
space exploration and the role
that private companies have in
this developing industry. Drawing
inspiration from famed works
like “28 Days Later” and “1984,”
the series’ dystopian undertones
are
especially
intriguing
and
entertaining
to
watch.
The
corporation is often portrayed as a
sort of Big Brother, with one of the
planet’s scientists claiming about
the company: “They monitor the
planet, and they monitor us.”
Complementing
“Oasis”
’s
powerful narrative is a gorgeous
original
score.
Composed
by
Martin Phipps (“Peaky Blinders”),
the soundtrack uses primarily
sweeping organ sounds mixed
with low guitar notes to create
an
ominous
atmosphere
of
mystique
and
intrigue.
The
score
bears
resemblance to that
of another similar
space drama, “Interstellar,” in
its reliance on the organ. The
organ sounds used in “Oasis”
seem especially fitting for a show
addressing the idea of religion on a
newly colonized planet. The entire
series benefits from the incredible
original score, with its thundering
crescendos synching up perfectly
with powerful scenes in the show.
Along
with
its
beautiful
soundtrack, one of the biggest
strengths
of
“Oasis”
is
its
cinematography, which features
stunning wide shots of the series’s
desert
planet.
Displaying
the
planet’s mountainous sand dunes
and
arid
conditions,
“Oasis”
decides to leave most of these
breathtaking shots for the second
half of the pilot, ostensibly to
build excitement among viewers.
The delay is ultimately worth it,
as audiences are rewarded with
outstanding vistas and vibrant
night skies. These scenes highlight
the extent of the planet’s emptiness
and reveal that much of its area
remains unexplored, adding to the
overall sense of mystery attached
to the show. In an strong example of
this type of shot, “Oasis” includes a
scene in which the camera follows
one of the company’s drones as it
patrols the nearby areas from the
sky. Such a shot allows the show
to slowly introduce viewers to the
planet, while also hinting at the
corporation’s ulterior motives and
advancing the storyline.
Led by Madden,
the cast of “Oasis”
delivers
strong,
emotionally
complex
performances.
Madden
more
than lives up to his lead billing
and is instantly likeable due to
his staunch commitment to his
values and perpetual optimism.
Alongside Madden is fellow Game
of Thrones veteran Mark Addy
(“Still Standing”), whose reflective,
pensive character leaves a lasting
impression on audiences. While
his screen time is limited, Michael
James Shaw (“Limitless”) similarly
excels, giving his lines powerfully
and adding further emotional
weight to the series. Playing the
show’s antagonist, Anil Kapoor
(“Slumdog Millionaire”) does well
to create a complex character with
emotional depth that nearly wins
over viewers despite his prominent
role in the shady conglomerate.
Kapoor’s
character
highlights
one of the most unique features of
“Oasis” ’s cast — each performer is
instantly likable almost regardless
of their role.
It may only be a pilot, but
“Oasis” makes an outstanding
first impression with its distinct
plotline and excellent production
values, and the show appears
primed to be Amazon’s next
television success.
CONNOR GRADY
Daily Arts Writer
“Oasis”
Pilot
Amazon
“Acts and
Intermissions”
55th Annual Ann
Arbor Film Festival
March 25, 2017,
12:30 PM
Michigan Theater
DANIEL HENSEL
Daily Arts Writer
TV REVIEW