Monday, October 29, 1984
Page 12
Daily Nebraskan
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Chinese troupe sings,
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Members of the Chinese Youth Goodwill Mission perform Friday night in the Nebraska Union
Centennial Ecom.
Beautiful women flitted like
fairies, stern warriors battled with
swords, young men and women
courted each other with song
and dance and modern college
students sang campus songs and
tripped lightly to lively music in
"An Adventure in Chinese Songs
and Dances."
This week, they're ambassadors.
Next week, it's back to the books.
A 14-member troupe, the Youth
Goodwill Mission, of college stu
dents from Taiwan put on the
show. The troupe is one of two
touring the United States with
the goal of introducing some
Chinese culture to Americans. The
group which performed Friday
night in the Nebraska Union Cen
tennial room is touring colleges
and universities in the eastern
half of the United States.
Three performers I-Gean
Tasi, Kuei-Yi Wang and Te-Hsing
Hu talked about their tour
Friday.
The troupe will perform 25
times in 17 states before return
ing home. UNL was their 22nd
stop. As the tour draws to an end,
the performers are ready to go
home.
"I'm not homesick. We're too
busy to be homesick," Te-Hsing
Hu said. "But I'm ready (to go
tuclies
home)."
The United States has been
what they expected, the perform
ers said. They liked the scenery
best. They took time out to see
Niagra Falls and other sights, but
will probably miss some scenery
which is not always a treat for us
natives.
"Will it snow?" Wang said. "We
want to see some snow."
Snow may be a spectacular
new sight for the members of the
Goodwill Mission, but it may not
dazzle them as much as their
show dazzles unsuspecting for
eigners. It's a very colorful, lively
and sometimes intense 90 min
utes of non-stop singing and
dancing which serves well as an
introduciton to Chinese culture,
the purpose of the mission.
"I think it's been successful,"
Tasi said.
The performers wil return to
Taiwan Nov. 4 and resume their
studies in such fields as interna
tional trade, primary education,
international affairs and opera.
And they'll be even busier as stu
dents than they were as emissar
ies of their country.
"School already started. We
missed one month of classes,"
Wang said. "Well have to study
hard."
Drummer Girl ' delivers
essage
Review by Steve Noble
Daily Nebras&ui Staff Reporter
In a country where the average Amer
ican's analysis of foreign policy is formed
by reports on the evening news, "The Lit
tle Drummer Girl" delivers a powerful
message. The film embraces the values
and struggles of two diverse groups in
conflict over their promised land, but
fails to delve deep enough to provide any
real understanding.
The movie's violent tone is set from the
opening scene when a bomb planted by
the Palestinian Liberation Organization
obliterates an Israeli family.
Diane Keaton leads the cast as Charlie,
an actress of uncertain distinction, who
is involved in a London play. Although
she is filled with pro-Palestinian ideas, an
Israeli intelligence agency sets her up to
fall in love with a mysterious PLO agent.
Once she is hooked, he reveals his identity
as an Israeli agent and lures her into their
group. In a single all-night interrogation
session, Charlie is coaxed into disclosing
her life story. As fast as you can say "Patty
Hearst" this simple brainwashing has
caused her to abandon her previous con
victions and adopt the cause of the
Israelis.
Charlie is soon swept away into a
"theater of the real" where she faces her
greatest acting challenge. Performing well,
she is accepted to train in a PLO boot
camp. Meanwhile, the Israeli group is
ready to use her in its secret pursuit of an
exceptionally dangerous and elusive Pale
stinian terrorist leader.
It is a credit to Diane Keaton that she
can pull off another Oscar-caliber per
formance in a movie with such an unbe
lievable plot. Keaton invests in Charlie all
her passion and sense of inner conflict to
make the charactor believable. Yet Kea
ton is restrained and controlled enough
in her portrait to allow it to rise above an
improbably plot. Because of the writer's
and director's obsessions with plot rather
than characterization or explanation, the
other characters are not clearly defined.
The film, based an a novel by John
LeCarre, clings to an intricate story line
that only manages to detract and confuse
its audience. "The Little Drummer Girl" is
preoccupied with trying to keep pace
with the noveL In the first 1 5 minutes, the
story globe-trots between five countries.
As if the Middle East situation wasnt
complex enough, the movie's pace never
slows to allow the audience a close look at
the characters, countries or groups
involved. Except for one brief scene where
Israeli agent Joseph tells how the PLO
violently killed his father, the heartfelt
passion of the Israelis and Palestinians
goes unexplained. Consequently, the au
dience feels as Diane Keaton did during
her time in the PLO training camp: con
fused and struggling to keep up with the
action.
Palestinians and Israelis alike will not
be pleased over the violent and harsn
portrayals of their groups. Neither is
shown as a passionate group fighting
over a promised homeland. Instead they
are seen as hateful groups, victims of
their culture who are ready to kill and
betray at any cost to achieve their goals.
The audience cannot empathize with
either group, but is forced to choose the
lesser of two evils.
Yet the film does succeed in raising
consciousness on several levels. From the
PLO training camp to the high-level Israeli
agency, the movie gives a sense of urgency
to a situation that is hard to relate. This is
a land where men wear their war scars
like trophies and see warfare as not only
a way to survive, but a way of life. The
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Photo Courtesy of Wcmt r Brothers
Disne Kectcn in 'The little Dnmacr Girl"
movie also gives insight to the process in
which people lose sight of their reasons
for conflict. They become hardened and
bitter, are reduced to fanaticism instead
of logic and lose sight of their priorites
because of the essence of their cultures.
Executives at Warner Brothers and
local theater managers have been disap
pointed with the audience response to
The Little Drummer Girl." Although
hyped by an expensive advertising cam
paign, it still grossed a mere $2.6 million
in 820 theaters during its opening week
end. The low box-office nubmers may be
caused by the film's audience focus: It is
not aimed at the large high school- to
college-age audience, which probably
would rather see Bill Murray zapping
ghosts than Diane Keaton assassinating
Palestinians. Because the idea is hard to
relate to, many people may choose to stay
away from this film for the same reason
they should go. Although it may hurt a
little, it could be good for those people.
The movie takes place in a different world
where a myriad of values, cultures and
lifestyles is unveiled. The film gives a
glimpse of the Mid-East situation that
many people dont understand.
It hurts to be taken into this harsh and
intense environment, but it is beneficial
to grasp a concept of the passions and
values of these people constantly strug
gling over a war-torn nation.
"The Little Drummer Girl" is now play
ing at the Plaza 4 Theatres.
DLGQt COUIITY
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