friday, november 18, 1977
page 8
daily nebraskan
arts&
'Bobby Deerf ield' gives audiences a boring ride
" "Who is Bobby Deerfield?" asks the ad. Don't expect
to find out by watching Bobby Deerfield at the Plaza One
and Two. Al Pacino's new movie asks a lot of questions
but doesn't answer any of them. S
: The film opens with Deerfield (Pacino), a Formula One
facer, waving to the cheering crowds at Le Mans. During
the race, Deerfield's partner, for no reason, suddenly
crashes and dies.
At first, writer Alvin Sargent seems to be weaving a
suspenseful mystery out of Deerfield's investigation of
the crash. Deerfield looks for clues in films of the race
(a scene reminiscent of Antonioni's Blow Up) and drives
through , beautiful mountain landscapes to a sanitarium
in the Swiss Alps to question a friend who was hurt in the
crash. So far, so scenic.
J. fTlarc fTlushkin
showings
There Deerfield meets Lillian (Marthe Keller )v another
patient, and now we shift gears into a curious love affair
that supposedly changes Deerfield from an emotionless
robot into a living human being. Unfortunately, it has the
opposite effect on the audience.
Sporadic, confusing
Whatever action there is from this point on is sporadic
and confusing. Deerfield presumably satisfies himself
about the causes of his partner's crash, so he races again.
And surprise! He crashes! Don't ask me why; the film
certainly doesn't tell.
"Basically the action takes place in Bobby Deerfield s
head," director Sydney Pollack has said, according to pro
motional material for the film. It would have been nice to
get a crack at some of this psychological action, but
Pacino's performance is so dense and so torpid that he
reduces Deerfield's "awakening" to a clumsy singing
scene near the end.
Lillian has this effect on Bobby mainly because she
is a carefree, unpredictable woman. She is obsessed with
death because, although Bobby doesn't know it, she is
dying. In her first conversation with Bobby, she asks,
"You must know a lot about death, about dying."
Dreadfully boring
"I don't think about death; I don't think about speed;
I just drive," Deerfield responds. This is the Bobby
Deerfield who makes this film so dreadfully boring and
causes its failure to say anything about a man coming to,
life.
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Photo courtesy of Sheldon Film Theatre.
Wives, a comedy about sexual roles, is showing at Sheldpn Film Theatre, along with Solar Barque and
Couples at 3, 7 and 9 p.m.
He is too mechaiu - - nthinking. We feel nothing
for him before she changes him and we simply cannot
believe him after. In effect, this psychological game in
Bobby Deerfield serves only as a front for a scenic Alpine
travelogue.
At Sheldon, a film is showing where no one goes 200
mph, but it is light-years ahead of Bobby Deerfield,
both in entertainment value and artisti? merit. Wives,
Anja Breien's story of three frustrated women out on the
town for once in their lives, is this week's feature in
Sheldon's selections from the 1976 Second International
Festival of Women's Films.
Wives is a comedv that has something to say about
society's sexual roles without being pretentious or
patronizing. It is, in short, a very enjoyable film.
Attendance at the festival selections, however, has
been poor. Dan Ladely, Sheldon Film Theatre's director,
said he isn't sure why,
"First,- it may be the 'women s title on the festival.
The selections were intended to show that women can and
do make films just as viable as any films that men make,"
Ladely said.
People aren't aware
"We shouldn't have to do this. I show women's films
all year, but people in Lincoln just aren't aware enough
about films."
Wives, plus two shorts, Solar Barque and Couples,
are showing at Sheldon at 7 and 9 psm. with matinees
today and Saturday at 3 p.m. Admission is $2.00.
Organist's concert marks dedication
He was bom in 1941 in Ottersberg, North Germany
and for more than ten years he has devoted his time to
re-discovering the old methods of keyboard playing.
Organ virtuoso and musicologist Harald Vogel will
teach and perform this weekend on the hew Hoesch
Memorial organ in the Wesley House chapel, 640 N. 16th
St."
Vogel's appearance marks the second dedication of the
20-stop mechanical action organ which was completed
this spring by the Gene R. Bedient Company of Lincoln.
The weekend of organ music begins at 9 a.m. on
Saturday with a workshop conducted by Vogel. Vogel will
discuss and demonstrate early organ performance
practices, an area of study in which he has become one of
the world's leading authorities. Cost is $5 and registra
tion, is Saturday between 7:30 and 9 a.m.
Hn Sundav. Voeel will eive a free public recital at 3
and 5 p.m. Admission is only by '' -t and tut-y are
available at the church office,
Since 1964 Vogel has been working on a recorded
documentation of historic organs in North Germany and
Northern Holland for Radio Bremen in Germany. In 1966
he began work as an expert in the restoration of historic
organs and has since then led international organ con
ferences. In 1972 Vogel founded the North German Organ
Academy in order to teach early performance practices
on the original keyboard instruments in North Germany.
In 1977 the academy permanently is located in
Bunderhee, Ostfriesland.
Vogel also is credited with being named Adjunct
Associate Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College
in Princeton, New Jersey, for the 197778 school year.
Classical Hindu dancer to perform,
turns Indian poetry into movement
Photo by Bob Pearson
Sukhentlu Dutt, cfawical Hindu dancer will per
form Saturday in the Cast Union at 8 p.m.
By Bonnie Lutz
The dancer's hands form the beak of a bird, then with
his neck bobbing, his eyes darting, his legs strutting, the
man onstage becomes the bird he is portraying.
Sukhendu Dutt, classical Hindu dancer, choreographer
and teacher, will perform in the Great Plains Room of
the East Union Saturday at 8 pjn. Tickets are available
at the door, $1.50 for India Association members and
$2.00 for non-members, ,
Dutt will perform his repertoire of classical works from
schools of Kathak, Kathakali and Manipuri, as well as
many regional folk dances from India.
Dutt precedes each piece with a reading of Indian
poetry translated into English.
Dutt started dancing when he was six. He performed
rigorous exercises to strengthen muscles and insure
coordination. . ... , .
Classical Indian dances began as religious functions in
temples, and are still used in this fashion today,
Dutt has directed and taught in the National Theatre
in India, and headed the North Indian Dance Department
in the Kablay Schoolin Sri Lanka.
He has danced for the Duke of Edinborough, and once
for former President Richard Nixon while he was Vice
President. Dutt was the lead male dancer in the Venice
International Dance Festival and has traveled around the
world four times.
His interests are not limited to the art of dancing.
Dutt also has a degree in painting from Bombay School
of Arts. He once had a radio program, singing classical and
folk songs. ' .
. In 1969, Dutt taught at a school in Ft, Collins, Colo,
and now is living in New York City where he is working
for a teacher's degree in social studies. Dutt has
choreographed two full length modern Indian dances,
called Summer in the Mountain and Solace. In &!acc,
a man searches for himself, and in one sensitive moment
in the dance, the man's face shows hesitation as he
ponders the question To be or not to be," Dutt
explained.
The dancer has toured with companies in England and
France, dancing Indian folk dances. Dutt would like to
form a company in the United States with Americans,
'and choreograph the pieces himself. He would like to
include modern Indian dance pieces as well as American
jazz and African influences.