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daily nebraskan
monday, april 9, 1979
Absurd describes imperfections found in Altman movie
By Peg Sheldrick
Robert Altman, famous for such films
as MASH. might easily have entitled his
latest opus Mismash.
A Perfect Couple is Altmans idea of a
modern musical romance, the story of a
businessman and a rock singer who get to
gether through a video dating service. Alt
man clearly means to stand convention on
its ear in taking the mismatched pair
through their disjointed courtship.
The film tries so hard to be eccentric it
becomes predictable, and in the end one
wonders what all this noise and nonsense is
supposed to prove.
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Are we supposed to see that Alex and
Sheila are of such totally different worlds
that they are at once totally the same? It
takes all of five minutes to figure out that
his stuffy family and her kinky rock are
equally repressive and alienating.
Real life
Are we being offered the none -too -stunning
revelation that love affairs seldom
progress in real life the way they do in song
and screenplay? Or is Altman just having
fun with a hackneyed genre? These are the
only questions the film raises, and the an
swers don't flatter Altman much.
The film was evidently conceived as a
vehicle for Paul Dooley and Marta Heflin,
both of whom impressed Altman with their
performances in A Wedding. It's also a
vehicle for the rock group, Keepin 'Em Off
the Streets. It appears that everyone was so
concerned with loading up the vehicle they
forgot to decide where it was going.
Paul Dooley is a familiar face to TV
viewers for his many commercials and
character bits. He does what he can with
the role of Alex, a kind-hearted but weak
willed twerp. Marta Heflin has her hands
full as Sheila.
The character's motivations defy discer
ment. She obviously thinks Alex is a jerk,
but she seems to want a relationship with
him anyway. It doesn't help that Heflin
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Photo courtesy of 20th Century-Fox
Paul Dooley and Marta Heflin star in the Perfect Couple. "
lays many of her scenes like a mannequin;
arge, luminous, empty eyes that tell noth
ing about why she tolerates and even seeks
out Alex.
This more a lust story than a love story.
There is nothing in the narrative that
suggests any real emotional interplay be
tween the two. Their af fair, after a disastr
ous first date, seems to consist of a few
stolen kisses and the never-ending quest to
consummate the relationship in spite of
frequent, absurd interruptions.
Absurdity may be the key. Alex and
Sheila seem to want more than sex (since
The greatest absurdity of all may be that
Altman thought this was worth anyone's
time to make or to watch.
Citrus label exhibition shows designchanges
An interest in lithographic art has led a
Kansas City resident to collect nearly
2,000 citrus labels.
Hal Moldauer from Prairie Village, Kan.,
started collecting the labels as a hobby. He
first saw the labels in a graphics magazine,
which was running a review on the book
The Wonderful World of American Fruit
Crate Art. He sent for 15 labels at $1555
and began his collection.
According to Maldauer, the citrus labels
have an interesting history. Citrus fruit
growers in California found they needed
special labeling methods to identify speci
fic areas in the state or specific groves.
these labels were branded into the end
of wooden crates before the fruit was
shipped. Moldauer said eventually paper
labels were adapted arid during the 20s and
30s, more than 300 packing houses were in
existence, each with several different
labels.
Schmidt and Western were two, of the
largest lithographic houses in California
and with the help of sketch artists, an art
director, and lettering specialist, the house
was able to produce enough new crate
designs to keep up with the demands.
The first labels .we re done in soft colors
and were of children, flowers and non
descript landscapes. In 1918.it wai discov
ered that shoppers couldn't recall brand
names. Brighter colors and creative designs
took the place of the previous labels. Many
of the designs, such as a unicorn from Cali
fornia, had little to do with the citrus in
dustry, . , , ,
T"s A
TOM-CAT
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Orange crate furniture is usually all a poor student can afford, bat the citrus labels on
display at Sheldon Art Gallery this month may be beyond hb price range. Thb Tom
Catlabdbtt!aedsi$25. -
Maldauer said that after reaching their
peak in the 30st the labels declined in use
during the 40s and faded out completely in
1956. Unused labels were shoved away in
various printers shops when cardboard
cartons took the place of wooden crates,'
most of which remain Intact and in perfect
shape. ' v
Selling of the labels Maldauer said,
began about two years ago and he has sold ,
as many as $550 worth in one month. The
labels i range from 55 for more common
California- types such as All Year; to $25
for Tom Cat and $28 Barbara Worth;
-These colorful labels ire on exhibit at
the Sheldon Art Gallery until April 22. The
labels are originals from the 1920s and
1930s and 23 are for sale.
both have easier ways to satisfy their
appetites than to pursue each other). They
are both lonely and both longing for love.
But their affair is absurd. It is an absurd
pairing of absurd personalities from absurd
worlds.
If Altman only wants to say that the
pursuit of 'love' is as absurd as it is irresist
ible, he might just as well have kept quiet
since Annie Hall already made the point.
Funny moments
The film does have its funny moments,
and clearly its eccentricities are meant to
charm and delight. Ironically, in one scene
the decor includes a poster advertising Wel
come to LA., another Altman production
that used wild coincidence, some exagger
ated characters, and an undertone of the
absurdity of it all much more successfully.
The character's motivation defy discern
culous, a little made, often hilarious, ulti
mately pathetic. The characters in A
Perfect Couple are very ridiculous, volun
tarily victimized, sometimes laughable, and
ultimately just plain weird. Something is
missing here, and no account of predictable
slapstick and bizarre gimmickry can make
up for it.
Altman, by his title, suggests that Alex
and Shelia are a "perfect couple." The
question is couple of what?
The film is currently playing at the
Cooper Plaza.
Mother and son
. share art talent
in varying styles
By Sarah Mead
The pictures and paintings of a mother
and son are showing at the Hay market Art
Gallery. Ruth and Dan Lucey have a dis
play which provides an interesting combin
ation of talent and style.
Ruth's paintings reflect years of exper
ience. She studied under Nebraska artists
Chauncey Nelson, Dimitar Krustev, Tom
Palmerton and Marie Christian.
shfG reuieo
Her paintings depict scenes from the Ne
braska plains to the Colorado Rockies.
Backpacking with her paints and canvas,
Ruth trekked the countryside to handpfck
her settings. The collegian viewer may
notice her works are the "looks like some
thing hanging in my mother's living room"
type; well done, conventional and formal.
Her sort's work provides a contrast to
his mother's painting. Primarily graphite
with some acrylic washes displayed, his
pictures show characters he himself would
like to know. Dan acknowledges his
mother's influence as being an example and
environment rather than prodding. Their
styles illustrate the generation between
them.
Less structure, less definition, more
fluidity and more imagination characterize
Dan's work. His favorite subjects are chara
cters that come alive on the page beore
liirn. Dan describes his drawing process as
irregular, admitting he does not follow the
conventional method of framing a face,
then tilling in the features.
Lacking formal training, Dan begins
each character with its nose, then proceeds
to create the eyes arid so rorth. Dan said he
detaches himself from the role of creator
and allows his pencil -personalities their
own entities.
Perhaps it b thb attitude, this sort of
reverence for the people and personalities
or Dans mind that attracts viewers to hb
work. According to the younger Lucey, the
Pictures are people he would want to
know. The viewer also feels the urge to sit
down and converse with these people on
canvas. i
The show will remain at the gallery dur
fng April, y