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thursday, October 4, 1079
daily nebraskan
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Mistaken messiah may offend some
Photo courtesy of Phython Pictures LTD.
Graham Chapman, who is fleeing from the Romans,
is about to land safely on mendicant Michael Palin,
in this scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian.
By Pete Schmitz
Monty Python's Life Of Brian is great Monty Python,
but poor parody and only fair cinema.
Yet credit must be given to director Terry Jones, who
also plays Mandy, Brian's mother, and film editor Julian
Doyle. At least they make sure that their various skits
are focused on one character and theme.
This is a great improvement upon their previous movie
Monty Python and The Holy Grail, which amounted to
nothing more than an incongruent display of humor that
was sometimes satiric, other times slapstick and most
times tasteless.
In their latest effort, many may be offended by what
the Python crew make fun of, which is Judean politics
during the era of Christ, and mistaken messiahs.
However crude the crucifixion of Brain may seem at
the end, it is likely that you will leave the theater hum
ming the tune that accompanies this last scene.
Aside from frequent diversions, this comedy trials the
downfall of a man named Brian, who was born at the
same time as Jesus. The hero of this "epic" is a klutzy
mama's boy who inadverdently winds up with a disorgan
ized terrorist group called the People's Front of Judea.
Through a series of mishaps which occur when this
organization is in danger of being busted by the Romans,
Brian ends up jabbering to a crowd to avoid armed Roman
soldiers who are out to get him. The crowd takes such a
liking to its new found hope that everyone will run after
him with one sandal off and the other on.
The funniest scene In this picture happens when Brian
tries to ward off his followers by encouraging them to act
as individuals. When the masses shout that they are all dif
ferent, one dissenter yells that he is not different.
The costumes, historical characters, setting and choir
music all alluded nicely to other religious epics, yet
parody fails to emerge because the actors tenaciously cling
to their familiar comic devices such as having the men
play most of the female parts, accentuating English
accents, and having the characters beat each other when
dialogue disintegrates.
Christians probably won't like to hear Christ referred
to as a "bloody do-gooder" by a former leper, who is
forced to make a living after he is cured
Many who consider rape a serious problem will not
appreciate Mandy's line "it started out that way," when
her son asks her if he was conceived in rape.
Indeed, the character of Mandy, an antithesis to the
sweet and pretty virgin Mary, is representative of redun
dant misogynist indulgence that prevails throughout the
Monty Python shows.
But the writers do succeed in creating some good
satire which questions the effectiveness of charismatic
leadership and trivial quibbling among members of revol
utionary groups.
Because their humor is more focused and witty than
usual, many audiences who have avoided Monty Python
may be won over by this movie.
But for those who like to take films and religion
seriously, Life of Brain may kill their evening. It is now
playing at the Douglas 3.
Pontyand band electrify crowd with jazzrock concert
By Casey McCabe
The electrifying violin of Jean-Luc
Ponty and the smoothness of his current
crew of back-up musicians found an en
thusiastic nerve in the crowd of 1,214 at
Omaha's Music Hall Tuesday night.
The highly respected Ponty touched
several bases in his jazzrock repertoire,
which besides several solo albums has
included work with Frank Zappa, and The
Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Opening the show, after sound problems
had caused a considerable delay, was Luigi
Incorporated. Leading the band on vibes
was Luigi Waites, a multi-talented jazz
composer and arranger, and a major force
behind the Omaha Jazz Society .
Luigi Incorporated played a more
traditional jazz, and in between the groups
original compositions "Intrepid Fox" and
"Mambo" were well-covered jazz arrange
ments of such songs as "Over The Rain
bow" and "Michelle." The audience was
espcially responsive to the George Benson
style guitar riffs produced by John
Albright on his Gibson hollow body.
But the crowd was hot for Ponty
Journal prepared
The University of Nebraska's Center
for Great Plains Study is making prepara
tions to publish an interdisciplinary jour
nal, The Great Plains Quarterly,
The first issue of the quarterly will not
appear until January 1981. However,
Frederick Luebke, professor of history and
editor of the journal, said his associate
editors have been named and an advisory
board has been formed.
The journal Will publish research and
trrahv: -liMnture'' linear-artk.. folklore. .v
ratftroppjogy -politics, "economics - and
semiology of the Great Wains region.
especially after another long delay between
groups. When the bearded Frenchman
finally appeared, the cheers went up, and
though he seemed a little tired, at times a
little lethargic, Jean-Luc delivered what the
crowd had been waiting for.
Material from two of Ponty's best
efforts, Cosmic Messenger and Enigmatic
Ocean , was the most quickly received,
while offerings of "Stay With Me" and
"Dream Eyes" for his newest L.P. A Taste
For Passion showed no deviation from
Ponty's unique musical formula.
At times with a more traditional jazz
sound, at others with an obvious rock
influence, Ponty and the band always kept
a good continuity to the music. If things
even remotely threatened to lose interest,
a searing riff from his violin would snap the
crowd back to attention. Ponty also split
time between violin and keyboard, aug
menting the full time band member who
throughout the show played very sup
portive keyboards and synthesizer.
"Struggle of the Turtle To The Sea" a
suite from Enigmatic Ocean was the bands
showcase tune, giving each member an
ample share of the spotlight. As was the
case all night, bass player Ralph Armstrong
elicited a tremendous response with his
inspired, enjoyable performance on bass,
that at times could easily be mistaken for
more complicatedlicks from a lead guitar.
When Ponty slowed things down, it was
to an ethereal pace. The title track from
Cosmic Messenger found him finger -picking
his blue violin with an eerie echo chamber
delayed echo, producing a hypnotic, space
age control of the sound.
When the band left the stage, nobody
left their seats and Ponty was brought back
for two encores including his most recog
nized work "New Country" from Imagin
ary Voyager. Ponty left the Music Hall
crowd with a thought that had already
entered their minds; that he might have to
make it back to Omaha soon.
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Jean-Luc Ponty, a versatile violinist, performing at Omaha's Musk Hall Tuesday night
Photo by ft. K. Hahn