daily nebraskan
Wednesday, September 17, 1980
pago 10
Wise Blood' good interpretation of Gothic South
By Jennifer Bauman
Wise Blood, showing at the Sheldon Film
Theatre through Monday, is a screen adaptation
of Flannery O'Connor's 1952 novel. Directed by
John Houston, the film is a successful interpreta
tion of the people and attitudes of O'Connor's
gothic south.
The film reproduces the humor and tragedy
of this world in an almost scene-by-scene duplication of
the novel. Seldom has a film been more faithful to a lit
erary source than is Wise Blood.
FCUESVJ
Huston made his directional debut with The Maltese
Falcon and has been interested in "highbrow" sources
for film ever since: Freud, Toulese-Lautrec in Moulin
Rouge, Kipling's The Marl Who Would Be King. Critics
of Huston say he has false pretentions to grandeur; his
admirers praise him for his attempts to bring art to
Hollywood. In any case, it is no surprise that his literary
sense and love of black humor brought him to O'Connor.
Wise Blood and Huston are suited to one another.
The film's screenplay was written by Benedict Fitz
gerald, son of Robert and Sally Fitzgerald, literary ex
exutors of O'Connors estate and her personal friends.
Producers Michael and Kathy Fitzgerald and son-and.
daughter-in-law of the elder Fitzgeralds and Sally Fitzgerald
supervised costumes and sets for the tilm. In each of their
capacities the family has shown great care in remaining
true to O'Connor's work.
Hazel Motes, the central character of Wise Blood,
doesn't belong anywhere and he doesn't believe in any
thing. All his family died or moved off while he was in the
army his prodigal return is to an empty, run-down home
stead in Eastrod, Tenn. So Hazel set out for the city to
preach his message: the gospel of The Church Without
Christ.
Salesmen and hucksters
In contrast to Haze's nihilism, the people around him
are mostly fanatics of one kind or another. The city is
full of streetcorner salesmen and religious hucksters.
What sets Haze apart from the others is the sincerity and
intensity of his convictions. Though he believes in
nothing, he does it with zeal. ThatHaze's belief springs
from self-denial makes it no less real.
Brad Dorif, who played one' of the mental patients in
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, is Hazel Motes.
Dourifs deeply -set eyes, his tensed jaw, and his antagonistically-determined
stride successfully comprise the
picture of ill-humored monomania that is Haze. As a
character, Haze alienates nearly everyone in Wise Blood.
As the film's protagonist, he alienates his audience.
Even when his spiritual convictions (or lack of them)
lead him to commit violent physical self-abuse, it illicits
fascination rather than pity.
The weakest part of the film, and Huston's most radi
cal departure from O'Connor, is the handling of Enoch
Emery, a slow-witted young man who claims to have a
special spiritual insight. Huston chooses not to treat
Enoch with the objectivity the others receive. He makes
Enoch a pitiful and sympathetic character, and the per
version that is so important in Enoch is glossed over or
shown as a gag. When Enoch sjeals a mummy from the
museum to serve as "the new Jesus" for Haze's church,
Childhood comics
feed imagination
As enchanted as I was by the early adventure of the
Lone Ranger, I don't ever recall actually being moved by
any particular episode. In fact all of the shows melt to
gether in one vast montage of campfires and galloping
fioves; of gunfire and hovering questions, "Who was that
masked man?" I never found out. My celluloid hero was
as cold and lifeless as the silver bullets he left behind.
MEW
My first strong emotional response to any sort of
media input came far away from the glittering plains of
television and movie theater. It came with the sound of
rocket thrusts in the privacy of my own bedroom. It came
between the covers of a ten-cent comic book with a title
like "Strange Tales or "Weird Stories". The name of that
first story was "Good-bye Johnny."
"Good-bye Johnny" was a melodramatic tale of loss.
Childhood friends from different planets meet again in
later life, one unwittingly killing the other in cosmic war-fare-and
then ending his army's attack, an action that
will result in his own execution. Heady stuff for a six or
seven year old.
Continued on Page 1 1
his actions are accompanied by funky, up-beat, hillbilly
type music that is very much out-of-place.
. Elsewhere, Alex North's music is very good: melan
choly variations on The Tennessee Waltz and familiar
protestant hymn tunes emphasize Haze's solitude.
A gap
There is a gap between appearance and reality in Wise
Blood's folk. A preacher who claims to have blinded him
self for Christ is really not blind at all. His bastard daught
er, who hands out religious tracks for him, is really a
sexually deviant groupie. A guitar-playing evangelist (Ned
Beatty) sees Haze's preaching success and rounds up an
imposter Haze and sets up operations down the block.
Wise Blood's major characters are bizarre misfits. The
faces in the crowd are equally unglamorous and offbeat:
There's not a Cary Grant or Bo Derek among them. The
film takes place in the seedy surroundings that are often
neglected by Hollywood when working-class people are
depicted. This vision of the American South sometimes
resembles what was shown in the early parts of Coal
Minor's Daughter.
Wise Blood depicts a fascinating milieu of perverted
religion, a world which types of beliefs and their mani
festations are examined. Physical blinding and spiritual
sightlessness are pitted against one another and super
imposed on a wealth of fine comic detail. It is interesting
to see how life can be so funny and grim at the same time.
Ml I
1 w ; (
mi ? CT
Vv-V
Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema
Brad Dourif portrays Hazel Motes and Harry Dean Stanton portrays Asa Hawks in John Huston's film Wise Blood.
The film shows Friday through Monday at Sheldon Film Theater.
Local bands get young crowd moving
By Pat Higgins
Two of Lincoln's finer local bands performed last
Saturday night at the El Ranchito club and a rousing
good time was had by the approximately 300 paying
customers.
There was an aura of a costume ball as various punks
and punkettes were modeling shades, leopard skin and
leather jackets. The desire was apparently to emulate
London's dream look, circa 1977. Local promoters Frank
VGVIQV
and Jay continue to provide rock 'n' roll on a monthly
basis and plan on presenting more shows in the future.
The crowd was fairly young because minors are allowed
to listen to music.
"The Eyes" opened to a positive response, especially
when one realizes this is only their third live performance.
However, the frontmen of the group, Allen Havlicech and
Danny Shoeherd, have a lot of experience in their
previous incarnation as local favorites, "TJie Boys."
"The Boys" were together for 7 years and were always
just one step away from mass success. They had toured
with Blue Oyster Cult, ZZ Top, among others, but decid
ed to break up.
"We were stagnating as "The Boys," said Shoenerd.
"We needed a change."
They have changed in appearance, trading in black
leather jackets for a low key shirt and tie ensemble.
Musically there is also a change, as "The Eyes" now do all
original material instead of some covers, but they still
have a pleasant pop sound in the Beatles and Cheap Trick
tradition. Shoenerd said the Beatles and the Who are his
all-time favorite performers.
"In the Midwest we get a backwash of influence so that
we don't sound like one style in particular, but a combina
tion," he said. But being from the Midwest, we encounter
a lot of prejudice from people on the coasts who don't
realize that the Midwest has something to offer."
"The Eyes" plan on playing at local venues, but the
master plan is to move to a bigger market, perhaps
Chicago.
The headlining act, "The Specs," have taken Lincoln
by storm in the short period of time they have been per
forming publicly. In achieving their local popularity,
they have been aided by the dissolution of various other
bands, but there is no denying the quality of "The Specs."
They put on a fun, high energy show that had the
crowd dancing from the opening chord onward to a
blaxing finale of "My Generation" that featured about a
dozen members of the crowd jumping onstage to join in
on backing vocals.
"The Specs" are amazingly young-the average is about
18-years-old-but they seem very self-assured and confi
dent on stage. Cited as key influences were Bowie and the
Jam. They play some New Wave material, but do not wish
to be categorized as exclusively part of that genre.
The original tune they played will be on KFMQ's
Homegrown Album, and the band hopes the album's
release will enhance their commercial reputation. Don
HOlmquist, 20, drummer and the only band member old
enough to drink, said "We're into the Who and the
Beatles, but we like quality stuff. It doesn't matter if it's
New Wave or mid 60 's music."
"The Specs" and "The Eyes" both have performances
coming up at the Drumstick Restaurant in the future and
more shows are planned at the El Ranchito for rock fans
in Lincoln.
