monday, October 19, 1981
page 10
daily nebraskan
Concept film challenges concentration of viewers
By Chuck Lieurance
The audience at the screening seemed extremely con
fused by Karel Reisz's The French Lieutenant's Woman,
for one special reason: the film proposes a concept, and
audiences have very rarely been forced to deal with that,
especially in the American cinema. The concept comes
into play the minute we realize that Harold Pinter's
screenplay has done more than recreate John Fowles'
novel of the same name.
Pinter has also built an analogous story inside a story.
He has written the. tale of Sarah Woodruff and Charles
Smithson, two Victorian lovers tainted by Sarah's scarlet
past. He has derived from this a parallel universe contain
ing Anna (the actress playing Sarah in the film being
made) and Mike (the actor who is playing Smithson).
At first it seems as though this other plot is just there
to save us from the beautiful, sentimental period piece
that would become too gushy if let undefiled, but towards
the middle of the film the two plots begin to add to one
another in odd ways.
One, Fowles' novel is the story of a modern woman
Houserockers fill gap
in working-class rock
By
Pat Higgins
"It's the working life" Bruce Springsteen
"Work real hard, you might get ahead but I doubt it"
-Iron City Houserockers
It's not necessary to have a blue -collar job to be able to
relate to working class rock and roll. Anybody who has
ever been trapped in a boring., nowhere job of any kind
knows that the concept of living for the weekend is a
reality.
mm reuieiv
In the late '60s, hippies and working class kids were
totally incompatible culturally. However, in today's new
traditionalism there has been a role reversal. Coilegiates
have become clean-cut and job-oriented while the
chemical-ingesting longhairs are typically railroad workers
crying into their beer to Springstreen ballads.
The ultimate personification of working-class rock was
Lynyrd Skynyrd, a band who was loud, tougn and good.
They were best symbolized by whiskey, guns and pickup
trucks, but now they're gone.
The Iron City Houserockers were worthy successors to
Lynyrd Skynyrd, and they already make better records
than almost any other mainstream band. Last year they
released Have a Good Time -But Get Out Alive, which
was one fine album. This year's model, Blood on the
Bricks is even better. The Iron City Houserockers aren't
millionaire lightweights who crank out dumb odes to
hedonism or equally meaningless drivel. Instead, they are
concerned with serious realities.
The Iron City Houserockers came from Pittsburgh
and seem obsessed with working in steel mills. They may
not have read Das Kapital, but they have an instinctive
grasp of the concept of alienation from labor that most
Marxists would envy.
The Iron City Houserockers are probably the ultimate
bar band, as they are the derivative of a lot of other
artists. Perhaps the best way to describe them is Elvis
Costello backed by the J. Geils Band, or maybe a less
melodramatic Springsteen.
The key weapon for the Houserockers is vocalist and
songwriter Joe Grushecky. His main theme is that there is
no easy way out, but don't give up no matter what
happens.
Blood on the Bricks is more pf an emotionally down
record than the last one. Grushecky seems nervous about
aging and blown opportunities. The only possible
redemption is the power of love, but Grushecky's baby
seems to walk out on him a lot in these songs.
The band is good, particulary Gil Snyder on keyboards,
who throws in references to everything from "96 Tears,"
to "Armed Forces." Plus the songs are fast and loud.
The first tune, "Friday Night," sets the premise for the
rest of the record. Pay your dues doing the eight-to-five
routine in order to explode into the night and find some
thing a bit more meaningful, such as fun or love.
The most positive cut is "No More Loneliness," which
quotes a bunch of classic songs and is even cheerful.
Because it takes Springstreen forever to put out a new
record and Elvis Costello's new album is all country,
Blood on the Bricks is a more than adequate substitute.
trapped in a system of oppressive eithics that will not
allow her the freedom to be anything but a whore. In the
second plot we see Anna, played with rewarding care by
Meryl Streep, as the outcome of Sarah's struggles, an tin
fathomably complex entity that confuses Mike even more
than it confused Charles.
Mike and Charles seem to have retained virtually the
same set of values and a romantic optimism, whereas
SarahAnna shows the change the years have brought.
Anna is the product of all of the confusions over roles and
social attitudes.
The second relationship is even more conceptual, if
it is not just playfulness on the part of Pinter. There is a
scene in which Anna's husband and Mike are discussing
Fowles novel and the fact that it has two endings, a
happy ending and a sad ending, and lets the audience
choose whichever satisfies them most. Anna's husband
asks Mike which ending was chosen for the film. Mike
replies that both endings were chosen and then adds,
"Haven't you heard?" mysteriously.
This statement immediately crosses the boundaries of
the concept. It was complicated enough to put the filming
of the story into the story itself and show the actors'
similarities to the characters. But when the ending comes
and the tale of Anna and Mike acquires the sad ending and
the WoodruffSmithson tale ends in an embrace, the state
ment by Mike takes on a numoer ot rather ambiguous
meanings.
It could almost be a wav of showing Anna and Mike
somehow as hopeless victims of reincarnation, knowing
that their happiness was very real in the past but also
knowing it could never be repeated under modern cir
cumstances. In the end of the film Mike yells "Sarah! to
the fleeing Anna, seeming to be quite unsure with whom
he has fallen in love.
These two plot lines cross over many times in the film.
At times, the new fashions Anna is wearing resemble
Sarah's and many of the scenes in the modern world are
played in Victorian settings. This enhances the confusion
that Mike and Anna are feeling. In the happy ending that
is occurring in Charles and Sarah's world, there are still
hints of the sadness about to descend in Anna and Mike's
world. Thus one story is never completely unaffected by
the other.
Pinter and Reisz have created one of the best films of
the year and certainly the most fascinating. It speaks on
every subject from Victorian love and ethics to modern
ization and the lines between what is film and what is
reality.
The French Lieutenant's Woman is also a fulfilling and
complete achievement for the cast. Streep, who was
seriously overrated in her past performances (see Kramer
vs. Kramer) is finally showing her talent. It is certainly to
par with any actress working today and above most.
Perhaps the idea of the film challenging its audience is
returning, and The French Lieutenant's Woman is certain
ly a challenge.
The Iron City Houserockers
Photo courtesy of MCA Records
Bump Fuzz plays hot but acts cool
By Bob Crisler
In the never-ending quest for supremacy in the regional
rock'n'roll coolness sweepstakes, Omaha group Bump
Fuzz suffered a major setback Saturday night at the
Drumstick.
Not that the band is actually bad. On the contrary,
their dissonant rhythms and prominent use of violin are
welcome departures from the usual bass, drums, rhythm
and lead setup.
nightlife
But these guys lost all of their cool when they showed
up in a chauffeur-driven Caddy limo. A pitiful attempt to
appear chic, when real savvy might dictate a beat-up '57
Chevy Nomad with rotting upholstery and rusted fenders.
Bump Fuzz travels with an entourage, when a single
mental defect might do. I'm sure it's all in the name of
professionalism, but this is a jaundiced view of how things
should be run. It follows in the Neil BogartDon Kirshner
school of stardom: the pursuing of media exposure with
all the tact and style of advertising salesmen.
With Bump Fuzz, the problem is not the product but
rather the packaging
The band itself is one of the most interesting to appear
on the local fnoderlflfiusic scene in quite some time. They
put out a healthy dose of original material notable for its
quirky eclecticism. They also produce a true-to-the-original
version of Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" and an
interesting aberration on David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs"
foundation.
Guitarist Stinky Wees said he sees those artists, and
others, merely as part of a collective experience, rather
than influences to follow.
"We're not patterning our band after anything. People
bill us as new wave or rocky roll, but they call us what
ever they want," Wees said.
Violinist Achmed-74 does admit to one inspiration,
however the Adams Family theme.
Conventional venues to fame and fortune don't have
too much allure in Wees' estimation, specifically FM
radio.
"I don't think too highly of FM radio. You know, a lot
of people won't like something unless it's pounded into
their head. It doesn't bother me that our kind of music
doesn't get played on the radio. It'd be nice to do it, but
you'd want to do it with your own integrity."
Instead, Wees looks at success as the end result of
proficient creative artistry, rather than advertising or
other media exposure.
"If you record some songs, or an album, you become
known by what you do, not how much you can hype it,"
Wees said. Success is determined by the intrinsic value of
something artistic, rather than how many copies it sells,
he said.
Lyrical meaning should be nebulous in Wees' mind.
"You can't tell people what songs are about," he said.
"That's what's great about so many artistic things. You
leave it up to their imagination. It's all images - what
they form in their mind. You give them a vague image,
and they interpret. And that's what makes great music.
There's albums 1 can go home and listen to, and find
something new every time."
This amalgamation of Catholic, vegetarian non-smokers
has only been in existence for six months, and already
they are an encouraging element in the cultural void we
call Nebraska. But this fake Hollywood pretentiousness
has got to stop. People will become alienated if the Bump
Fuzz is seen cruising by in the lap of luxury, while their
fans heating bills have yet to be paid.