Thursday, September 9, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
Page 13
Oldies influence . . .
rntinned from Pace 12
The Quackadero is really a carnival of
the mind, with a tunnel of youth, a hall of
time and a booth where Quasi discovers
his former lives. At one point he and Anita
enter an exhibit that reveals secret
thoughts. Anita's desire to be a belly
dancer is divulged, and a somewhat fright
ening image of Quasi devouring Anita turns
out to be what he had on his mind. These
are glimpses into our psyches, into the
secret desires and fears that lurk behind
our enjoyment of these coloful cartoons
with their violence and sometimes fiend
ish characters.
"I work mainly with the subconscious,"
Cruikshank has said. "In that sense, I'm a
primitive artist. Imagination has always
been my strong point."
It is interesting to watch the old
cartoons with this idea of primitiveness in
mind. Betty Boop will never be the same
after the Freudian undertones of her char
acter have bave been revealed. In one of
the oldies included in the retrospective,
"Bimbo's Initiation," made in 1931 by
ia i iciauicr, a iyne is sucKea into a
world of knives and fire and dancing
meanies trying to get him to join their
club. This darker side of childhood's imag
ination comes through in their chants of
"Wanna be a member? Wanna be a mem
ber?" and in Cruikshank's uncomfortably
amusing cartoons.
The last film in the retrospective is a
short preview of "Quasi's Cabaret." Cruik
shank hopes to collect enough money to
complete the full-length feature someday.
Cabaret describes Cruikshank's cartoon
world well. Like Anita says in her sly voice,
in the preview, this land of strange and
colorful characters leaping about is "so
exciting it will make you dizzy."
It is this dizziness which delights Sally
Cruikshank and which she brings to us
from the strange, silly, serious conscious
ness that we inhabited as children. And
somewhere in that same region of the mind
that is attracted to the tragi-comic quality
of "Rocky Horror Picture Show," we can
relate.
Gere movie avoids triteness
despite boy-meets-girl plot
By C. Scott Thompson
Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Conflict,
resolution. This, perhaps the oldest
scenario, is the basis of thousands of films,
including "An Officer and a Gentleman."
The film, which stars Richard Gere and
Debra Winger, is never trite, however.
It is a fresh, poignant film, both thorough
and entertaining.
In the opening scene, young Zack
Mayo (Richard Gere) contemplates his
derelict father, who lies in a drunken
Movie
Review
stupor with the fat whore he brought
home the night before.
As he lights a cigarette, flashbacks
of his childhood, spent in the Philippines
as a military dependent, fade in and out.
His mother kills herself after his father
deserts her, and little Zack grows up
very much a loner. The technique works
well to establish Zack's character, which
much of the film focuses on later.
Zack's father stumbles out of bed to
throw up. Zack calmly announces his
plans to join the Navy, much to Dad's
disbelief and amusement. When Dad
asks why, Zack says, "I want to fly jets" -not
to serve his country or to improve
himself, but to fly jets.
Once at officers' training camp at
Port Townsend, Wash., he meets Paula
(Debra Winger) and her best friend
Linnette at a debutante dance. The young
women are what Sgt. Foley (Louis Gosset,
Jr.) refers to as "Puget debs." They want
only one thing from life: "to marry a
naval a-vi-ator."
Needless to say, Zack and Paula become
heavily infatuated with each other. Gere
and Winger make an excellent couple.
His melted chocolate eyes and her tawny
complexion and sexy, raspy voice conjure
an electric presence on film.
At a time when gratuitous sex is a
predictable part of most films, the sex
in "officer" is not gratuitous and is well
done: an honest integral part of the story.
The film has some intriguing subplots
that make it especially interesting. For
instance, Zack's sidekick Sid (David
Keith) gets paired up with Paula's friend
Linnette. Sid is in training camp following
in the footsteps of his dear older brother,
who latter dies in Vietnam. Sid is a good
ol Okie from Muskogiee and Linnette,
in Sid's words, "has a beaudacious set
of ta-tas."
As the story moves through the 13
weeks of camp, Paula falls in love with
Zack, while Zack is reluctant to admit
he has fallen in love with Paula. He has
the freedom loverloner complex common
to many macho men.
Gere does a wonderful job of acting
and the casting in general is pinpoint
perfect. As Zack, he is a little less suave
than his character in "American Gigolo"
and a little more sensitive arid real than
he was in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar,"
but basically, he plays the same character
again, even though he does it well.
In the end, just when it looks like
Zack is going to get his way, there is a
believable change in his character that
changes his mind, and girl gets boy -or
boy gets girl, however you want to
look at it.
As the promotion indicates, the film
is uplifting. It risks being trite and maudlin,
but if it doesn't make you want to laugh
and cry at the same time, you are either
asleep or have ice in your veins.
Directed by Taylor Hackford and pro
duced by Martin Elfance, "Officer" is
a film that goes beyond a good love story
to become a fine character study. The
supporting subplots are superb, and the
cinematography by Donald Thorin is
consistent with the film.
The soundtrack also is well tailored.
Ironically, it sounds like the music from
"American Gigolo" in places, even though
the title song is sung by Joe Cocker.
a
CO
THE 5TH ANNUAL
AOIT ROCK-A-THON FOR ARTHRITIS
Help us raise money to fight the nation's
No. 1 crippling disease.
Thursday, Sept. 9 - Saturday. Sept. 1 1
All proceeds to go to the Arthritis Foundation
-
A '
Photo courtesy of Sheldon Theatre
Quasi in his technicolor bedroom.
it it it it it it it it itit
Furjdraisep-Virgirjia Walsl?
for U.S. Senate
Catfish dinner from Soul Food Kitchen
Music by the Bluebirds Dinner at 6 pm
Music starts at 7pm
NEW MALONE COMMUNITY CENTER
' 2032 "U" Street
$10 - SEPT. 19
Paid for by Walsh for Senate j.
ititititititititititititititititititititit
Cine-Star" Productions Presents...
. . i ..... m
An Exotic Explosion of stars in...
r m u r
V 1
I
Tup
aftWCE
5 STARRING
STARRING
VANESSA del RIO GEORGINA SPELVIN
JOHN LESLIE RICHARD PACHECO
- ANNA TURNER RANDY WEST MAI LIN
JOEY SIVERA KAY PARKER
R.IMM4 by A-B FILM. INC.
Cott"0fil UCMLXKXI
CinC'Star'Productvons BATED X
Dancers: 10:00; 11:10;
4:20; 7:30; 10:40
The
EMBASSY
1730 "0"
476-6042
PLUS CO-HIT
OUTLAW LADIES
starring: Veronica Hart, John Leslie
Samatha Fox, Juliet Anderson Jody Maxwell
Outlaw: 11:45; 2:55; 6:00; 9: 15; 12:20
Fri. & Sat. Late Show at 1:45 a.m.
TOY US Qm
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WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER-resources, counseling, in
formation and programs for and about women. Visit us in
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