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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1984)
Tuesday, February 23, 1S34 Pago 8 Daily Nebraskan East and West, art and reality are juxtaposed in miniature jilm Review by Eric Peterson The Hullaballoo Over Georgie 's and Bonnie's Pictures is fine and delicate, slow and appreciative. The film show ed Sunday and Monday in the Sheldon Film Theatre as part of UPCs Foreign Film series. 4 James Ivory, who directed the film, has been particularly concerned by connections between the West and the very different world of India. His most recent film, Heat and Dust, has the feel of an appreciative outside observer of Indian life, even though the film was based on a novel by an Indian woman. Heat and Dust, featuring Julie Christie and Nickplas Grace among others, was a long and rather beautiful film in. which bridges between past life and present, Indian and European worlds, are built. The Hullaballoo Over Georgie's and Bonnie 's Pictures is much shorter and lighter only S5 minutes long and much less ambitious, in every sense, than Heat and Dust, . , In both pictures there is a continu ous interplay of East and West; the difference" is that in The Hullaballoo Over Georgie's and Bonnie's Pictures the juxtaposition of the two worlds is rarely ironic. The sense is not so heavy that the uninvited west is intruding where it does not belong. Jazz seems very natural in the marble halls of the palace where the shorter film is set. In Georgie's study, old photographs of his family in stiff traditional dress are next to modern ones of the European women to whom he is attracted. The clearest and most delightful mixing of two worlds is a Christmas celebration that Georgia, played by. Victor Bannerjee, holds for his West ern guests. Indian school children sing "Jingle Bells" and . he dresses up as Santa Claus. The guests, however, have come to scavenge. Georgie and Bonnie, brother and sister, are settling the family est ate between them, although Georgie, as the male, seems to have the final say in what goes to who in the division. Lady Gee, an old friend of the maha rajah's family, played by Peggy Ash croft, and Mr. Haven, an American col lector, played by Larry Pine, have come to Georgie's palace to see if they can get their hands on his priceless family collection of miniature paintings. She wants to put them in an English museum; he wants to look at them every day in his own house. "I believe works of art belong to those who most appreciate them and desire them the most," Haven explains his aesthetic JFT.v. ' . V Conflmticn cfthe impact cfllichsel Jackson's monster hit zXhxzxThriller broadcast cf the Grsminy Awards. For complete dctdb, see Television. elitism. Art is regarded as a form of holiness within the film, and the collectors are its fervent devotees. In the hushed voice a religious person might use to talk of the conversion experience, . Haven speaks of the first time he saw an Indian miniature and of the last time he talked to a great collector of Indian manuscripts and paintings: The centerpiece of the film is a look at the manuscripts which lasts several minutes. The whole film feels as if it were constructed around these deli cate painted scenes, to do them justice in some way and dramatize their power. Haven has persuaded the raj Georgie to show the paintings to hint; they go to the dusty room where the pictures lie neglected and molding, and carefully bring thern to light. The still shots are quite beautiful, of tiny deer and delicate colors contin ued by firm outlines. A fantastical garden is revealed, the laws of pers pective repealed in order to view each rare and lovely space from top and side at the same time. One painting commemorates the wildest of parties, Indian lords arid ladies enjoying var ious drugs and drinks, several sprawl ed on the grass. At one extraordinary sight, a man and lover with elegant dark hair and red-tipped fingers, Haven and Georgie can only lpok at. one another in the silent awe of the image's beauty. In order to keep the paintings in his own house, where in the end they stay, Georgie spirits them away to another hiding place and burns the fake minia tures he replaces in the dusty storage room, to throw the salacious collectors off the track of them. Lady Gee walks in the Christian cemetery, looks at the rows of crosses, and talks of her des pair at their loss to the world. "What does one love them for? that they're supposed to be here always." The minia tures are a security and a contempla tion safe in a world which is not as delicate and ordered as they are. There are indications, however, that the miniatures, as lovely as they are, are not as strong as life. Georgie's Eng lish lover, who seems to be without energy or consciousness, is neverthe less right on target when she points out the petty actions the desire for art has driven the collectors to. And Bon nie, who values the future more than she does the traditional past, prefers new opportunities to paintings. "I'm not one of your precious pictures," she tells a devotee and for that we have to be glad. : .A '1 1 1 Jt 1 Lake Skywalken "Another great American." '(Dim $m& Glenia iraimMsce i .pin i ii wi cii o Tom: This is Tom Mockler and Glenn Stuva At the Concession Stand and today we're going to talk about the Star Wars movies! Oh boy. Glenn: Oh boy. Tom: Well, Glenn, why do you think they were so popular? Tom Mockler Cz Glenn Sfcuva Glenn: Oh, ah, I don't know . . . why do you think they were so popular? Tom: Oh because they were really neat. Because there's nothing I like to see better than a bunch of bad guys get blown up with space-age weapons. Glenn: I think they fulfilled a basic ; j : r i W if A MTV will coi seen tonight's pas human need. Don't ask me what that need was. Tom: Who's your favorite character Glenn? Glenn: Oh, ah, Han Solo. Tom: Why so, Glenn? Glenn: Because he's so neat. Tom: Oh yeah? I like Carrie Fisher. Glenn: Why's that? Tom: Because she's really beautiful And no room would be complete with out a poster of C3PO. Glenn: Did you ever buy one of those Darth Vader masks they had? I always wanted to get one. Tom: No, sorry, although I do have all the soundtrack albums. Continued cn Fane 9 Television If everything goes as expected, the 26th annual Grammy Awards should provide the official corona tion for Michael Jackson. Jackson is up for a myriad of awards for his monumental Thriller album and other achievements. The program airs at 7 p.m. on Channels 6 and 10. John Denver will emcee. It may not be.as important as the Grammys, but the New Hampshire primary results will be broad cast at 10:30 p.m. on all three networks. Most cover age is set to last a half hour. Refuge, a drama about four people thrown together on a remote island off the coast of Maine, will air as part of the American Playhouse series at 9 p.m. on Channel 1 2. It was written by Huck Fairman and Luther Sperberg. At the Sheldon A documentary by French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau will be presented in the Film Theatre at 3:30, 7 and 9 p.m. World Without Sun won an Academy Award for its documentation of Cous teau's exciting sea romps. Admission is by donation. Around Tov.n Country music singer-songwriter Jack Elliot will be at Earl's Tavern, 56th Street and Havelock Aver.uc, Cover charge Li $1.