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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1984)
Daily Nebraskan Thursday, April 19, 1C34 TIT! in i dialogue creates brilliant weo Pago 8 It has been said in certain Holly wood circles that Robert Altman wants to do everything once, meaning he wants to direct a version of every kind of film that can be made. No one can accuse him of of concen trating his efforts within a certain genre just because of comfort and suc cess. As of late, he has been rediscover ing the theater in two very different films, Conic Back To Hie Five And Dine, JummyDcan, Jimmy Dean and in his latest film, Streamers. Jirlilil Review Streamers was originally a play pen ned by David Rabe. It premiered at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn. Streamers concerns itself with four young men gathered together in an army barracks before they leave for Vietnam. Each one hails from a differ ent background, but they all wear the same uniform. They have little knowl edge of why they are there and even less about where they are going. , Billy (Matthew Modine) is a big, strapping kid who was probably the captain of his high school football team. lie has traditional ideas about the way people should act. Ha reads Playboy, plays basketball in his spare time and thinks he knows how to have fun. As Billy, Modine moves well in front of the camera and photographs even better. But Billy has a problem in that he does not know quite what to make of Richie (Mitchell Lichtcnstein), one of his bunkmates. Richie is a sophisticated homosexual from Manhattan. His army buddies want to know if he is gay for sure, but he just leads them on, content to let them think whatever they will. He uses their logic against them which makes them feel insecure about their own sexuality, among other things. Lich tenstein's performance is cool and con trolled. After he says something, he always seems to wait around to see the reactions of his comrades, to see if they take his words at face value. Roger (David Alan Grier) is a middle class black who lives in the same camp as Billy. Both like girls and both believe in their country, right or wrong. Grier efficiently conveys restraint with his character, never committing himself one way or the other. Soon, Carlyle happens by the corn pond looking for Roger. Carlyle is a poor black with street smarts. A new recruit, he is convinced that he does not belong in the army. At times he is on edge, slightly crazy. At other times he is friendly and funny. AH of the characters are interre lated on different levels. Rabc has crafted a brilliant web of psychological characterization. The dialogue is nat uralistic and to the point with its, shall we say, lockerroom emphasis. Altman keeps all the actors on long leashes. He wind3 them up, points them in a certain direction, letting them rise to their own potential. Alt man has always allowed his actors a certain amount of freedom in inter preting their roles, and this film is no different. Like Jimmy Dean, Streamers is a theatrical film. All the action takes place within the barracks and we never leave, no matter how bad we want to. This is an intense film. Altman knows how and when to tighten the screws. The visual direction is flawless; we know where we are at all times. When the soldiers lie around and talk, we get excellent little cutaways of the boys swinging their lockers open or reach ing up to inadvertently grab the wire mesh of the cot above. Streamers does not have the visual integrity of Jimmy Dean, and it doesn't need it. The powerful intuition of the script and the strong acting really comes through. Everyone in the film endures an emminent transformation of sorts, an awakening. Carlyle plays the central role in this. He sees through everyone's masks. Cokes (George Dzunda) and Rooney (Guy Boyd) are childlike veterans, hope lessly intoxicated with the faded glory of the military. The boys watch the drunken antics of their superior offic ers like children who watch their par ents at play. They go along, acting sur prised and slightly disappointed, smi ling all the way. Streamers is a dark, scary film which brings to light some of the prob lem issues in the army during Vietnam. The characters are all caught some where between their expectations and reality. One gets the impression of hav ing been exposed to an important statement at the conclusion of Strea mers. It is a profound mess indeed. Cards s Letters Reader: Film brought smile This is silly with all the important issues to day which warrant let ters to the editor, I feel the need to reply to a film review;. I have no objec tions to Mike Frost's com ments on Racing Woth The Moon; (Daily Nebras kan, April 10) I just think he's wrong, and I would hate to see anybody not go to the movie because it received a bad review. The story is not weighty, to be sure, but it accurately portrays the world of three teenagers in 1942 trying to nego tiate the difficult transi tion between childhood and growing up. They are shallow and wise, obnox ious and likeable, con fused and courageous; in short, they are real peo ple and they make the audience smile. The act ing is good, the setting authentically rendered, and the action is believa- ble. What more can a di rector do? It's silly to speak up for a movie that's not impor tant when there are so 1 4 many serious problems to be addressed. But a film that makes you smile doesn't come along all .that often and the aud ience for this one left the theater happy. Maybe that's worth a letter after all Maureen Honey Assistant Professor of English The arts and enter tainment section wel comes lettersfromitsread ers. Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, origin ality, timeliness and space available. The Daily Nebraskan re serves the right to edit all material. The section also en courages story ideas. Please send your ideas and comments to the Arts and Entertainment Edi tor, 34 Nebraska Union, Lincoln, Neb., 68588. All letters become property of the Daily Nebraskan. OPEN YOUE TO GREAT. S3 TTTt 7 'S4 fi VI Listen & Enjoy: -A- High Heel & tli2 Sneaker -VThe Rave April 27 at 12:30 South of NE East Union vS)M r.sllino Cora-Coin! ft 1 1:7 I J 4 ll S n V S f ff ffitfc Eradicate pimples ? Dream on. . . I've had pimples for about eight years now and I do a lot of thinking about them. Everyone has his own theories about how pimples show up on a person's face. Some say it's because of chocolate or greasy foods. I think it goes beyond dietary reasons. Evertime my face breaks out with blemishes my mother tells me it's because I'm worrying too much. Of course, being a good son, I tell her that's the silliest thing IVe ever heard. But deep down, I believe her. In fact, IVe even gone beyond her "worry theory." Stew Magnuson I personally believe that every pimple on my face is symbolic of something I am currently worrying about. For instance, a pimple on my chin is the result of an upcoming exam, an other is the result of worrying too much about getting a job this summer. There's a pimple on my forehead that never seems to go away and I'm pretty sure it's up there because I'm always worrying about the threat of nuclear war. I also believe it is senseless to try to keep pimples off my face. It's a battle 111 never win. I can throw all the chemicals and junk on my face that are advertised during American Bandstand to eradicate a pimple and there will be another muffin to take its place the next day. It's hopeless. I am convinced that pimples will never leave my face. When I was a senior in high school I said, "Well 111 be graduating in a few weeks; I guess now that I won't be in high school, I won't have pimples anymore." That was not to be. Later, as I approached my first year of col lege, I said the same thing. "Well I'm entering college now. College stu dents don't have pimples. My face should be clearing up August 17 at midnight," I said to myself. But the pimples stayed. I was still hopeful though, especially as I approached my 20th birthday. "W elL only teenagers have pimples. So when I turn 20, my face will definitely clear up." Of course it didn't happen then, either. The horrible truth came out when I saw a pimple on my 40-year-old father's face. I always wondered why Dad wore a beard So IVe come to accept pimples. Ill never stop worrying about things, so I guess 111 always have those dreaded blemishes. The last interesting thing IVe found about pimples is that the word "pimple" rhymes with "dimple." Both pimples and dimples are found on the face. One b considered cute and the other is considered ugly. There isn't anything very significant about this, I just think the jux taposition is interesting.