Thursday, October 4, 1984
Page 12
Daily Nebraskan
Intriguing 'Soldier's Story' explores blacks' changing roies
Dy Chris Welsch
Dally Nebraskan Staff Editor
"A Soldier's Story" is much more
than that. It's a murder mystery,
an insightful exploration of
changing values at the end of
World War II and of the complex
effects of those changes on blacks.
It's a damn good story.
The movie starts with the mur
der of Master Sgt. Vernon C. Wat
ers, a hard-ass who is hated by
his troops. Waters, played well by
Adolph Caesar, leads a troop of
all-black soldiers waiting for as
signment in the European Thea
ter. Howard E. Rollins Jr. plays
Richard Davenpart, a sharp-look-
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7
ing black captain sent to investi
gate the murder. The white offic
ers at Fort Neal in Louisiana res
ent Davenport and fear he wont
be successful in the investigation
because of his race.
Davenport is determined to find
, the killer his thorough investi
gation makes a fascinating mur
der mystery.
He interviews all the men of
Waters' troop. An intriguing por
trait of Waters emerges in their
recollections. The sergeant is ob
sessed with imitating whites be
cause he thinks this war will
bring blacks into the mainstream.
He humiliates and abuses his
troops in his overzealous quest to
eliminate "geechies" and "yassus."
Davenport has the formidable
task of finding the killers in hos
tile territory. The white officers
are covering up for two of their
men who were the last to see
Waters alive. Davenport is told he
probably won't be able to arrest
any whites for the crime be
they Klansmen or officers.
But what begins as a cut and
dry case of racial killing becomes
more and more complex as Wat
ers relationship with the black
troops is revealed.
Rollins is magnificent as Daven
port. He handles the prejudice of
the white soldiers and the admi
ration of the black ones with the
same cool demeanor. "Soldier's
Story" revolves around Waters,
but Rollins makes it Davenport's
story too.
Caesar also excells in his role.
Although Waters in hateable, Cae
sar makes the character more
than just a knee-jerk bad guy.
Waters wants to be part of the
white world, but as the movie
progresses, he becomes horrified
at the hypocrisy of his actions. In
his efforts to further the race,
Waters actually steps backward
with his viciousness. Caesar por
trays that struggle so well, one
becomes sympathetic to the mis
led sergeant.
The role of blacks in society
was changing rapidly at the end
of WWII. Waters represented one
extreme a man proud of his
black heritage, not cowed by preju
dice. He was a success with a
law degree and the stripes of a
captain in a white army.
C.J. Memphis, a dumb, friendly
black who was considered an
"Uncle Tom" was scorned by Wat
ers. Memphis was Waters' exact
opposite. Played by Larry Riley,
Memphis suffers Waters' abuse
until it drives him to the edge
essentially taking Waters with
him.
Technically, "A Soldier's Story"
is straightforward. Everything Is
real. The camera work is smooth
with some fine subtle touches.
During one scene the camera
takes in Waters as he talks about
a"geechie"like Memphis he knew
in WWI. In the background Mem
phis sings a blues tune. The cam
era closes in on the mirror until
all that is seen is Waters lined
face, his thin-lipped mouth; the
focus, grinding insult after insult,
showing his hate then panning
back to see the friendly innocent
Memphis, smiling and singing.
The blues music in the bar
scene is as good as anything you'll
hear at the Zoo, and Herbie Han
cock's funky, '40s soundtrack
completes the movie.
The acting is fine-tuned, the
timing is right-on. It's a slick job.
A story well told.
ttA Soldier's Story" should be at
a Lincoln Theater soon.
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Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Sgt. Waters (Adolph Caesar, right) holds the smoking gun and accuses C. J. (Larry Eiley) of
pulling the trigger.
Bay Area exhibit .
Continued from Page 11
These artists have helped make
San Francisco more in tune with
the mainstream of contemporary
art, like the East Coast, but with a
West Coast flavor representing
individual freedom. The stress on
the individual produces a variety
of styles with no central focus
except the power of the artist's
personal approaches to their
work. This factor also seems to
glue the exhibition together.
Otherwise, it looks like an abridged
edition of contemporary painting
in the United States, with works
representing most major move
ments in modern American art.
One of the strongest pieces in
the show (also the largest), is a
1983 work by William T. Wiley
titled "Agent Orange." The use of
folk icons and found objects de
rived from the "Funk" art of Cali
fornia, which tends to demystify
art. The multimedia collage,
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painting, print and assemblage is
reminiscent of Robert Rauschen
berg's "Monogram" and the value
placed on the found objects leans
into the realm of the metaphy
sical Another interesting piece is a
large mixed-media work on can
vas titled "I Used to Draw in
Church on Sunday by Raymond
Saunders. The black-textured
painting is accented with "patches"
and "zips" of brilliant color, and
feels like it belongs among Ab
stract Expressionist work be
cause many techniques are bor
rowed from that movement.
In contrast to the Abstract
Expressionist works is the photo
realism of Richard McLean. His
painting "Satin Doll" looks like a
snapshot blown up about 100
times and must be an airbrush
painting since no brushstrokes
are visible. Representative of
another brand of realism is .a
small oil painting by Wayne Thie
baud titled, "Holy Park Ridge."
Although the work is not a still
life (his usual subject matter),
the approach to the landscape is
similar bright colors and thick
textures reflecting the vulgar
commercialism of pop ait from a
California point of view.
There are several other works
in the exhibition landscapes,
geometric abstractions, figurative
paintings and painted sculptures.
One by Manueal Neri looks much
like Edgar Degas' "Dressed Ballerina"
