Arts & Entertainment
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Courtesy of Orion
In ^‘Dances w^th^ iKev*» Costner)an<1 Stands With A Fist (Mary Dunbar) take a romantic walk
Above: Dunbar and Sioux tribesmen trek across the prairie.
Visual ‘Wolves’may dance to the Oscars
By Julie Naughton
Senior Reporter
Directed, co-produced and star
ring Kevin Costner, “Dances With
Wolves,” is an Academy Award-cali
ber film, a realistic portrayal of inter
action between Native Americans and
Caucasians during the time of the
Civil War.Itistheextraordinary story
of an ordinary hero’s search for the
meaning of life and the meaning of
his own life.
The epic film opens in the middle
of the Civil War, in Tennessee. Union
soldier Lt. John J. Dunbar (Costner),
as a reward for heroism, chooses to be
reassigned to a remote Western post.
He wants to experience the frontier
before it disappears.
When he arrives at Fort Sedge
wick, he finds that he is its only in
habitant. At first, Dunbar’s only
companions ire his horse and a wolf
that he dubs “Two Socks.” Dunbar
keeps a copious journal of his thoughts
and feelings about the wilderness.
“There can be no place like this on
Earth,” he exults one day, soon after
arriving at the abandoned fort.
Soon, Dunbar comes in contact
with the Sioux people. He meets the
holy man, Kicking Bird (Graham
Greene); the warrior, Wind in His
Hair (Rodney A. Grant); the tribal
chief, Ten Bears (Floyd Red Crow
Westerman); and Stands With A Fist
(Mary McDonnell), a white woman
adopted into the tribe as a young
child.
At first, there is no communica
tion between the Sioux and Dunbar.
Costner uses Lakoia Sioux with Eng
lish subtitles when the Native Ameri
cans are speaking, adding to the real
ism of the film. Dunbar and the Sioux
finally are able to communicate, as
Stands With A Fist struggles to re
member the English language.
Through Dunbar’s acts of friend
ship, bravery and honesty, he gradu
ally is accepted by the Sioux, and is
assimilated into the tribe. The Sioux
give him a Sioux name, Dances With
Wolves, which originates when they
see Dunbar playing with Two Socks.
The film follows Dunbar’s romance
with Stands With A Fist and his re
markable friendships with the Native
Americans, and what happens when
the white men from the East finally
arrive at Fort Sedgewick.
“Dances With Wolves” is a very
visual film, featuring expansive seen -
ery and physical action. It restores
grace and dignity to the western film,
while telling a poignant and moving
story. It is a testament to the human
spirit and definitely one of the best
films of 1990.
One of the film’s great successes is
Costner as Dunbar. Dunbar is a sensi
tive man — an 1860s “thirtysom
ething” equivalent — and the audi
ence cares about his life and what
happens to him.
It is a double triumph for the tal
ented, popular Costner that his first
directing job and second producing
job should be so richly satisfy ing and
well-done. Costner could be nomi
nated for Best Actor and Best Direc
tor honors, and his Film could be
nominated for Best Film honors, at
this spring’s Academy Awards.
Obic Award-winning actress
McDonnell, as Stands With A Fist, is
moving. Her portrayal of Dunbar’s
love interest — of a young woman
See WOLVES on 11
Prose will keep readers
up past ‘Witching Hour’
By William Rudolph
Staff Reporter
The Witching Hour
Anne Rice
Alfred A. Knopf
Anne Rice likes to write about the
permanent things in this world: love,
the struggle between good and evil,
vampires, mummies and, under vari
ous pen names, sadomasochistic ver
sions of fairy tales.
No matter how seemingly farfetched
or overblown her dark topics might
be, R’ce firmly spins out pages upon
pages of luscious, hypnotic prose that
have won her a rabid following and
even pulled good reviews from stodgy,
“serious fiction” critics at the New
York Times Book Review.
In her latest work, “The Witching
Hour,” Anne Rice takes a break from
her phenomenally popular Vampire
Chronicles to create a dark mythol
ogy of witchcraft, incest, curses and
obsession that spans four centuries.
Throughout the centuries, the
mysterious organization known as the
Talamasca has investigated occult
phenomena. One particularly thick
case history concerns the Mayfair
Witches of New Orleans, a legacy of
powerful women who have used their
supernatural powers since the seven
teenth century to obtain all they’ve
ever wanted.
The Mayfair Witches have achieved
their ends through the use of a demon
familiar known only as Lasher, a spirit
who is each witch’s ally, agent and
ultimately her destruction.
Each witch has been more power
ful than her predecessor. Now, in the
13th generation, the unholy hopes of
Lasher seem to be at their summit in
the person of Rowan Mayfair, the
brilliant neurosurgeon who ha« been
raised unaware of the dark legacy
threatening to claim her.
All that changes when Rowan res
cues a drowned man from the waters
of San Francisco Bay. When archi
tect Michael Curry returns to life, he
brings a strange psychic power with
him from the other side, and the con
viction that he has a mission to fulfill
that is somehow tied in with his New
Orleans origins.
What Rowan and Michael don’t
anticipate is that they will fall pas
sionately in love. What neither of
them foresees is that this rescue will
set in motion the realization of the
Mayfair Legacy.
And as fate stretches out its arms
to bring the two lovers back to New
Orleans, the tortuous history of the
Mayfair Witches unfolds within the
novel through the writings of the
Talamasca, which has broken its code
of silence to try to break Lasher’s
spell before it’s too late.
Rice’s prose is as lush as ever in
"The Witching Hour,” equally at home
describing Rowan and Michael’s
supematurally charged sexual she
nanigans or recreating the intoler
ance of 17th century Scotland, when
Suzanne of the Mayfair’s burning at
the stake sets in motion a future that
will haunt all her descendents.
Then, too, there is the mesmeriz
ing description of the antebellum
Mayfair mansion falling into decay in
the Garden District, and the many
layered mysteries that lie beneath the
languid surface of New Orleans, Rice’s
own home. Through her eyes, we see
the glittering lives of the Mayfairs,
See WITCHING on 11
‘Just in Time' jingles with mix
of soulful hope and jolly revel
By John Payne
Senior Reporter
Various Artists
“Just in Time For Christmas”
I.R.S.
With the holidays fast approach
ing, *tis truly the season for Christ
mas albums, and I.R.S. has just
released a hip little stocking stuffer
of its own.
“Just in Time for Christmas” is
a collection of Yuletide tunes from
several veteran I.R.S. artists, as
well as a couple of rookies.
As varied as it is festive, “Just in
Time” makes a nice addition to
any compact disc collection, and
once again proves I.R.S.’s ability
to produce good compilations.
Some of the best songs on the
LP are traditional Christmas fare,
like Steve Hunter’s “We Three
Kings,” or newcomer Molly
Johnson’s stirring rendition of
“Silent Night.” Both tracks are filled
with echoing vocal effects and sharp,
buzzing synthesizers.
Socially conscious Timbuk 3
sings of discontent and greed with
“All I Want for Christmas,” while
material girls Rebel Pebbles lake a
decidedly different outlook at the
holidays with “Cool Yule.”
And that’s probably the nicest
thing about this collection. For every
song of good cheer and inspiration,
there are two more strictly intended
for laughs. To that end, I.R.S. has
included the likes of Klark Kent
and Wall of Voodoo, the latter
poking serious fun at gift-giving
with ‘Shouldn’t Have Given Him
a Gun for Christmas.”
Those Rastafarian hound dogs
Dread Zeppelin even make an
appearance with “All I Want for
Christmas is my Two Front Teeth.”
Tortelvis and Jah Paul Jo are at
their best, alternating the reggae
and the rockabilly in their trade
mark fashion.
Former Police member Stewart
Copeland has been handling the
production for Animal Logic, and
his touch is evident on “It Only
Comes Once a Year,” a nolo track
from Logic’s lead vocalist Debo
rah Holand.
The real standout on the compi
lation, though, is Reckless Sleep
ers’ “Every Day Will be Like a
Holiday,” a soulful number about
separation and reunion. Christmas
melodies like this, or Torch Song’s
“Hark,” simply beg to be heard on
compact disc, with only the crack
ling ofawarm fireplace for accom
See IRS on 11