Horse art
on display
in Lincoln
HORSES from page 12
enormous bam full of neon horses.
“There must’ve been 30 horses
of all shapes, colors and sizes,”
Karen Duncan said.
Robert Duncan said Anderson’s
artwork had immediate appeal.
“We thought it was unique and
very attractive,” he said.
After looking at a few of
Anderson’s already existing horses,
the Duncans decided on what pose
and color they wanted for their
horse. Then, in the spring of 1997,
Nebraskans got their first glimpse
of the blue stallion.
Anderson said he had been mak
ing neon horses for the past nine
years but had never sold one for dis
play in Nebraska.
i was Kiiiu oi surprised,
Anderson said. “Especially because
they’re pretty big-name collectors.
That was very satisfying to me that
they thought my work was good
enough for them.”
Anderson said his idea for neon
horse sculptures “just kind of
evolved over time.”
He said horses were traditional
subjects for sculptures, and he orig
inally tried to make one out of fused
and bent glass. When that didn’t
work he turned to neon and found
immediate success.
“Sometimes things work right
away, and other times you can strug
gle for a year and not get anywhere,”
Anderson said.
In time his horses began receiv
ing attention at art shows, and
Anderson decided to make neon
horses his full-time occupation.
Anderson said he is still work
ing on the Duncans’ two new horses,
finished and ready
to ship in about a month and a half.
Robert Duncan said he was sure
the new horses would have just as
much public appeal as the first one;
and despite his wife’s initial desire
to place a whole herd of neon hors
es, he said the two new horses would
mark the end of his ranching career.
“I think one grouping is proba
bly sufficient,” Robert Duncan said.
“We’re probably done with the hors
. es.”
‘Dove’ an
atypical
love story
By Barb Churchill
Film Critic
The promo reads: “A couple with
everything but money. An heiress
with everything but love. A tempta
tion no one could resist.” This encap
sulates the basic twist of “The Wings
of the Dove,” which explores various
attitudes toward sexuality and morali
ty as well as the foibles of the very
wealthy in the London and Venice of
1910.
The basic plot is as follows: Kate
(Helena Bonham Carter) loves
Merton (Linus Roache), a lowly jour
nalist. However, Kate’s Aunt Maude
(Charlotte Rampling) doesn’t like
Merton because he isn’t wealthy, and
because he (horrors!) works for a liv
ing.
Kate aoesn t want to lose Merton
but can’t afford to disappoint her
wealthy aunt. Aunt Maude is paying
Kate’s father (Michael Gambon)
enough to indulge in his booze and
drug habits. In effect, Kate has been
sold by her father to her aunt to make
a good marriage with some wealthy
gentleman, and Kate has no say in the
matter. An intelligent woman, Kate
starts to scheme a way to have Merton
and get her aunt to leave her alone.
Opportunity comes knocking
when Kate meets an American
heiress, Millie. Millie is bright,
charming, funny, rich... and dying.
Kate becomes good friends with
Millie, all in order to set Millie up
with Merton. Next, Kate attempts to
convinceMerton to seduce Millie, so
when Millie inevitably dies, Merton
will have Millie’s money (and, not so
coincidentally, Kate.)
However, what usually happens to
.the “best laid plans of mice and -
men?”
You guessed it. As Kate planned,
Millie falls in love with Merton.
However, Merton also falls in love
with Millie. Because Kate can’t bear
the thought of Merton kissing her best
friend, things start to unravel from
there.
As Kate, Helena Bonham Carter
shows how a great beauty can use her
body to get (almost) everything she
wants. She becomes ruthlessly
manipulative, even sacrificing her
best friend and straining her relation
ship with Merton to the breaking
point, all to have what she wants:
Merton and money.
As Millie, Alison Elliot shows a
relentlessly angelic presence. Millie is
an American, and she’s dying, so she
is allowed to openly show her sexuali
ty (which would be quite unusual in
the world of 1910). Millie flirts with
Merton and even gets drunk and
invites herself up to his bedroom, all
without breaking her saintly
demeanor one iota. (Merton, to his
credit, declines.) Millie is pretematu
rally alert, paying attention to all of
Merton’s and Kate’s moods. She even
knows thatKatc is trying to maniptr
late her and Merton and forgives her.
Elliot’s luminous beauty enhances her
portrayal of die saindy Millie, and
almost redeems her from being a
stock character.
Elizabeth McGovern, as Millie’s
companion and nurse Susan, deserves
special mention here. Although her
part is small, McGovern gives her
portrayal erf Susan empathy, compas
sion and dignity.
However, the main reason to see
this film is the handsome and
debonair Linus Roache. As Merton,
he simply shines. It’s obvious to see
why Millie would immediately fall
for Merton, a man with looks, brains
and talent. It’s also easy to see why
Kate would risk everything in order to
hold onto him. Merton easily could
have become another stock character,
wisely, Roache forgoes the innocent
victim route and gives a more realistic,
performance of a man tom between,
morality and temptation. Roache’s
face reflects the inner torment that
Merton feels as he’s being faced with
the choice between the woman he
thought he loved (and definitely pas
sionately desires), Kate, and the
woman he actually has more in com
mon with, the dying Millie. In effect,
Merton is trying to choose between a
mature, dignified love with Millie and
a passionate, sensual type of experi
ence with Kate. Who wins, and why,
is the basis of this film.
Art house flicks have a bad name
among students, simply because of the
effort it takes to follow a more serious
film. But for those willing to give
almost two hours of their time, “Dove”
will reward highly. See it with your
significant other; it will give you loads
to talk about.
“The Wings of the Dove” runs
Thursday through Saturday at the
Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.
___
L ■ - ■■■ ■ v:>. r ,_i I
’ ' - Photo Courtesy of Miramax Films
HELENA BONHAM CARTER is a strong-willed heiress and Linus Roache is the lower-class journalist whom she
attempts to snare in lain Softley’s “The Wings of the Dove.”
/PV Comer of 11 th & K
__.__ ]Jl \ 477-3513_
