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North Carolina School of the Arts
Deliverance
A trip down a rugged Georgia
river is the setting for the movie
Deliverance. Four suburbanite
men from Atlanta set out for a
weekend canoe trip down the
river which is to be doomed
eventually by the progress of
man in the form of a dam. They
are led into the adventure by
“heavy he-man” Burt Reynols
who ought to stick to centerfolds
rather than acting even though he
is perfect for the part he plays.
John Voight, another member of
the party, appears to idolize and
at the same time question Burt
Reynolds who is obsessed with
what he believes will be a future
of anarchy and total human self
reliance. Drew, a quieter, but
seemingly more sensitive man
'.han the others, probably has the
best scene in the movie when he
picks some pure bluegrass music
on his precious guitar with a
retarded mountain boy on banjo.
The boyB ghostly appearance and
silent elusiveness exemplifies
some of what the movie is about.
Bobby, the final member of the
party is a fat, sort of pitiful
character that has enough
trouble climbing in and out of a
canoe, let alone attempting to
shoot some rather dangerous
rapids.
Deliverance is based on the
novel by James Dickey, who also
plays the sherrif of a decaying
small town - decaying because
the dam will eventually drown
the town as it backs up the waters
of the river. The filming is good
and allows the surrounding
wilderness, dominated by the
river’s force, to give off an eerie,
primevil atmosphere.
The foursome leave the
comparatively safe city and
enter an adventure where both
man and nature seem to be
working against them and at the
same time testing their basic
instincts for survival. They meet
up with a pari of sadistic
mountaineers and from that point
a good deal of violence takes over
for the rest of the moVie.
I’ll refrain from going much
further into a description of the
plot as suspense is a strong point
of the movie and the way it is
shaped and climaxed is ex
cellently done. In particular is an
agaonizing climb up a sheer cliff
by John Voight, who is cluthching
a bow and arrows in search of a
toothless mountaineer believed to
be a threat to the group.
I left the theatre with mixed
feelings about Deliverance that
are difficult to describe and
actually pinpoint. I felt that more
could have been done with the
film’s interpretation of Dickey’s
novel, though visually they were
close in most every respect. I was
also offended by what appeared
to be a bias^ portrayal of
southern mountain people. In
comparison, I received the same
feeling about that useless, worn
out movie in the old days of
hif^iedom, “Easy Rider”. The
way Southern people were shown
was too iH'oad and prejudiced.
Deliverance failed in several
scenes, especially in the closing
shot, panning in on the water and
a hand rising above the murky
stillness. It just wasn’t
necessary.
It’s hard to state how most
people will react to Deliverance,
for I’ve heard a lot of conflicting
criticisms over the violence and
statement being made. It’s worth
seeing despite its flaws. There
are very few movies that succede
in every area and Deliverance
will at least give you something
to ponder, if nothing else.
-Bob Gambrill
Alice In
Wonderland
One of the big film let-downs of
the year was Josef Shaftel’s
Mary Poppin-ized production of
Alice in Wonderland. Con
structive criticism of this film
runs on several different levels,
not the least of which was the
music composed for it. Per
sonally, I found the songs and the
incidental music dull and unin
spired and, indeed, found myself
a trifle embarassed at the
inappropriatness of it all.
Another rather obvious
criticism was the choice of Fiona
Fullerton in the part of Alice. A
little too old, a little too
soi^isticated, and not enough
innate acting ability all combined
to produce a not-tooonvincing
Lewis Carroll creation.
Something at the back of my
mind told me that this girl drove
a sports car to the studio, that she
had gone through the debutante-
baU melange, and that she was
having an affair with the
Director. A bit unfair, perhaps,
but, nevertheless, this is the
type of impression I was left with.
Further indelibles might in
clude the fact that virtually every
scene seemed to cry out “I’M IN
A STUDIO” which had a ten
dency to detract from any kind of
attempted over-all illusion. The
sets were too slick and contrived
to be spontaneous and I was tired
of them the instant I laid eyes on
them. The animal costumes were
too beautiful and well-
constructed to be comfortable
and they had ‘MONEY’ written
all over them.
The whole atmosphere of the
film was somewhat intimidating
and embarassing and large
chunks of the audience that I was
with were, after a while,
fidgeting and looking at their
watches with sighs of boredom
escaping from their lips.
Disappointing indeed when a
Director doesn’t possess the
insight and awareness needed to
take an audience into account. All
in all, a film experience destined
for anmesia.
- Clifford Young
Heartbreak Kid
Direction Elaine Mae
Script Neil Simon
“The Heartbreak Kid” is one of
those films you’re glad you saw.
You don’t really know w^y and
you wouldn’t like to see it again.
It’s just that it was worth the
time, effort and your two dollars.
The fact in itself may be w4iat
makes the film good solid en
tertainment . Its honesty bites you
and so does its humor, reminding
you of '“nie (kaduate” and
“Goodbye Columbus”, not
perhaps as effective but still
good.
The film is focused around a
young sporting goods salesman
(Charles Gor^) who falls in
love with another girl on his
honeymoon and does everything
in his power to squirm out of one
attachment and plunge into the
other.
Charles Godin is perfectly cast
as the self-assured young con-
artist. In fact, it is hard for me to
visualize him in any other role.
He has a rather nondescript face
and looks as if he has gotten lost
and just wondered onto the set.
Of the two female performers,
Jeannie Berlin, the dumbell
bride, comes off as the better
actress. Blinded by her
background and her love for
Lenny, she is unaware of what is
happening. Singing “Close to You
(Played at their wedding)
horribly off key or munching on a
Milky Way while Lenny is trying
to make love to her, she drives
the viewer into a state of
frustration. Thus it is easier for
us to sympathize with Lenny’s
decision to get out of the
marriage even though we know
that he is giving her a rotten deal.
Cybil l^eppard (Last Picture
Show) seems to carry her school
girl arrogance a bit to far
especially for us to see her finaUy
marrying Lenny.
Eddie Albert very capably
fullfiUs the bill as Kelly’s (Cybil
Sheppareds’) over-protective
father.
“The Heartbreak Kid” is not a
masterpiece but it’s good and will
rank probably in 1973’s top ten
films.
- Sheila Creef
The Exraxist
Only infrequently does a book
come along with mounting in
tensity and suspense that is
capable of making the reader
question whether the work is fact
or fancy. Such an astonishing and
fascinating book is The Exorcist.
The work is a horrifying com
bination of myth and truth,
written in a literate style which is
obvisouly well researched by
author William Peter Blatty. Not
many can react blandly to the
book, as it deals face-on with the
Devil, himself.
The book, more than an ac
complished horror story, but also
a supernatural detective story, is
fast-moving, never once losing
the reader’s attention and his
curiosity as to “Who’s going to do
what?” The story holds the
audience in a coiled, steel grip as
it plays with it at will, tran
sferring to them its taut,
screaming tension growing so
unbearable that one will find
himself having to put the book
down and walk around a little just
for relief (although every second
of the rest you cannot wait to
return to the story). The work is
always considerate of its
audience, rewarding them with a
tremendously pleasurable ex
perience.
Dealing with the possession of a
pre-adolescent girl and the en
suing battle between a priest and
the pssessing demon. The
Exorcist more than holds its own
along with the works of the
masters, Mary Shelley and
Edgar Allen Poe. Blatty has
delicately created the same
limbo-like style between the
natural and the supernatural.
Hie [H-iest questions his belief in
God during the course of the
exorcism. Whether he does or
not, he quickly becomes to
believe in the Devil and his
evident presence, as he battles in
an icy little room in a house in
Washington, D.C., to rid a little
girl of the demon that is draining
her body of life, and torturing all
those, her mother particularly,
around her. The exorcism scene
is one that is not to be forgotten
by anyone.
The Exorcist is definitely a
horror story for all midnights and
is to be read (wisely) with all the
lights on in the house. It cannot be
shooed aside from the front of
your mind. It will remain with
you as an unforgettable ex
perience.
- Randy Jones
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