Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / May 6, 1971, edition 1 / Page 9
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f^ilm Review *^Brother John, New Breed journal photo/alsop 9 the journal • uncc pthursday, may 6,1971 by don keaton There are many mysteries *!’oiit Sidney Poirier’s latest picture Brother John. The first ®ystery is what it is about. This ®®vie contains so many !*rplexing, but beautiful things. I don’t mean to imply that it’s * fairy tale. The situations that Waive in the story are in keeping ’’tta man’s everyday existence f'd. at the same time, elevates life to a new awareness. The man, ^"Itn Kane, is the source of the “'yatery. He grew up in a small in Alabama, and lead the life any other negro child could He dropped out of school at : ®®age of 16, and left town. ! Tohn would only return from JS>where when a relative died. ! This might not seem strange to I Tou, but it was strange to the I .‘’'m doctor, (who brought John I ’"fo this world,) that John , TPeared in town just before the ' ^ative died without having been ! Wacted. The doctor was certain IS*. something unnatural was ^mnd those seemingly natural because nobody, including J living relatives, knew where fohnhved. T'his is only the start of the jjTstery of Brother John. As the .r’T moves along you get hints Brother John is God, or The doctor’s lawyer-son (q John is a federal agent, sent mvestigate a union wage strike 'Br black garbage workers. ®tner John’s girl companion l^^'^Bes for his secret and falls in I ® ''dth him. All this wondering 1 “s to some very exciting, ^^morous, and oddly relevant j ®l?ments about people, lj^®*^*3lly in the South. The movie Ps you guessing. “'■other John should be listed i( “"g Poitier’s best films. In fact, a ^ Be seen as a composite of Q ^ best remembered. Instead of ^ Who’s Coming to Dinner, journal graphic/raley this one could be called Guess Who Brother John Really Is. Instead of Virgil Tibbs confronting Rod Steiger in the Heat of the Night, it’s Brother John agitating the law merely by his presence. He’s still a middle class Negro, but something superhuman has been added which may endear those Lilies of the Fields fans. A big switch in this one is Poitier being chased in his VW by a white GTO and the rednecks turn out to be blacks. . One well-known Charlotte News entertainment writer, Emery Wister, felt the need in his review of Brother John to distinguish whether the white folks come off looking bad or good in the picture. It’s true that there isn’t a big overt blast against white brutahty toward blacks in the picture, but the blast against such pathetic whites is presented so realistically that the said reviewer took it for granted that there was no white brutality in the picture. Brutality exists on many levels. Whether it is there or not depends on which level one wants to recognize. Brother John gave the answer it deserved. John is a iifferent breed of man. And with Poitier playing this man, some will recognize him as a different breed of black man. See it. Unplanned pregnancy? • • ■ • If you'd like skilled, immediate help in thinking Through possible plans, get in touch with The Child- Home Society of North Carolina. The Society, a .Unitud Fund program, is one of several agencies offer- '"d this experienced counseling service. 740 Chestnut Street Greensboro, N. C. 27405 telephone 274-1538 —or— 207 Hawthorne Lane Charlotte, N. C. 28204 telephone 372-3230 THE 7108 N. Tryoii Spotlight Movie “Kaleidescope, starring Warren Beatty, will be shown at 9 p.iu in C-220, Friday night. May 7.” COLOR. RATED R. Journal Classifieds are FREE to all University members, regardless of status. Anything you want to buy, sell, trade, and/or locate-just write up the item and drop it by the Journal office (Room B-4, basement) or at the Info Desk in the University Center. All ads will be run once only, space permitting, and the editor reserves the right to edit ads for clarity or conciseness or style. BONNIE/DELANEY... ripping it c annu.ll event drew more than 3,000 it out at JAM-UP. The two-night persons this year. Film Review ‘The Mephisto Waltz’ ■pt- journal graphic/lazenby BILLBOARD TOP LP’S Source: Billboard Magazine, for week ending May 1. THIS LAST ARTIST, TITLE. WEEK WEEK LABEL, NO. 1 2 Jesus Christ, Superstar various artists Decca AXSA 7205 2 1 Janis Joplin Pearl Columbia KC 30322 3 3 Partridge Family Up to Date Bell 6059 4 14 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 4 Way Street Atlantic SD 2-902 5 5 Three Dog Night Golden Bisquits Dunhill DS 50098 6 4 Andy Williams Love Story Columbia KC 30497 7 6 Love Story Soundtrack Catillion SD 2-400 8 11 Woodstock 2 Soundtrack Catillion SD 2-400 9 9 Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman A&M SP 4280 10 10 Carpenters Close to You A&M SP 4271 by Iloyd rose The Mephisto Waltz, starring Jacquiline Bisset, Capri Theater, shows: 2,4,6,8,10, rated R. The immediate comparison to make with The Mephisto Waltz is Rosemary’s Baby, True, they have many of the same ingredients: the victimized wife, the evil husband, the threatened child, the witchcraft, the dream sequences. But, Rosemary’s Baby was done by a master arid The Mephisto Waltz by Paul Ronda whose affiliations seem to be t.v.; and comparing the two movies is a lot like comparing Da Vinci’s Last Supper with an Every Child’s Bible Stories illustration. WVFN Seeks New Records by becky bowers WVFN, the rapidly-expanding “Voice of the 49’ers,’’ is currently engaged in a “record hunt.” Since the establishment of the station, albums and singles have been secured from both personal contributions and local radio stations, including WAYS, WSOC, and WBT. However, the time has come for the baby station to walk alone. Contact has been made to over thirty record companies investigating the possibility of being placed on their mailing list. In connection with this endeavor Steve Garrett, WVFN manager, traveled to New York City to attend a conference of the record distributing companies. Results from the station’s inquires were not long in coming; already twenty-three affirmative letters have been received. With new records to be coming in steadily, WVFN broadcasters are keeping a close watch on their 494 “Request Line.” If the station has the record you want — then your wish is its command. If it just happens to have two of those records and you’re the persuasive type, well..,. Stay tuned to WVFN for your favorite type of music... Actually, The Mephisto Waltz owes more to the H e 1 p 1 e s s -G irl-Against-Seemingly- Insurmountable-Odds genre, of which Wait Until Dark is one of the finest examples. For Mephisto Waltz is not a particularly frightening movie in the sense that horror movies used to be frightening; nor does it succeed in bringing off the oddly sexual-supernatural terror - of Rosemary’s Baby, partially because its effects are too slick and lost in fancy camerawork. Instead, its interest for the viewer lies in identifying with the herione and trying to figure out how she’s going to get the villains, if she can, before they get her. As such, it’s a normal sort of thriller with some supernatural overtones; as such, it holds your interest. Jacqueline Bisset plays the heroine with a lot of fine-boned beauty and heavy-handed antagonism. Barbara Parkins, as the possessed daughter of the evil concert pianist who is mysteriously interested in Myles’ (Miss Bisset’s husband) hands, comes off much better. Her monotone holds her in good stead in her mysterious role and she brings a dark, spooky, animalistic beauty to her part. Alan Alda looks a lot like George Plimpton as he walks through his role. Only the dog can compete with Parkins; it’s a lovely black labrador, and very frightening. The plot concerns a dying concert pianist (Curt Jergens) who is incestuously involved with his daughter and becomes fascinated by the hands of Myles Clarkton who used to study music at Julliard. Jergens dabbles with witchcraft; the rest i^f the plot follows accordingly. One follows Miss Bisset ihrough a series of suspicions, the unaffecting death of her daughter, the death of a man who could help her, and a series of dreams full of glitter, angel’s hair and dizzying camera angles: all this finally leads to her own strange pact with the Devil. The ending, though predictable, has a nice little twist to it, and the movie’s worth seeing if you have SI.75 and nothing else to do. ijHJ® SI.00 OFF ANY LARGE PIZZA WITH THIS COUPON! • 5655 N. Tryon Blvd. Charlotte, N. Carolina 596-9598 Open 'til 2 a.m. Fri.-Sot. — 12 p.m. Sun. thru Thurs. Order By Phone For Faster Service Allow Approximately 20 Minutes
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May 6, 1971, edition 1
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