Thursday. Mav 22, 1980 The Tar Hcrl IS
arts
Huston's lo
test ieoY
ores a Deep South
sen in
By Tom Moore
Wist Blood
There isn't a sane character in Wise Blood and that's
what makes the movie quite hilarious. Adapted faithfully
I'm told I haven't read the book from Flannery
O'Connor's first novel Wise Blood is the story of Hazel
Motes, an army veteran who comes home to the Georgia
sticks to found his own church. Sick of the fear tactics of
fire and brimstone fundamentalism, Hazel decides to
create his own religion which he entitles the Church of
Christ Without Christ. Preaching his gospel on the city
streets Hazel gets entangled in the lives of several other
lunatics a sidewalk preacher who fakes blindness (Harry
Dean Stanton) and his sex-starved daughter (Amy Wright), ,
a lonely zookeeper (Daniel Shore) and a shyster evangelical
merchandiser (Ned Beatty).
Wise Blood is directed by John Huston and though it
doesn't quite measure up to his greatest films The
Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, The
African Queen and The Man Who Would Be King Wise
B lood ranks with the best American features to come out in
the last couple of years.
The flaws in the film would seriously mar it ii.Wise
Blood weren't so damned funny. The alteration from the
zany tone that has gone on for 70 minutes or so to the tragic
ending doesn't work at all because nothing has prepared
you for it. Wise Blood's musical soundtrack is horrendous.
Using splotches of "The Tennessee Waltz," it soundslikea
bad cross between Muzak and the music that underscores
shoddy television dramas.
cinema
And several of the local actors that Huston uses in bit
parts give stilted performances that draw too much
attention to themselves. Huston shot Wise Blood on
location in Macon, Georgia and used a number of area
residents in the movie. Most of them are quite good; I've
never seen so many great redneck performances in any
film. This inlcudes no just the local yokels but also the
professionals that Huston uses. The major performers in
Wise Blood never overplay their roles, which is quite
amazing because their crazy Southern Gothic parts would
be so easy to overplay.
Under just about any other director the actors would
have muffed up their roles, but Huston has a special
aptitude for lunacy (which he displayed best in Beat The
Devil). Although all the major performances are quite
good, there are three real standout performances from Brad
Dourif , who played the stuttering Billy Bibbit in One Flew
Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Harry Dean Stanton and Ned
Beatty. Dourif plays Hazel Motes with just enough sullen
zeal that he becomes believable. Ned Beatty and Harry
Dean Stanton have long specialized in playing rednecks on
the screen (their rural accents have more or less kept them
typecast) and though neither is on screen in Wise Blood
very long they manage to create memorable roles as two
preachers who are attracted to religion only because of its
monetary rewards.
Funny as it is, Wise Blood isn't a film that everyone will
enjoy. The constant joking about Jesus and religion could
be a big turn-off for many. If you don't get a few chuckles
out of early Sunday morning gospel fare on television or
those country preachers who hurl apocalyptic jeremiads
from the radio then you probably should avoid Wise
Blood. But if those things make you guffaw, then Wise
Blood is a must to see.
I ...
I if Ik'
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Books
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Boob on the history oj the South , Civil War,
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Prints , campus scenes, hand-cohrfd engra
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Corner mA East Rosemary Street
Book
Union free flick schedule
offers variety and escape
By Tom Moore
Summer school can get quite monotonous
the same classes every day. The Carolina Union
for the first summer session has scheduled
several films as pleasant diversions from the
rigors of academic life. The films, mostly light
stuff, include something for just about all the
various tastes on campus.
Several comedies are scheduled. Animal
House director John Landis' Kentucky Fried
Movie, an irreverent series of skits satirizing such
diverse topics as kung fu movies and TV
commercials, is scheduled for May 26.
Adam's Rib with Spencer Tracy and
Katherine Hepburn as husband and wife lawyers
.who must face each other in the courtroom
shows May 28. Uptown Saturday Night, with
Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby as a pair of
gamblers who hire detective Richard Pryor to
recover a stolen lottery ticket, will show June 1.
Woody Allen's Sleeper is scheduled for June 2,
and Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein will show
June 11. Peter Sellers at his bumbling best in
The Return Of The Pink Panther will close out
the first session films on June 20. .
And several actionadventure films are
scheduled for the first session. Jane Fonda, in the
role that won her an Academy Award, will be
threatened with the possibility of being
murdered in Klute srh-dult d for May 30. James
Bond, in The Spy Who l.oxd Mr, scheduled for
June 6. sets out to stop a fiendish shipping
magnate who wishes to destroy the world.
Private detective John Shaft . takes mi a
dangerous kidnapping case in Shaft which
shows June 9. Alfred Hiuhcotk'sPsycio shows
June 15. Wizards, Ralph Bakshi's animated film
about a power struggle among elves is scheduled
for June 16.
For lovers of musicals Afy Fair Lady, the
winner of eight Academy Awards including Ik-si
picture, is scheduled for June 8. And for those
who love to weep at wartime love stories
Hanover Street, with Lesley-Anne Down torn
between Harrison Ford and Christopher
Plummer, is scheduled for June 18.
And Jack Nicholson fans have been amply
provided for during the first session with the
booking of Easy Rider for June 4 and One Flew
Over The Cuckoo's Nest for June 13.
All summer free flicks are shown at 8:30 p.m.
on the days listed in Great Hall of the Carolina
Union. Admission is by UNC ID or Union Staff
Privilege Card.
It's Worth the Walk from Campus!
21 1 West Main Street in Carrboro 967-9681
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