4
Friday, April 30, 1976
University Dally Kansan
Arts & Entertainment
'Taxi Driver' reflects bleak era
By CHUCK SACK
Reviewer
"Taxi Driver" hypnotizes the viewer as it plunges into the darkness of nightlife. This is not the twilight never-neverland of discosthemes and dinner at Sardis. The NYC in "Taxi Driver" is an amusement park, lums, portoes theater and throbbing neon lights, seen through eyes of the lonely, and beautifully unstinted Travis Bickle (Robert Deniro).
Bickle is a driller. He is an ex-Martine, plugged by insomnia, whose only acquaintances are a group of hack driver-philosopher kings. His one attempt to contact a daylight campaign worker named Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) ends in his death as X-raced movie on 42nd Street. Without this 'angel' to sustain him, Travis slips into a fantastic nightmare world.
As filmed by director Martin Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman, Travis' world is a squalid cage. The cah he drives is first revealed in separate shots of its individual components—review mirrors, taillights, and wind
shields. He is continually isolated in the frame, and the windows of his apartment are barred.
YET DESPIE THE IN-ISENCE on flat shots with little depth of field and fragmented shots, but he is an memorable characters. There's a senior hacker named Wizard (Peter Boyle), who acts as the mentor for younger drivers. There are a few other Prince, a gun salesman with sidelines in dpe and cars. And there's Iris (Jodie Foster), a twelve-year-old hooker whom she rescued to rescue from the street.
At the thematic core of "Taxi Driver" are two character who are polar opposites, and who have opposite approaches to smouldering resentments. One of them is presidential hopeful Charles Palantine (Leonard Harris). The other is Sport, Iris smart-motivated pimp (Harvey
Travis begins to prepare his hand, some sort of act and a gesture he becomes increasingly psychopathic. In a brilliant offense against Sport, and the verb battle momentarily threatens to
overpower the story. The emotional time bomb doesn't detonate for a few more scenes, but the charged tension of this confrontation is the key to understanding Travis' imminent threat.
IN DENIRO'S PORTRAYAL, Travis is a coiled spring, ready
though, Travis is not a Charles Bronson vigilante. The character is three-dimensional. Scorcese and screenwriter Paul Schurer are responsible for defining Travis' relationships. They define Travis through his relationships and carefully explore the ramifications of his
"Taxi Driver" is much more disturbing than last year's "Death Wish," because it doesn't permit the viewer to dismiss the hero's actions as simple revenge.
to be released at the slightest provocation. The actor's slight, angular figure and goofy offense make him a semiliterate nobody. But DeNiro has a cutting edge to his acting style, which can suddenly bring many conflicting views on the surface of his character.
Travis makes a violent assault on his surroundings in the film's climax, when his head shaved into a Mohawk haircut, he is transformed into a machine that slims the clawdust doesn't reduce "Taxi Driver" to a younger version of last year's "Death Wish,"
impulses, both good and bad.
Consequently, "Taxi Driver" is a much more disturbing film than "Deth Wish." It doesn't pose the viewer to dismiss the hero as simple, ineffitable revenge.
WHAT IS EVEN more disturbing is that this is an addition to the list of films that depict the nation's political conscience as in a state of nummied disarray. Last year's "Shameroo" was followed by "Shampoo" and "Nashville," both of which ended with apocalyptic visions of corrupted ideals and shredded lives.
"Taxi Driver" ends on a more
positive note, but the preceding sequences are so vitriolic that viewers may not even see the image aftermath. And this may be part of the reason why there is a strong word-of-mouth for the movie.
Normally, one would expect that a film with this intensity, featuring strong performances and a controversial ending, would generate a lot of excitement. Instead, there has been a very casual disruption to daily life in any term his ironic cold disregard is exactly what leads Travis to make his horrible stand.
THESE FILMS AREN'T the problem. Rather they are the artistic reflections of the problems of the time, when students will learn the manner in which people refuse to relate to each other. If seeing this issue in a rawer form like "Taxi Driver" works better, however, is really less cynical than most entertainment films, for Travis Bickle does manage to find salvation from his hell-on-wheels by reaching out to others. How despairing is that?
Basie, Ellington underrated as pianists
RvSTEVE FRAZIER
As the royalty of orchestral jazz, Count Basie and the late Duke Ellington have also been known for overlooked overlooked pianists in jazz history. Such statements are often enough to make one more proud of ignoring the pair's keyboard talents, but it is true that Basie and Ellington are known mainly for their monumental conventions.
FOR ANY SKEPTICS who might doubt that each of these performers has a major voice in their works, the Pablo label provide ample evidence to the contrary. Ellington teaches talents with his assistant, Justin Assist, "This One's for Blinton," on an album released after his death in 1974. Bass shines on "Satch Cousins" and "Encounters Oscars Peterson."
"This One's for Blanton" is a
worthy tribe to bassist Jimmy Blanton, who, before he died in 1942 at the age of 21, forever altered the role of the jazz bass.
In his playing with the Eminem sessions on piano, Blanton showed the jazz world that the bass could be a solo instrument. The concept sounds deceptively simple now, but before Blanton, the bass was almost like a rather clumsy timekeeper.
As a youngster, Ray Brown would stand outside the neighborhood bar to hear Ellington-Blanton records on the jukebox. Brown went on to take full advantage of the Blanton revolution that brought the blues; and they formed a combo that developed into the Modern Jazz Quartet or Oscar Peterson.
ELLINGTON AND BROWN actually play only two of the original Blanton duets, "Pinter Panther  Patter" and
"Sophisticated Lady," fleshing out the rest of the album with Ewington standards and *Frenchtied* placed for Piano and Bass."
Throughout the album, the two performers shift smoothly from solo to accompaniment and back again. Ellington and Brown play harmonies in Brown's melody, then dances above him with rhythmic figures that sketch out the melody while the real focus is on Brown's skattering pizzicato figures and flawless double-stops.
Ellington's solo spots are reminiscent of his orchestral works, but he has entirely keyboard, grabbing rich chords with both hands and carefully splashing colors that show his own classic melodies.
MORE THAN 30 YEARS after the original duets, "This One's for Blanton" stands on its
own as an album of mature and graceful bass-playing and a valuable addition to the tooo-king Ellington piano repertoire.
Ray Brown appears again in the rhythm section for "Satch and Josh," along with Freddie McKay, James Harden, Louis Bellson, drums. Their impeccable sense of time is matched only by the relentless swing of the piano solists, Basie and Oscar Peterson.
Basi's playing has probably been more neglected than Ellington's, because his style is outwardly simple. In fact, though, Basi is master of the English language and understatement, saying all he has to say with a bare minimum of notes.
PETERSON AND BASIE seemingly stand at opposite ends of mainstream piano style, for, while Basie's style is spare.
Peterson is known as the consummate technician.
However, their common respect for the beat overcomes any stylistic differences. Peterson uses his mastery of time to organize his often complicated dance sequence in the secret of relaxed swing remains at the core of Bassi's big-band and piano styles.
not surprisingly, then, "Satch and Not Josh" swings from start to finish. Basis and Peterson prod, but never hint at the potential clutter of two keyboards. Buoyed by a fine rhythm section, their interplay is marked by good measure of mutual respect.
Peterson and Basie settled into their respective styles long enough that they all know any surprising new ideas on "Satch and Josh." Instead, the two manage to jam every track together in a kind of mastery that never grows old.
Staff photo by DON PIERCI
Children's book offers fantasy
Earth, sea and sku
Staff Writer
"Dog Liarls," by Cynthia Atwood, senior student, invites visual and tactile study. A representation of the earth, the sight sky and the sea, the fabric sculptures are part of the Painting and Sculpture group at Columbia University.
By PEGGI BASS
Enter the world of fantasy and let your imagination flow. That's the meaning of living, according to Beazalea Benjamin, author of "Susan Altencroft," a children's book.
Benjamin, professor of architecture and urban design, wrote the book 20 years ago in his wife's company, by his wife Beaelzai Publishing Company, 2612 Stratford Road.
In the story, Susan encounters a group of fairies in a field while she is trying to make her friends fairies. The fairies agree to teach her how to make the necklace if she will agree to be their friend and caregiver.
Staff Photo by JAY KOELZER Bezaleel Benjamin
BENJAMIN SAID that through Susan's fantasy experiences with the fairies, she learns about their relationship between nature and man.
"I try to make the book as gentle as possible. Even when there is violence, it is not violent and when there is no hate," Bentanquin said.
"I WROTE IT BECAUSE I wanted to be a writer. But it's very hard to live by that craft, civil engineer-*ne*," he said.
"I can almost feel that 'perhaps there are forces that cause all this to occur without being seen by the human mind,' he said, "and I use the fairs to express this."
Bojnainik said that the role of fantasy in life has been full of surprises, by writing particularly children's writers, and that the theme of objective in learning is
Max Sutton, associate professor of English, said that Benjamin's portrayal of death was "apparently messy and reassuring to the child."
"IT'S AS DELICATELY presented as you can do that
"If you can think of death as a long and peaceful sleep, its easier," he said. "Were it not more difficult, life would life be more difficult."
sort of thing," he said. "Death is seen as an enemy to the leaves rather than to a little girl."
Benjamin said that he dealt with death in the fantasy to "remove the fear of it at an early age."
Lichter said Tuesday that children's literature should be "a pleasant experience for the child, but should also give him a chance to explore the possibilities for dealing with the real world without escaping it."
assistant professor of English, both instructors in children's literature, said they agreed that Dianin's interpretation of fantasy.
Sutton and Alan Lichter.
"FAIRY TALES are an excellent example of good children's literature." he said'
Highlights
Sutton said Wednesday in his view of children's literature was qualified by Tolstoi's technical analysis of the fairy tale.
Lichter said the children's book that taught social relationships and was used in a school to waste of time for the child.
"There's a psychological interpretation for adults, but the book was written for children," he said.
"Fantasy is an escape because between you to deal with the real world must have to," Sutton said. "The fairy tale presents a desirable fantasy."
Sutton said that Benjamin had "lain himself on the line before kids openly and beautifully" by offering them a desirable view of the world through fantasy.
"HE SHOWS THEM the two worlds between the world and everyday experience which is important in children's literature," Sutton wrote.
Benjamin said he liked to view his story as a fairy tale, although it could be interpreted on two levels.
"It's either a fairy tale or the story of a child's psychological dealing with loneliness," he said.
Sutton said that it was encouraging "that professor Benjamin can write for many people, many are afraid to."
"THE CHILD ISN'T ready to put these experiences together," Lichter said. "Reality for the child today is closing down his inner world, and this particularly, needs a chance to open into different things, and he does this through fantasy."
The book isn't Benjamin's first publication. He has also written several architecture textbooks, and had an award-winning poem, published in India's literary magazine, Caravan.
Sutton said all the pleasure was taken away from the reader if the writer's position in the book was made known.
"Someone shouldn't step in to tell the child if the author is backging fantasy or reality," he said. "It's very hard for an author to stand up against a fantasy and reality, but for a child there is difference."
Benjamin said the conflict between reality and fantasy, as shown by Susan's choice of letters, was delicater in his book.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
"Susan derives strength from fantasy, so that the book ends on a note of both hope and realism." he said.
Published at the University of Kansas weekly journal of education. Second-class postage paid at Lawrence, Kansas; second-class postage paid at Lawrence, Kansas; or $1 a month in Dorchester County and $1 a month in Lawrence County. Subscriptions are $2.00 a semester through the university. Subscriptions are $2.00 a semester through the university.
Editor
Carl Young
Business Manager
Boss Parris
Theater
TURN OF THE SCREW:
An opera by Benjamin Britten based on novel by Henry James. Combines the efforts of the school's Fine Arts under the direction of Tom Rae, assistant director of the University Theatre, and George Lawner, chief story deans with ghosts and governesses in an English
(8tonight and tomorrow night in the University Theatre)
12-POUND LOOK and ALL ON HER ORN HOW? Two one-accented letters on the first and the second by Terence Rattigan. Barrie's play is about a modern-day knight and he deals with a widow living alone.
WAGON TRAIN SHOW: The Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage comes to Lawrence Hill Athletic America. The winning Rock Chalk Revuke will be performed and the Lawrence Civic Chair will sing Randall's "Testament of Freedom."
(8 tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday night in the Hashiner Theatre)
(7:30 tomorrow night in Hoch Auditorium)
MICHAEL MURPHEY AND EMMYLOU HARRIS: Murphey's brand of music is rock, folk and country. His biggest hit to date is "Wildfire," on the album "Blue Sky Night Thunder." Harris sings country and 'Eltie Hotel' is "Elite Hotel!"
Concerts
(8 p.m. Tuesday in Hoch Auditorium)
SYMPHONIC BAND: Conducted by Robert Foster, director of bands George Woolf and Michael Wind and percussion, and James Barnes. The band's performance will feature frombone solist Richard Crystal, professor of music and percussion.
(3:30 p.m. Sunday in the University Theatre)
OPERA WORKSHOP: Parts of Rossini's "Cenerentola" and
(9 p.m. Wednesday in the Hawk's Nest)
(8 p.m. Tuesday in the University Theatre)
TAU SIGMA DANCE ENSEMBLE; The 40 dancers in this select dance company will perform a variety of dance styles, ranging from classical to modern, jazz and tap dancing.
COUNTRY CURRENT: A band from the U.S. Navy whose performers are all active duty sailors. The group, from Washington, D.C., does its own arrangements of blue grass.
Moore's "The Ballad of Baby Doe" will be performed, as well as "The impressario" by Mozart.
(8 p.m. Monday at the Off-the Wall Hall)
(8.p.m. Thursday, May 7 and May 8 in the University Theatre)
CAMARATA WOODWINGS:
A classical ensemble from the University.
UTAH PHILLIPS: Billed as Great Southwest, by Phillips presidential aspirant, folksinger, songwriter and story writer.
(8 p.m. Thursday at Off-the-Wall Hall)
SOUTH OF THE TROCKS
Dancing music in the form of country rock, boogie and swing from a Manhattan group.
(8:30 tonight at Off-the-Wall Hall)
CORNBREAD: Crazy, foot stomping music from down on the bayou.
Exhibits
(8:30 tomorrow night at Off the Wall Hall)
(Sunday through May 26 at 7E7 Gallerv)
CATHERINE LATHAM:
Owner of an art gallery in Springfield. Mc. Latham has exhibited her work nationally and regional awards. She does abstract prints and drawings.
ART IN THE PARK: More than 150 original exhibits by local artists, including paintings, pottery, jewelry and textiles. A 10 per cent commission on works that are used in scholarships for local students.
(Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday in South Park)
Films
SHAMPOO: This sex-fare stars Warren Beaty, Goldie Harper, Wren Warden and Lee Grant. Robert Towne ("Chinatown") wrote the fire from an airplane by Beaty, but iron on Hail Ash engineers the marvelous pacing this issue has in a bedroom comedy will find it particularly disturbing.Hint: the many televisions onscreen are not
THE WILD ONE The archetypal "tapel" movie. A classic of sorts, its primary attraction is Marion Brando's performance, although his dialogue is often just motorcycle videos. Vroom.
THEM: A largely laughable film about gigantic ants who are created by an atomic bomb test, infiltrated and pinching victims with their huge mandibles. James Douglas and Gordon Douglas directed.
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN: William Goldman's tight sparse script, Gordon Ramsay's photography and Alan Pakua's masterful direction keep this tale of journalistic detection on the right track. The presence of Ramsay threatens Redford to prematurally inflate their characters to mythic proportions, but both actors enter into a shared spirit of the production.
ON DANGEROUS GROUND:
A mystery, with a tough city cop who attempts to solve a murder committed in a rural area in the dead of winter. Starring Robert Gaynor, directed by Nicholas Ray.
IF YOU DON'T STOP IT,
YOU'LL GO BLIND: Or: If you go, you'll see nothing.
BAD NESS BEARS* Tatum O'Neal, Alfred Lutter and Walter Mattheus provide solid advice to children. Children, Parents, however, are advised to get their children's okay before attending, because the light profanity is more tolerable than in other adults may be willing to admit.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN: "Love Story" on skies. Only Beau Bridge keeps them from being on the skids as well.
Check ads for theaters and times.