The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 04, 1980, Page Page 8, Image 8
' Carny'
By David Baker
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I suspect that there are few, if
any, among us who have not, at one
time or another, entertained
thoughts of what it would be like to
run away with the circus. The
taunts of clowns, the glare of lights
1 ~ - r ?
aiiu uie roar 01 crowas comDine 10
form an almost irresistible milieu
for a child to fantasize about living
in, and in his new film, Carny,
director Robert Kaylor explores
this fantasy down to the most
minute detail.
A traveling carnival, complete
with rides, crooked game booths ,
and freak shows, has been substituted
for the big top in Kaylor's
meticulously crafted opus, but
since the life of a carnival wnrkpr
("carny " for short) doesn't appear
to be drastically different from
that of a circus performer, the
childhood fantasy does not collapse
as the film winds its way toward its
rather inconclusive conclusion.
Kaylor and * screenwriter
Thomas Baum have constructed
Carny so it works on several different
levels. Foremost among
them is an almost documentarystyle
look at how a carnival is
operated ? how games are rigged,
how police departments are paid
off to look the other way when
illegal games are being played,
and how carnies must deal with
"marks" who become irate
Decause tney ve been cheated out
of their money.
Carny also works as a story
about a love triangle, a story about
loss of innocence, and a story about
male comradery. The structure of
the film is loose and airy, and none
of the story lines are accentuated
to the detriment of others. It's a
free-flowing, laid back movie
that's willing to take its time in
unfolding to make sure that none of
its messages eludes the viewer's
grasp.
Taken scene by scene, Carny is
f the most consistently interesting
movie of the past year, thanks both
to the unfamiliarity of its setting
and to the vibrant work of its cifted
cast.
As the film opens, we're on the
road with the Great American
Carnival. Two of the carnies,
Frankie Chipman (Gary Busey)
and Patch Beaudry (Robbie
Robertson), are preparing to go to
work.
Frankie is the star of the "bozo"
Gary Busey, Jodie Foster am
carnival in 'Carny'
CI LUtl UU
game, the object of which is fo
Frankie to make the carnivs
patrons so mad at him that they'
spend a dollar for three chances a
dunking him into a pool of frigi
water. He sits alone in a cage, hi
face oainted into fl hnrrihl
1? "v" combination
of clown face an
death mask, perched on a platforr
that falls apart each time
baseball hits the appropriat
target on either side of the booth.
Patch is the operator of the boot
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Busey and grease paint
and also the carnival'
peacemaker ? the man wh
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Frankie and Patch have been bes
friends for a number of yean
They've shared both liquor an
women, and they know one anothe
better than anyone else. They als
know how to read the marks wh
pass by the booth. They know whe
a mark can be fleeced out of hi
rent money, and they know whe
not to push a mark too far.
A- * *
vjii mis parucuiar nignt, tn
carnival is stopped in Reading
Pennsylvania, where Donna (Jodi
Foster) and her boyfriend Micke
(Craig Wasson) are out for
somewhat-less-than-enchanted <
vening of fun. Frankie correctl
figures Mickey to be a hothead an
goads him into spending a sma
fortune at the "bozo" booth. A
Mickey gets madder and maddei
Donna becomes more intrigue
with the excitement and dange
inherent to life in the ramivnl
Later, while Mickey is watchin
the strip show, Frankie aj
proaches Donna, who's passin
time sitting at a hot dog stand. Th
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/ Robbie Robertson join the
lent film
r next night, Donna leaves her
il waitress job behind and joins
II Frankie as the carnival is pulling
it out of town.
d
s At each of the stops between
e Reading and Savannah, Georgia
d (where the picture was filmed last
n summer), Donna tries to overcome
a Patch's intense hatred of her (he
e forces her to perform in the strip
show at one point), but it isn't until
h near the end of the movie that she
succeeds. And then she almost
I loses Frankie in the bargain, when
he catches her and Patch in bed
together.
Interspersed throughout this
bizarre romantic triangle are
some of the most memorable
images ever recorded on celluloid.
The opening shot, of Busey applying
his makeup, is uncannily
beautiful, yet frightening at the
same time. An illusion of a
decapitated man, perpetrated by
Frankie and Patch to keep a small
time racketeer from taking a cut of
the carnival's profits, is the most
unsettling thing I've seen since
Sylvia Miles munched on Chris
Sarandon's brain tissue in The
Sentine, but instead of making the
viewer sick, the shot only serves to
heighten his interest in the events
s that are to follow.
o
r. j&acn 01 me pertormers in Carny
it turns in an admirable per>.
formance, with Busey taking the
d film's top acting honors. As porr
trayed by Busey, Frankie is as
o dangerously unbalanced as he is
o gentle and lovable. It's easy to see
n why he chose a career in the
is carnival because his insults would
n probably have gotten him killed
elsewhere.
ie Robertson, who makes his acting
5, debut here, is most effective,
e though he could learn to speak a
y little bit louder. He's not as bad
a about mumbling as James Caan in
j- Chapter Two, but at least half-ay
dozen of his lines are completely
a inaudible.
11
s As Donna, Foster reinforces her
% standing as America's finest unci
der-30 leading lady, even though
r the character is not as strong as
those essayed by her in Taxi
g Driver and the recent Foxes.
>- Among the supporting players,
g Meg Foster (no relation to Jodie)
e stands out as the sexv string camp
w O O
operator.
Baum's script and Kaylor's
direction both are strong,
providing an almost regal mix of
visual and verbal excitement that
x at all times avoids the extremes of
vulgarity and patronage that
easily could have crept into such a
project. The sideshow freaks are
not exploited because of their
deformities, nor are they painted
as martyrs. The film's production
credits are all tops.
Virtually the only problem with
Carny is that it lacks a narrative
payoff. After leading the viewer to
expect an explosive climax, the
/" film fails to deliver it. Still, the
, ending does leave one thinking,
I anH that'c uihoJ
1v..v. vnuv o miui guwu umia are
supposed to do. If you look at the
modern school of ambiguity
fostered by Bergman, Truffaut and
Bertolucci, you'll notice that while
each member is a highly personal
filmmaker, all agree that the most
rewarding aspect of their art is any
discovery made by the audience.
On that level, by taking its viewers
back to the dreams of their
childhoods, Carny succeeds immensely.
It's ;i slranOP nrul hirKnlnnt
m -VV...QV. ualu lu" uulc"1 llllll,
m but I'm betting that most people
will enjoy it, precisely because of
its eccentricities.
? '"' ~?
^ Spotlights J
If T C/^ 4-*"%. V W1
i/urict; ^ufn/^uny f/cijui m
Dancers from the USC Dance Company will perform the ballet,
Pas de Quantre, at noon Saturday, June 7 at the Spoleto Festival in
Charleston.
| USC students Susan Shelley and Mimi Worrell of Columbia and
Ann Weibel of North Augusta will be assisted by Columbia City
| Ballet dancer Karen Gibbons Brown to present the ballet. The
! dancers are under the artistic direction of Susan Earle, USC theatre
professor and Dance Company director.
Pas de Quantre was originally written to be performed for Queen L
Victoria as a competition among the four best ballerinas in England
in the late 1800s. The free performance at the College of Charleston
auditorium is part of Piccolo Spoleto activities which present talent
1 from the state and the Southeast during the annual two-week I
| festival.
outdoor concerts begin Thursday
The USC Cultural Series will present three outdoor concerts on the
Horseshoe during June and July in a summer series entitled Musical
Flavors. The program opens June 12 with bluegrass music by the
} Carolina Rebels band, followed by the first outdoor concert by the !
South Carolina Chamber Orchestra June 22. A jazz concert by USC
jazz musicians will be presented July 24. Each program will begin at
6:30. Admission is free. In keeping with the theme of the series, icc
; cream will be sold at each event.
Art classes offered at Museum
The Richland Art School of the Columbia Museums of Art and
Science is pleased to apnounce Painting Set 1980, a series of summer
art classes for youth and adults. RAS Supervisor Jean McWhorter
states, "The art school provides an oportunity to study art in a
workshop setting with professional artist/teachers." The classes are
designed for beginners and advanced students of any age.
The youth sessions consist of two-week (ten day) courses in
drawing and painting for ages 6-14. The classes will be held Monday
j through Friday, 9:30 to 11:30. The cost for a two-week session is $40
with all materials furnished. The dates for Youth Sessions are June
2-13, June 16-28* July 7-18 and July 21-August 1, 1980. Instructors
Kellah Edens, Leslie Alexander and Peggy Petroff, who hold Master
Degrees in art teaching, will guide the youth to be creative while
pvnlnrinu variAiic mtwlin ?11?L '
j ...n . u> iuu^ invuin anu cnju^iii^ ctri iccnni(]U6S. j
The adult sessions will consist of special interest classes. A life
drawing class will be offered June 23-27 from 7 to 10, the cost being
$50 and taught by the Museum's Director Walter Hathaway.
Hathaway holds both a B.F.A. degree and M.S. degree in Art
Education from Virginia Commonwealth University and Florida
State respectively.
The RAS is located in the 1500 block of Gervais St. just beyond
Workshop Theatre, and parking is available. For further information
call 799-2810.
I
Lecture on American music Guild
Violinist John Bauer and pianist Charles Fugo of the USC
i; Department of Music will present two lecture/recitals, Mostly j
Modern American Music, Thursday and Friday June 5 and 6 at 8 in j
FraserHall.
The June 5 recital will feature the first public presentation of
t Dialogues on violin and piano by John Boda, which was completed in
March for Bauer. Nigun by Ernest Block, Four Nocturnes by George
Crumb and the Sonata in G Major Op. 30 by Beethoven will also be
presented. ;
T.~ n ? :A-1 --.111 - rr ? * -
auc uunc o icciiai win oner music Dy a variety of American
composers. Five Portraits by the accomplished black composer !
Ulysses Kay, a repeat performance of Four Nocturnes, Ballade by ;
; Frederick Jacobi and the Sonata by Ned Rorem will be given by the
two musicians at the second recital.
The recitals, accompanied by lectures by the two professors, are
| free to the public. For more information, call 4280.
Presidents' collected in show
The Columbia Museums of Art and Science announce the opening
of two new exhibitions for the month of May. "Twenty-eight
Presidents of the Artists Guild of Columbia" and "Times to
Remember," photographs and objects from Kodak.
The Guild Presidents Show is designed to recognize the leadership
j of the present and past presidents of the Artists Guild of Columbia
during the 30th Anniversary which the Museum shares with the
; Guild. One work of art by each of the following guild presidents will
be displayed through mid-June: Edmund Yaghjian; Mrs. W.A.
Thompson; Lewis West; Robert Mills; Gil Petroff; Lola Broughton;
.Inn Ffirmn1 H<?lon A w-?o 1:~ 1 ?L!- " "
, iivivH 4luuii 10, V/Ui diif ljciciiicont, Neil L,ataye; Marjorie
Smith; Liz Smith; Maynard Pearlstine; Courtenay Carson;
: Howard Woody; Betty Gilbert; Jo Holmes; Bill Anderson; Marcus
R. Durlach, Jr.; Bev Williams; Truman Teed; Larry LeFebvre;
| Meg McLean; Judy Pitts Stevens; Ed Crosby and C. L. Cromer.
Carolina Eastman is co-sponsoring "Times to Remember," an
exhibition featuring one of the founders of Kodak, George Eastman.
Included in the show are over 35 artifacts from the Patent Museum of
Eastman Kodak and 20 photographs by Stephen Livick from the
| George Eastman House International Museum of Photography.
Carolina Eastman will be represented at the May 11th opening by
1 Earl Olson, President, and James Kummer, Manager of Industrial
Relations. Both the Guild Presidents and Kodak exhibits will remain
on display through June 15, li)H().
Tynrnniiir nun iry ... . .. ., ; ytja*r