Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Entertainn 'Tru 'Wc Robert DeNiro portray fessions/ Here he celebi wealthy parishoners. First MM ffl By JOHN BARTUS Staff Writer A poor turnout was the only flaw in the otherwise excellent First Annual Neutron Blast held Monday night in the RH ballroom. Co-sponsored by the USC branch of the Palmetto Alliance and the Grass Roots Organizing Workshop (G.R.O.W.), the event featured the Rob Crosby Group, the Corbett-Urquia Band, various speakers, and a film. The Blast was also a stopping point for the nationwide Caravan for Human Survival, a group of "students and sympathizers" traveling to Washington and New York City concerned about the future of life on this planet in the threat of nuclear holocaust. Brett Bursey, an organizer from G.R.O.W., commented on the need for this kind of lent eCoi s a businesslike priest in Ulu rates a nuptial mass for the t Annua lusic, Fi grass roots education on nuclear proliferation. He believes that the average college student today is not apathetic; rather, he has a feeling of impotence. As eot/l j ? uivw oc?m, urcy icuiiy uo care, but they approach the issue with a 'there's nothing I can do' position. If a good amount of people cared enough to do something about it, then the world could conceivably be changed." Bursey characterized the multibillion - dollar corporations who build bombs for profit as a bigger threat to world survival than the Soviet Union: "The profit margin in America gives American corporations the incentive to build more bombs ? an incentive not found in the Soviet Union." The Rob Crosby Group opened the evening with two sets of music featuring old Crosby standards mixed see Crosby, page 12 J3I ^ (S 11 de,1 5S^8#?* Tp? v.XaHHj|HMBjdw9 ' - wJuBk ; - " if*^* i Grosbard's True Condaughter of one of his rf Uiiiifi Inn, Spe I Bm Hfx .- !s jH & H ;;: :;:;^:S;ii^^SH^^H > HgjjtiMjg SK ' ' ~ ~< "*3 ?tmmmmmmm m The ions' U 'Intelli By DOUG BELL Film Critic The distinguished cinematographer of TriiP C.nnff?<tainn t Du/pn RnWman attonrfoH the film's Columbia premiere Friday, a benefit for the South Carolina Arts Commission. Roizman, whose previous credits include The French Connection and The Exorcist, introduced the screening with a few brief remarks. The film was completed, he explained, a year and a half ago, but its release was delayed due to RobertDe Niro's Oscar-winning, success in Raging Bull. Roizman pridefully described True Confessions as "well-made" and "intelligent." He concluded modestly with: "I hope you i: i u M iiive 11. And I do. I can say without hesitation that True Confessions is the best film I've seen while reviewing for the Gamecock. IT IS a period film, set in Los Angeles during the late 1940s. The script, by John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion (from Dunne's novel), concerns two brothers, a priest (De Niro) and a police detective (Robert Duvall), whose relationship survives tremendous vicissitudes. De Niro's priest is quiet, humorless and niuusirious ? as mucn a Dusinessman as a prelate. A ringleader in the Catholic Church's quest for property and wealth, he becomes involved in a number of backscratching business schemes, particularly with Jack Amsterdam (Charles Duraing), a jovial but deplorably corrupt financier. The movie's central conflict is set off when De Niro s detective brother Duvall links Amsterdam with a gruesome murder he's been investigating. To expose Amsterdam, whose name is publicly associated on Blast Ft fakers. Car j^jj^ i Corbett-Urquia band performed in the Russc i ??????? I i igent, with De Niro's church, would be to ruin his brother's reputation as well ? a tricky situation that results in dramatic fireworks. - 111? 41 1 - A A!-- * - -1 uuvctu s is uie musi interesting, varied performance: his detective is at times a J coarse, lewd, self-absorbed ? but always ~ with an underlying warmth. Little account is given of the brothers' early years or of their private lives. As with the best cinema, E their relationship is explained in the nature of their glances, in the quality of the looks they share or withhold. Both actors give intelligent performances, solid but also rich in ambiguity. AS A PERIOD film, True Confessions is superlative. It re-creates the atmosphere of the late *40s with rare nreeision and rnn- i viction. The lurid criminal world of Duvall's J detective evokes the sensationalist aura of James M. Cain's novels. The dialogue is appropriately pungent throughout. The supporting players lend color to the production: Rose Gregorio's despondent madam and Burgess Meredith's aging priest are most memorable. Roizman was justified in calling True Confessions "well made." His cinematography is consistently bold and alluring and George Delerue contributes a wistful musical score. Ulu Grosbard 9 7 directed admirably, employing a sensitive approach to a rather harsh subject. All these raves aside, True Confessions is not a great film. Its subject matter is too i* conventional, its conclusions are too sim- | plistic. What makes it sparkle are the intelligence and enthusiasm of the actors and director, as well as the skills of the technical prAll/ Tf ral -A *?? '! 4 v.vn. l? WIIIJAJICO W1UI DIUW uui iur I ins I place on my list of best films of the year. futures * s avan - I t I Ik ... ^g| i Ml House ballroom. ^ ??????