The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 06, 1982, Page 8, Image 8
-entertainment
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Photo by Win McN?mr-?
Strum min'
Joe Shapiro accompanies himself on guitar during
Monday's Amateur Night competition at the Golden
Spur. The senior history major earned third place,
performing songs by the Grateful Dead, Neil Young
and the Moody Blues.
Director overcome
By Doug Bell
In his 14-year career as a filmmaker, Paul Mazursky ha
directed over a nan-dozen teatures, including "tuume 1
Love," "Harry and Tonto" and "An Unmarried Woman."
On the whole, his films have been praised by critics and th
public for their genuine characters and satiric but heartfe
views of modern urban life.
Significantly, Mazursky's films up to now have been base
on his original scripts, a fact often cited as proof of his de
personal involvement with each film. He broke from th
pattern with 1980's "Willie and Phil," which was loose]
based on French director Francois Truffaut's "Jules <
Jim."
NOW MAZURSKY has tried his hand at adaptir
Shakespeare, and the reactions have been especially ferven
By adapting "The Tempest," he has automatically incurre
fV.n Un.ixUt.. ?r u 01 ...v
nic uau&iik^ aivcjpLicisin ui biduiiun onaKet>peai cans wi
believe 17th-century theater and 20th-century cinema ai
naturally incompatible.
With the final product on the screen, even solid Mazursl
admirers have ranted about the hatchet job he has pe
formed on the Bard's sacred masterpeice.
In fact, the film bears only slim resemblance to the pla
What Mazursky and co-writer Leon Capetanos have done
fit the skeletal outline of the play into a personal, model
scheme, tearing out Shakespeare's characters and subplo
and throwing in their own, to shape a relevant contemporai
statement.
As for myself, I don't object to loose, irreverent adaption
indeed, it seems to me the best filmmakers usually make tl
most changes ? to make their adaptations their ov
cinematic statements. The important question is: does
work?
MAZURSKY'S "Temoest" concerns a successful Nf
York architect, Phillip Dimitrious (John Cassavetes), u
dergoing a midlife crisis (the sort of emotional trauma th
would appeal to Mazursky's sensibility).
Weary of his wife (Gena Rowlands), his work and his po:
Manhattan lifestyle, Phillip relinquishes his worldly succes
, Kalibanos (Raul Julia) has unusual relationships with his g
Forensics e
By Andy Putnam
When one hears the word "forensics,"
it probably conjures notions of
autopsies, courts and perhaps the
"Quincy" television series.
AMnallv thp tprm has annthpr
meaning.
Intercollegiate forensics is competition
in various speaking events
such as debate, persuasive speaking,
informative speaking, prose and
poetry interpretation, as well as
dramatic interpretation.
It might come as a surprise that
forensics at USC has had a long and
proud tradition. For over four
decades, USC has participated in
intercollegiate debate and forensics.
For most of those years, the quality of
that participation has been outstanding.
USC FORENSICS really started to
bloom in the 1950s under the direction
of Dr. Merrill Christopherson.
Throughout the 'SGs and '60s. USC was
a finalist in the National Debate
Tournament 13 times.
Presently, USC has debate teams in
both varsity and novice divisions. In
addition, there is a rather large
contingent of competitors for USC in
other speaking events. Almost 20
students are currently participating
in the forensics program, which is
housed and funded through the
Department of Theatre and Speech.
!S critics' ske|
; film review
3 traipses off to Europe with his daughte
t Ringwald), picks up a girlfriend in Athens
and settles down on a remote, sunny Greek
i Save for daughter Miranda, this descrip
p too well with Shakespeare's protagonist, ]
s and film do have one other thing in comir
y and practice of magic.
t But where Prospero is an obvious, ost
Phillip is very reticent with his wizardry,
when he needs it ? we never know why he
g what he does with it. We see thundersto
assume some change has taken place.
d
o THIS KIND of unexplainable ambival
e whole film and has turned off most critic:
undoubtedly a problem, but I don't think it
y On the contrary, 1 feel that the film on
- charming, freewheeling confidence. En
wind as if from whirlwinds; a drunken
r. wife's house party with perfect aplomb,
s Also, sudden bursts of zany activity
n rollicking dance in the half-buried amphi
s and Sarandon's playful duet; the goat ball
y York, New York"; and the detached h
storm, in which the old relationships are r
Even if one can't put his finger on theii
e these bursts at least remind one that thi
n magic and that movies are magic themsel
it
A GOOD portion of the movie's confid
John Cassavetes' central performance. C
>v as an actor, his penetrating intelligi
l- presence lend the film a major source of p
it None of the others can match his enei
They are all adequate; Susan Sarandon a
h are especially memorable. The only r
5, formance is by Raul Julia as Kalibano
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inve ana w
The director of the forensics
programs, Dr. Charles Wilbanks, is
optimistic about the future of the USC
squad. "We have more than doubled
participation in the program the past
two years," Wilbanks said.
With that growth there have been
problems. "We could use more funding,
especially due to the program's
growth recently, but generally, the
department and the administration
1 4 1
nave suppvneu uui cnui u> aumirably,"
Wilbanks said.
THE MAJOR benefit to a student
from participation in forensics, according
to Wilbanks, is the sharpening
of basic communication skills,
organization of thought and poise.
Wilbanks adds that "those skills can
be readily applied to almost any
career choice."
This past weekend, the forensics
squad was busy. USC was represented
in two speech tournaments: one at
Western Kentucky University and a
debate competition at Middle Tennessee
State University.
The Middle Tennessee debate
tournament is the first national
tournament of the year, and
traditionally the meet draws the best
teams in the country.
Among those attending this year's
ki:
miuuic xfiiiicascc ucudic was
national champion Louisville. Emory,
Dartmouth, Kansas State, Baylor and
Navy were also represented.
pticism with
r Miranda (Molly
tion doesn't square
ion: the possession
entatious sorcerer, Ri |?
He calls for magic
irms and wind and
ence pervades the fi
5. The vagueness is m
the whole exudes a ,.f i^H
gaging scenes un- :;
Phillip crashes his ffi f Mfg
occur: the gleeful,
itheater; Ringwald P
et, danced to "New
ist tango after the
e-established.
p specific meaning,
is is a movie about
ves.
Director Paul Ma
lence is credited to 0f "Tempest," his I
assavetes' prowess
ence and forceful starved goat herde
ower. hidden in his cave,
rgy and command. For all its faults
tnd Molly Ringwald Admittedly, many
1:4.. 1?i 4.1
cany gidiuig per- quaiuy, uui iney a
s, the rustic, love- benevolent humor j
p (John Cassavetes) enjoy a more common
m
ell at use
'We have more tnan
doubled participation in
the program the past two
years.'
- Director of forensics programs
Dr. Charles Wilbanks
ALTHOUGH USC'S team of Tad
Stephenson and David Rudik won two
debates and lost four, the experience
against such high caliber competition
was valuable, Wilbanks said.
At western *s.eniucKy university,
USC fared much better with Carol
Cartzendafner reaching the finals of
dramatic interpretation.
Annually, USC forensics receives
about 200 invitations to debate and
speech tournaments throughout the
nation. They will attend from 12 to 14
this year, Stephenson said.
"When choosing a tournament
schedule, competitive potential is
important, but travel expenses are
paramount," Wilbanks said. "Travel
accounts for almost 70 percent of our
budget."
The next tournament scheduled is
at Mercer University Oct. 22-24. This
year, USC also plans to attend tournaments
in North Carolina, Alabama,
Florida, Virginia, Washington, D.C.
and Utah.
adaptation
zursky (r) lines up a shot during filming
loose adaptation of Shakespeare's play.
r who prides himself on the Sony Trinitron
, "Tempest" strikes me as a worthy film,
of the sequences have a reckless, obscure
tdd up to give the film definite direction,
and true meaning.
type of relationship in "Tempest."