'Chac' film transcends physical, surface magic
* ■
STARTS
FRIDAY
ACADEMY
AWARD WINNER
BEST FEATURE
DOCUMENTARY
Fact — not fiction!
THE/VWN
14/HO SKED DOWN
EVEREST
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
KFMY 98 Presents
THE 980 MIDNITE
MOVIES
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
this week’s feature
ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY ACCLAIMED FILMS
FROM LATIN AMERICA
AAAA
The magical Mayan legend of a sorcerer’s struggle between two
worlds... a journey into psychic space.
OREGON PREMIER—NOW SHOWING
Baal •
Films explore frontiers
Putting together an experimen
tal program of short films is an ex
citing, but often arbitrary affair.
These films are usually grouped
by subject matter; erotic, ani
mated, women's, etc. The EMU
Cultural Forum, which has pre
sented an “experimental" prog
ram each term with great success
has come up with a composite of a
wide variety of material for spring
term,. The show, simply titled
"Experimental Films" will be on
May 12 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in
180 PLC.
Included in the line-up is an ob
viously great, but neglected, film
Shut Up Barbie. The Serious Bus
iness catalog describes this short
as, “A semi-documentary about a
7-year-okJ girl and her addiction to
Barbie dolls. Her life, both real and
fantasy, centers around her family
of 30 some odd dolls.’’
A film to balance the heavy so
cial implication of Barbie will be
Jefferson Circus Songs, by Susan
Pitt Kraning. This film is a live ac
tion pixillation and flat amimation
combining in a “magical train ride
to another world where children
with mops for hair and stockings
over their faces preside over ab
surd creatures and ceremonies of
the imagination."
Some new films just previewed
at the Hollywood International
Film Exposition are also to be fea
tured. Arabesque by James Whit
ney and Yinhsien by his brother.
John, are highlights of the year
and shouldn't be missed by any
one interested in the future of
computer animation and its
spiritual possibilities.
Another rare attraction will be a
film done by a U of O graduate,
John Haugse. His film, This is not
a Museum is a surrealistic view of
art and artists, teachers and stu
dents. The story takes place in a
art museum against a backdrop of
culture that spans two centuries
Museum has been shown at in
ternational festivals as well as
numerous festivals in this country
winning awards at Ann Arbor.
Athens, and New York.
To bring everyone back to
romantic reality there will be a
classic, petite film by Francois
Truffaut. /_es Mistons (The Brats)
is erotic, entertaining, enjoyable
and can only be compared to
Truffaut's great early feature, 400
Blows. Three young boys fall in
love with an “older woman —
need we say more?
This exhibition is not organized
by subject matter, but each film is
similar to the others in the fact that
they all surface high amidst the
boundless sea of "experimental'’
celluloid.
KZEL-FM Presents
JimmyB
and The
Coral Reefer Band
with
Jerry Jeff
Walker .
and
The Lost Gonzo Band
Thursday, May 20, 8 p.m.
Lane Comity Fairgrounds
Auditorium (with chairs)
Tickets are $5 in advance, $6 at the door
Available at Sun Shop, Chrystalship, EMU Main Desk
at U of 0, and Everybody’s (Corvallis & Eugene)
A Double Tee Event
The land is dry and the people
are thirsty The crops won't grow
and the people are hungry. The
people need to talk to and ap
pease Chac, the god of Rain in
Mayan myth. These Indians of
today need to find a Sorcerer, a
Rainmaker with the power and
knowledge to bring forth the rain.
Finding such a man, the trust
they must place in him during the
odyssey he leads them on and the
struggle of power with the village
chief comprise the basic plot of a
new foreign film opening tomor
row at the Waco Cinema II.
I say basic because the film
goes much deeper than that. The
film deals with magic, but not
magic in the sense of sieight-of
hand parlor games. Its magic is
very similar to that employed by
the brujo Don Juan in Carlos
Castaneda s books. It is the magic
achieved when one attains mas
tery over self and knowledge of
one’s relationship with non
ordinary realities.
There are no name actors in the
film, all are nonprofessionals. The
cast consists of the villagers of
Tanejapa in the Sate of Chiapas.
Mexico. Most are true descen
dants of the Mayan Indians.
In one sequence of the film, the
Sorcerer and the elders of the vil
lage come across a small village
during their trek deep into the
jungle. The Sorcerer talks with
them, smokes a cigar with the
chief and they pass on. As a side
note, the inhabitants of that village
are the purest strain of Mayans left
in the world. There are only
around two hundred of them left
and, through centuries of inbreed
ing to keep the strain pure (they
are not allowed to marry outside
the village), there are quickly dis
integrating. Watch closely, for
within a few generations this tribe
will be no more and the Mayans as
a people will have died out.
Cinematographer Alex Phillips.
Jr. has wisely chosen to combine
lovely long distance shots of the
country (the film was made en
tirely on location in Yucatan) with
many lingenng close-ups of the
Indian's faces, thereby creating
fascinating character studies just
by camera placement. The color
and texture revealed in the print is
amazing. Each pebble is outlined
and one could get lost in deep blue
of the sky. Truly a perfect setting
for the magic of nature.
■'Chac.'' which recently won the
Best Feature Film, Best Direction,
and Best Film in Latin America at
the Virgin Island Film Festival, is in
the Tzeital and Mayan dialects
with English subtitles.
The fi Im will be at the Waco from
May 7 to May 13 only so you might
want to try to catch it while it's
here. Any film which works so
successfully on several different
levels is worth seeing.
CHARLIE
CHAPLIN’S
First Feature
ume
im
with
Jackie Gm({an
Friday
and and
Saturday THE IDLE
May 7, 8 CLASS
150 Science
$1 7A9-J0