Lots of Action
by Eleanor Matin
UTU
A real-life horror story, Cltu is based on a
true story of the Maori uprising in New Zea­
land. I loved this movie. It has action,
suspense, humor, as much gore as many a
gothic, superb acting. The Maori actors are
perfection in their roles, which are all great
roles. TeWheke, the Maori who organizes an
uprising against the British, who have been
pitting one tribe against another, is a real
character, and his is one of the best movie
roles for males this year. The New Zealand
countryside, against which this savage, rather
breathtaking story
unfolds, is lushly beautiful. The scenes of the
Maori warriors dancing, brief though they be,
are worth the price of admission, alone.
Attlo
This is also a true story, about an Atha­
bascan Indian in Alaska who faces a personal
struggle. His knee joint surgically fused be­
cause of tuberculosis, George Attla returns
home to his family after seven years away at a
hospital. George didn’t get assimilated, or
even close, but by the same token, he now
feels unfulfilled because he's been exposed
to so many new ideas. But there’s nothing to
do at home but hunt or fish. George decides
to try dog sledding, and badgers his father
into letting him acquire some dogs.
He trades an old lead dog (sight unseen) to
an old family friend, Moses Paul, played by
Chief Dan George. Attla gets Jarvi, a dog with
the perfect conformation, but, Paul says, no
heart
Attla races locally but loses, due to bad
advice from another competitor.
One of his father’s dogs goes lame, be-
Pius Savage portrays George Attla.
cause of George’s mistake. Young George
feels so bad about it, (besides generally feel­
ing out of place), that he moves to a city to get
work and try life on his own. He’s lonely, and
still feels unfulfilled. Moses Paul turns up and
talks him into quitting and going trapping.
But George still wants to dog race, so Moses
sends him home to his father, George, Sr.
who’s the best dog man around. George
goes home and starts to train. He’s so good
the local fur trader (Slim Pickens) fronts him
the money to go the world championships.
Out of nowhere, Attla, one bum leg but lots
and lots of what it takes, races a thrilling and
dramatically fulfilling world championship
race. For a sports fan like me, this was a real
WANTED!
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peer counseling, practical support, and referral assistance to
persons facing AIDS and life-threatening or life-changing
illness, using trained volunteers.
DESCRIPTION :
Compassionate persons w illin g to donate up to eight
hours per week for six months in any of the follow in g areas:
Personal A c tiv e Listeners (PALs) —
Forty people with a natural
ability to listen and reflect what they hear without judging. Next
training is tentatively scheduled for the middle two weekends in
September.
P ractical Support Volunteers — Forty people able to provide cook­
ing, cleaning, and transportation assistance. Good casserole or
chicken soup recipes a plus ...
Office Volunteers — Fifteen people able to work a few hours per
week in daytime phone and office support.
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strong writing skills or marketing background to assist PAL Project
and Cascade AIDS Project with media exposure and fundraising.
FOR MORE INFORMATION contact our office at 223-5907, write PAL
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call Steve Fulmer at 236-2429
treat
Performances by Pius Savage as George,
Jr., and George Clutesi as George, Sr. are
excellent All the players were good. Chief
Dan George as Moses Paul and Slim Pickens
as Obie, the trader, put in their usual profes­
sional best in this, the last film they played in
to be released.
There’s so much in this simple story of
survival, adaptation, shared enjoyments and
personal definitions of achievement The In­
dian characters are charming people with
sharp wit and a refreshing point of view. The
countryside is gorgeous and the glimpses of
Indian technology were enlightening. The
soundtrack features Buffy Saitne-Marie, and
fits nicely. The soundtrack, as is the movie, is
being distributed by Windham-Hill.
Best of all, this film is uplifting. It’s the story
of a champion who had to really reach to
excel in his sport Attla had to use his wits to
outsmart wily competitors, push his body to
the limits of its endurance, and get out of a
seemingly hopeless situation by extraordinary
means.
Invasion USA
In the most convenient of that new genre,
the convenience movie, Chuck Norris carries
a lot of big guns and stalks Richard Lynch, as
Rostov, archvillain, who is trying to kill Norris,
due to unfinished business from a previous
encounter. All over town Rostov’s invasion
army makes guerilla warfare on shopping
centers, residential areas, grocery stores.
Most of the time, Norris drives up just then,
and messes up their plans.
A woman .appears, coincidentally, at many
of the same places, but this part was pruned
back to offer the female role in vestigial form.
I’m not carping here. Though this poor girl
can’t act her way out of a paper bag, I have
come to realize that romance is not what is
wanted in one of these action movies. Many
of the persons in the audience will be very
young boys, and it has occurred to me that
getting impressionable males hooked on sex
with their violence might not be the best
thing, after all. It’s mixing metaphors, to say
the least
Content in these movies has been scientifi­
cally directed by market researchers who
measure the dilation of their subjects’ pupils,
among other responses. We have action-
happy little boys, conditioned by Saturday
morning cartoons, relaying to the scientists
what they want to see, and then we get movie
producers eager to package it and deliver. I
say we deport them all! But, good news! The
rest of us don’t have to go to see any of these
movies.
It’s the same plot in all these potboilers.
The government wants the hero for a special
mission (he had been their best man, ever),
but he says no. No. No.
The bad guys threaten, wound or humiliate
him in some way he can’t ignore. He goes
after them on his own. He wins. Parts of Inva­
sion USA and several other similar movies
look just like old cowboy movies. The huge
number of mercenaries shoot relentlessly at
the hero (except now it’s with ouzis), but only
one bullet hits him, always on the upper arm. I
think he needs that to unleash his primal
powers. The hero shoots sparingly with his
gun, even though it’s also automatic, and he
hits one, two, or three bad guys with each
shot Several cars or trucks blow up to
smithereens, and much glass is broken. I
can’t in all good conscience recommend this
movie (or Commando or Remo or Ameri­
can Ninja to any but the most avid action film
fans, but for those of you who like this kind of
thing, it really is efficient
F o r inform ation
re g a rd in g
a d ve rtisin g
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236-1252
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A irt Out, Mnwarabor.1985
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