Cinematic schizophrenia ~ ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. A fantasy film produced by Sault Zaentz and Michael Douglas. Directed by Milos Forman. Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Gold- man from the novel by Ken Kesey. Photography, Haskell Wexler. Music, Jack Nitzshe. Starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and William Redfield. At the Ridge and Lougheed Mall. This may become a cult film — the one yousee over and over again because you come to identify with one or another of the characters and there are nuances in it you inevitably miss the first time around. ‘Miles of copy have been written about the fantastic performances + by Jack Nicholson as Randle Patrick McMurphy, Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched, and others — and endless analyses have been made, comparing the film to the book to the play, and on and on. But the performances of Will Sampson as Chief Bromden and Brad Dourif as Billy Bibbit will endure beyond the others. You no doubt know the theme — McMurphy, a raunchy freeloader, gets himself committed to a state mental institution to avoid a prison work detail. Whether or not he’s really wiggy remains an academic question. The core of the matter is his ego’s head-on collision with that of Big Nurse Ratched. Ratched — exquisitely played — is the epitome of institutionalized psychotherapy. God help the poor devil who falls into her “helpful” hands. How moving — when-the initial audience titters have died down — is the ‘group therapy’ scene. Pinned like so many dead but- terflies, the patients are compelled to pour out their innermost feelings to be scrutinized by their fellows — under the direction of cold, ‘“‘un- derstanding”’ Nurse Ratched. To be fair it must be said that after the audience becomes used to the bizarre behavior of the “‘in- mates,” empathy sets in. The Jara film ‘Companero’ be shown March 19 The internationally-acclaimed film Cumpanero Victor Jara of Chile will be screened for Van- couver audiences Friday, March 19 at8p.m. at the Unitarian church at 49th and Oak. The 55-minute film comprises archive footage, as well as a lengthy interview with Victor Jara’s wife, the former British dancer Joan Turner. Joan traces Victor’s life from his peasant beginning through his early career as a theatre director to his popular acclaim as a folksinger and leader of Chile’s new song movement’ which flourished under the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende It’s Grey Owl — in Russian The well-known Story collection, Tales of an Empty Cabin by Wa- Sha-Quon-Asin, known to most readers simply as Grey Owl, is.the latest Canadian title to be*tran- slated into Russian for the Soviet audience which is looking more and more to the works of Canadian authors. The publishing house Molodaya Guardia (Young Guards), one of the largest concerns issuing literature for young people, has put the collection out in ‘an_ initial edition of 200,000 copies. It follows an earlier collection of Grey Owl’s stories, Sajo and her © Beaver People. Several other Canadian writers have been translated into Russian including Farley Mowat, Morley Callaghan, Wilson Macdonald and Gabrielle Roy, whose first novel Bonheur ‘d’Occasion, has enjoyed wide popularity in the Soviet Union. Ironically, the works of Ernest Thompson Seton have become almost better known in the USSR than in Canada. The first Russian edition of his stories appeared in 1898 and recent editions have grown to over 250,000 copies. Anthologies of foreign literature frequently appear in the Soviet Union — works by scores of authors, including many Canadians. She describes how he was im- prisoned in the national stadium in Santiago, tortured and finally killed by the military junta which seized power in Chile on September 11, 1973. The film won the Golden Dove awardat the Leipzig Film Festival and was also shown during the New York Film Festival in 1975. Both the producer, Stanley Foreman, and the director Nor- man Smith were involved in the British documentary series World at War which has appeared on Canadian television. Jointly sponsored by the Canadians for Democracy in Chile and the Vancouver Chilean Association, Friday’s program will include a short address by a speaker from the Chilean Association outlining Jara’s role in the cultural life.in Chile. A collection will be taken to cover expenses. Renew your PT sub today “Francisco patients aren’t too different from you and me. That’s dramatized in the great scene when they take off on a fishing boat, masquerading convincingly as doctors. That’s a delicious twist that underlines the slim difference between doctors and patients. Who are the crazies and who the’ sane? A question posed but not resolved in this beautiful film. Bit players like Sydney Lassick as Cheswick and Christopher Lloyd as Taber tell us we are all victims. It’s inevitable that Big Nurse will prevail. But not made clear — although it was in Kesey’s book — is just what is involved in the ultimate weapon: prefrontal lobotomy. The filmmakers assume one knows what that is all about. So, you’re present with the scarred wreck of a man. And that’s all. Shock therapy is administered to two of the dissident patients. After the initial horror of the treatment, the viewer is left with the im- pression of no after effects. The victims saunter off, all jaunty and jolly as if nothing had happened. In Kesey’s book — and in reality — shock therapy does terrible things to the mind. As Kesey told NAPA (Network Against Psychiatric Attack), “I feel like in some way my book has been raped and I’ve been powerless to stop it.” “T haven’t seen the movie and I don’t plan to. They squeezed the madness out of it and turned it into a freak show... The reason the Indian is mad is because he is a part of this country. ““*Cuckoo’s Nest’ is about ‘the fact that America is haywire, and the Indian is a blotter catching all this poison... I think of it as a _ revolutionary book, as anti-Estab- lishment, and that’s missing from the screenplay... It’s coming back, too — lobotomy and the behavior mod stuff, ways to make people tow the line... .”’ NAPA concludes: ‘Hollywood raped it once, and now the San Mental Health Association is doing it again by using the proceeds from the premiere benefit to support’ the very institutions (the film) so pointedly attacks. The SFMHA endorses forced drugging and shock. It spreads the myth that rage, terror and despair are not . natural responses to personal, political and physical realities, but are ‘‘diseases’’ which can be ‘cured’ by psychiatry.” —Pele de Lappe People’s World “We are singing, now above all, because our voices are the testimony of many voices which are gagged or silenced in our country.” Although readers may not have the opportunity to hear the Chilean group Inti Illimani in concert, they can get their record ‘’Vive Chile” by placing orders through the People’s Co-op Bookstore, 353 West Pender in -Vancouver. The store already has in stock records by murdered Chilean folksinger Victor Jara, the Chilean group Quilapayun, as well as a Portuguese group. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 12, 1976—Page 10 Soviet pairs skaters |rina:Rodnina and-Alexander Zaitsev matched thel e Olympic gold medal with a victory in the world figure skatind ey; championships in Goteborg, Sweden last week. It was the fourth pro consecutive world title for the Soviet team. —Tass photo | 7 ” > left wing | By MIKE GIDORA CTV's cold war reruns The world figure’ skating championships ‘ended Sunday in Goteborg, Sweden and_ the Canadian contingent was left empty-handed having failed to pick ‘up any medals in the week-long competition. It was no great cause for disappointment as no one expected the Canadian skaters to bring back the coveted’ medals. But it was disappointing — if not too sur- prising — to hear the comments of some Canadian representatives at the championships — specifically those voiced by correspondents covering for the CTV network. Canadian viewers have almost come to expect the standard anti- Soviet, anti-socialist bias which these people bring with them when they attempt to entertain their television audiences, but this time they really outdid themselves. After Toller Cranston’s widely publicized — and widely criticized — remarks about ‘‘socialist bloc judging’’ following his disastrous showing in the compulsory school figures at Innsbruck, CTV’s Johnny Esaw obviously thought the world was ready for his own special tunnel vision. Time after time in the television coverage, which was usually good, other than the commentary, Esaw reminded us of Cranston’s absurd claim, as well as coming up with a few absurdities of his own. Such as: ‘If you’re wondering why we’re always referring to the judges (Well yes, Johnny, we were wondering about that a little) and where they come from, it’s because we call them as we see ’ them and....” He left that sen- tence hanging, wondering I sup- pose, how to extract his foot without pulling out his molars on his shoelace. Esaw didn’t mention that he ‘“‘saw them” from a press box high above the ice surface, or on a television monitor, while the judges ‘‘saw them”’ from ice level. Or, just after the Soviet team of Ludmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov had skated their way to their sixth world dance title, and were being rewarded by the crowd with a standing ovation and numerous bouquets of flowers, _Esaw) ~ managed to say: “They skated brilliantly, but they seem to-lack the fire and friendliness of some Off the western teams.”’ I’m sure thal) if we had. waited.a few minutes! more he would have managed (09! point out that their smiles of vic tory weren’t really smiles after all, but simply masks for . the cameras. Such is the drift of the mind of a cold war sports fanati¢:| On occasion though, even’ Esaw had trouble believing his owl} comments as evidenced by his} efforts to show a correlation bet ween marks awarded various} skaters and the nationality of thé judge. Obviously Esaw was tryiNéR to show that judges from socialis'} countries will give higher mark?) only to skaters from other socialist countries. : After trying this with several skaters, he had to give up becausé the judges simply refused behave the way in which he thought they should. But Johnny Esaw, determined ! make his point about the judgin®| continued on blindly and finall)] — arrived at an explanation {0 Canada’s poor showing. Ther weren’t enough Canadian judges Sitting at home watching t competition on television, I didn feel any particular grievance thi there was no Canadian judg' . though I will admit I was feeli? slightly nauseated listening to ] commentary. And even EsaW*) claim disappeared when the fin@y results showed that the Canadi@) team of Barbara Berezowski aM) David Porter had finished in the! best position ever. So much for |} lack of Canadian judges ‘‘hurtiM¥) But I finally figured out wh? was hurting Johnny Esaw — success of the skaters from © | socialist countries. To some , like Esaw who has alwa?) managed to slander athletes fro!) socialist states, no matter what @ | occasion or the sport, it must min! .o have to sit through the remarkable performances with? being able to come up with 4) plausible way in which to de them.