Catherine Deneuve and Giancarlo

Giannini . ... involved in a moral
and political dilemma in La
Grande Bourgeoise, a film worth
seeing says review (right).

Labor paper
in Northwest

There is a new addition to the
labor press in B.C. with the Oc-
tober premiere edition of The
Northwest Worker. Based in
Terrace, B.C., the paper is
produced by the labour Advisory
Committee, a body made up of
representatives of labor councils in
the north west of the province.

“We support working people in
their struggles and in their efforts
to make a decent life for them-
selves,’ the new monthly paper
editorially introduced itself.

‘We support the unity of working
people, and, in our pages we’ll
avoid, as much as possible, the
things that undercut unity. You
won't find us engaging in sec-
tarianism (we-have-all-the-
answers-approaches), intra-union
squabbles, racism, sexism, anti-
communism, or anything else that
divides working people.”’

The first issue carried a review
of the new labor code, a centre-
spread on the Kitimat Pipeline
proposal and a feature on the
Yukon pipeline.

There is no charge for a sub to
the Northwest Worker; the editors
call it a ‘workers service.’”’ They
do want the price of postage,

though, which is about $1 for six —

issues. Send it to Box 152, Terrace,
B.C.

2679 E. Hastings St.,
Vancouver, B.C.
253-1221

THE COMPLETE
TRAVEL SERVICE

We will professionally look after
all your travel needs. We specialize
in tickets, tours, passports, permits
and reservations. Call us today—

for prompt personalized service.

GLOBE TOURS

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 14, 1977—Page 10

i Reviewing current films |

Politics, morals and old Italy

The real expanse of the political
arena, from the hustings to the
family room, is a subject rarely
developed on the movie screen. On
the contrary, it is the screen,
perhaps more than any other
medium, that so frustratingly
denudes life of politics and reduces
everything to the frailty of emotion
or impulse.

If that is a frustration with the
usual cinematic fare dished up by
Hollywood and company that you
share, you'll want tosee La Grande
Bourgeoise, an Italian film brought
to Vancouver by July’s In-
ternational film festival and now
on a regular run at the Varsity
Theatre.

La Grande Bourgeoise doesn’t
abandon the subjective for a
straight dose of politics. Rather it’s
the combination of Catherine
Deneuve and Giancarlo Giannini,
among others, caught in an intense
family drama, with the political
background of turn of the century
Italy that makes this re-creation of
a famous Italian political scandal

an engrossing study of the politics |

of morality.

The story is about the tragedy of
the Murri, a prominent Italian
family. The father was a medical
professor and a leading socialist,
renowned for his high moral
standards, which he has taken
pains to pose in opposition to
religion and the Catholic church.

Catherine Deneuve, the
professor’s daughter Linda, finds
herself wed to a particularly brutal
aristocrat. With her socialist
background, the marriage to a
devout Catholic and political
reactionary is an unhappy mix.
She looked desperately for escape,
at times fearing for her life.

Giancarlo Giannini, Linda’s
brother Tullio, forsakes his
brilliant career as a lawyer and
socialist politician to come to the
aid of his sister. With the
collaboration of a friend he plots
the murder of his brother-in-law.

The script leaves some doubt as
to the actual circumstances of the
murder. Tullio claims self defense.
But the facts of the case quickly
become secondary to the political
impact of the scandal, just prior to

an election in which the socialists .

are expected to make major gains.

A zealous inspector, more than
aware of the political implications
of the case, undertakes to uncover

LA GRANDE BOURGEOISE. Starring
Catherine Deneuve and _ Giancarlo
Giannini. At the Varsity Theatre.
(English subtitles)

all of the dirt possible on the
Murri family. Linda is found to be
an adultress. Tullio has kept the
linen maid as a mistress. The
accomplice is a drunk and a
gambler. In short time, each of the
professor’s children and their
lovers are charged with conspiring
inthe murder. Where the inspector
left off, the Catholic press and
reactionary political forces took
over, sensationalizing the scandal

to rally votes against the godless
socialists.

The politicalization of the crime
is graphically portrayed and is the
strength of La Grande Bourgeoise.
It is in the final comment‘of the
film, though, that it falls victim to

its own moral plot. The professor, |

after considerable inner torment
and feeling his moral standards
betrayed, turns from his children
and severs the family ties.

The point, supposedly, is the
ultimate strength of the professor’s
socialist morality, a morality that
transcends both religion and
family loyalties. But it is a point
lost in the naive acceptance of

some quite suspect moral stan-
dards, which in the context of the
film, leaves the erroneous
assumption that the political
struggle is in the first place a
moral one.

The politics of morality is a
subject that will always lend itself
to a vigorous debate, and La
Grande Bourgeoise is a case in
point. You may not agree with all
that is said, but there is a lot of
substance to deal with. It makes
for good entertainment, so good
youwill forget that it’s all in Italian
with English subtitles.

—Fred Wilson

Thoughful look at college sport

Sports movies in general attract
my attention. Those that attempt
to place athletic competition into a
realistic perspective in relation to
everyday life earn my admiration.

One by one is a film that tries to
do just that. Though it has some
flaws — it oversimplifies the
brutality of college athletics (in
this case basketball); it reduces
itself to a rather mundane love

story; and it refuses to come to

grips with the problems it poses for
college athletes — it does make the
point that athletics can be an
important part of a well rounded
college life and that “‘jocks”’ need
not be mindless automatons stored
in the basement of a gymnasium
until game time.

The story is straightforward
enough. It deals with a highschool
basketball hero who wins a
scholarship to a college in Los
Angeles. Once there he finds that
the game on the big-time college
level is not at all the same sport to

which he has devoted most of his.

young life. The coach demands
iron discipline and a singlemin-
dedness of purpose. He wants his

ONE ON ONE. Starring Robbie
Benson and Annette O’Toole. Directed
by Lamont Johnson. At local theatres.

team to think, eat and sleep
nothing but basketball.

There is another side to college
life for our hero, however. He
becomes enamoured with the tutor
that the athletic department has
hired to make sure that he gets at
least D’s in all of his courses. She
opens up a world of intellectual
endeavors to which he has never
before been exposed.

He is disillusioned by the
corruption of big-time college
athletics and is put off by the
tyranny of his coach. His con-
centration on basketball lags as he

_tried to get more from college than
can be found on a basketball court.:

The coach, saying that he hasn’t
lived up to the faith placed in him,
asks him to resign his four year no-
cut shcolarship. But our boy has
found that college life agrees with
him. and besides he just loves to
play ball. So he refuses.

What happens next is a cam-
paignof intimidation and abuse by

the coach that- would make 4

Spartan shudder. But the kid is

determined not to give up either

playing ball or studying for his

degree and, with the help of his
tutor (who has become his

roommate), he whips himself into

the physical and mental condition

to excel at both.

In the end, of course, the coach is
forced to put him into a game that
his team is losing. with bare
minutes left to play. Needless to
say, the kid wins the game almost
single-handedly through the use of
some moves and long-range
shooting that would make Pete ©
Maravich unlace his sneakers and
look for a place to hide.

A lot of what happens in the
movie is caricature; there just are
not people in the world whose
motives are as simple and un-
complicated as those painted here.
But, in addition to attempting a
thoughtful look at college athletics,
One On One makes a point about
the relationship between mind and
body that has been sorely missed in —
mass culture. Take your kids.

Sumner Jones.

Star Wars: see it while it’s fresh

No sooner have the opening
credits of Star Wars passed when
the spaceship carrying Pricenss
Leia is captured. Her captor is
none other than Darth Vader, Dark
Lord of the Sith and head hit man
for the evil clique that has sub-
verted the democratic Old
Republic and instituted a vicious

reign of terror throughout the

galaxy.

Already Star Wars is_ being
hailed as one of the great
cinematic achievements. The
excitement seems to be a healthy

STAR WARS. Starring Alec Guiness,
Peter Cushing; and Christopher Lee.
At local theatres.

reaction to the barrage of
frightening, depressing, gory,
boring and what have you muck
that has made up so much of
Hollywood’s output in the last
several years. The movie industry
attempts to appear “relevant”
amidst the cynicism of the post-
Vietnam and Watergate years
have produced many movies that
have wallowed in the more sordid
aspects of our society.

Recent science fiction movies
have been particularly guilty.
Even 2001, which struck me as

more optomistic, warned us
against trusting our ' own
technology.

The danger now is that the
Hollywood moguls will shift their
emphasis on phoney realism and
begin churning out cheap rip-offs
of Star Wars. So if you’re the kind
of person who refuses to grow up
completely, go see Star Wars while
its still fresh.

—Shane Parkhill

m,

e
Bargain at H
Available now at People’s Co-op Books, Pacific Tribune $6.98. Add $1.40
for postage, packaging and sales tax for mail orders from the Tribune office.

JUST RELEASED

Bargain’s long awaited album

“A New Wind Blowin’

=