aa a ose

Films :

Special effects
real stars in flick

ALTERED STATES from the novel by Paddy Chayefsky, writ-
ten for the screen by Sidney Aaron, directed by Ken Russell.
Starring William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban and Charles
Haid. Rated R.

‘* The ultimate truth is that there is no ultimate truth,’ declares
Doctor Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) at the ‘close of Altered
States. By means of a wicked-looking brew acquired from an
isolated Mexican Indian tribe, and long hours floating in a sen-
- Sory deprivation tank, Jessup has journeyed back to the moment
of the first creation of life in the universe. He hasn’t found it to be
the positive experience he hoped for, to put it mildly.

But ‘‘Altered States,” is less about Dr. Jessup’s quest for the
ultimate truth and more about director Ken Russell’s search for
the ultimate special effect. And Russell has been more successful
than Jessup.

Jessup is a contemporary scientist pursuing life’s meaning
through a Faustian combination of. scientific investigation and
mysticism. Like Goethe’s hero, he risks all in his search, but is
Tedeemed by the love of a woman, in this case his wife Emily
(Blair Brown), a brilliant and beautiful scientist.

But in Altered States, plot and characters are merely pretext
for what is essentially a barrage of visual and aural displays. The
Sophisticated dialogue, studded with philosophic portents, is
only pretentious packaging for what is at heart a sci fi flic.

As in Resurrection, love is portrayed as a material force capa-
ble of overcoming natural law. Only in a science fiction frame-
work can an audience be expected to swallow that.

. For much of the movie, we watch and listen to Eddie’s hallu-
Cinations as he regresses to successively earlier stages of human
evolution. His visions become increasingly abstract until they are
nothing more than moving forms and colors. His hallucinations
are mostly horrible; occasionally they are beautiful, but they are
always wild and freakish.

Eddie’s inner experiences begin to transform his body, and
physically de-devolves. As a quasi-human, Dr. Jessup is a good
deal funnier than Sidney the ape in ‘‘ The Incredible Shrinking
Woman.” ‘

Eventually, when Eddie has almost regressed to amoebahood,
his inner fireworks externalize spectacularly, wrecking the
laboratory. As the windows shatter and the pipes melt, one of
Eddie’s colleague’s says of the pulsating sensory deprivation
chamber where Eddie is ensconced, ‘‘There’s a lot of energy
being released in there.’’ Within minutes, he and other observers
are knocked out cold by all that released energy.

Altered States is a fairly entertaining, somewhat pretentious
science fiction yarn. It is funnier than most of this year’s inten-
tional comedies. William Hurt and the rest of the cast give lively
performances. But the movie’s real stars are its sensational spe-
Cial effects.

— Marian Irving

Canada in the 30s

symposium reviews

popular culture
of the Depression

The culture and politics of the 1930s were seen
as expressions of resistance to the Depression
years in a crowded one-day symposium held re-
cently at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Que.

Organized by a group of faculty professors and
students in the departments of English, history,
German, political science and fine arts at Bishop's
and Champlain Regional College, the symposium
was hosted by the Speaker’s Forum and attracted
participants from the West Coast, Toronto, Mon-
treal, Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Windsor and
Waterloo.

Among the panelists were Canadian authors of
books of poetry, history, fiction, stage plays, liter-
ary criticism and theatre.

Bishop’s principal, Christopher I.H. Nicholl,
opened the first session, with introductory remarks
from Ken McLean, Hans Fischer and Cecil Ab-
rahams, followed by the first speaker, Oscar Ryan,
who traced the beginnings of the Progressive Arts
Club movement in Toronto, and by Toby Ryan,
who spoke on the Canadian Left theatre of the
Thirties. (Her memoir on these theatres is
scheduled for October publication.) George
Woodcock, who was not present, sent in a paper
estimating the poetry and other writings of
Dorothy Livesay, who spoke at various times dur-
ing the day.

Antoine Sirois, vice-dean of the University of
Sherbrooke, examined both English and
French-language novels of the Depression under
the heading, An Expression of Difference. Peter
Stevens, poet and teacher at the University of
Windsor, spoke on the ‘‘critical poetry’’ of the
Thirties. Lon Lawson described the impact of
New Frontier, the Thirties magazine he edited.

One full session devoted to history was shared
by Richard Desrosiers, of the University of
Quebec in Montreal, who in French gave a
retrospective on the Canadian Communist Party of

N

LINO-CUT — V. KOZILINSKI

The illustration, titied Meeting, for a poster sent out
to universities across Canada by the Speaker’s
Forum hosted by Bishop’s University for their
Symposium, Canada in the 30s — Culture and
Politcs.

the Thirties; Abbe Girard Dion, also in French,
who spoke on the Duplessis regime and its opposi-
tion to the trade unions; and Stanley Ryerson,
University of Quebec in Montreal, who analyzed
economic and political conditions and the rise of
nationalism in Quebec.

The symposium’s lively sessions were capped
by the evening’s Celebration program provided by
a panel of poets introduced by Dorothy Livesay.
Reading their own poems of or about the Thirties
were Livesay herself,Ralph Gustafson, Leo Ken-
nedy, Peter Stevens and F.R. Scott.

Among other chairpersons, moderators and
commentators for the four sessions were Terry
Copp and Robin Burns. Included in the crowded
9:30 a.m.-to-I1 p.m. day were active question-
and-answer periods, much. button-holing of
panelists between sessions, and films from or about
the Depression years.

The symposium focused searchlights on a time
similar in some ways to the present day, and
suggested a need for action.

It was an important and timely event. Yet the
press, radio and other media have thus far largely
ignored it.

_. CBC examines Canada’s theatre

Stereo Morning, CBC’s na-
tional music and arts show, has

Private vs public art

the Australians managed to pro-
duce films which, in recent years,
are not only recognizably Austra-

a

Blair Brown with William Hurt in Altered States.

S

- Are vegetarians healthier?

Once considered a fad, vege-
» farianism is gaining popularity
among medical experts and the
8eneral public as a healthful way
to eat. Studies indicate that diets
low in animal fats and high in
Plant fibre protect against heart
attacks, intestinal disease and
Colon cancer. Since meatless
diets are usually higher in bulk
and lower in calories, vegetarians
are less likely to be obese than
Meat eaters.

However a uniformed switch to
a meatless diet can lead to prob-
lems. Severe nutrient shortages
can occur when you abstain from
all animal foods, particularly if the
diet is unvaried or relies too heav-
ily on one staple, such as rice.
Diets that include eggs which are
high in protein, and milk, also a
good protein source, are unlikely
to meet with serious health
problems.

scheduled a three-part series on
the private art gallery system in
Canada, April 6-8, 9 a.m. (9:30
Nfid). Robert Enright, the shows
visual arts critic, interviews gal-
lery. owners, artists and art
bureaucrats, and demonstrates
how the private system relates to
public institutions, controls the
art market and works with artists.

On Wednesdays, beginning
April 8 at 8:04 p.m. (8:34 Nfid.),
CBC Stereo’s Ideas will examine
the history and current problems
of theatre and film in a four-part
series called Canadian Theatre at
the Brink. It has been prepared by
Professor Peter Harcourt of
Carleton University, well-known
for his studies on Canadian cine-
ma, and by Gordon Vogt, resident
theatre critic for the CBC series,
Stereo Morning.

In the April 8 broadcast Mavor
Moore, Arnold Edinborough,
Dora Mavor Moore and others
talk about the early days of
theatre, and Professor Peter Mor-

ris of Queen’s University discus-
ses the early days of film. Prof.
Harcourt says: *‘While Canadian
theatre began in the late 19th cen-
tury, there was no real flowering
of indigenous Canadian drama
until the 1940s and early 1950s.
Yet who has ever seen a play by
Joseph Schull or Mavor Moore?
The plays of this period have
been lost to us. Feature film pro-
duction in this country began as
early as 1919, but who has heard
of early film classics such as Back
to God’s Country, The Viking, or
Carry On Sergeant?”’

The April 15 program concen-
trates on the cinema. Harcourt
asks: ‘‘If Expo °67 seemed to
usher in a new film age to Canada,
why have we continued to make
films no one wants to see? Why
have films suddenly become so
expensive? And why are govern-
ment tax incentives now used to
make films for the U.S. TV mar-
ket?’ The program ends with a
brief look at Australia. How have

lian, but which have gained ac-
cess to cinema screens around the
world?

The -April 22. broadcast
explores the state of German
theatre over the last 15 years.
Leon Major, Dora Mavor Moore,
Ronald Bryden, Bill Glassco, and
Tom Hendry will talk about the
role of government grants in es-
tablishing regional theatres in
Canada, and the relationship of
regional theatre to theatres in
centres tending to be more
influenced by British or American
models.

The last program, on April 29,
combines discussion of both
theatre and film. To what extent
can these arts be described as
‘cultural industries’? If they were
expected to pay for themselves,
what qualities might they lose?
Speakers include many from
theatre and film, as well as some
of Canada’s most influential cul-
tural policy-makers.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 10, 1981—Page 9