Animation Festival Ian Verchére As of this writing, the success of the Festi- val of Animation has warranted it being held over a couple of days. As the cynical master of ceremonies pointed out, its great to see people supprt independent cinemas, and that there is a supportive audience for alternative film outside the commercial crap, like Top Gun Counting the various commercials as one piece, there were seventeen works shown. Opening the performance was famous claymator Will Vinton’s Dinosaur, an ele- ven minute classroom show-and-tell fantasy through the age of the reptiles Peg Moudy’s Housecats was a sentimental favourite of cat owners in the audience, as both hers and Vin- ton’s piece were on the cute and inoffensive side of the entertainment spectrum. In con- trast, Vancouver’s Marv Newland’s 1981 work, Sing Beast, Sing was substantially more of a challenge. Unfortunately, the long slow pans of background mattes and static character movements, coupled with a less than satisfactory ending, made this piece seem more of an exercise than a finished work. After the commercial medley, which broke no new ground but was a good exam- ple of technical virtuosity and imagination, Solweig Von Klienst’s Criminal Tango ranks as a Festival highlight, in sheer labour intensity alone. Utilizing the scratch on film technique, this French effort involves scratching away the emulsion of exposed film. Each frame is drawn on in this manner and later coloured. The result is a vertigo backdrop of pulsing characters and back- grounds. Other noteworthy films included Bar- takiad, a Czech film by Oldrich Haberle. It deals with waking up on the thirteenth, and the ensuing karma of your basic weird day. Drawn with a draughtman’s precision, each line conveyed meaning and information ef- fectively. I think with less original subject matter, Haberle’s work would leave me cold, but Bartakiad succeeds Joan Gratz’s Creation represented a unique approach to claymation, in that she painted with the clay on, I assume, plate glass ora similar surface. The subject matter, however, raised a few eyebrows around where I sat. Using the voice of James Earl Jones, Creation told the story of Genesis, Chapter 1. In his deep, majestic, god-like voice., we heard how He did this, and He saw that it was good, and that He created MAN in His own image. I was cringing at the thought of seeing women made from a rib bone, when the film ended! I knew then that it wasn’t a true story or fifty percent of the au- dience would have suddenly disappeared. The second half of the show opened with some historical perspective; Max Fleisher’s Minnie the Moocher featuring the music of Cab Calloway and that lovable rebel, Betty Boop. The story, if you’ve never seen this film is simple. Betty is unhappy at her raving immigrant parents, so she runs away with a friend. They find themselves in a haunted cave, the spooks being none other than Cab SUSIE SMLeSGirl :S Calloway and his band. These wild spirits scare the adventure out of Betty and home she goes. It made me realize that race and sex stereotyping has a long history in animation. Whether the intent was to show what animators got away with before the civil rights and womens movements gained momentum, I don’t know. What does be- come apparent is the new and perhaps more dangerous role playing which goes on in the Saturday morning cartoons. Now; women, blacks, Asiatics and white males band to- gether to fight ambiguous forces of evil, or take justice into their own hands when proper procedures fail. It would seem as if children are being taught to accept combat as inevita- ble. What with the Rambo mentality, the sale of toy weapons increasing again, a new gen- eration of cold war babies are coming of age at just the time when more peaceful and com- promising attitudes are most needed. At his point, a Talking Heads animated video provided a nice interlude. The song, from Little Creatures, And She Was, was in- terpreted here fairly literally, through collage and still photographs. Animator Jim Blashfield presented a fairly quirky work in the idiom of David Byrne and Co. Next up, was the funniest film of the festi- val, Michael Sporn’s Amazing Bone, a wierd twisted version of Little Red Riding Hood. Here an unsympathetic wolf in polyester takes Little Red Riding Pig up to cook her, but her champion is a talking bone who be- comes her friend. I guess you had to be there. Two Dutch works were up next, with E/- bowing the stronger of the two. For me though, the surprise of the festival was a CBC Montreal production called Crac. This work told the story of a handmade rocking chair and how it ages gracefully in the face of a progressive, urbanized world. Masterful drawing and beautiful colouration, it is no surprise this won the Academy Award in 1981. Also shown was the Oscar winning The Fly, a depiction of a fly’s eye view of a flight through a garden and into a house, and the evasive action taken to avoid being swatted. This three minute effort by Hungarian Fred- rec Rofusz was a major accomplishment in terms of drawing skill. The show officially closes with an update of Newland’s sadistic Bambi Meets Godzilla by Cal Arts animator Juliet Stroud. Here the title character, Snookles, a young dragon looking for a friend, gets into a whistling serenade with a bird, and roasts the thing in one blow, so to speak. The show unofficially closed with a more satisfying piece from the Newland stable, the violent Lupo the Butcher, who succeeds in dismembering himself along with the side ribs, cursing all the while. The popularity of this year’s Festival hopefully ensures a return of this event next year. Well compiled, with varied representa- tives of countries and techniques. If such ef- fort is continued, it bodes well for Vancouver alternate film, and animation as a genre, in these days of Red-bashing, hero-worship pulp films. Bs eee = os = aie ee / = a — jee tog F—ft re ages PLANET OF THE ARTS Ff See ee es se eg NO SURRENDER | Martin Stein When club manager Michael gets a new job at the Charleston Club in the bowels of Liverpool he has no idea what is in store for him. You see, the old manager had left the clubs owner, Mr. Fitch, a bit of a going away present. On New Year’s Eve, the club is tri- ple booked with a party of militant Protes- tants, an equally militant party of costumed Catholics and a small band of senile men and women. On top of this, the acts for the evening also come in-threes, in the guises of a gay come- dian, an insecure magician and a self-des- tructive punk rock band singing about death. Add to this a club owner who is the embodi- ment of yuppiedom gone bad and you should be fairly confused. But what results out of this chaos is a seething microcosm of the late twentieth cen- tury. The few sane people struggle desper- ately just'to stay afloat in this whirlpool of in- sanity. The portrayals of man’s need to sub- mit his will to a greater cause are stretched here to the breaking point and then allowed to snap back on themselves with age-old re- sults. The few beacons of hope are those who refuse to follow the crowd and instead follow their own conscience, but there are very few of these sorts of people left and their light shines very dim in the maelstrom of the club. Even the hero Michael achieves his victory, not solely by his own wits, but because he convinces the club’s owner that it would be a wise business move to do as he suggests. Now if this all sounds too serious for a good night on the town, do not be misled. The film is peppered with so much black humour that the dialogue is often missed due to laughter (although the heavy Irish brogues contribute to this as well. One of the classic scenes must be when the punk band is sing- ing about nuclear fallout and impending doom and the only eople enjoying the music are the mad. The sane are rioting because they would rather hear miltary marching bands or Latin religious hymns. And re- member, those are the sane. No Surrender is playing at the Royal Centre Cineplex (a bit larger than a TV screen.) ' R.E.M. LIFES RICH PAGEANT “The Producer said. “Look you c:B¢, you'd better pronounce the words . . . but it just took all the piss out of it.” —Joe Strummer, The Clash It is said that The Clash are the “only band that matters“, which prompted one critic to muse that R.E.M. then, are the “only band that mutters.“ With the release of LIFES RICH PAGEANT, however, that tag may soon disappear, as lead singer and lyricist Michael Stipe has begun to pronounce the words. On previous recordings, Stipe’s vocal stylings were utilized primarily as an instru- ment, and not as the focus of lyric content. Singing along with an R.E.M. song often meant trying to» imitate the sounds Stipe made, apart from the odd legible phrase. The result was finding yourself singing “SUNZMYIIHARBOUR COAT.”For all ‘you knew Stipe could be singing “Geese fly south for the winter and the Big Cheese gets his at low tide tonight.“ What you will find with LIFES RICH PAGEANT is that now that you can hear what he is saying, you can’t understand what he means. His writing ranges from surrealist imagery to free association, with subtle hints at themes and issues. The moody and some- what introspective previous release, FA- BLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION, was as best as you could make out, all about trains and maps. Here, with the new album, more varied and global issues are addressed such as utopias, U.S. intervention in Central America, and nuclear war. ummer Vacation 86 .-. "manne 6 5, Ss e Fas Ss ead he » > Ne \ : wey From the release of their first independant single in 1981, “Radio Free Europe“, which Village Voice promptly proclaimed as Single of the Year, and made most, if not all, of the critics top ten lists, R.E.M. have pursued a stubbornly independant and distinct style. Therefore, the choice of Don Gehman as pro- ducer has not, as Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs feared, turned LIFES RICH PAGEANT into a heavy metal album. Gehman is better known for his work with John Cougar Mellencamp. What he brings to the new work is a straightforward rock sensi- bility which was missing on FABLES, with- out compromising the distinctiveness of R.E.M.’s sound. LIFES RICH PAGEANT is divided into a Dinner Side and a Supper Side, and I for one will not venture a guess as to the reasons. There is no particular differences between the two sides, as in Neil Young’s RUST NEVER SLEEPS. On the Dinner Side, “Fall on Me“, “Cuyahoga“, and the instrumental rhumba “Underneath the Bunker“ are stand- outs, with the opening cut “Begin the Begin“ rocking hard and straight, setting the tone for the whole album. The Supper Side contains a pleasant surprise, a cover of Zekley and Bot- tler’s “Superman“, with the lead vocal ad- mirably handled by guitarist Mike Mills. Also check out “I Believe“ and “What If We Give it Away“. Suffice it to say, this is R.E.M.’s best re- cording to date. The songs contain the dis- tinctive complex phrasing and bridges which compliment the soaring choruses which are virtual signatures by now. R.E.M. appears at U.B.C.’s War Memorial Gym October Sth, with Guaducanal Diary, known for their campus radio hit, “Watusi Rodeo“. Suzie SArcesair| on +e WARPATH 11> “May, ‘Suny! Suzie seus A wine glass ta “ Suzie Hos a dare tonight! * CEPTEMRER Now Su Zie imitate the sounds Stipe made, apart from the odd legible phrase. The singing result was finding — yourself *SUNZMYIIHARBOUR COAT. "For all ‘you knew Stipe could be singing “Geese fly South for the winter and the Big his at low tide tonight.” What you will find with LIFES RICH PAGEANT is that now that you can hear ‘what he is saying, you can’tunderstand what hhe means. His writing ranges from surrealist, imagery to free association, with subtle hint at themes and is S OF THE RECONSTRUCTION, was asbestas you could make out, all about trains and maps. Here, with the new album, more varied and global issues are addressed such, 88 utopias, U.S. intervention in Central ‘America, and nuclear wa. ueamer \lacation 86 ... "| ah —| From the release of the’ single in 1981, Village Voice promptly proclaimed as Single of the Year, and made most, if not all ofthe erties top fen lists, R.E.M. have stubbornly independant and di ‘Therefore, the choice of Don Gehman as pro- ducer has not, as Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs feared, twmed LIFES RICH PAGEANT into a heavy metal album, Gehman is better known for his work with John Cougar Mellencamp. What he brings to the new work is straightforward rock sensi- bility which was missing on FABLES ‘out compromising the distinetiveness of R.E.M.'s sound. LIFES RICH PAGEANT is divided into a Dinner Side and a Supper Side, and for one will not venture a guess as to the reasons. There is no particular differences between the two sides, as in Neil Young's RUST NEVER SLEEPS. On the Dinner Side, “Fall fon Me*, “Cuyahoga', and the instrumental, ‘humba “Underneath the Bunker" are stand: ‘outs, with the opening cut “Begin the Begin’ rocking hard and straight, setting the tone for the whole album. The Supper Side contains surprise, acover of Zekley and Bo “Superman, with the lead vocal ad- irably handled by guitarist Mike Mills, ‘Also check out “I Believe" and "What If We Give it Away’ Sutfice it to say, this is R.E.M."s best re cording to date. The songs contain the dis- tinetive complex phrasing and bridges which compliment the soaring choruses which are virtual signatures by now. R.E.M. appearsat, U.B.C.’s War Memorial Gym October Sth with Guaducanal Diary, known for their ‘campus radio hit, “Watusi Rodeo". first independant Zany? suds sas Wine gIASS 6 Suzie nas a ie Sonigh