i planet of the arts volume 3 number 2 november matewan Coal mines, dark and dangerous places to work. Men sweating in tunnels too small for a man to stand in,tet alone swing a pick-axe. Coal mines, where if the dust doesn’t seep into your lungs and slowly choke you to death it will just hang in the air, waiting for the slightest spark to bury you under tons of black slate. This was the everyday life for the men of Matewan, West Virgina, in the 1920’s Matewan, where the coal company owns you, your clothes, your food, your land. Matewan, ripe for the wave of unionization that was thundering across the United States. And you realize that you don’t have to be a mile under to be in the middle of an explosion. Enter Joe Kenehan, a union organizer who, unlike Sly Stallone in F.1.S.T.,is a pacifist. And Joe has more than just the bosses to contend with here in the middle of hillbilly country. There’s also racism, when black and Italian scabs are brought in; spies CINE ofthe TIMES — Martin Stein of 2 hours and 12 minutes and you don’t even notice. The audience at the Vancouver International Film Festival screening con- sisted of industry people, artists and intel- lectuals (or at least intellectual /ooking) and they all applauded. Unfortunately, the film is only playing on the 19th and 20th, so you will have missed it by the time the Planet goes to press. The only thing | can suggest is to burn the title into your mind, tape a note onto the bathroom mirror, and if “Matewan” ever comes to town again, GO! 10 and Philip Quast, is the youngest child of a wealthy family living in mid-60’s Mel- bourne. His parents are cold and demanding, his brother and sister cruel. Boarding school is the only place that young Edward has any respect. Any respect? This kid has tons of respect! He’s the class president, a friend with all the upper classmen, and a hell of a rugby player on top of everything else. Why this wonderful environment that a child would experience for the better part of his youth doesn’t boost his confidence at home is beyond me. But then we would have less of a story than we are already stuck with. With the death of a friend of Edward’s at school, we are suddenly thrown into the 80’s. Here, Rouse, who also wrote the film, manages to come up with such original ideas as businessmen who are involved with drugs, single mothers and the health move- ment. By now, Edward has managed to develop a life of his own. He has a lover, planted by the company in the worker’s camp; and a pair of company hit-men. On Joe’s side are the worker’s anger; a giant ’ black, played wonderfully by James Earl Jones; and a town sheriff who’s the spitting image of Gregory Peck in “High Noon”. Based on the real life “Matewan Mas- sacre”, this film is so good | don’t know where to begin. The dialogue—superb. The cinematography—fitting, when not breathtak- ing. The production design—reaiistic, right down to the out-of-era clothes worn by the people in Hatfield-McCoy country. You know that a film is good when it has a running time an: plodding tale. - wisted e and he dor That bj Tum lDUsiness g 39 "94671, : tha ine ident tT he The. fs Fergie fh. New rumors have Surtoced thet aes = hoe eel w; with ut Sean Thompson to market, to market “To Market, to Market” is the premiere film of Australia’s Virginia Rouse, who brings her background in still photography to a wonderful fruition in this film about a young man’s struggle to break free from the grasp of his family. Unfortunately, the camera work is the only positive feature in this Edward Riat, played by Marcus Gollings friends, a good job, money, etc. Granted, he works in a law firm that is controlled by Daddy, but for the most part he’s the kind of guy that Yuppie women have fantasies about. So why the hell does he still do anything that his siblings ask of him? | don’t know about you, but | get awfully bored watching a weanie for two hours. The only thing that | can say in closing is to restate my reaction to an Austrailian film | saw a few months ago: “At least the Aussies can still take good pictures...” Luckily for you, my faithful and adoring fans, this was the first and last time that this film will have light projected behind it during the festival. WYNDHAM LEWIS a social review of a forgotten canadian figure On the fifth floor of the Vancouver Art Gallery hangs a single pencil and water-colour sketch, “Portrait”, by Percy Wyndham Lewis. Wyndham Lewis was born November 18, 1892 in Amherst Nova Scotia, in a yacht. His life as an artist and writer spanned five decades and three continents. He was frequently and mistakenly regarded as either British or American, though he in fact carried a Canadian passport all his life. Unknown and virtually penniless he died March 7, 1957, in a condemned flat in London. His deathbed remark: “Mind your own business”. There is virtually no public memory of Wyndham Lewis as a Canadian artist. In Britain, Wyndam Lewis is credited with being one of the original founders of Vorticism, a movement in art which paralleled the emergence of Dadaism, Futurism, and Surrealism in Europe. His contemporaries included most of the legendary figures in the annals of Modernism. The pantheon in which Lewis is housed includes such figures as the writers T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, T.E. Hulme, and the sculptor, Gaudier-Brzeska. In 1916 Lewis enlisted as a gunner in the Canadian army. He witnessed the fiery destruction of an entire generation of youth. In 1917 he was seconded as a war artist to the Canadian War Memorials scheme. Among the best known of his wartime pictures are A Canadian Gun Pit (National Gallery of Canada) and A Battery Shelled (Imperial War Museum - Lon- don). On the eve of World War II, when he realized another war was immi- nent, Wyndham Lewis returned to Canada. He is said to have remarked, “I can see all the dead.” : Wyndham Lewis lived in Toronto from 1940 to 1945. The city he dis- missed e«¢ “a sanctimonious icebox”. His opinion of Canada was not much better. 82 unspeakable national zero”. Lewis did not endear himself in the minds of most Canadians with such remarks. One of the few Canadians to seek him out was Marshall McLuhan. B.W. Powe, in his recent book The Solitary Outlaw, suggests that virtually all of McLuhan’s ideas about the media are informed by his reading of Wyndham Lewis. The entries in the main library in Toronto on Lewis cite more than forty volumes, including poems, plays, travelogues, and memoirs. According to B.W. Powe one of the reasons for their lack of popularity is a harsh anti- narrative technique and digressive style which requires considerable effort from the reader. Wyndham Lewis also suffers from the reputation of his short-lived infatuation with Hitler in the Thirties. This was a fate not uncom- mon with many artists during that time. Lewis returned to England in 1945 and for a time was the art critic for the Listener, 1946-1950. He became blind in 1950. He allowed himself to go blind rather than undergo surgery which might interfere with the lucid functioning of his mind. In his farewell to painting, “The Sea Mists of Winter” Lewis wrote: “The failure of sight will of course be worse from week to week until in the end I shall only be able to see the actual world through little patches in the midst of a blacked out tissue.” Blind, sitting in darkness in his London flat, Lewis, like an antiquated Biblical figure, continued to write until his untimely death in 1957. Lewis himself had written: “He who opens his eyes wide enough will always finds himself alone.” here Richard Wiklo matewan Coal mines, dark and dangerous places to work, Men sweating in tunnels too small tor ‘a man to stand in,tet alone swing a pick-axe. Goal mines, where if the dust doesn't seep into your lungs and slowly choke you to death it will just hang in the air, waiting for the slightest spark to bury you under tons of black slate. This was the everyday life for the men of Matewan, West Virgina, in the 1920's Matewan, where the coal company owns you, your clothes, your food, your land. Matewan, ripe for the wave of unionization that was thundering across the United States. ‘And you realize that you don't have to be a mile under to Enter Joe Kenehan, a union organizer who, unlike Sly Stallone in F.I.S.T..is a pacifist. And Joe has more than just the bosses to contend with hare in the middle of hillbilly country. There's also racism, when black and Italian scabs are brought in; spies planted by the company in the worker's ‘camp; and a pair of company hit-men. On Joe's side are the worker's anger; a giant black, played wonderfully by James Earl Jones; and a town sheriff who's the spitting image of Gregory Peck in “High Noon” Based on the real life “Matewan Mas- this film is so good | don't know jo begin. The dialogue—superb. The cinematography—fitting, when not breathtak- ing. The production design—realistic, right down to the out-of-era clothes worn by the in the middle of an explosion. net of the arts volume 3 number 2 nove: CINE ofthe TIMES Mart 1 Stein of 2 hours and 12 minutes and you don't even notice, The audience at the Vancouver International Film Festival screening con- sisted of industry people, artists and intel- lectuals (or at least intellectual looking) and they all applauded. Unfortunately, the film is ‘only playing on the 18th and 20th, so you will have missed it by the time the Planet goes to press, The only thing | can suggest is to burn the title into your mind, tape a note onto the bathroom mirror, and if “Matewan” ever ‘comes to town again, GO! to market, to market "To Market, to Market” is the premiere film of Australia's Virginia Rouse, who brings her background in still photography to a wonderful fruition in this film about a young man’s struggle to break free from the grasp of his family. Unfortunately, the camera work is the only positive feature in this, aber 10 and Philip Quast, is the youngest child of a wealthy family living in mid-60's Mel- bourne. His parents are cold and demanding, his brother and sister cruel. Boarding ‘school is the only place that young Edward has any respect. Any respect? This kid has tons of respect! He's the class president, a friend with all the upperclassmen, and a hell of a rugby player on top of everything ‘else. Why this wonderful environment that a child would experience for the better part of his youth doesn’t boost his confidence at hhome is beyond me. But then we would have less of a story than we are already stuck with, With the death of a friend of Edward's at school, we are suddenly thrown into the 80's. Here, Rouse, who also wrote the film, manages to come up with such original ideas as businessmen who are involved with drugs, single mothers and the health move- ment. By now, Edward has managed to develop a lite of his own. He has a lover, friends, a good job, money, etc. Granted, he works in a law firm that is controlled by Daddy, but for the most part he's the kind of ‘guy that Yuppie women have fantasies about. So why the hell does he still do anything that his siblings ask of him? I don’t know about you, but I get awfully bored watching a ‘weanie for two hours. The only thing that | say in closing is to restate my reaction. to an Austrailian film | saw a few months ago: “At least the Aussies can still take people in Hatfielé-MeCoy country. You know plodding tale. that a film is good when it has a running time busi. She ineidee on Mr. Mid, Be nite +) e twisted under nes ie he wat beggin 9 Tom ik Drou} the Rebel On the fifth floor of the Vancouver Art Gallery hangs a single pencil and water-colour sketch, “Portrait”, by Percy Wyndham Lewis. Wyndham Lewis was born November 18, 1892 in Amherst Nova Sco! in a yacht, His life as an artist and writer spanned five decades and three continents. He was frequently and mistakenly regarded as either British or ‘American, though he in fact carried a Canadian passport all his life. Unknown fand virtually penniless he died March 7, 1957, in a condemned flat in London. His deathbed remark: “Mind your own business”. There is virtually no public memory of Wyndham Lewis as a Canadian artist Tn Britain, Wyndam Lewis is eredited with being one of the original founders of Vorticism, a movement in art which paralleled the emergence of Dadaism, Futurism, and Surrealism in Europe. His contemporaries included most of the legendary figures in the annals of Modernism. The pantheon in which Lewis is housed includes such figures as the writers T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, T-E. Hulme, and the sculptor, Gaudier-Brzeska. In 1916 Lewis enlisted as a gunner in the Canadian army. He witnessed the fiery destruction of an entire generation of youth. In 1917 he was seconded as a war artist to the Canadian War Memorials scheme. Among the best known of his wartime pictures are A Canadian Gun Pit (National Gallery of Canada) and A Battery Shelled (Imperial War Museum - Lon- don). On the eve of World War Il, when he realized another war was immi nent, Wyndham Lewis returned to Canada. He is said to have remarked, “I ‘ean see all the dead.” Wyndham Lewis lived in Toronto from 1940 to 1945. The eity he dis- missed r= "a sanctimonious icebox". His opinion of Canada was not much Edward Riat, played by Marcus Gollings WYNDHAM LEWIS asocial review ofa forgotten canadian figure good pictures..." Luckily for you, my faithful and adoring fans, this was the first and last time that this film will have light projected behind it during the festival, better a9 unspeakable national zero”. Lewis did not endear himself in the minds of most Canadians with such remarks. One of the few Canadians to Seek him out was Marshall McLuhan. B.W. Powe, in his recent book The Solitary Outlaw, suggests that virtually all of MeLuhan's ideas about the media are informed by his reading of Wyndham Lewis. ‘The entries in the main library in Toronto on Lewis cite more than forty volumes, including poems, plays, travelogues, and memoirs. According to B.W. Powe one of the reasons for their lack of popularity is a harsh anti- narrative technique and digressive style which requires considerable effort from the reader. Wyndham Lewis also suffers from the reputation of his, short-lived infatuation with Hitler in the Thirties. This was a fate not uncom- mon with many artists during that time. ‘Lewis returned to England in 1945 and for a time was the art eritic for the Listener, 1946-1950, He became blind in 1950. He allowed himself to g0 blind rather than undergo surgery which might interfere with the lucid functioning of his mind In his farewell to painting, “The Sea Mists of Winter” Lewis wrote: "The failure of sight will of course be worse from week to week until in the end I shall only be able to see the actual world through little patches in the midst of a blacked out Blind, sitting in darkness in his London flat, Lewis, like an antiquated Biblical figure, continued to write until his untimely death in 1957. Lewis himself had written: “He who opens his eyes wide enough will always finds himself alone.” Richard Wiklo