Page Two

SCARLET AND BLACK

Wednesday. November 9. I965

 

Editorial . . .

SGA President Steve Kent’s nomination of Bond
Faulwell to tile Senate Speakel'sl‘iip was a praisewortliy
choice, The Senate badly needs steady, businesslike lead-
ership at this crucial juncture in the college’s life.

Seldom have so many important matters been before
the Senate as at the present time, Sadly, seldom, too,
has tlle organizational control of that august body been
so shaky. Faolwell shows the strongest signs of any of tlle
candidates of being able to straighten out the mess.

It is to be hoped that action on the women‘s hours
rules will pass the Senate in the next week or two and
that action will be taken shortly on several of the other
areas discussed in the October 11 “Extra" edition of the

8&8.

These measures should be weighed carefully, but if
they are to escape the curse of the multitude of innocuous
planning committees of past years, action must be taken

soon.

The 53:13 wishes Faulwell the best of luck in his com-
ing tasks. We reserve the right to be less kind later, how-
ever, if constructive proposals, like last week‘s interim
proposal, for instance, are not soon forthcoming.

Applications are now being accepted for the son Editor-
ship. The new term will run from second semester thru first
Semester, 1966. Applications, which should include a state-
ment oi purpose and suggestions for changes in the son, are
to be sent to H. Y. Steiner, English. Applications are due

Tuesday, November 15.

A Review

"Gospel" Coming of Strand

By JON MEGIBOW

It seems that there is a very
simple premise upon which all
biblical spectacles are pro-
duced: excesses of money and
special effects are directed
proportionate to overall holi-
ness and religious intensity.
The outstanding products of this
genre are C. B. DeMille’s
“King oi Kings" and George
Stevens‘ “The Greatest Story
Ever Told.” Movies of this
genre begin with a tinioil nim<
bus and end with a Mardi Gras
cruciiixion, leaving the viewer
With a feeling that the Bible
was originally ti Broadway mu-
sical. The justification for this
method is that through the ef—
fects and spectacles the view-
er is given a contemporaneous
representation that he can more
easily assimilate. With Jesus
played by an irate Kirk Douglas
and Salome played by a near-
nude AnnrMargaret the pic-
ture’s intention becomes clear.
Among the many failings of
this genre the worst seems to
be that neither the director nor
the producer has any faith in
the document upon which the
movie is based.

In radical contrast to these
Hollywood fairy tales is a sim~
ple film, The Gospel Accord-

ing to St. Matthew,” which will
be shown at the Strand Theater
November 13716. The director,
Pier Paolo Pasolini, was limit-
ed by a very tight budget but
has turned this to his advan<
tage. There are no professional
actors and ibe setting, southern
Italy, is completely natural.
The most obvious advantage is
that there is no contradiction
between the actor's personality
and acting role. Beyond the
fact that Christ is played by a
Spanish student, Enrique lrazo-
qui, the whole film has an air of
complete, unpretentious S|m<
plicity. Pasollni uses this to his
advantage by concentrating on
the faces of the actors, showing
very little consideration for im-
portance of role. The extras,
generally farmers and workers,
have faces that, in their crude
ness and simplicity, span the
time barrier that separates the
viewer from the action. This
naturalism is reinforced by the
setting. Pasolini uses ancient
slums and near-ruins for the
action, but blends these with
the characters, giving them a
strange beauty. The opening se-
quence has Mary framed in the
ancient archway of her house
and the resulting effect gives
an impression of a delicate
medieval etching. The Last

Scarlet and Black

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No Problem Seen

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By HAROLD FUSON

“In the University or college
we have a need for art that
leads ~ art that is a little ahead
oi the moresiii we always do
what the public wonts, we will
never progless.” This is how
one University oi Iowa pi-oies—
sor views the role at the arts in
academic life.

Dr. Samuel Becker, Profes-
sor of Speech and Dramatic Art
and Director of TV, Radio and
Films, was more vocal than
some oi the University or lowa
faculty and students the 5&3
talked to last week, but his
views were typical.

Because of the recent censor-

Supper is in a common tavern
where the disciples eat stew
and sit on the dirt floor.

The only dialogue is that at
the Bible, without the super-
iluous interpretations of a scen-
aria The dichotomy between
Christ, the son, oi God, and
Christ, the man, is handled in
an unusual way. Christ‘s actions
and speeches are those of the
son or God, but the setting and
physical appearance or the ac<
tor produces the opposite, hu<
manistic, effect. As Christ ap-
proaches his crucifixion he be-
comes more and more short-
tempered with everyone around
him. The only kindness and
love are for the children. The
miracles are performed without
the typical fanfare and multi-
colored lights. They are under.
toned by the simplicity oi the
language and by the stark, al-
most harren cinematography.

The question of music is dif-
ficult to analyze. Pasolini uses
Bach, Pmkotiev, Odetta, and
the Congolese “Misa Luha."
The only piece that is really out
of place is Odetta's “Some
times I Feel Like a Motherless
Child." But this is because an
Italian audience would not be
involved with the words, only
the Voice. The startling effect
of the “Misa Luba,” and the
music in general, add quite a
bit to the movie.

The deficiencies are amazing
in their pettlness. 0n the whole
the cinematography is quite
good, except for the excessive
use of the telephoto lens. Yet,
there are points where shots
are just sloppy — the camera
skipped a face and then re—
turned quickly, like an uncon-
scious comic duubledake. This
is also true of the editing, al-
most always superb, but care-
less at points. Another draw-
back is not the fault of the
ﬁlm. Inevitably when a movie
is dubbed rather than presented
with sub-titles something is lost.
This is especially true in a film
whose action is so slow-paced
and methodical, where there is
little dialogue.

This film was shown two
weeks ago to religious leaders
tram both college and town
communities. Their opinion
was generally favorable but
don’t use that as an excuse for
not seeing this film. It is worth-
while to anyone who is sick or
u bearded Charlton Heston
throwing plastic tablets from
the mountainside.

ship of a Grillnell student pro-
dilation oi Eugene Ionesco’s
play, The Chairs, the son has
been exploring the problem oi
censorship in all areas of aca-
demic life.

in general, we iound students
at Iowa had little [ear that any
of their serious work might be
censored by University oiiicials.
The faculty indicated that limits
on students' work were consist-
tent with practice in the pl‘oieS<
sional world of art, drama and
photography.

Gate Keeper Needed

Asked about the Grinnell inci-
deni, Dr. Becker said, “All oi
us are against the principle or
censorship.” However, he added,
“Somebody has to be a kind of
gatekeeper,” He said the main
criteria such a gatekeeper must
act upon is taste. He added,
“I mean artistic not moral
taste."

Dl'. Becker said it would be
difficult to say just who the
gatekeeper should be, but “i
don’t think a university presi-
dent can put himseli in the posi-
tion oi censor. The president
must hire faculty with artistic
judgment.”

Ii ihe president is too oiten
at odds with his faculty, Dr.
Becker said, ”He has to get
rid of them and get somebody
else. How can a president who
is not an artist, who is not a
theater man, judge what is
good and bad."

Asked about the impact of
questionable works of art on the
college's image in the outside
world, Dr. Becker said, "Anyone
in an administrative position has
to be extremely careful about
judging a work for the wrong
reasons. it a production is ar-
tistically honest, even if it isn't
the best public relations, the
administration must go along
with it.

“I think obviously an admins
lstrator risks a great deal in
providing this sort of freedom.
It takes a lot of guts to do it. It
has always been recognized that
this ldnd or policy gets you in
trouble sometimes. Bil! in the
truly great colleges and uni-
versities this policy has been
upheld."

Part of Leadership

Dr. Becker indicated that this
risk was part of the college’s
role as a leader. He said "Part
oi the administrator’s job is to
educate the public about what a
college or university is, what
kind of environment it takes to
nurture creativity.”

To its own students the col-
lege has a similar responsibili-
ty, Dr. Becker added. The col-
lege must challenge and broad-
en ihe student's tastes. He said.
“At a place like Grinnell, Iowa,
and Iowa City, Iowa, it is very
important to jar students into
thinking about things they never
thought about. We’ve got to
create an environment that
makes it virtually impossible to
have the same atmosphere that
they had back home.”

All of the persons we talked
to in Iowa City expressed geri-
erat approval of their own ad-

ministration’s attitude .ioward
artistic freedom. Dr. Becker
said, “I think there is as great
a ireetlom here as l‘ve seen,
anti that is one reason the arts
flourish here. This freedom is
very important.”

Dr. DaVld School, Professor
of TeradiorFilm, corroborated
iliis view of the University of
Iowa. “This is the most liberai
school I’ve taught at,” he said.
ln general, he continued, “the
administration has had a clear
attitude toward censorship. They
put their confidence in the
Staff.”

Students Satisfied

Students working in the Uni-
versity art studios also indi-
cated censorship was no prob
lem at Iowa, They acted sur-
prised that anyone was even
concerned about me problem.

Most of them did recall, how-
ever, incidents in which artistic
displays oi questionable moral
implications were removed from
public showing. in all cases,
however, the displays were tak-
en down only temporarily at
times when a great number of
outsiders were on campus. One
graduate assistant said no
thought this was “silly”, but he
seemed unconcerned about it.

To give an idea of the limits
of the artistic freedom at Iowa,
John Schulze, Professor of
Art (Photography), told the 88:3,
“We don’t usualiy permit hu‘
man genitalia to be shown in
public photographic displays
but there have been exception
to this.” He added, “We do
things now we couldn’t have
done two years ago.”

Both photography and art stu-
dents use nude female models
and nearly nude male models.
The models are paid up to $2.50
per hour and are drawn from
both undergraduate and gradu-
ate students

Confidence Important

In setting the limits Dr. Beck.
er again stressed the importance
of the administration’s confi-
dence in its facility.

He said, ”I think If is very
unfortunate ii a faculty mem~
ber acts on beliefs other than
his own — that is from outside
influences. Then you are really
in trouble."

Dr. Becker feels a kind of
"mutual respect between facul-
ty, studentsI and administration”
is necessary for a college or
university to operate well.

Dr. Becker stressed artistic
integrity on the part oi the stu-
dent in preserving this mutual
respect. He said, “I feel that
any honest work the students
want to do, they are free to
do at Iowa."

In respect to producing works
which go strongiy against the
standard mores, Dr. Becker
said, ubright students are obvi-
ously more trouble than stupid
students. It is much easier if
you have students who accept
anything — but how dreadful!”

Perhaps, Dr. Schaal suggested,
“the surest way to cause trou-
ble is to censor something." It
is when students get upset with
what they feel is unfair censor-
ship that newspaper stories he-
gin to appear.

 

