ARTS
16
Imprint arts
FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2004
arts@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
Soundtrack of our lives
FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2004
Read the review — page 18
UW grad offers reflection with powerful new book of poetry Warren Clarke SPECIAL TO IMPRINT
BRUCE BIRMELIN/DREAMWORKS
Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connely) tries to hide the truth about her life, her ended marriage and her addiction from her mother in the dramatic thriller House of Sand and Fog.
A melodramatic House Helen Bao SPECIAL TO IMPRINT
A legal battle over a modest oceanview bungalow spirals out of control in House of Sand and Fog. The film opens with mystery and clout. Scenes dart between the past and present; from a dispirited American woman to an Iranian man seemingly living a double life. One quickly realizes the guessing game that director/screenwriter Vadim Perelman is playing, but the answer is far less obvious as the plot thickens and turns. Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly) is wrongly evicted from her house. The property is quickly seized up by Colonel Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley), an Iranian refugee looking to rebuild his finances and the pride of his family. The struggle to regain her house plunges Kathy into a pattern of alcoholism and dejection as the colonel desperately holds on to the house in the hopes of reselling it at a much higher market price. Deputy Sheriff
Lester Burdon, Kathy’s love interest, intercedes and steers the trio into horrific, unforeseen calamities. Throughout the struggle the audience’s allegiance is torn this way and that. It is at the precise moment, however, when one considers how the situation deteriorated to its end point that the mystery of the film unfolds. It is a lesson in human nature. It is a film of tragedy and triumph in attempting to overcome yet unwittingly succumbing to human fallacy while wallowing in illusions of the “American Dream.” A great deal of cinematic experience is sacrificed for a sheer implosion of themes; but to that end the screenplay is phenomenal. The film is an adaptation of the novel by Andre Dubus III, whose father, Andre Dubus II, penned the short fiction Killings that inspired the 2002 film In the Bedroom. Working with cinematographer Roger Deakins (A Beautiful Mind and The Shawshank Redemption), the film is raw yet clean cut. Colour contrasts are effectively em-
ployed to mirror the strengths and weaknesses of the characters. The film’s greatest strength comes from its extraordinarily talented cast. Kingsley makes an early, but by no means premature, bid for an Oscar with his impeccable adaptation of a Middle Eastern warrior in both manner and appearance. Connelly offers a heavy mix of attraction and repulsion. Iranian stage and film star Shohreh Aghdashloo exhibits an old theatrical prowess as Behrani’s wife. House of Sand and Fog marks Perelman’s directorial film debut. Much of his career thus far has been dedicated to commercials and music videos. A native of Russia, Perelman boasts education from both the University of Alberta and the Ryerson Film Institute in Toronto. The film is less a cinematic achievement than an artistic one and, as a result, perhaps falls prey to melodrama. It does, however, force you to delve deep into the human psyche — a place you may find uncomfortable.
UW graduate and poet Melanie Cameron recently released her second poetry collection Wake, a solemn reflection on memories and their role in life. Wake follows Cameron’s first book, Holding in the Dark, which was released in 1999. Born in Kitchener-Waterloo in 1971, Cameron received her BA from the University of Waterloo in 1995, and an MA in English from the University of Manitoba. Currently, she resides in Winnipeg, and many rural and cultural references can be found in Wake. Holding in the Dark was shortlisted for the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book by a Manitoba writer in 1999, and Cameron herself was shortlisted in both 1999 and 2001 for the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer. With the release of Wake, Cameron combines sophisticated poetic devices with intense and powerful imagery to examine the concept of memory. The anthology is divided into seven subsections, each containing a number of interconnected poems that often flow through one another, repeating important images and themes. With this connection Cameron creates fluid, story-like sequences of poetry, which immerse the reader in a barrage of images both concrete and abstract. In the first section of poems, “Eleven Reflections on Walking,” Cameron explores the perception and reality of early childhood memories. The theme of life lessons recurs throughout these eleven poems, as the reader follows a young girl and boy through childhood. In this section Cameron’s ability to juxtapose thought-provoking images and direct, clear language engages the reader and creates a sense that the poem itself is a memory. Constant allusions to loss during childhood create a solemn mood within the poems, as the char-
acters relive and examine painful memories. In the eighth poem in this section, the character of the little girl reflects on the lesson she learned from her first death: the death of a plant in her room. Cameron’s prose in this chapter are simple yet powerful. For instance, in dealing once again with the memory of childhood loss, Cameron writes “Waking (suddenly): the girl fearing that, not just these things, but the father, will be something she only remembers, one day.” These powerful messages, combined with the images Cameron puts forth, hook the reader into a tantalizing story that avoids obscurity while maintaining an artistic flair. In later sections, Cameron explores more concepts relating to reminiscence, such as societal memory and the meaning of memory itself. Her flair for images continues, and she creatively uses images to explain abstract concepts, such as memory, which she likens to stones within a rapid flowing river. Wake is an impressive collection which has already received much critical acclaim and will certainly continue to do so. Cameron has created a sophisticated work, full of powerful images and resounding underlying meanings. This should make Wake a collection that can appeal to both the poetry enthusiast and the novice alike.
Sex, pirates and footy pyjamas David Carey DIET COKE HEAD All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. “Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!” Mrs. Darling cried. Henceforth Wendy knew that she
must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end. – James Matthew Barrie The boy who would never grow up is, of course, Peter Pan. His first appearance was in J. M. Barrie’s 1902 book, The Little White Bird. This novel fictionalized the author’s experiences with his five adopted sons, sometimes referred to as The Lost Boys. Two years later Barrie created a stage play and later republished the sections of the original book in which Pan appeared under a new title, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. In 1911 he rewrote the story as a full length novel called Peter & Wendy. The latest Pan incarnation is a film
that opened on Christmas Day, directed by P.J. Hogan. For someone who created a wonderfully pulpy comedy like Muriel’s Wedding, his latest film has surprising depth. It’s fun and adventurous, at times magical, but not without controversy. Some critics have disparaged Hogan’s emphasis on the love story between the two main characters. After all, traditionally Peters have been played by adult female gymnasts paired off with adolescent Wendys. And watching this film, it’s impossible not to notice the attraction that develops while Peter and Wendy interact. As they learn to fly and have adventures on a fantasy island, you can see
them start to flirt and grow closer. It’s cute, really: puppy love. Then things get weird. I mean they’re not like randy sex kittens or anything, but it starts to feel like sexual tension. And some audience members were really bothered by this. But I would counter that the story of Peter Pan is inherently linked to sexual maturation. Peter tries to fight off growing up. Doesn’t growing up mean falling in love and getting “those types” of feelings? Romeo and Juliet were barely older than Peter and Wendy, and they’re in what’s supposedly the greatest love story ever told. Perhaps this film came out at just the wrong time. With accusations of
pedophilia soaring around like flying monkeys, we’re getting a little cautious. It’s hard to watch this movie without getting a little bit creeped out. Not because of what the characters go through, but because of how we feel watching them. I’ve talked to more than a few people who thought Peter and Wendy were kind of hot, you know, in that midpubescence kind of way… It’s okay to feel uncomfortable watching Peter Pan, but it’s not okay to reject it as some sort of insult to morality. In a tale with flying boys in tights, giant crocodiles who tick and a stray dog acting as nursemaid — two horny teenagers is not unbelievable.