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Show Saturday, January 31, 1998 The Park Record Film Festival: "directors soap box" by jason m. osburn RECORD GUEST WRITER Ahh, Sundance. The word itself brings visions that make most Parkites shudder and twitch in a halfcafe latte induced fit. Well for me, it is a chance to see some films that just might be entertaining and cool (because it is a 'Sundance film'). This year I was fortunate enough to see one of the films that had caught my interest in an early edition of the movie catalog. In addition, I was also lucky enough to even see a 'regional premiere'. As I have often said, Sundance films are interesting to watch because they are a third good film, a third art and a third 'director's soap box. This combination makes for good films... most of the time. Twenty Four Seven, a debut film from Shane Meadows was everything every-thing its bio said it would be... breathtaking, remarkably beautiful, mature, confident and intelligent. Bob Hoskins takes the lead role Alan Darcy, a small man with larger larg-er hopes for not only himself but his neighborhood and also its inhabitants. Set in England, the story reveals the desperate plight of a small town and its unruly and undisciplined youth. Darcy (Hoskins) sets out to rebuild the towns youth be uniting the two rival gangs into one boxing club, the same boxing club that saved Darcy in his youth. What unfolds is a remarkable story about the differences differ-ences between discipline and blunt power and finesse vs brute aggression. aggres-sion. Visually, the movie is shot in a grainy, dramatic overexposed black and white format. The style reveals the subtleties of both the actors and their emotions as well as telling a story with dramatic and meaningful shots and locations. Meadows is definitely a director to watch for in the future. Although the British cinema has not been able to 'produce' the most marketable mar-ketable films, with any luck Meadows might be able to capture some of the upcoming respect. The second film I saw was one ' film that I definitely wanted to see from the very beginning. Frat House, a documentary by Todd Phillips and Andrew Gurland was a very intelligent way to look at a socially dynamic situation. Most people have visions of Otter and Bluto guzzling beer and romancing the 'Gammas' away from the 'Deltas'. Although true enough there is still more to fraternity lifestyle... because not just everyone can be a 'Beta.' That is where this documentary starts off. Supposedly draped in ritual, respect and honor, the fraternal family life of initiation is revealed for all it's worth. Yes, I was in a fraternity. This was why I was very surprised to see the filmmakers capturing on film what 1 was told was 'a long standing tradition and right of passage critical criti-cal to my proper development into a respected brother of the house.' At points during the film it seemed not that Phillips and Gurland underestimated their subject, but that the subject underestimated the observer. This situation reveals the true nature of these particular individuals... indi-viduals... small-minded, group-thinking, group-thinking, group-following social misfits who are still trying to cope and deal with fitting into the society which they live. The approach of recording, revealing and participating in the events may seem simple it works extremely effectively for the documentation docu-mentation format. Thanks to the brilliant and often hilarious editing that the film really takes off. It is surprising to see a documentary where the attitudes of the filmmakers filmmak-ers are not presented as evidence, they are just the presenters of the information, you can convict of your own. The third film, Affliction, directed direct-ed by Paul Schrader was a long hard look at the effects of abuse as it is handed down through the family. fami-ly. Yes, it does sound depressing doesnt it. Starring a well known cast of Nick Nolte, James Coburn, Sissy Spacek and William Defoe the film is a story of Wade, a small man struggling to deal with the custody of his daughter and at the same save his relationship with his girlfriend. girl-friend. William Defoe's position as narrator although distancing us from the real pain of Wade's life creates a overall feeling of disturbance distur-bance and emotional detachment. When I described what a Sundance film was I didnt mean that it was always a good thing. In this case, the third element... 'the director's soap box' was it's downfall. down-fall. I readily agree that the locations loca-tions and the way the scenes were shot were a crucial part in describing describ-ing the scene and emotion of the movie, but there could have been a lot more editing. Running a long 114 minutes, Schrader used long drawn out situations to over-describe over-describe the already bleak and painful tramas suffered by the players. play-ers. It was rather odd but when I think about past Sundance festivals I always find some sort of underlying underly-ing theme to all the movies, lesbians, les-bians, violence, etc. This year with my particular set of movies I found that the major theme seemed to be male-on-male violence and abuse. Although a little depressing as a theme I still enjoyed the movies and found myself thinking a little bit more about similar situations, fitting into society as a person, fitting fit-ting in as a group and ultimately dealing with the pressures created by life. First Nations Association invests in the future Continued from B-1 militant native organizations who've attempted to resolve their conflicts with the U.S. government through violence, members of the First Nations Association realize their most powerful tool is education. educa-tion. "We are here to unite grassroots people who sincerely believe that our treaties are the 'law of the land' and must be honored;" wrote First Nations National President Gloria Fox, "who believe that Congress has wrongfully assumed complete power over all of our affairs without with-out our consent; who believe that Congress deliberately ignored the words and intent of their Founding Fathers; who believe that over the past 50 years many of our Native American leaders have lost their way and are controlled by those who want to reduce the First Nations or assimilate them, thereby terminating our status." This mission statement is embodied by the symbol chosen to represent the First Nations Association - the image of two young, native girls, whose future, at the time, was in question. "First Nations people honor women because they ensure the survival of the culture. Women hold up half the sky," Morris said. The Sacred Circle will be held at the Kimball Art Center on Sunday, Feb. 1 from 4-7 p.m. Admission is $20 per person. The afternoon will include educational lectures, refreshments and a traditional drum performance by Windy Point Dancers. For more information call Robert Brien at (801)474-1928. Park City local to head up Valentine's concert Continued from B-1 Carnival. Mallory then went on-. r3 to originate roles of Young Heidi and Anne Egerman in the Harold PrinceStephen Sondheim productions of Follies and A Little Night Music. After eight years in New York, Mallory moved with her husband to Los Angeles where she completed a seven-year stint on the daytime drama, The Young and the Restless, playing the role of Leslie, a flighty concert con-cert pianist. She was invited to audition after the show's producer produc-er saw her perform in several Broadway productions. "The Young and the Restless was so different than anything I had done - my theatrical background back-ground came in handy because I could learn lines quickly, in fact, I was the only one who didn't use a teleprompter," Mallory said. During her soap opera days, Mallory remained close to her theatrical roots by performing in summer stock theater for 10 -12 weeks annually. Her appearance appear-ance include the St. Louis Muny Opera, Atlanta's Theater of the Stars, Kansas City Starlight, Dallas Summer Musicals, the No need to Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, the San Francisco CLO, the Pittsburgh CLO and Salt Lake City's Pioneer Theatre: nr. : - 3fi& Mallory moved to Park City . . with her husband to provide a good environment and education educa-tion for their daughter. Here, she has made guest appearances on Utah television productions like Touched by an Angel and Promised Land, while continuing continu-ing her work in summer stock theater. Along with Dana Kieter of Park City Performances, Mallory directs Vocalworks, a children's theatre group and teaches Tai Chi. Recently, Mallory participated in recording a compact disk with Michael McClean, called "The Ark." Her future includes possible pos-sible motion picture roles and a one-woman show. The Utah Symphony's and Victoria Mallory 's February 18 Park City debut begins at 8 p.m. at the Eccles Center, on the campus of the Park City High School. All tickets are $15 and can be purchased through ArtTix at (888)451-ARTS, the Eccles Center at 655-3114 or at Albertson's in Park City. For more information, call the Utah Symphony at (801)533-5626. 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