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Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Vol 40 No. 26. October 3 1977

Varsity Preview

page 22

Varsity Preview

Sunday Bloody Sunday

John Schlesinger has an umpressive list of films to his credit as director: Far from the Maddening Crowd, Billy Liar, and Midnight Cowboy to mention three. Yet Sunday Bloody Sunday is probably his best going beyond these in the range of characters, its subtlety and its tenderness.

The film centres on a bi-sexual with Bob (played by Murray Head) an artist in his early twenties brash and confident as apex. His two older lovers, Alex (Glenda Jackson), a discontented divorcee, and David, (Peter Finch) a middle aged Jewish doctor, have more difficult roles. They counter Bob's exuberance with more resigned attitudes, their desires tempered by what they realise to be possible. The most compelling scene of the film is an almost silent meeting of Alex and David.

We are also introduced to a trendy family of left-wing intellectuals—a theme that could easily be trapped in stereotyping. It is a mark of Schlesinger's brilliance that they come across, like Alex and David as people trying to do their best by their ideals in a mixed up world.

the adventures of FAT FREDY'S CAT

Sunday Bloody Sunday is about alienation, about contemporary life and above all about people.

Midnight Cowboy

A most vivid and frightening look at the streets of New York under the direction of John Schlesinger.

It stars Dustin Hoffman as Ratso Rizzo, a ratty looking pump from the Bronx, and Jon Voigt as Joe Buck, a big dumb Texas stud come to seek fame and fortune. Ratso cons Joe into taking him on as manager, only to drag the wide-eyed cowboy into the sordid filth of his slum/street existence.

Parts of Midnight Cowboy are dated (notably a 'psychedelic' experience), but overall it remains one of the better indictments of US society. The couple's dream is to get to Florida, which provides the film with just about the most pathetic ending you are likely to see.