I I 11 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1986 The Teeh PAGE 7 --- ARTSA R T S "Sid & Nancy" a unique romance in the midst of the punk culture SID & NANCY in the conventions of documentaries, "Sid evolved from the anarchistic, selfish, and because it is a remnant of the free love, Directed by Alex Cox. & Nancy" clearly takes sides. destructive punk culture, but it is even hippie era - and romance certainly Starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. The story of Sid and Nancy is relatively more odd that this film should present that seemed part of the upper-crust culture Opens November 7. well known. Sid Vicious was the bass play- romance in a sympathetic manner. against which the punks were rebelling. ____________ ~er for the British punk rock group, the Sex Punk culture tried to rebel against any Moreover, although Sid and Nancy's rela- By PETER DUNN Pistols. He lived up to his name, being activity considered normal - Sid even re- tionship is in no way presented as a nor- known for self-inflicted torture anrrd for fuses at one point to have sex with Nancy mal romance, it is unquestionable that the xW-t THAT MAKES "SID & NANCY" taking after journalists with bicycle chain two are actually in love. Cox turns the different from other rock and guitar. He was not a terribly good mu- them into Juliet and Romeo figures, lovers "docudramas" is not so sician, taking hours to learn a simple tune, locked in a destructive race toward death. much its theme. It is about but was defiantly dynamic on stage. Nancy More than its presentation of a love sto- Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, about Spungen was an American groupie who ry in a culture where one would believe a punk rocker and groupie, and as such can- met Vicious in London, and the two even- love story could never evolve, "Sid & Nan- not completely avoid the punk rock scene tually became lovers and partners in her- cy" is a film which clearly takes an emo- in which their relationship developed; but oin addiction. When the Pistols 'broke up tional stance. Cox chooses very carefully however much punk rock at its inception in 1977, Sid and Nancy moved to New those parts of Sid's and Nancy's lives he was radically different from any previous York where they tried to establish a solo wishes to depict so as to best get his points form of rock music, this film's uniqueness career for Sid. In 1978 Nancy was stabbed across. We feel comfortable in the film's does not stem so much from that differ- to death in their hotel room and Sid ar- depiction of reality until our senses are ence than it does from the unusual way in rested for her murder. Five months later, jarred by scenes of "ordinary" life (for ex- which it presents its subject matter. before he could be brought to trial, Sid ample when Sid and Nancy attempt to vis- Alex Cox, who previously made the bi- died of a drug overdose. it her grandparents for Thanksgiving) at zarre but amusing "Repo Man," has ig- This brief summary does n6t even begin which point we begin to question how at nored the usual conventions of the "docu- to tell the entire story of what "Sid & Nan- ease we really are with what we are seeing. drama" by making his film more than cy" is aboout. The film deals hardly, if at In addition to this disquieting presenta- simply an objective observation of the life all, with the story of the Sex Pistols: the tion of storyline, Cox takes free rein to in- and times of its main characters. Whereas group and its history are little more than a corporate dream sequences and extremely most "docudramas" try to present an emo- backdrop to the enfolding romance be- stylized shots in the film, both atypical bf tionless, unbiased view of their subject tween the two main characters. It seems the "docudrama" genre, which make what matter, hence making them more realistic odd that any romance at all could have Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious (Please turn to page 9) The Tech proudly presents... | .fe d The Tech Performing Arts Series stal -A'| a service for the entire MIT community from The Tech, in conjunction with the Technology Community Association, MIT's student community service organization. Special reduced-price tickets now available for thefollowing November events: Musica Antiqua Kil51n , Cantata Singers Cologne-based Musica Antiqua, led by Reinhard Goebel, The world premiere of MIT Professor John Harbison's is one of the world's leading early music ensembles. They Flight into Egypt will be part of the concert of the Canta- will perform Italian violin music- from the 17th and 1t-h- - ta-Singers in Jordan Hall, Friday, Nov. 21, 8 pm. Also centuries (including works by Gabrieli, Fontana, Albinoni featured: Bach's cantata Wachet Auf, BWV 64, and short and Vivaldi) at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, pieces by Schiitz. MITprice: $5.] Saturday, Nov. 8, 3:30 pm. MIT price: $5. Rf~ ~ SinfoNova Music of Soviet and American composers is featured in Pinchas Zukerman the SinfoNova Chamber Orchestra's opening concert of Virtuoso violinist Pinchas Zukerman will appear in a their 1986-1987 season. The concert is part of the Ameri- Wang Celebrity Series recital in Symphony Hall on Nov. can Music Week celebration. Tuesday, Nov. 11, Jordan 23, 3 pm. The program contains works of J. S. Bach, Hall, 8 pm. MIT price: $5. Brahms, Takemitsu and Faure. MITprice: $5. Tickets will be sold by the Technology Community Association, W20-450 in the Student Center. If nobody is in, please leave your order and your phone number on the TCA answering machine at x3-4885. a111~~~~~~' ~~Youwill be called back as soon as possible. The Butterfly' System from BBN Advanced Computers Inc., -utilizes BEN's proprietary switching architecture to join upto 256 general purpose microprocessors,creatinga So e schools have the Rose very powerful, high performance parallel processor. We B ow l. have the following newly-created position available: Systems Manager You'll play akey role inensuring computer resources within -W&Ave 9ot 2.70! a dynamic engineering and research environment. 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