Thursday, September 28,1995
International Film
University-wide celebration
of Hispanic Hertiage Month
included
BEHREND- Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College, is hosting
an International Film Series as a
part of a University-wide
celebration of Hispanic Heritage
Month. Four films representing
viewpoints from Spain, Cuba and
Brazil will be presented on a
series of Monday evenings at 7
p.m., beginning October 16.
The films, which are free and
open to the public, will be
shown in Reed Lecture Hall,
Reed Union Building. The
festival includes “Belle Epoque,”
Monday, Oct. 16; “Strawberry
and Chocolate,” Monday, Oct.
30; “Dona Flor and her Two
Husbands,” Monday, Nov. 6 and
“The Holy Innocents,” Monday,
Nov. 13. The titles selected have
all received critical acclaim:
“Belle Epoque” won the 1992
Academy Award for Best Foreign
Film, while “Strawberry and
Chocolate” was honored at the
Sundance Film Festival.
“Belle Epoque,” directed by
Fernando Trueba, is the story of a
handsome young army deserter
who finds himself in love with
the beautiful daughters of an aged
artist. It was released in Spain in
Will
The question has been asked
before by TV viewers. Take, for
example, David and Maddie in
"Moonlighting," or Sam and
Diane in "Cheers."
This season, it's Rache and
Ross on "Friends." And what
viewers really want to know is
whether the sensitive
paleontologist Ross Geller and
waitress-buddy Rachel Green will
work out their star-crossed crush
and get together.
David Schwimmer, who plays
the slightly nebbish Ross, isn't
telling.
However, the Emmy
nominated star is sharing at least
one secret- which is how did Gen
X guy like him make the big
time? His story is simple, he
says.
"Once upon a time there was a
guy who worked really, really
hard to try to pursue his dream,"
says Schwimmer. "It's just a lot
of hard work and perseverance."
Of course an uniformed
outsider might assume the lanky
actor took -the plunge into
stardom pretty abruptly. A year
in series
1992. It will be introduced by
Dr. Thomas G. Deveny,
professor of Spanish and chair of
the department of foreign
languages at Western Maryland
College. An expert on Spanish
cinema, Deveny’s most recent
work is entitled, “Cain on
Screen: Contemporary Spanish
Cinema.”
Dr. Juan Fernandez, professor
of Spanish, and Dr. Lidia Diaz,
assistant professor of Spanish,
both at Penn State-Behrend,
deliberately chose titles for the
series which go beyond light
entertainment
“Films being produced by
Hispanic directors today face
contemporary issues and actively
confront the challenges of the
905,” Diaz says. “They are often
a metaphor both for the
oppression under which people
live at a given time and place,
and their struggle to liberate
themselves from such
oppression.”
Government censors originally
withheld director Thomas
Gutierrez Alea’s “Strawberry and
Chocolate,” concerned by its
examination of the oppression
the plunge be taken?
ago before "Friends" sizzled onto
NBC and exploded into the Top
10 ratings, the only people for
whom Schwimmer was a
household name were likely his
real friends and family.
These days people stand in line
to hear that earnest-sounding
voice of his and look upon that
pensive face. Backstage at the
St. Dennis Theater in Montreal,
where Schwimmer recently co
hosted a yearly Quebec Comedy
festival, the line of reporters who
waited to interview the 28-year
old actor included those
representing USA today, TV
Guide and Variety.
On stage the night before,
Schwimmer told the Canadian
audience, "When I told my friends
I was going to be on a sitcom,
they said why would they want to
put you on a sitcom? You're not
funny."
"Well, I am funny," he said, in
a tone that was bravely assertive
yet puppy-doggish. To this, the
audience loudly, and one female
fan screamed, "We love you,
David."
F.ntp.rtainment
Series to play at Behrend
Belle Epoque: The Spanish film won the 1992 Academy Award for Best
Foreign Film. The film was released in Spain in 1992.
experienced by gays under Castro.
The film, conservative in its
portrayal of homosexuality,
eventually received widespread
distribution and an official
endorsement as Cuba’s entry into
the Oscars.
“Barreto can express lust with
class and it’s an exhilarating,
civilized gift,” wrote the
His manager pops in with a
late, styrofoam-boxed lunch. The
dark-haired Schwimmer bites into
his sandwich and says the
problem with stardom is the
vicious time crunch.
"There is as much energy
directed to publicizing the work
as to the work itself," he says.
A son of two attorneys and
educated at Northwestern
University, Schwimmer gives no
impression of being a candidate
for Hollywood's bimboy squad.
And for now, He says he's not
taking any of his new-found fame
for granted. There's a sore mad
man with a spotlight in the sky
who’s random about where it
fails, and just as quickly as it has
fallen on you, it could move onto
somebody else,” says
Schwimmer.
Though he admits to a healthy
dose of cynicism, Schwimmer
says he's not the sad sack shadow
of his vulnerable TV character
Ross. "I don't think I'm as
petulant. I'm usually pretty
happy-go-lucky."
But he looks so worried on
St\
Inn J
Washington Post, when “Dona
Flor and Her Two Husbands”
came to theaters in 1978. The
classic erotic comedy, starring
Sonia Braga, takes a look at the
life of a Brazilian widow whose
late, libidinous husband keeps
returning to earth to disrupt her
boring second marriage.
The series’ final offering, “The
TV. "The character has a lot to
worry about," he replies.
True. Ross's pregnant wife left
him for another woman. Then he
fell in love with Rachel, played
by Jennifer Aniston, who saw
him as nothing more than a
friend until the slickly
orchestrated last show of the
season. She finds out about his
feelings and rushes to the airport,
gripping a bouquet, to greet him
upon his return from a week long
business trip to China.
Unfortunately, he's about to
deboard with a new girlfriend he
met while away. As Madonna's
farewell-flavored "Take a Bow"
plays in the background, an
eager-eyed Rach awaits
unbeknowst heartache; and the
story fades until next fall.
In the season opener, Rachel
struggles with her feelings for
Ross while he tells her just how
great things are going with his
new sweetheart. Suddenly, it's
Rachel who has a bad case of an
unrequited crush.
David Crane and Mara
Kauffman, "Friend's" executive
Holy Innocents,” is a 1985
release directed by Mario Camus
of Spain. The film deals with
the dichotomy between the
misery of poor peasants and the
arrogance of their wealthy
masters on a large Spanish estate
during the 19605.
producers fingered him as perfect
for the role of Ross. Now there's
talk of Schwimmer becoming the
show’s breakout star.
"I can’t go anywhere without
being recognized," he says. "I'm
careful about what I say. You
feel the impact of something like
this touch every part of your
life."
I'm responsible for projecting a
positive role model." He says
that means "treating people
decently." So he makes sure he's
nice to off-camera types such as
the make-up and wardrobe folks.
Actually his only publicized
riff is with Marcel, the long
tailed actor who played his
monkey companion on the show.
Reportedly, Schwimmer didn't
like working with an actor who
couldn't speak English, or rather
just couldn't speak, so the
monkey is looking for a new job
now.
by Janet Singleton
Copyright 1995, Distributed
by Tribune Media Services
Page 9