University of Virginia Library

'Sterile Cuckoo' Depends On Minelli

By Carl Erickson

"I don't understand," says
ndell Burton.

"You don't understand," says
Liza Minelli half wearily and half
amazedly. And it is all over.

Pookie Adams, portrayed by
Miss Minelli, has always been
misunderstood by everyone (the
weirdos) and by herself. Now Jerry
Payne, acted by Wendell Burton,
has become part of the vast
population of weirdos and creeps,
as Pookie calls them. Their brief
romance which, while still intact, is
filled with hilarious comedy,
madcap zaniness, poignant wistfulness,
and doubtful anxiety,
crumbles into maddening impotency.

"The Sterile Cuckoo" is a film
of contrasts. Pookie, the effervescent,
boisterous young girl/woman,
forces herself upon the steady,
studious Jerry Payne who insists on
thinking of all matters in relation to
how they will affect his future.
Jerry's roommate played by Tim
McIntire assures Jerry of another
personality contrast when on the
opening day of school he greets his
"roomie" with a can of beer and an
unusual request. "Ask me if I made
out this summer." Tim is in college
in pursuit of quite unscholarly
goals.

Whether you like "The Sterile
Cuckoo" or not depends most
entirely on how you interpret Miss
Minelli's character. For many,
Pookie is little more than the
unattractive girl across the street
who, lacking the physical appeal,
makes her play with long, loud,
emotion-filled monologues which
only partially disguise the deep felt
insecurities. For others, she is that
disturbing voice in the multitude
which never ceases its verbal trade
against the phony shallowness of
the people with whom she is in
continual contact. Disturbing, partially
because the victim of her
tongue lashings is you and partially
because she never learns to accept
the rest of the world. For still
others, Pookie Adams is one of
those endowed few who really
understand people and life. Such
people will insist that underlying
melancholy in her character is not
the result of insecurity but rather it
is the sadness felt by one who sees
through the false exteriors into the
basic pathos concealed.

Joyous Celebration

Unsurprisingly, Pookie is all
three of these things. Her zaniness
is at once a Joyous celebration of
life, a blunt rejection of all other
ways of living, and a coverup for
both the insecurities she feels and
the tragedy she senses. Her unreadiness
to accept others is consistent
with her depth of comprehension
but it is also true. She can
force people to promise not to
become weirdos. Alas, such promises
are rarely held. They just
don't understand.

Excellent Acting

It would be possible to write
paragraphs upon paragraphs on the
many intransigences of Pookie
Adams (an equal amount could be
written on Liza Minelli's breathtaking
portrayal) but it is necessary
to now discuss Alan Pakula's
direction which, along with Miss
Minelli's consistently excellent acting,
carries the film to heights
seldom reached in college youth
love affair films.

The most striking feature of the
direction is its natural unassuming
air. Mr. Pakula at first appears to
have simply allowed his actors to go
about their acting with little cinematic
prodding. After a while it
dawns upon the viewer exactly why
the film possesses its own quality of
humor and tragedy. Mr. Pakula is
one of the few American director
who knows how long to hold a shot
(Arthur Penn is another). As a
result he obtains the greatest
amount of emotional impact from
all of his characters. You may think
that it is the acting which makes
the low of virginity scene so
hilarious. However it is the hidden
hand of Pakula which absorb all
the humor of the situation. This is
particularly noticeable (noticeable
here is probably the incorrect word
since as I have said the direction is
any thing but blunt) Jy slowly
strips Pookie while passing in and
out of the screen. The director's use
of overhead shots is particularly
effective especially in the party
scene.

Self-Imposed

The only fact which detracts
from the beauty of the film is its
self-imposed topic. For those who
have seen "The Graduate," "Three
in the Attic," or "Goodbye Columbus,"
the idea of another movie
dealing with a college love affair
will quite likely produce ho-hums.
There is no doubt that the youth
market is a particularly exploitable
area and that the amount of films
dealing with youth is still increasing.
However, "The Sterile
Cuckoo" one film which should
still have life even after the trend is
over. Miss Minelli and Mr. Pakula
have assured us of this.