FILM

WHITE ZOMBIE
Dir: Victor Halperin
United Artists, 1932 (DVD, 2002)

"She's alive and in the hands of natives! Better dead than that!" This is just a taste of the sparse but outrageous dialogue from the 1932 campy horror White Zombie. Set in Haiti, the movie follows new arrivals to the island, Madelaine and her fiancé Neil. The couple intends to get married but soon catches a glimpse of the dark secrets the beautiful isle harbours. They cross paths with native mourners burying a corpse in the middle of the road � to prevent the dead from walking the earth again as zombies.

Beaumont, a local plantation owner, falls for Madelaine and in a desperate attempt to break up the happy couple he seeks the help of nefarious Murder Legendre (Bela Lugosi). Dissatisfied with the cheap labour available locally, Murder uses enslaved zombies to run his sugar mill. The scene depicting the zombie automatons at work in Legendre's plantation is sufficiently creepy. Beaumont uses a special powder Murder has given him on the unsuspecting bride-to-be, but later regrets it. "I want her to be gay and happy again," he pleads to the zombie master.

The film has a dreamy, fairytale style thanks to cinematographer Arthur Martinelli. His use of wipes and shadows along with the minimal dialogue helped recapture some of the flair of the great silent movies. Unlike the gory bloodbath style of newer zombie flicks, this horror classic is quite poignant. White Zombie was a box office smash and made millions for director Victor Halperin. It was shot in 11 days with a budget of only $50,000 US � $800 of which went to Mr Lugosi. Now that's cheap labour.
� Felix Ansel

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BOOK

A Suitable Boy
Vikram Seth
Viking, 1993

It's a mystery the BBC hasn't chosen to lavish its money on a 14-part mini-series (à la Jewel in the Crown) on Vikram Seth's epic masterpiece. Surely we needed that more than an insipid remake of Doctor Zhivago.

After being cajoled into reading this brick (1,500 pages), it took a while to get into it � so many characters! So many pages! But it's worth the slog. This is postcolonial lit at its best, a gripping family story set against India's dramatic adjustment to independence from British rule.

The novel follows Lata, a bright student in 1950s India who rebels against the traditional goals her mother, the amazing Mrs Rupa Mehra, has for her � naturally, an arranged marriage to a suitable boy. The book opens with Lata's sister Savita's marriage to a semi-suitable boy (right caste/asthmatic), paving the way for another wedding. Mrs Mehra wastes no time in setting the matrimonial wheels in motion.

Lata and her parade of suitors are the main focus, but the book's beauty lies in the fleshed-out supporting players: Maan, Savita's poetry-loving brother-in-law, in love with a courtesan; the Chatterji family who speak in rhyming verse (poet son Amit, writing the 'great Indian novel' on the Bengali famine, is said to be modelled on the author himself); the dignified Nawab Sahib of Baitar who carries a dark secret; and the list goes on.

As an added feature, this book has perhaps the most entertaining table of contents ever committed to print. Mr Seth, an accomplished poet, sets out the chapters in 38 rhyming couplets.
� Toss Taylor

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POP

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
Os Mutantes
Luaka Bop, 1999

This 'best of' from 1999 brings together some of the most popular songs by 60s Brazilian psychedelic-tropicalia band Os Mutantes. Although the album fails to include some of the band's better and later tunes it's a great taster of what this short-lived trio has to offer.

Formed in 1965 in Sao Paolo by brothers Arnaldo and Sergio Baptista (another brother, Claudio, occasionally stepped in to help out with electronics) and singer Rita Lee, Os Mutantes were relatively unknown in these parts until recently. During the band's seven-year career they played an integral part in the Brazilian music scene. They had a weekly gig on the popular Brazilian TV show O Pequeno Mundo do Ronnie Von. They were also part of the burgeoning tropicalia movement in Brazil; they even acted as the backing band for tropicalista icon Gilberto Gil. This dynamic, eclectic and avant-garde trio created their own brand of Brazilian-psychedelic pop, mixing sounds that run the gamut from late Beatlesque to Bossa Nova to Hendrix guitar licks.

Everything is Possible! was put together by world music evangelist (and ex-Talking Head) David Byrne in the late 90s; most of the tracks are from Os Mutantes' self-titled debut. The songs are breezy, fun and light. A highlight is "Cantor de Mambo," which pokes fun at the Santana-style Latin pop popular in the US at the time. Other standouts include the upbeat and at times frenetic "Bat Macumba," and "Ave, Lucifer," which makes the listener imagine what "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" would have sounded like if John Lennon had been born a Brazilian!

All in all, Everything is Possible! is a great introduction � and not only to Os Mutantes. It gives new listeners the chance to get acquainted with Ms Lee's hypnotic voice and the tropicalia energy.
� Abigail Sevigny

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Calling all doctors! Do you have a classic film, CD or book that you love? Would you be interested in sharing it with your colleagues? If so, why not submit your review to the National Review of Medicine. Send your article to [email protected] and we'll send you a gift if we publish it.