“This Year’s Whiney ‘Biennial’ testifies to the weakness of the movement…The persistence of Ericka Beckman compensated for the unfortunate letdown of Kobland’s second film. Her Out of Hand was one of the reasons for introducing Super 8mm into the ‘Biennial’ two years ago (a progressive move that was dropped this time despite the vitality of Super 8mm filmmaking). Now, in the 16mm You the Better, the repetition of hypnotic choral chants, the dollhouselike sets that reduce human human action to the scale of a board game, and the ritualized uses of gestures and monochromatic tones prove that she is the most self-confident and aggressive stylist of the younger generation…”
