o This section aims to provide a review oi every illm to be seen in central
Scotland over the next iortnlght. For programme times see individual cinema listings.
U - Universal, suitable ior all ages.
PG - Parental Guidance suggested as some scenes may be unsuitable ior youngerchlldren. 1
15 - No-one underthe age oi 15 admitted.
18 - No-one under the age oi 18 admitted. a: - New Release. 0 Anne Devlin 1 PG) 1‘? (Pat Murphy. Eire. 198-1) Brid Brennan. Bosco Ilogan. Des McAleer. 121mins. Anne Devlin is recalled as the housekeeper to Robert Emmet during the Republican uprising of the late 19th century. Ilowevcr. Anne herself is ultimately revealed I as a heroine ofthe cause. After the l abortive insurrection she remained stoically mute. refusing to reveal the ; slightest scrapofinformation. Kept r in solitary confinement and systematically tortured she was finally released. her virtual martyrdom ignored.
Pat Murphy‘s second feature is a commendable attempt to retrieve the life of an altogether remarkable woman from the footnotes of history books. lising contemporary journals this is a painstaking. austere and often indigestible portrait of pure commitment that poses interesting questions about all the forgotten women of the past and the general role of women in society‘s evolution. 1 Edinburgh: Filmhouse ' o The Assam Garden ( Li) (Mary McMurray. 17K. 1985) Deborah Kerr. Madhur Jaffrey. Alec McCowen. 92 mins. A delicate depiction of a friendship that blossoms between an Indian woman and a recently widowed memsahib as they restore a vast. exotic expanse in
' timetoearn a place intheGreat British Gardens guide. Jaffrey and : Kerr turn in exemplary performances that make a simple drama a memorable one.
Edinburgh: Filmhouse
o Biggies ( PU ) (John llough. L'K. 198(1) Neil Dickson. Alex Hyde-White. Peter (‘ushing 92 mins. Biggies and his time twin hopscotch between 1985 and 1917 using the advanced technology of the one to foil the Hun threat in the other.
18 The List 13 — 2(iJune .
In the truth the film has little to do with everyone's favourite RFC ace and all-round good egg but it‘s harmless enough hokum for non-purists.
Glasgow; ABC (Sauchiehall Street). Strathclyde: ABC Greenock
0 Brazil ( 15) (Terry Gilliam. UK. 1985) Jonathan Pryce. Robert DeNiro. Michael Palin. 142 mins. Disturbing and overpowering
FILM LISI
fantasia refracting Orwell into a massive. darkly comic satire. Unbelievable visuals are a foil to some memorable performances and the whole thought-provoking rollercoaster is probably one of the films ofthe decade. Glasgow: Grosvenor
o Commando ( 18) (Mark L. Lester. US 1985) Arnold Schwarzenneger. Rae Dawn Chong. 9(1mins. Big Arnie races against the clock to free his kidnapped daughter from the clutches ofsome wicked men. A pure action adventure told with zest and the saving grace ofgallows humour. Glasgow; Cinema
0 Copacabana—the Movie This film receives a charity premiere at the Edinburgh Playhouse on June 211. Other than the fact that big Barry Manilow is the star nobody seems to know anything about it. 'I'ickets are priced at £5.
0 Cottage to Let ( if) (Anthony Asquith. LIK. 19-11) Leslie Banks. Alastair Sim. John Mills. George
DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS
} .
Down and Out in Beverly Hills (15) (Paul Mazursky, US, 1986) Richard Dreyiuss, Nick Nolte, Bette Midier. 103 mins. Inspired by Jean Renoir‘s savage social satire Boudu sauvé des eaux, writer-director Paul Mazursky has crafted a sugar-coated reactionary 1980s' larce. Gentleman tramp Jerry Baskin (Nolte) reaches a low ebb when his beloved pooch is lured away by the last-iood goodies 01 a passing jogger. In a moment of despair he attempts to drown himseli in the lavish swimming pool oi Beverly Hills coat-hanger king Dave Whiteman (Dreyiuss). Dave plunges to the rescue and saves his liie. His helping hand then becomes a steady liteline as he feels it incumbent upon himseli to otter this poor itinerant a glimpse oi the good life.
Wrung out, cleaned up and smartly dressed, Jerry proves to be a miracle man oi hidden depth. His vast intuition and talents enable him to resolve all the hangups besetting Dave’s neurotic iamily; a quick massage reawakens the wiie's libido, iatherly advice encourages the androgynous son to be himseli and a little loving care saves the daughter irom incipient anorexia. Pretty soon the roguish, iconoclastic Jerry has become an indispensable member oi the Whiteman household
*1
comedy to the shallow chic oi Lotusland Mazursky has set up some obvious targets for his bland barbs; consumerism, materialism and the anguished guilt oi the nouveau-riche ranking high on his list. His equally iamiliarweaponry includes broad slapstick, caricature and cute dogs. The speciiically American humour oiten dies in mid-Atlantic and there is an equally redundant strain oi seii-indulgentin-iokes about Linda Evans, Steven Spielberg and the Cannes Film Festival. What annoys above all is the glib ease with which Jerry embraces the Caliiornia dream lite. Better to be rich and neurotic than poor and smelly seems to be the film’s ultimate message.
Forthe unthinking, Down and Out in Beverly Hills may oiier innocuous sit-com tun but the normally reliable Mazursky squanders such a good premise that it has to be judged a shameiul waste. There are strong compensations in the assured comic iinesse oi the principal players and an eclectic soundtrack that includes Little Richard and Talking Heads but otherwise this has only a superiicial appeal (Allan Hunter)
Cole. 9(1mins.
19-111. In a small Scottish village an inventor has just perfected a new bomb-sight. Little does he suspect that his home and hearth are a hotbed of alien espionage. ’l‘he butler is a Scotland Yard detective. the cook a Fifth Column spy and someone else a top-ranking Nazi agent. Cockney schoolboy evacuee Cole arrives to help unmask the villains.
Stagey but ultimately pleasurable comedy-thriller that builds unevenly to effective climactic scenes at an old mill and a carnival hall of mirrors. Edinburgh: Filmhouse 0 Crimes oi Passion ( 18) (Ken
Russell. US. 1984) Kathleen Turner.
Anthony Perkins. John Laughlin. 107 mins. Russell‘s debunking of the American way of sex is an uproariously black satire where moonlighting whore meets dildo-packing clergyman meets ordinary guy who sometimes pretends to be a Human Penis. A strident and courageous piece of filmmaking in that it casts men as the oppressors. this will arouse fierce opinions in anyone strong enough to take it. Turner and Perkins excel. Strathclyde: ABC Greenock
0 Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (PG) (Carl Reiner. US. 1982) Steve Martin. Rachel Ward and a cast of thousands. 87 mins. Film noir spoof has private-eye Martin involved with femme fatale Ward and fiendish Nazi scientist Reiner. Much ofthe humour stems from the intercutting with actual Forties movies in a device now copied by the TV adverts for a certain lager.
Interesting Fact 1138: this is the only film in which the future of democracy is threatened by deadly fascist cheese! Glasgow; Grosvenor o The Delta Force (15) (Menahcm Golan. 198(1) Lee Marvin. Chuck Norris. Hanna Schygulla. 129 mins. When an American airliner is hijacked by Amal fanatics the
President calls on a unique task force 5
to set his people free.
Yet another attempt to rewrite history in a more flattering light gradually degeneratcs into a latterday 7th Cavalry movie replete with Ramboesque invincibility. Lothian; ABC. Strathclyde: ABC Greenock. ABC Kilmarnock o Desperately Seeking Susan ( 15) (Susan Seidelman. US. 1985) Rosanna Arquette. Madonna, Aidan Quinn. 103 mins. Delightful feminist fantasy concerning mistaken identity in the Big Apple. Glasgow; Grosvenor 0 Les Diabolique3(15) (Henri-Georges Clouzot. France. 1955) Simone Signoret. Vera (‘louzot. Paul Meurisse. 117 mins. A repugnant. bullying schoolmaster is murdered by his timid. long-suffering wife and his more calculating mistress. They carefully dispose of the body which then disappears. . .
Much-imitated. fiendishly clever chiller melodrama; slow but satisfying. Edinburgh: Filmhouse 0 Down and Out in Beverly Hills ( 15) re
(Paul Mazursky. US. 1986) Nick Nolte. Richard Dreyfuss. Bette