FILM LIST
is out of control. Part symbolic drama. part slam-bang actioner. this
Stand By Me (15) (Rob Reiner, us, 1986) Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Richard Dreyfuss. 88 mins. Yes, it is yet another rites of passage story, it is about American adolescents and it does deploy a pop soundtrack to suitably commercial effect. However, disregard your desire to turn the page because this is also quite clearly one of the films of the year.
Middle-aged writer Gordie Lachance (Richard Dreyfuss) learns ofthe mindless slaying of a once close friend Chris Chambers. Adult life has taken them along different paths but, as children, they were the very best of friends. In memory of the bonds that once existed between them, Gordie’s mind returns to the summer of 1959 and a vital weekend in his growing up and development as a future storyteller.
In the small Oregon town of Castle Rock, twelve year-old Gordie (Wil Wheaton) had embarked upon a guest with his three buddies. Vern Tessio (Jerry O’Connell) has inadvertently overheard his elder brother discussing his chance discovery of the dead body of a missing teenager. Envisaging fame and fortune if they are publicly acknowledged as the ones who reported the whereabouts oi the corpse (and spurred by a certain ghoulishy curiosity) the intrepid quartet set off in hot pursuit. Along the way they meet various incidental adventures but the core of the film is their camaraderie and the evocation of a special moment in the author's past. In retrospect, Gordie concludes ‘1 never had any
friends later on like the ones I had when
of fresh converts.
His version of the Verdi warbler is dished up with over-emphatic brio. lavish locations. unnecessary flashbacks, the exclusion of Desdemona‘s ‘Willow Song‘ and a hint ofhomoeroticism. ‘Lungs‘ Domingo gives his all. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
o Overthe Top (PG) rtr (Mcnahem Golan. US. 1987) Sylvester Stallone. David Mendenhall. Robert Loggia. Susan Blakely. 92 mins. See panel. Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon 0 The Passion of Remembrance (15) (Maureen Blackwood and Isaac Julien. UK. 1986) Antonia Thomas. Carlton Chance. 82 mins. An examination of the black experience in Britain. looking at issues of history. sexuality and gender. this remarkable film interweaves a family drama with video excerpts documenting police harassment and raises the question of the way forward for black political activism. Edinburgh; Filmhouse 0 Peggy Sue Got Married (PG) (Francis Coppola. US. 1986) Kathleen Turner. Nicolas Cage. 103 mins. An entertaining. irresistibly sloppy romantic drama as Turner collapses at her high school reunion and regains consciousness in 1959. eagerly grasping a chance to live her life over knowing then what she knows now. Glasgow; Cinema.
STAND BY ME
I was twelve. Jesus, did anyone?’ Stand By Me is not just a misty-eyed wallow in recollections of yesteryear. What distinguishes it is an acute ear and observant eye for the way things were. Children on the brink of adolescence are captures with all their worries, bravado, insecurities and petty preoccupations unerringly delineated. The script from Stephen King's novella raises an affectionate smile of recognition at the solidarity of these pint-sized musketeers asthey brawl, brag, trade ingenious obscenities and take succour from their alternative lamin unit. And there is always Gordie on the sidelines; observing, introspective and distant from the others but cherished for his inimitable camp-fire yarns, and there is his friendship with Chris who encourages his writing in a waythat an
Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr
O Raging Bull (18) (Martin Scorsese. US. 198()) Robert de Niro. Cathy Moriarty. Joe Pesci. 129 mins. 1949 middleweight boxing champ Jake La Motta finds it difficult to sustain his early success and. as his career fades. he declines into a travesty of his former self.
De Niro‘s stunning physical performance dominates Scorsese's savagely bleak study of self-destructive male machismo. Edinburgh: Cameo o Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1981) Harrison Ford. Karen Allen. Denholm Elliott. 115 mins. Exhilarating. gung-ho high adventure with Ford‘s invincible hero taking on the might of the Third Reich and emerging victorious. Edinburgh; Filmhouse o Risky Business ( 18) (Paul Brickman. US. 1983) Tom Cruise. Rebecca de Mornay. Joe Pantoliano. 99 mins. With his parents away for the weekend it seems only natural that a shy teenager might let offa little steam and enjoy his unaccustomed freedom. But trashingthe house. wrecking a Porsche and falling in with a beautiful hooker can take some explaining.
Funny. better than usual teen farce thanks to the always agreeable Cruise and cohorts. Glasgow; GFT
indifferent lamin never have. lmbued with the palpable ache of ruelul remembrance, memories are truly made of this.
After the rock spool Spinal Tap and the sweet-natured screwball comedy The Sure Thing, Rob Reiner is emerging, almost unheralded, as one of the most reliable populist directors of the Eighties. His touch here is deceptively surelooted, blending music, pace and performances in a near perfect manner. River Phoenix as Chris heads an impressive gang of youngsters whilst Richard Dreyfuss adds a droll, complementary voice-over narration. Stand By Me is funny and touching, beautifully realised and completely winning; a mini-masterpiece of finely judged mood and bittersweet memories. See it. (Allan Hunter)
0 Romeo and Juliet (U) (Franco Zeffirelli.UK-1taly. 1968) Leonard Whiting. ()livia Hussey. Milo ()‘Shea. 138 mins. Another lavish Zeffirelli swoop on the classics with a pretty-as-a-picture Shakespeare adaptation notable for the casting of actual teenagers as the infatuated lovers. Edinburgh: Filmhouse
0 Room WilhA View (PG) (James Ivory. UK. 1985) Helena Bonham Carter. Maggie Smith. Denholm Elliott. 117 mins. A tripto romantic Venice and whiff of unbridled passion are more than enough to turn a young girl‘s head and sour her towards the diligent attentions of her stuffy Home Counties suitor. Highly agreeable. perfectly realised version ofthe E.M. Forster novel now nearing a year‘s residency at this particular venue. Edinburgh; Dominion
0 Rumble Fish ( 18) (Francis Ford Coppola. US. 1983) Mickey Rourke. Matt Dillon. Dennis Hopper. 94 mins. Electrifying expressionist visuals grace an cxistentialist parable about the need to forge one‘s own identity and the alienation it can bring. Edinburgh; Cameo
o Runaway Train ( 18) (Andrei Konchalovsky. US. 1985) Jon Voight. Eric Roberts. Rebecca de Morney. 111 mins. Two escapees from a high-security prison in Alaska hitch a ride to freedom on a train that
is a no-nonsense movie of wide appeal. Edinburgh; Cannon. Glasgow; GET 0 Salvador ( 18) (Oliver Stone. US. 1986) James Woods. Jim Belushi. John Savage. 122 mins. Raw, abrasiver brilliant drama of journalists under fire. as a sleazy ‘war junkie‘ photojournalist travels to Salvador and finds his senses assaulted by the corruption and fear abounding and his conscience finally pricked by the suffering ofhis fellow human beings. Angry. bravura filmmaking that not only demands your attention but deserves it. Glasgow; GFI‘ 0 She’s Gotta Have It ( 18) rt: (Spike Lee. US. 1986) Tracy Camilla Johns. Redmond Hicks. Spike Lee. 84 mins. Wonderfully fresh. funny and inventive portrait of a contemporary woman who is forced to choose between three lovers. To be reviewed in full at a future date. Tickets priced £2.50 are now bookable for this special AIDS benefit screening on 9 April. Edinburgh: Cameo O Shoah it (Claude Lanzmann. France/W Germany. 1986) Part One 260 mins. Part Two 300 mins. Massive and undoubtedly important documentary which seeks to trace the present day reality of the Holocaust rather than tread the archives to seek its historical roots. Lanzmann's probing camera visits the still-remaining ovens of Aushwitz and conducts a number of searching interviews with both the survivors of the camps and those who worked in them. The profusion of detail and the haunting faces of many of the witnesses. each with their own tale ofsuffering. make this painstaking examination ofscars that will not heal. an overpowerineg moving screen testament to events that should never be forgotten. See Listings section for screening details. Edinburgh; Filmhouse 0 Stand By Me (15) «r: (Rob Reiner. US. 1986) River Phoenix. Wil Wheaton. Richard Dreyfuss. 89 mins. Edinburgh; Cameo Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh; Cameo O Starman (PG) (John Carpenter. US. 1984) JeffBridges. Karen Allen. 115 mins. An alien crashlands in an isolated area of Wisconsin and recreates himself as the recently deceased husband of a local woman. Warmly affectionate intergalactic love story. with Bridges particularly appealing as the extra-terrestrial encased in a human body. Unfortunately. the lamentany cliched ('10er Encounters reprise at the finale spoils a good show. Edinburgh: Cameo 0 Straight to the Heart ( 15) (Dorris Dorri. W Germany. 1983) 91 mins. A young woman chucks in her job on a supermarket cash desk and dyes her hair blue. whereupon a dentist offers her a considerable sum to move in with him and add a splash of colour to his life. She takes him up. but does not bargain on falling in love with him and altering the rules of their agreement. Dorris Dorrie. whose recent film Men proved such a
14 The List 3 — 16 April