FILM LIST
in need of a few improvements and a lick ofpaint. Dumb nonsense. Strathclyde; Rialto o The Mosquito Coast ( PG) (Peter Weir. US. 1986) Harrison Ford. River Phoenix. Helen Mirren. 119 mins. A black-edged reworking of the Swiss Family Robinson as Ford's know-it-all inventor forsakes the decline of Western civilisation for the jungles ofSouth America. Intermittently fascinating utopian parable. Glasgow; Grosvenor o The Name of the Rose(18) (Jean-Jacques Annaud. West Germany-France-Italy. 1986) Sean Connery. F. Murray Abraham. 131 mins. Marvellous medieval mystery with the masterful Connery as a monk on the trail of a monastery murderer. Magnificent. Glasgow; ()deon. Edinburgh; ()deon. Strathclyde; Cannon Greenock 0 Never Say NeverAgain (PG) (Irvin Kershner. UK. 1983) Sean Connery. Barbara Carrera. 137 mins. Long and slightly flabby Bond remake of 'I‘htmderball assisted tremendously by the wry. stylish presence of the original and best inhabitant ofthe role. Strathclyde; ()deon Ayr o A Nightmare on Elm Street ( 18) (Wes Craven. US. 1984) John Saxon. Ronee Blakely. 92 mitts. Best ofthe series as nasty Freddy rips his way into teenagers‘ dreams and disturbs their slumber with threats ofdeath and mutilation. Strathclyde; Cannon Greenock o A Nightmare on Elm Street Part II: Freddy’s Revenge ( 18) (Jack Sholder. US. 1985) Mark Patton. Kim Myers. 85 mins. Unnecessary follow-up with new tenants in 1428 Elm Street once more prey to the long arm of Freddy‘s feelers. Strathclyde; Cannon Greenock O No Mercy ( 18) (Richard Pearce. US. 1986) Richard Gere. Kim Basinger. 95 mins. Chicago cop Gere in the backwaters of Louisiana to track down his best buddy‘s murderer. finds himself falling for Cajun maiden Basinger.Formu1aic stufflifted out of the rut by Pearce‘s stylish handling ofthe atmospherics. Strathclyde;Ria1to o Overthe Top (PG) (Menahem Golan. 1986) Sylvester Stallone. 92 mins. Resistible. highly characteristic Stallone sermon with ‘muscles’ playing a brawny truck driver who not only wins the heart of his standoffish son but who also triumphs as the world arm-wrestling champ. Strathclyde; ()deon Ayr 0 Personal Services ( 18) (Terry Jones. UK. 1986) Julie Walters. Shirley Stelfox. Alec McCowen. 105 mins. Suggested by the life. times and exploits onynthia Payne this ribald and engaging commentary on the British way ofsex features a top notch performance by Julie Walters as the knowing yet somehow naive Madam. Glasgow; Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon
0 Platoon ( 15) (Oliver Stone. US. 1986) Charlie Sheen. Willem Dafoe. 'l'om Berenger. 121) mins. Writer-veteran Stone‘s multiple Oscar-winner seeks to portray as vividly as possible the experience of
the ordinary infantryman on combat duty in Vietnam around the turn of 1967-8. Private Charlie Sheen is a university drop-out who soon finds his ideals ofcourage and honour trampled underfoot in the sweat and blood and fear of patrol.
An uncomfortable experience and an undoubtedly well-crafted one. with its genre connotations and lack of a genuine overview on the situation. this landmark in grimy authenticity remains a classic war film that just happens to be set in Vietnam.
Glasgow; ()deon. Edinburgh: ()deon. Strathclyde: Kelburne. Odeon Hamilton
0 Play ItAgain Sam ( 15) (Herbert Ross. US. 1972) Woody Allen. Diane Keaton. 'I‘or._. Roberts. 87 mins. Sharp. hilarious screen version of Allen's play with the maestro a movie buff. schooled in the art of courtship by his long dead hero Humphrey Bogart. Glasgow: Grosvenor
o Prick Up Your Ears ( 18) (Stephen Freats. UK. 1987) Gary ()ldman. Alfred Molina. Vanessa Redgrave. 111) mins. Wickedly tart and funny biographical portrait of the seesaw relationship between playwright Joe ()rton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. Highly recommended. Edinburgh; Cameo
.
. til: ~ A ‘
Tenue de Soiree (18) (Bertrand Blier, France, 1986) Gerard Depardieu, Miou-Miou, Michel Blanc. 85 mins. Blier has gained a (notorious) reputaton for his outrageous black comedies chronicling the war— or perhaps simply the gult- between the sexes, and Tenue de Soiree traverses that territory again. It stars his favourite actor, the ubiquitous Depardieu, as Bob, a small-time thief who takes up with a down at heel, quarreling couple, Antoine (Blanc) and Monique (Miou-Miou).
Bob encourages them to join him in his raids on the homes of the rich, who always have something hidden away trom the tax man, sparking off a series of ludicrous adventures and confrontations with the various equally eccentric owners. They set up home together, but, despite sleeping with Monique, lt transpires that Bob has designs on the initially reluctant Antoine, who eventually gives way.
TENUE DE SOIREE
0 Purple Rain ( 15) (Albert Magnoli. US. 1984) Prince. Apollonia Kotero. 111 mins. Unappealingly sexist. thinly disguised autobiographical musical on the life and crimes of His Purpleness. Edinburgh: Filmhouse 0 Ouai des Brumes ( Par! ()fS/tadmvs) (PG) (Marcel Carne. France. 1938) Jean Gabin. Michele Morgan. Michel Simon. 91) mins. In a supremely sinister. fogbound Le Havre. dour. stoical deserter Gabin prepares to steal himself from the country until he discovers bliss with Miss Morgan. Wonderfully atmospheric. Edinburgh: Filmhouse
0 Raw Deal ( 18) (John Irvin. US. 1986) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kathryn Harrold. 105 mins. Arnie plays a retired FBI agent brought back into service by a hassled Chief to sort out a gang of bad-assed muthas intent on wiping out all the key witnesses in the case against a Chicago gangleader. Formulaic. plodding potboiler that wastes action-man Arnie. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Strathclvde; Kelburne o Restless Natives (PG) (Michael l-loffman. UK. 1985) Vincent Friell. Joe Mullaney.'1'eri Lally. 89mins. Juvenile Highland fling as two casualties of'l'hatcher's Britian get on their bikes and hijack coaches bursting with wealthy tourists.
Bob engineers the removal of Monique into the hands ot a vicious pimp; thereafter, the film, which has been absurdly comic to this point, begins to change both tone and approach to its ostensible subject, the taking and playing of sexual and gender roles. Blier begins by undermining them, but as the story becomes increasingly lantastic, so his treatment reverts more and more to parody.
The farcical-tragic encounter between Antoine, by now a transvestite, and Monique and her pimp in a dance-hall is perhaps the real end of the film; the actual end, when it arrives, gives a not entirely convincing twist to the story. The lilm is at its best when at its most bizarre, but that odd change of tone in tbe final quarter does jar uncomlortably. Needless to say, it will also be lound oltensive by many; whether that also makes it subversive is open to argument.(l(enny Mathieson)
becoming the Butch and Sundance ofEdinburgh town. Strained whimsicalin and cuteness abound in this dismal Bill Forsyth clone. Edinburgh; Filmhouse
0 Room With A View (PG) (James Ivory. UK. 1985) Helena Bonham Carter. Maggie Smith. Denholm Elliott. 117 mins. Highly agreeable. perfectly realised version of the E. M. Forster novel. now an institution 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 existentialist parable about the need to forge one's own identity and the alienation it can bring. Glasgow; GFl‘
o Salvador(18) (Oliver Stone. US. 1986) James Woods. Jim Belushi. John Savage. 122 mins. Raw. abrasively 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 of his fellow human beings.
Angry. bravura filmmaking that not only demands your attention but deserves it. Glasgow; GFI‘
0 Southern Comlort ( 18) (Walter Hill. US. 1981) Keith Carradine. Powers Boothe. 106 mins. US army reservists on a training exercise in the Louisiana swamps find themselves under attack from the local Cajun villagers whose privacy they have invaded. 'l‘hinly disguied treatment ofthe Vietnam war. expertly whipped into a masterly adventure film. Edinburgh; Cameo 0 Sport Sport Sport ( PG) (Elem Klimov. USSR. 1971)) Larissa Shepitko. Nikita Mikhailov. 85 mins. Straight documentary. archive footage. extravagant fantasy. celebration ofathleticism. and (it says here) ‘a wonderfully burlesque boxing match in the manner of Ivan The Terrible"?! — all this can only mean one thing. It‘s that man Klimov again. How the Soviet authorities ever let this out ofthe country remains a mystery. Weirdski. weirdski. weirdski. Edinburgh: Filmhouse 0 Stand By Me ( 15) (Rob Reiner. US. 1986) Wil Wheaton. River Phoenix. Richard Dreyfuss. 88 mins. Looking back to a special summer in his youth. middle-aged writer Dreyfuss recalls the camaraderie of his childhood chums as they brawled. bragged and traded obscenities during a vital weekend in his growing up and future development as a storyteller. A wholly winning. near-perfect evocation ofchildhood on the brink of adolescence. Strathclyde; Cannon Kilmarnock. Lothian; Cannon Falkirk O Streets of Gold ( 15) ‘3: (Joe Roth. US. 1987) Klaus Maria Brandauer. Angela Molina. 96 mins. Brandauer stars as a Russian boxing champion who defects to the West and then disappears into obscurity. He takes refuge from the bottle by training
The List 12—25June 15