FILM LIST
It Couldn’t Happen Here (15) it: (Jack Bond, UK, 1988) Neil Tenant, Chris Lowe, Gareth Hunt, Barbara Windsor, Joss Ackland. 87 mins. Undoubtedly “I’ve got the script, and you’ve got the hits, so let’s make lots of money’ must have been the initial prognosis lorthis particular cinematic opportunity. Unlortunately,the result is more ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ than anything else. In the history oi rockin’ reels this is closerto ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ than ‘A Hard Day's Night’, a soggy pretentious pudding ol lumpen heaviosity not a light scuttle of pure poplun.
The basic premise lies in The Pet Shop Boys undertaking a surrealistic journey through modern England with a few stops Ior songs along the way. However we lind Messrs Tenant and Lowe in the midst at a landscape haunted by memories at a glorious past (in the shape oI dashing pilot Neil Dickson), and the boys themselves tormented by Catholic guilt (Joss Ackland as a dogged blind priest) and Oedipal lantasies (Babs Windsor a grotesque motherligure). Add to this sprawling smorgasbord the multi-talentless Gareth Hunt in a dual
Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Kelburne. ()deon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton.
I The Dead (1)) (John Huston. UK‘W. Germany. 1987) Anjelica Huston. Donal McCann. llelena Carroll. 83 mins.
IT COULDN’T HAPPEN HERE
role as leering seaside chappie and priggish straight man for an existentialist ventriloquist dummy (I kid you not) and the result is one indigestible mess.
DirectorJack Bond has produced some enterprising work for “The South Bank Show’, but his vaulting ambition here has lallen llat on its face. Obviously intended as some kind at meaningful statement about our collective consciousness, the linal product emerges as an uneasy mix at
lluston‘s final film is a superb adaptation of the James Joyce Dubliners short story. Set during a traditional festive celebration its skill and mellow perception draw you into another world where the dinner conversation and general merriment
AN ARTIFICIAL EYE RELEASE
l “The List 8— 21 July 1988
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“FUNNY, M0 VHVG, AN ABE 7LUYE CW; ), Geoff Andrew TIlVIL JUT
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“T/u'd week {1 moat aquidite pleadure. ” Sheila Johnston [INDEPENDENT l'AMl AMIE subtitles
EDINBURGH FILMHOUSE JULY 11-16
literary allusion, potted philosophising and rather uninspired music videos that will surely dismay and coniound its intended audience In the teen market.
One’s only hope is that the stultitying aqulness of this embarassing hodgepodge will dissuade pop personalities and their patrons at the record companies lrom the all-too-vain belieI that their three minute talents will stretch to a lull hour and a hall. In this case the strain is quite, quite painlul. (TrevorJohnston).
reveal universal truths about death and the beauty oftrue love. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Deadly PtltStlll(15) fir (Roger Spottiswoode, US, 1987) Sidney Poitier. Tom Berenger. 100 mins. See caption review. Glasgow: Cannon. Edinburgh: Cannon.
I Dogs in Space ( 18) e (Richard Lowenstein. Australia. 1986) Michael llutchence, Saskia Post, Chris 1 laywood. 109 mins. The young and infuriatingly talented director of Srrikebound returns with something completely different; a punk-era version of Nashville brimming with raw energy. a multiplicity of characters and the expected interlocking stories.
Set in 1978 Melbourne the ramshackle plot centres around Sam. the lead singer in a punk band called Dogs in Space, and his girlfriend Anna, who are two ofthc inhabitants of a drop-in anytime house populated by punks, vegetarians. students and anyone else interested in an alternative lifestyle incoporating parties. gigs. TV, random discussions and loadsa drugs. Lots of ephemeral incidents transpire the most significant of which is the arrival of a new supply of heroin that leads to one death by overdose.
Critic-dividing jamboree hailed as a serious work about ‘the end of an era and the coming down to earth out of the orbit of fun-seeking irresponsibility‘ or dismissed as a loosely directed series of diverse elements lacking ‘style and subtlety" . A certain sympathy with the punk ethos probably helps. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhousc I Dragnet (PG) (Tom Mankiewicz, US, 1987) Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks. Christopher Plummer. 106 mins. Contemporary spoof of the cult SOsTV series that begins with some promise but soon degenerates into an all too predictable mix of car chases and juvenile American humour. Glasgow: Grosvenor. I Easy Rider (18) (Dennis Hopper, US. 1969) Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson. 94 mins. Artless, archetypal road movie in which two dope-loving bikers travel the highways and by-ways of America. Dated cult attraction with Nicholson stealing the show as a boozy
lawyer persuaded to join up for the trip. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Empire of the Sun(PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1987) Christian Bale.John Malkovitch. Miranda Richardson. 152 mins. J.G. Ballard's bestseller through the eyes of Spielberg becomes along. sentimental account of a young boy‘s character building exploits during the Japanese invasion of Shanghai and his subsequent internment in a prison camp. Technically admirable but ponderously paced and widly uneven. it lacks the emotional heart to capture the viewer and becomes just another big-screen spectacle. Edinburgh: Filmhousc.
I The Falcon And The Snowman ( 15) (John Schlesinger. L'S. 1985)Sean1’enn. Timothy llutton. 131 mins. Seminary drop-out and falconry enthusiast llutton winds up working for the CIA and bumps into high school buddy Penn. now a dope smuggler. Both disillusioned they begin to collaborate with the Russian intelligence service.
L'neven true story adaptation hampered by uncertainty of tone. Edinburgh: Cameo.
IA Flame In My Heart ( 18) Y} (Alain Tanner. France/Switz. 1987) Myriam Mezieres. Benoit Regent. Aziz Kabouche. 110 mins. Parisian actress Mezieres cuts short her rehearsal as Racine's Ben'nice to break off from her physically demanding and rather brutish lover. Escaping to a small hotel she then commences another sexually charged relationship with an investigative journalist. but the tension of the situation plunges her unstable personality into a precarious state somewhere between alienation and self-degradation.
Overheated monochrome angst with a good deal of sexual explicitness in Ms Mezie res script, but the very vigour ofthe film‘s attack gives it a challenging edge that is sure to stimulate debate. Edinburgh: Filmhousc.
I The Glass Menagerie (PG) (Paul Newman. US, 1987) Joanne Woodward. John Malkovich. Karen Allen. 135 mins. Definitive screen translation of one of Tennessee Williams‘ most tender and acuter autobiographical plays, dealing with his love for a sister lost to mental illness and his own guilty homosexuality.
Woodward is the dominant matriarch. a fluttering Southern belle with ever-ready memories of her glorious youth. Allen is the crippled daughter retreating into her own world of old phonograph records and a collection of fragile glass animals. Malkovich the restless son eager for life to begin. His invitation to dinner bringsa gentleman caller to the table and reality intrudes into this delicately perched nest of fantasy and selfdelusion.
The intelligence of Newman's guiding hand is evident throughout as he respects the text. adopts a fluid cinematic style and captures some outstanding performances for posterity. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Gremlins ( 15) (Joe Dante. US. 1984) Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates. 106 mins. Cute and cuddly little mogwais become malevolent monsters if not properly cared for and wreak havoc in idealised small town America. Resistible horror comic. never as funny as it thinks it is. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I A Handful OI Dust ( PG) (Charles Sturridge, UK, 1987) James Wilby. Kirstyn Scott-Thomas. Rupert Graves. 118 mins. Living in splendour at the ancestral seat. ill-matched upper class couple Wilby and Scott-Thomas find their already deteriorating relationship nudged further along the road to ruin by the arrival of handsome ingenu Graves as a parasitical house guest.
Beautifully acted and crafted film version of the Evelyn Waugh novel captures the source‘s period detail with impeccable case, but the characterisation‘s genteel fair-mindedness fatally subdues the original‘s venomous