SHORT FILMS IN THE EDINBURGH INTERNATINAL FILM FESTIVAL
Take the chance that a film festival offers to sample a few ofthe programmes of short films being screened. From two feature films to a feature and a short. to now just the feature and the adverts. has moved the mainstream cinemas completely out of reach of a lot of seriously talented film makers. In some other countries. though. the short film thrives. This years Edinburgh International Film Festival has its usual scattering of shorts throughout the fortnight but also has several important programmes devoted to nothing else. A couple certainly worth your admission money are the group of Australian Independents. with both short and feature length films under that title. and the programmesofthe selected best of France‘s (‘Iermont-Ferrand Film Festival. entirely given over toshorts.
Apart from the films themselves. it's the marvelous contrasts between them that make them fascinating. So
FILM FESTIVAL DIARY ,
I TICKET INFO
Tickets available from Filmhouse. I.othian Road. Box office 9am—9pm. l’erfs before bpnt: £3 (£2.50
[IB40 ()AI’). l’erfs after (rpm: £4. All screenings at Film house unless specified.
(‘annon perfs £4. £5.50 (Pullman Seats).
(‘ameo perfs £4.
Full details in ()fficial Programme. £1 .50.
FRIDAY 19
I FILMHOUSEI
Tokyo DrilierlSejun Suzuki.Japan. 1966) 2.30pm. Marvellously anarchic Suzuki Yakuza extravaganza. something akin to an oriental Frank Tashlin. If you only see one Suzuki film. make it thisone.
Clermont Ferrand Shorts 4.30pm. The second selection of material from the highly regarded French festival for short films.
Bagdad Cale (Percy Adlon. [IS W. (iermany. 1988) 7pm. Marvellous comic fable set in a run-down motel on the edge of the Mojave desert. First English-language film frotn Pecy Adlon. and featuring the formidable
Programme ()nc ofthc (‘Iermont-Ferrand selections included the surreal wonder of Eric Rochants Presence Feminine next to a 1960 Maurice Pialat short. L‘Amour Existe. which was simultaneously poetic. angry. and avowedly realistic. A special mention must be made of Roger (iuillot and his film La (ioula. exuding the tangible excitement of an undoubtably fresh new talent. I will not miss whatever else I see his name on. There are three (‘lermont-Ferrand programmes altogether. (8pm on I5th. 4.30pmon 19th. 2.30pm on 24th) hopefully all as good. The Australians have several film festivals that proudly show Super-8 films. championing the format against the hammering it's taken from cheap and accessible
starof his earlier .S'ugur/mhy Marianne Sagebrecltt.
Distant Voices. Still Lives (Terence Davies. L'K. l988)9pm. Moving evocation of at Liverpool working class family's experience through the Forties and Fifties. Achingly simple yet elaborately textured. the film can hardly be recommended too highly. See feature.
Plus A Song or Air (26mins).
I FILMHOUSE 2
The Tittield Thunderbolt ((‘harles(‘hrichton. L'K. 1953) plus Painted Boats ((‘harles(‘hrichton. L'Is'. 1945 ) 2pm. Double bill from Iialing director (‘hriehton includes his elegaic documentary on the decline of the inland waterways. and the later rambunctiously charming railway comedy.
Claire Johnston Memorial Lecture Special lecture tribute to the work in feminism. film theory and criticism by (‘laire Johnston. who died earlierthis year.
Jurgen BottcherShorts 8pm. A trio ofshort pieces by noted Iiast (ierman documentarist Bottcher. including '1 ‘ltree Songs. which features Dianne Reeves and I larry
FESTIVAL FILM
Cane Toads
video cameras. Several of these will be shown in two programmes at the start of next week ( 10.30 on 22nd. 2.3(ion 23rd). Butl suspect the real Australian hit ofthc Festival will be the weird and very wonderful documentary (‘ane Toads (9pm on 25th). In Queensland these huge amphibians have some people keeping them as pets and wanting to raise statues to them while others are driven into cane toad crushing frenzics behind the wheels of their cars. So take a bizzare subject like that. shoot it in such a deliberately ambiguous fashion as to create the nagging suspicion you might just be having your leg pulled. and you're well on the way to making the world's first cult documentary. And that‘s very nearly as strange itself as a pet cane toad. ((i. Henderson)
Belafonte on tour in the (iDR.
Undivided Attention ((‘hris (iallagher. Canada. 1987) 10.30pm. ('anadian film which uses the road movie format as the basis for an intellectual excursion into the nature of vision.
SATURDAY 20
I FILMHDUSEl Ziegeunerweisen (Sejun Suzuki.Japan. I980)
2.30pm. The first oftwo films made by Sejun Suzuki this decade is an enigmatic saga of infidelity set in the Japan oftlie 1920s.
Bird NowiMark llurax. '
Belgium. I987)Taster for the Eastwood biopic is this Belgian documentary. featuring testimonies from many of the musicians who knew and played with ( 'harlie Parker.
Plus Chet‘s Romance. with the late (‘ltct Baker. ( lilmlnsll The Debt (Miguel Pereira. L'K Argentina. 1988) 9pm. An Indian boy growing up in a remote mountain area of Argentina. finds a father figure in the teacher who brings him stories of the seas and seafarers. Notable debut feature from a graduate ofour own National Film
School. Plus Sombra A Sombra. (17 mins). Pandemonium (llaydn Keenan. Australia. 1988) 11.30pm. Late night screening of Aussie cult attraction. with mute bimbette loose in a crazy film studio. Somewhere between Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls and The Rocky H nrmr Picture Show. I FILMHOUSEZ The Road To God Knows Where (Martin Mahon. Iiire. 1988) 5.30pm. A portrait of contemporary Irish youth. and the future they see for themselves in a country beset by unemployment and emigration. Plus Dreaming Rivers.a film from Sankofa Film 61; Video. (30mins). From Russia With Rock (Marjaana Mykkanen. L'SSR. 1988) 8pm. Full length documentary on the effect of (ilasnost on the current Soviet rock I CANNON.I.othian Road A Fish Called Wanda ((‘harles (‘hrichton. LJK. I988) 8.30pm. Iialing director (‘hrichton helms this uproarious contemporary comedy about lust. stolen diamonds. and fish. John (Terese. Kevin Kline. Jamie Lee (‘urtis and Michael Palin make up the promising cast.
SUNDAY 21
I FILMHOUSEI Phobia (John Dingwall. Australia. I988) 2.30pm. Well-acted domestic drama charting the last cotlple of days in a disintegrating marriage. Plus Taboo OI Dirt. ((i mins). Kageroza (Sejun Suzuki. Japan. 1981 )4.30pm. Sejun Suzuki's latest feature to date is a stylised tale of obsessive devotion. betrayal and suicide. which displays the rarified artifice of his later work. Daughter Dr The Nile ( l loti llsiao-I Isien. Taiwan. 1988) 7pm. A change of direction for this gifted Taiwanese film-maker. with the convincing chronicle of family life in the city marking ashift from the customary rural concerns. Still. a recommended choice. La Bohemeuuigi (‘omencinL France Italy. 1987 ) 9pm. Faithful version of the Puccini opera that also manages to work as a piece ofcinema in itsown right. I CANNON. Intltian Road Bird ((‘lint liastwood. I'S. I988) Iixtremely stylish and skilful film biography oflegcndary jazz. saxophonist ('harlie Parker. w hich marks a
The Raggedy Rawneyi
milestone in the [I
directorial career of(‘lint Eastwood. Highly recommended.
MONDAY 22
I FILMHOUSEI
Carmen DI Kawachi (Sejun Suzuki.Japan. 1966) 2.30pm. A further film in
the Sejun Suzukiseasonis
this robust action movie very loosely based on (‘urmem with a tough factory girl taking no nonsense from her Buddhist monk lover. Rouge Of The NDth(Fred Tan. 'I‘aiwan. I988) 4.30pm. Period drama following the misfortunes of a woman forced into an arranged marriage in the Shanghaiof I910. (‘onfident handling by director Tan makes him another Taiwanese name to watch. Shame (SteveJodrell. Australia. I988) 7pm. A motorcycle accident leaves a young woman to take shelter in an isolated town. where the community‘s silence disguises a horrible past. Ambitious and quite successful attempt at a B-movie with substance. Mapantsula (()liver Schmitz. S. Africa. 1988) 9pm. Absorbing feature made under precariotis conditions in South Africa and concerning the political awakening ofa black petty thief in one of the townships. An important social record that deserves to be seen. I FILMHOUSE 2 Battle DtThe Sexes ((‘harles (‘hrichtorL L'K. I959) plus Man In The Sky ((‘harlesChrichton. L'Is'. I957) 2pm. Final (‘hrichton double bill. which brings together a romantic comedy shot in Edinburgh. and a tense
airborne drama with Jack
Hawkins as a test pilot in distress.
Dut OI Drder(Jonnie Turpic. L'K. I988)
5.30pm. Semi-musical. politically sussed urban fantasia. set in Telford. and with a soundtrack by Working Week and Wee Papa (iirl Rappers.
Plus Family Turns. ( 14 mins).
Crazy Love (Dominique Deruddere. Belgium.
1988) 8pm. Unsettling adaptation of the writings of (‘harles Bukowski. which focuses on the
sexual longings ofan acne besplattered adolescent. Some explicit scenes could offend.
Salt. Saliva, Sperm And Sweat ( Philip Brophy. Australia) 10.30pm. Screening in the Film Festival Australian Independents season is this provocative collage of the physical elements that obsess the contemporary cinema. The programme also incudes a number of acclaimed Antipodean shorts.
I CAMEO. Home Street Breathless (Jean-Luc (iodard. France. 1959) 2.30pm. Welcome screening ofCiodard's debut feature. a .N’oui'elle Vague-styled hommage to American B-pictures. Scripted by Truffault. iconic performances by Jean Louis'l‘rintignant and Jean Seberg.(io see. Candy Mountain (Robert Frank.
Switz (‘anada France. 1987) 7pm. A quest forthe world‘s greatest guitar maker. now a recluse. makes a quirky road movie with appearances from Tom Waits and Dr John along the way. Latest feature by noted photographer Robert Frank.
The Raggedy Rawney ( Bob lloskins. L'K. l988)9pm. lloskins first outing as actor writer director isa vivid fable about innocence in the midst of war. With Dexter Fletcher in the role of a mute boy adopted by a band of gypsises on the run in a trouble-torn. unspecified country.
TUESDAY 24
I FILMHOUSEI
Branded To Kill (Sejun Suzuki.Japan. l9(i7)plus A Generation DlTattoos (Sejun Suzuki. Japan. I965 ) 2.30pm. To climax the Suzuki retrospective. his I965 romantic gangster thriller. and. from I967. the absurdist yakuza spoof that led to him being fired by the studio for whom he had made all his previous movies. Worth catching. Somersaults (Yousry
J
The List 1(7— 25 Aiigiisf i 974?”