IAngel ( l5) (Neil Jordan. tils'. tuszi Stephen Rea. Ray McAnally. 95 mins. 'l'he saxophonist in a touring N. Ireland showband finds himself a w itness to the brutal killing of an innocent deaf mute girl. and his life begins to disintegrate as he gradtrally gets drawn into the conflict. Brilliant debut feature from Jordan. an achievement he has yet to surpass. notable for a true quality of poetic realism that the British cinema all too rarely achieves. lidinburgh: l-‘ilmhouse. I Au Revoir Les Enfants ( l’( i j ( Louis Mallc. l-‘rance W. (iermany. 1987) (iaspard Manesse. Raphael l‘ejito. Philippe .‘ytorier-(ienoud. 113 mins.
Low-key . cinema-verite influenced screen
portray al of autobiographical incidents
from Malle's own boyhood. Set during the
German occupation. the film follows the developing friendship betw een two boy s at a sntall provincial school run by monks. one of whose closely -guarded .lew ish identity is to prove dangerous to both boy s as the Nazi presence looms alarriiingly close.
Simple. subtle. and very moving film. which avoids the clichés of the coming-of—age genre. and makes its larger political points firmly but unobtrusiy ely', Glasgow: (it’ll Edinburgh: l-‘ilmhouse. I Babette's Feast ( t? ) ((iabriel Axel. Denmark. 1987) Stephane Audran. Jean-Philippe Lafont. Bibi Andersson. 103 mins. The Jutland peninsula during the late l9th century. Exiled l‘rench housekeeper Audran wins 10.000 francsin a lottery and uses the money to prepare a sumptuous banquet marking the centenary of the birth of a Lutheran dean whose surviving spinster daughters carry on his good works among the poorand needy. However. when a shopping list of quail. turtle. champagne and vintage w ine arrives the sisters begin to wonder ifsuch pleasure is compatible with their piety . ..
A delicious gastronomic experience and .
an exquisite slice ofcinematic narrative this is a boisterous. exemplary literary adaptation ftrll of pleasurable surprises and real feeling. A worthy Oscar winner. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Film
Society IBeetlejuicel ISlr lrm liuiiun t's. l"\\l (iectia Davis. .-\lcc Baldwin. \lrcliacl Keaton 02 mins. Recently deceased. and very charming New l- nglarid couple. the Maitlands. have difficulty in adjusting to the afterlife, Not the least of their woi l res is the tasteless refurbishment of their old home by a nasty New \or k yuppie laiiiily. and tltey cycltltlally call on licclalicc bio-esoi‘cist lietclgeuse l pronounced 'BectIe-juicc' l to deal with the problem in hisowii inimitablefashion.
l‘XttlTelttlttly eccentric eattotiltlsll capers. a iitoy ie that creates its ow n .‘u tlltlc
L‘osmos w here the unexpected is the [turn]. (ireat furl it all is too. (ilasgow: (it'ttsy L‘ltUl. I La Belle at La Béte ( l’(; i (.leali ( "here-an. l'taticc. l‘MbHcan Marius. .loscttc Day. .\larcc| .-\tidrc 92 mins. Soriibre. magical and estiayagaiit rendition of the fairytale with Day as Beauty and Marars ashci shepherd loy er and the Beast .-\ haunting fantasy l-diiibui'gh, l‘llltlllttthe I The Belly Of An Architect ( l 5 l t l’cter (ireeiiaway . l'l's' Italy. 1%?) Brian Deiincliv . (‘hloe \\ ebb. [ambert Wilson. llSnims Distinguished .-\riicricali architect Stourlcy ls'raeklitc arrives in Rome to mount an exhibition in memory of his lb’tli century predecessor laticiirie l.ouis lloulcc. (iiadually . as his health deter lot ates. he ltecttltles cully Illeetl that his larthlcss. pregnant wife is tryingto poison him
.»\ majestic performance by burly Deiincliy adds a brutal emotional streak to this typically elegant ( iicciiaway riia/c. which makes cscelleiit use of sumptuous Roman locations. lidiriburgh: ('aiiieo I BestSelIerr 1M (lohlt l-‘lyiin. t.'.s‘. lus‘l .lamcs \\ oods. Br iaii Deniichy . Victor la lciiiianl ‘N mms 'l'he plotliiic may be over loaded and rather improbable but this isagcricially iiilty little thriller iiiwliich \Voods' chillingly narcissistic liit mail .iiid Dcnricliy ~s dougth cop iioyehst team tip
19:49: _¢s.?.fc. t gs.“ -;—o _.“.(s$--' «L “A: —_*;a.rl¢:.u‘: " ?‘\ 7 I.‘ . '1, 3s ' a '. 35:57. .~ 357.32%; - smfi‘w‘wfi ~. .u -, 1.. ‘» ..‘ ,. “hr - :c‘l‘J \. .§Q.S.I;It“.. "’7‘? .y-i k.‘;7f\‘ giq- ‘ _. ,- J ‘1" y “4". s «-
to expose the foul deeds of an apparently philanthropic business tycoon. l'drnbui’gli: (‘ameo. I The Big Easy r is) (Jim Mcllridc. t'S. WSW Dennis ()uaid. l'llen Barkiri. Ned llcatty. 101 mins. l’tetty smart aridsesy cop thriller set in a sweaty . atmospheric New Orleans w lierc local lieutenant ()uaid tries to clear tip a series of gangland riiurdcrs. all the w liile falling in lov c with liar kiii's attorney . in town to investigate police corruption. (‘entialz Regal, I Bigfootandthe Hendersonsrl’til (\\ illiarii Dear. l "S. 1%").lohn l.ithgow. Melinda Dillon. Dori Amechc. ll 1 mins Disneycstpie family adventure iii which the all-.-\iiicr'icari Henderson lamin crash into the legendary Bigfoot and adopt the supi isirigly genial beastic as a domestic pet w itli predictable complications from the ricighlmui'sand blood hungry hunters, Struitliclyclc; \VMR. IBustert l<i(l)avrtl(ireen. t’ls'. WSM l’liil(‘o|liris. .luhc \lelc‘lsl arty lamb. Stephanie lawr'cnce. 103 mins. low budget biography of ( itcat 'l rain Robber Buster l~dwards that managesto gloss over the planning. csccution and \ IUleltc‘e Ul tlle llelsl Ilsell lit lttelts Ull ltls scntriiiciital loy e atlarr with his wife.
.-\ creditable starring dcbtit for ("olliiis and a subdued \Valteis help tocoritpensate
Red Heat (18) (Walter Hill. US, 1988) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jim Belushi, Ed O‘Ross. 104 mins. There was a time when Walter Hill seemed to promise much more than he has actually gone on to deliver. The Warriors and 48 Hours succeeded in ringing the changes on genre stereotypes. coming up with something fresh to rejuvenate old story lines and familiar character types. Sadly, the magic touch didn‘t last, and Hill has become just another directorturning out stockthrillers on the Hollywood conveyor belt.
Red Heat makes only one major concession to the writer/director‘s early ability to come up with something original, in that he attempts to add savour to the standard police two-hander by making one of the cops a Soviet lawman on escort duty in America. Apart from some footage shot in Moscow, and the observations that a) cops are cops everywhere. which is to say, psychotic slabs; and b) the Soviet Union has its mobsters and drug-dealers too, not much is made of the novelty. A potentially more interesting line, involving black drug dealers using their trade as a political tool, is never developed beyond its initial statement.
Danko (Schwarzenegger) and Ridzik
RED HEAT
(Belushi) go through the motions as Moscow and Chicago clash, starting in hostility and ending up buddies. while breaking the rules at every turn in their attempt to bring to justice an even more psychotic Soviet drug dealer and cop-killerwho has fled to the Windy City from Danko‘s retribution.
The plot creaks at every turn (the fact that the entire might of the city‘s underworld is rendered helpless by the fact that Danko has the key to a bus station locker full of money seems, to
say the least. unlikely— nobody can pick a lock?), and if the action is fast and violent, it's also pretty familiar stuff, albeit with a certain twist for connoisseurs of the obligatory big car chase scene. Despite Ridzik's assertion that the final bloody showdown between Danko and his adversary is ‘very Russian‘, it is in fact pure Hollywood: High Noon meets Rambo Ill. Sadly, the emphasis is on the latter. (Kenny Mathieson)
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.a_.-________ __,__.___l the list l3 7 2(i.lanuary13