FILM LIST
EPORT
The Scottish Film Council recently announced the revenue grants for the cinemas across Scotland that they support, which in central belt terms of course means the Glasgow Film Theatre and the Edinburgh Filmhouse. As you may remember however, from our issue before last, the SFC is entering a period of reorganisation at the moment, and one ofthe by-products will be a virtual freezing of the money they have available for exhibition grants over the next couple of years. It‘s a hiatus which allows us to ask just how adequately Scotland’s regional film theatres of this type are being subsidised, and whether we can draw any conclusions from a comparison with their counterparts south of the border.
So far as 1989—1990 is concerned, GFT‘s grant from the SFC goes up £3500 to £98,000, while the increase
ONESTOWATCH
Our plot of the fortnight': highlight: on the commercial and repertory circuit: . . . For more comprehensive review: and venue details see the Film Index, while complete programme details can be found in the Film Listings.
ALIEN NATION James Caan makes a welcome return to our screens as he plays a cop in an Invasion of The Body Snatchers type effort that has 300,(X)0 aliens co-opted into American society. Mingle, mingle, mingle. as they say. Odeons release from
Apr 7.
CANILLE CLAUOEL Gifted cameraman Bruno Nuytten makes his directorial debut with this prize-laden story of sculptor Auguste Rodin‘s tense relationship with his lover Camille. Isabelle Adjani goes ga-ga gracefully. Glasgow Film Theatre from Apr 9. PATTY HEARST Natasha Richardson joins the Symbionese Liberation
Army in Paul Schrader's retelling of the young heiress‘s path from poor little rich girl to seemingly committed terrorist. AMC Clydebank 10 and Edinburgh Cameo from Apr 14.
WORKING GIRL Melanie Griffith shines as the secretary who ain‘t no bimbo in Mike Nichols‘ amiable social comedy. Her boss Sigoumey lounges in her lingerie, while passing business type Harrison Ford supplies the love interest. Odeons release from
Apr 14.
REPERTORY SELECTIONS
EURENAIPERFORIANCE Excellent pairing of Nic Roeg at his finest. Successful prospector Hackman in spectacular post-gold trauma joins Jagger and James Fox in weirdsville personality clash (co—directed by would-be Brando collaborator Donald Cammell). Edinburgh Cameo Apr 8 late.
on the Filmhouse figure is some £10,000 taking their total to £62,000. SFC director David Bruce admits
TUUTI FRUTTI Spend a day with the Majestics as cast members and fans get together for a day-long screening of the whole series. Already sold-out but check for returns etc. Edinburgh Filmhouse Apr 9.
OPENING
THE DEAD POOL A tired looking Clint returns as Dirty Harry once more in familiar magnum-toting antics involving a dodgy
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that the disparity between the two means ‘that Filmhouse is obviously under-funded, but because it has two screens it does have a capacity for raising money that the GET with its single auditorium does not.‘ Yet, he roots the problem in simply not having enough to spread around: the Scottish Film Council receives a mere 5% of the UK cake, while comparatively the Scottish Arts Council gets a 12% slice.
When you begin to take the actual funding figures for GET and Filmhouse, on the other hand, and try to set those against the equivalent sums for the English regional film theatres, the situation gets more complex. Last year the British Film Institute gave Manchester’s Cornerhouse £130,000, while the Tyneside cinema in Newcastle got only £1 1,250, but the disparity in these figures fails to indicate the part that support from local councils. regional arts authorities or even different revenues from the venue itself (Cornerhouse boasts three auditoria and a gallery, for example). When the various historical factors that inform all funding decisions are added to the
mix, it remains plain that the variety ofsources of income available to the English art house circuit means that there are no easy lessons to be drawn for our survey of the Scottish scene. ‘What you can say though,‘ remarks David Bruce, ‘is that up here we have to try to get out of film being centrally funded. and the Scottish Film Council is encouraging all its clients to search for more money from their local bodies and from private sponsorship sources.‘ For 1989 Glasgow Distict Council for the first time ever gave GFI‘ a grant of£25,000. while Filmhouse received £19,000 from the EDC. That this money is available is encouraging because the comm'ercial climate in the country is such that that few business enterprises are likely to ever want to support the cinemas‘ day-to-day programming. With the freezing of SFC‘s available cash, it looks like the staff at Lothian Road and Rose Street will have their work cut out to find the resources they would like to expand the already excellent service they provide for Scotland‘s comitted cinemagoers. But then they‘re used to that already. (Trevor Johnston) '
horror movie director and the disturbing films of Cocteau and critic Andre played by Liam Nccson. David Cronenberg, Bazin. Monsieur Tachclla Cannons release from Videodrorne and Dead will be at the Edinburgh
Apr 14.
FRIGHT NIGHT TWO Former Carpenter collaborator Tommy Lee Wallace helms this schlockerama sequel with charming ghoulbuster Roddy MacDowall back to face another onslaught from the sick minds of the effects department. Cannons release from Apr 7.
PUNCHLINE The tears ofa couple of clowns as medical student Tom Hanks and housewife Sally Field discover the pitfalls of stand-up comedy as they struggle through the club circuit. Odeons release from Apr 14.
NEWS REEL
DOING THEIR BIT for the Science Festival are Edinburgh Filmhouse,
who‘ve lined up a season of sci-fl movies to coincide. The technical brilliance of Ridley Scott‘s Alien and Blade Runner,
Ringers, nestle alongside lighter fare such as Ghostbusrers and The Man With Two Brains. Most intriguing though is a double bill of two early sixties British pictures: The Mindbenders has Dirk Bogarde turned into a cold sadist by experiments which deprive him of feelings, while The Damned is one of Joseph Losey's more obscure efforts, concentrating on a group of radioactivity-proof children kept in secret near an English seaside town and designed to survive The Bomb. Weirdsville, man.
A COUP for the French Institute of Scotland in bringing over esteemed French film-maker Jean-Charles Tachclla. Best known in this country for Cousin, Cousine and Escalier C , Tachclla is a former screenwriter who‘s a veteran of the New Wave and past associate of the likes of Jean
University Film Society, George Square Theatre, on Apr 18, 7.30pm, to dicscuss his latest piece TravellingA van! (about the formation of a film society in austere post-war France); and he will also be present at the Glasgow Film Theatre‘s screening of his 1981 film Croque La Vie the following evening at 8pm.
THE FIFTH EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL is once again looming in the near future, this year‘s event scheduled for the Edinburgh Filmhouse from May 26—29th. The organisers are inviting entries for Scotland‘s leading showcase for innovative independent film and video work. but the previewing deadline is Apr 20, so any prospective entrants should get their entry forms now from: Louise Crawford, Programme Officer, Fringe Film Festival, 11A Forth Street. EH13LE (031-557 2721).
The List 7 — 20 April 198913