FILM LIST
unlike the earlier Diane Kurys picture Diabolo Merit/1e and none the worse for it. Valandrey does make an attractive heroine. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Salaam Bombay! (15) (Mira Nair. India/France/UK. 1988) Shafiq Syed. Raghubir Yadev. Aneeta Kanwar. 95 mins. Shot on location on the streets of Bombay. the film records the lives ofthe city‘s thronging street urchins. focusing on young Krishna‘s (Syed) descent into a seedy underworld of prostitution and narcotics as he tries to earn enough money to return home to his native village.
This auspicious debut from Indian woman film-maker Nair manages to avoid the obvious. and makes its moral points through its sympathy for the remarkable children whose indomitable spirit is convincingly captured by the former documentarist's camera. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Scandal ( 18) (Michael Caton-Jones. UK. 1989) John Hurt.Joanne Whalley-Kilmer.1an McKellen. Bridget Fonda. 114 mins. Stylish and involving treatment of the 1963 Profumo affair. which looks at the the tangled love lifeof Christine Keeler (Whalley-Kilmer) who numbers War Minister John Profumo (McKellen) and Russian agent Eugene lvanov (Jeroen Krabbe) among her sexual partners. and exposes the establishment’s hypocritical treatment of her mentor Stephen Ward (Hurt) when the scandal broke.
Assured debut for young Scots director Caton-Jones combines story-telling poise and emotional punch with a knowing sexuality of flip entertainment value. John Hurt is extremely sympathetic in this outstanding British film. (ilasgow: Cannort Clarkston Road. ()deon. Central: Regal.
I The Serpent and The Rainbow ( l8) (Wes Craven. US. 1988) Bill Pullman. Cathy Tyson. Zakes Mokae. 98mins. See panel. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Cannon The Forge. I The Shining ( 18) (Stanley Kubrick. US. 198()) Jack Nicholson. Shelly Duvall. Philip Stone. Kubrick'soverwrought horror film dispenses with much ofthe psychic apparatus ofStephen King‘s novel to concentrate on the deeper horror ofa family turriitig in on itself. Nicholson. with all the stops out. is bug-eyed and demonic as the father bringing much aggression to bear against his son. and the finalscenes are. literally. chilling. Edinburgh: Cameo I Shivers ( 18) (David Cronenberg. Canada. 1975) Paul Hampton. Joe Silver. 1.ynn Lowry. 87 mins. Strange parasites get into the bloodstream of residents in a high-rise apartment block and turn them into sexually voracious fiends. Cronenberg‘s first major feature more than justifies the tag ‘King of Vencreal Horror'. while a particularly graphic stomach eruption reminds you how the American distributors came up with the movie's alternative US title They ( 'unte From Within. (iag me with a spoon. Edinburgh: Catneo. I Short Circuit ll (P(i) (Kenneth Johnson. US. 1988) Fisher Stevens. Michael McKean. Cynthia (iibb. lltlmins. lnnocuoUs sequel to a charming original has anthropomorphic android Number 5 trying to make it in the big city and coming into contact with would-be toymaker
McKean. who's interested in the
marketing potential of the robot‘s
engaging capabilities. Passing character actor Jack Weston supplies the comic book villainy.
Formula fodder aimed purely at the children‘s holiday market. but by no means the worst of its kind. Strathclyde: AMCClydebank 10.
I Stakeout ( 15) (John Badham. US. 1987)
Richard [)reyfuss. Emilio Estevez.
Madeleine Stowe. Aidan Quinn. 100
mins. Dreyfuss and Estevez are two
unconventional cops given the task of setting up a stakeout on the ex-girlfriend
LA LECTRICE . j
La Lectrice (18) (Michel Deville, France, 1988) Miou-Miou, Christian Roche, Patrick Chesnais. 98 mins. La Lectrice is a complex, highly stylish, and hugely enjoyable film forthose who don‘t insist on an absolute demarcation between reality and fantasy, naturalism and metaphysical invention. Like Deville’s earlierfilms Death in an English Garden and Paltoguet, the film uses a slightly skewed but essentially domestic setting to mount a playful and erotic investigation of the layers of fantasy and imagination surrounding the central character and the diverse group of people she meets in carrying out her new vocation.
Marie-Constance (beautifully played by Miou-Miou) is a woman who likes to read, and more importantly, to imagine for herself while she reads. Marie (who may or may not be a figment of Constance‘s imagination) is persuaded by a friend to turn her preoccupation into an occupation: she will be la
of escaped convict Quinn. but romance strikes and the routine assignment becomes more than just a job.
Bland. formulaic cop stuff with moral dilemmas. well-mounted action highlights and a comic dog. A performance of hard-working charisma from Dreyfuss saves it. Iidinburgh: Cameo.
I A Steam Train Passes (U) A special programme bringing together short films from Britain and Europe that concentrate on the beauty and excitement of the ageof steam. The screening includesJean Mitry's evocative 1949 piece I’ricificZ-J-l. and John Schlesinger‘s award-winning 1961 film 'I‘erntimcv. which followsa day's activities at Waterloo station. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Swing (PU) (Percy Adlon. W. (iermany. 1983) Anja Jaenicke. Lena Stolze.Joachim Bernhard. 133 mins. Munich iii the 188(ls. the Lautenschlag family lead an unconventional existence. and much to the chagrin of their stuffy neighbours entertain the Crown Prince of Bavaria in a musical recital in theirshabby home. Nostalgic and genuinely charming Percy Adlon film. portraying a seriesof engaging events narrated by the daughter who is to become a novelist in laterlife. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Tales of Ordinary Madness ( 18) (Marco Ferreri. Italy. 1983) Ben (iazzara. ()rnelia Muti. Susan Tyrell. 107 mins. (iazzarais the authorial persona for this relentlessly sleazy adaptation of Charles Bukowski . as he downs endless bottles of booze and meets a selection of eccentric women.
lectrice, the lady who reads. Being a determined woman, she sets about looking for clients, and the remainder of the film revolves around her developing relationships with the various (rather odd) people to whom shereads.
These include a young girl who gets her into trouble by secretly wearing her mother's hugely valuable jewellery when they go out for the day; the detective called in to investigate the ‘abduction’; a teenage boy confined to a wheelchair, who transfers his erotic fantasties onto his Iectrice; a businessman who prefers to deal in erotic actualities; an irascible old widow with a maid who believes she is being bitten by spiders in her bed; and an eminently respectable old judge with a secret taste for De Sade. Deville stitches these diverse threads into a witty and absorbing tapestry, a meditation on the strange power of words to create and subvert their own realities. (Kenny Mathieson)
Several gross-out scenes include what ()rnelia gets up to with a huge safetypin. Glasgow: (EFT.
I The Tall Guy ( 15) (Mel Smith. CK. 1989) JeffCioldblum. limma 'I'hompson. Rowat‘. Atkinson. 90 mins. See feature and panel. (ilasgow: Catiriori The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. (irosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon.
I Tequila Sunrise ( IS) ( Robert 'l‘tm-ne. US. 1988) Mel (iibson. Kurt Russell. Michelle Pfeiffer. 1(lt)mins.Would-be cx-dope dealer (iibson finds that he can't quite shift his dark past. and his childhood friend Russell. now a narcotics cop becomes involved in trying to track him down. Meanwhile. Pfeiffer is the glamorous restaurant owner romanticallv caught between the two ofthem. '
Disapointing second effort as director
from renowned screenwriter 'I‘owne (Chinatown). which fails to surmount well-used narrative ingredients and winds down to a positively limp climax. Some good dialogue remains. but it's not enough. AMCClydebank It).
I Things Change ( P0) st: (David Mamet. US. 1988) Don Ameche. Joe Mantegna. Robert Prosky. 100 mins. See panel. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Tin Men ( 15) (Barry Levinson. US. 1987) Richard Dreyfuss. Danny de Vito. Barbara Hershey. 112 mins. Baltimore. 1963. A minor car accident is the beginning ofa major tit-for-tat feud between two aluminium siding salesmen. returning to the gently autobiographical
l
territory that he mined so well in Diner. Levinson has produced a thoroughly refreshing warmhearted character comedy with top notch performances. lidinburgh: Cameo. I To Kill A Mockingbird ( P( i ) ( Robert Mulligan. LES. 1963) (iregory Peck. Marv Badham. Philip Alford. Brock Peters. 12") mins. Sturdy film adaptation of the classic Harper Lee million-selling novel won an ()scar for (iregory Peck as a liberal law vcr iii the Deep Sotitli defending a black man acctiscd of rape. The material is delicatelv handled as he attempts to explain the ' situation to his children. and Robert Duy all makes his screen debut as their friend. a retarded man. 1‘.dilti)tll'gli: Filmhouse. ITwins ( 15) (Ivan Reitntan. t's‘. was) Danny De Vito. Arnold Scwarzeneggcr. Kelly Preston. Chloe Webb. 107 mins. In an effort to create the perfect human (male. natch) scientists impregnate a beautiful woman artist with the sperm of six diversely distinguished men. and the resulting offspring grows tip in an isolated research station to be ottr man Arnie. However. an unexpected side-effect is runty brother De Vito. and when the two finally meet up many years later. their search to fitid their mother is the catalyst for an unlikely famin relationship. liven if the plot does bear a strong resemblance to Rain Man. this is an amiany silly farce with Schwarzenegger proving quite adept at liartdlittgthe comedy material. (ilasgow : Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. lidinbtirgh: Cannon. Dominion. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: :\.\lCClydebank ll). ()deon Ayr. WMR Film Centre. I Violent Streetst 18) ( Michael Mann. 1 'S. 1981 )JamcsCaan. Tuesday Weld. 122 mins. Morose salecrackcr ( ‘aan seeks to better his life by starting a family . and taking on one last lucrative job. btit tlte mob have other plans in store for him. lixcellent psychological heist mm ie w ttli Caan convincing as the tliicl with a heart and a brilliant sctpiece robbery sequence. Director Mann went on to create .lliumi lTCt’. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Virgin ( 18) (Catherine Br‘cillat. France. 1988) Delphine Zentout. Ftienne ( ‘hicot. ()livier Parnierc. 88mins. Fourteen year-old I.i1i (Zentout) is on holiday in Biarritz. with her family. attempting to dissipate her boredom with a taste of the local nightlife. She meets tip with seedy louttgc lizard type Maurice (Chicot). a forty year-old computer programmer. who is out to seduce her. w hileshe remains ambivalent about the loss of her virginity. lineomfortably realistic but unexploitative exploration of pubescent sexuality. with otir petulant young heroine
more in search of affection and a sense of self-worth than any physical gratification. Finally. it’s the candour with which the subject is handled than the difficult area of generation-gap relationships that makes the film compulsive. unsettling viewing. lidinburgh: Filitihotise. \ IWallStreet(15)(()Itver Stone. l 's. 1987) Michael Douglas. Charlie Sheen. Daryl Hannah. 126 mins. Contemporary robber barott and stockmarket legend ' (iordon (iekko ( Douglas) takes a shine to ambitious yttppie Sheen and eventually offers him the option of becoming a ' ruthless player like himself or somehow have the guts to maintain his sell-respect and integrity.
Wall Street finds Stone's fire tempered by a tnore seductively ambivalent incarnation ofevil. btit the result is stillan impressive. engrossing drama that. for memorable dialogue and fluid cinematic
skill remains comfortably aheadof the
current pack. lidinburgh: Tidinburgh
l'niversity Film Society.
I War And Peace ( l’( i ) ( Sergei Bondarchuk. USSR 1966-67) 1.udmi11a Savaelyeva. Sergei Bondarchuk. \'yacheslav 'I'ikhonokov. 507 mins.
42The List 21 April — 4 May 1989