FILM LIST
Vegas. ofcourse. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Clmarron (PG) (Anthony Mann. US. 196(1) Glenn Ford. Maria Schell. Anne Baxter. 147 mins. Twenty-five years in the life of an Oklahoma homesteader straddlingthe turn of the century. Based on an American classic novel by Edna Ferber.and first filmed in 1931 . thisisa rather overlong western soaper with only a few moments of big budget spectacle to recommend it. Iidinburgh: Edinburgh Film Guild.
I Crazy Love ( 18) (Dominique Deruddere. Belgium. 1987) Josse de Pauw. Geert Hunacrts. Michael Pas. 9(lmins. Impressive Belgian adaptation ofs‘torics by Charles Bukowski which follows three important episodes in the sexual experiences of 1 larry Voss. from tho first pubescent stirrings. to the lustsick traumas of a horrendously acned teenager. and most controversially. the disillusioned depravity of a booze-sodden middle-age.
where his search for love ends in the arms ofa fresh corpse.
Don't let the story line put you off. for
the tender and genuinely moving slant on the bizarre goings on make this a notable success. Deruddere is clearly a name to
i watch. Glasgow: (iI’I‘. Iidinburgh:
Filmhouse. I A Cry in the Dark ( 15) 1"? (Fred Schepisi. US Australia. 1988) Meryl Streep. Sam
: Neill. Brian James. 119 mins. See panel.
Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. I DA (PG) 2"? (Matt Clark. LS 1988) Barnard Hughes. Martin Sheen. William
Hickey. Doreen Hepburn. 102 mins.
Sheen returns to his native Ireland asa successful playwright to bury his father. However the ghost of his Da lingerson and even in death still retains the gift ofthc Blarney. There follows a trip back through Sheen's early life. throughout which his ineffectual Father played the spoiler's part. Any hope of an emotional exorcism as Sheen comes to the realisation that his Da loves him is ruined by the blindingly obvious affection the old man displays for him throughout the film. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Dangerous Liaisons ( 15) (Stephen Frears. LS. 1988) Glenn Close..lohn Malkovich. Michelle Pfeiffer. Is'eanu Reeves. 121) mins. Christopher 1 Iampton adapts his stage version ofChoderlosde Laelos‘ novel for the screen. with Americans Close and Malkovich starring as the central pairing of Madame de 'I‘ourvel and the Vicomtc de Yalmont. two treacherous 18th century aristocrats weaving a web of erotic duplicity around one another.
British director Stephen Frears makes a notable Hollywood debut by guiding his cast through a difficult set of narrative pirouettes. and the crisp dialogue is handled with a certain asperity. Yet forall the pent-up emotion on screen. little fervour seeps through to the audience and the result is a rather cold and calculating piece ofwork. Edinburgh: Dominion.
I The Dead Pool ( 18) (Buddy Van Horn. US. 1988) Clint Eastwood. Liam Neeson. Patricia Clarkson. Fifth in the Dirty Harry sc ries has Clint as tough cop I Iarry Callahan investigating a series ofbrutal murders. All the victims' names appearon a list made for fun by eccentric slasher movie director Peter Swan (Neeson). of the people he thinks will not live out the year. As the bodies pile up. the deathtrail gets closer to our hero.
Ho hum actioncr. as sluggish and tired looking as its rather over-age star. who must be getting a bit old for all this by now. Still he probably had to make this in exchange for Warners financing the wonderful Bird. so maybe we can excuse the old boy. Strathclyde: AMC Clydebank
It).
I Dead Ringer3(18) (David Cronenberg. US. 1988) Jeremy Irons. Genevieve Bujold. Heidi Palleske. 115 mins. Extraordinary David Cronenberg movie
A Cry In The Dark (15) (Fred Schepisi, US/Australia, 1988) Meryl Streep, Sam Neill, Brian James. 119 mins. In 1980, Michael Chamberlain (Neill), his wife Lindy (Streep) and their family journeyed to the imposing natural wonder of Ayers Rock on a camping holiday. By night, Lindy returnsto their tent and catches sight of a dingo making all into the dark with her infant daughterAzaria. The alarm is raised, pursuit is swift and the searchers are many but neither child not dog are ever discovered. It is assumed that the girl has met a horrific fate and sympathy is extended for a sad, personal tragedy.
However, the subsequent discovery of the child's bloodied and concealed clothing leads to a national obsession with the story and a growing body of misinformed public opinion that paints Lindy Chamberlain as a heartless latter-day witch capable of slaying her infant. Ultimately, she is tried and convicted of murder.
A judicial review of the case led to the overturning of her conviction only last year.
Given the exhaustive worldwide coverage ofthis case, Schepisi wisely avoids focusing his film on the now resolved issue of whether or not Lindy Chamberlain was guilty. Instead, he concentrates on the mood of national
A CRY IN THE DARK
hysteria and preju ice that confronted the innocent couple and the trial by media and insinuation they had faced outside the courtroom.
Expert mistakes, a bizarre pride in the beloved dingo and a deep rooted suspicion of the Chamberlain's belief in the Seventh Day Adventist Church led to a succession of ever wilder theories that Azaria had been sacrificed as part of some bizarre religious cult. No one, it seems was prepared to accept the testimony of a strong-willed, forthright woman whose greatest crime of all was probably refusing to conform to the stereotype of r
a grieving mother.
A stunning, shameful indictment of tabloid media madness and institutionalised injustice. A Cry In The Dark eschews the kind of glib melodrama that easily opensthe tearducts for a more reflective and thought-provoking work which benefits from the sensitive performances of Neill, as a man of God whose blind faith is tested beyond endurance, and of Meryl Streep who not only manages the expected flawless accent but solidly convinces as the one cool head in a world without reason. (Allan Hunter) I
examining the destructive effect of sexual jealousy on identical twins. Jeremy Irons plays gynaecologists. arrogant Elliot and the more studious Beverly Mantle. who fall in love with fading actress Claire Niveau when the Mantle clinic starts treating her infertility problems. Asthe emotional turmoils mounts up. the trio become involved in a frightening downward spiral of drug-induced mania.
Deeply melancholy. irrationally powerful exercise in wayward psychology and the entanglements ofidentity. which boasts a magnificent achievement in carefully differentiated characterisation by Irons. Glasgow: GF'I'.
I La Dolce Vita( 18) (Federico Fellini.
Italy France. 196(1) Marcello Mastroianni. Anita Ekberg. Anouk Aimee. l73mins. Paparazzi journo-type .‘vlastroianni mixes with the beautiful people of rich Roman society and is ambivalently shocked and fascinated by the vigour of their excessive decadence.
Everything you ever wanted from a Fellini movie — black humour. grotesque sexuality. inspired visual imagination and the wonderful Marcello. See it. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Fletch Lives (PG) fir (Michael Richie. US. 1989) Chevy Chase. Patricia Kalember. Clcavon Little. Hal llolbrook. Julianne Phillips. 95 mins. Fletch the would-be investigative journalist inherits an 8()-acre Southern Plantation from an ex-aunt. However life as a Southern gentleman is not quite as rosy as he thought it would be. The estate. it turns out. makes the Bates’ motel look like the palace of Versailles and. as with most old houses in movies. there are some strange goings on. When the lovely local lawyer is
found murdered. Chevy takes up the chase g
with his usual array ofguises and gags. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: Caledonian. Cannon. Strathclyde: AMC Clydebank 1(1. Cannon.
I The Fly ( 18) (David Cronenberg. US. 1986) Jeff Goldblum. Geena Davis.
Brilliant reeonceptualization of the I original 1958 camp classic with (ioldblum highly effective as the scientist whose experiments in teleportation go disastrously wrong. and Davis no less impressive as the love of his life. Special effects superlatively revolting. tension sustained throughout. Glasgow: (iI’I‘.
I Fringe Film Festival Scotland's premier showcase for homegrown and international film and video work in the independent sector. Sec panel. Iidinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Gorillas In The Mist ( 15) ( Michael
Apted. LS. 1988) Sigourney Weaver. Bryan Brown. John ()mirah Miluwi. 129 mins. The story of Dian Fossey. an American naturalist who went tocentral Africa in 1966 to devote her life to the study of mountain gorillas. and became ruthlessly determined to protect the species from the attention ofpoachers. However. her uncompromising attitudes to the welfare of the gorillas made her many enemies. and her murder in 1985 has still not been explained.
Footage of the real w ildlitc. shot on location in the Rwandan (tingle. and Weaver'scoiiyincing rapport with the gorillas are the prime reasons for catching this patchy biopic. which suffers unduly li'orii a sagging and cluttered narrative Central: Regal.
I Le Grand ChemlnlIDII.IL'i1l1*I.(illp Hubert. Fr. 1983). .'\11L‘1111111L‘. Richard Boliringer. Antoine Hubert. .\ young Parisian boy is dumped on a squabbling couple in a Breton y illagc. Ilic w He and herboo/y husband vie for liisatiections while the local tomboy teaches him the possibilities of a more direct lot m of affection. Memorable eyeoeation oi childhood dilemmas. for w hieh the warring surrogate parents won I'lL'llL‘Il ()scars. Iidinburgh: Filiiihouse.
I Guns In The Afternoon ( 15 i ( skim Peckinpah. LS. 1963) Randolph Scott. Joel McCrea. Mariette l lartley 94 mins. Magnificent early Peckiiipali western has aged gunfighters Scott 1 his last iole land McCrca reflecting on the changing times as they protect a y aluable gold shipment.
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"THE MOST ASTONISHING FILM DEBUT SINCE DAVID LYNCH'S ERASERHEAD’:
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DOMINIQUE DERUDDERE
‘ FROM FRI 19
EDINBURGH FILMHOUSE FROM TUE 23 _ J
The List 19 May” 1June 1989 2.3