FILM LIST
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q sexploitation industry based around a series of interviews with pornographers and punters alike. who are left to hoist themselves with their own petards as they reveal their chauvanist attitudes to the camera. Done with a certain amount of humour and irony. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Red Sorghum (15) (Xhang Yimou. China. 1988) Gong Li. Jian Weng. JiuJi. 90mins. Completely startling piece of work from the New Chinese Cinema isa family saga set in a rural community during the 1930s. which follows a bride‘s adventures: finding a litter carrier for her husband. setting up her own brewery. and fighting against the barbaricJapanese invaders. Conceived on a gloriously broad palette. Yimou‘s film manages to controversially explore the stirrings of female sexuality. and include some endearing knockabout comedy before the tone darkens for the final cataclysm. The marvellous control of a rich red clour scheme throughout makes this a
magnificent debut. Edinburgh Film Guild.
I Risky Business ( 18) (Paul Brickman. US. 1983) Tom Cruise. Rebecca DeMornay. Curtis Armstrong. 96 mins. While his parents are away on holiday. a young college student‘s urge to party soon sees him romantically and financially involved with a call girl. The synopsis might sound tacky but Brickman‘s script is a sly satire on the enterprise culture. as represented by a likeable Tom Cruise in his first leading role. Edinburgh University Film Society.
I Rohocop (18) (Paul Verhoeven. US. 1987) Peter Weller. Nancy Allen. Ronny Cox. 103 mins. Slick and stomach-churnineg violent futuristic thriller blending elements of Dirty Harry. Frankenstein and The Six Million Dollar Man. When diligent policeman Murphy is shot to pieces by vicious thugs. his remains are mechanically reconstructed into a hi-tech law enforcement officer but the human desire for revenge still beats beneath his mechanical exterior. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Rocky Horror Picture Show ( 18) (Jim Sharman. UK. 1975) Tim Curry. Susan Sarandon. Barry Bostwick. Meat Loaf. 100 mins. The cult film ofour times. this rock spOof on old horror movies has created a breed of Rocky Horror crazies. and packs them in at late shows everywhere. The film has its moments. and Tim Curry is splendidly camp as the bisexual Frank N. Furter. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.
I Running On Empty (15) (Sydney Lumet. US. 1988) Christine Lhati. River Phoenix. Judd Hirsch. Martha Plimpton. 117 mins. The family of a couple who bombed a napalm factory during the Vietnam war are forced to live on the run. changing names and hairstyles like socks. and sticking together. When Danny (Phoenix) starts growing up and wanting to go his own way. the family must confront permanent separation. Fine acting and restrained ifsentimental plotting make a remarkable. haunting film. which may not be Lumet's best. but demonstrates his determination and ability to engage the audience in questions ofsocial responsibility. 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. focusingon 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
University Film Society.
I See No Evil, Heartlo Evil (18) (Arthur Hiller. US. 1989) Richard Pryor. Gene Wilder. Joan Severance. 107 mins. Yet another wacky instalment ofthe Pryor-Wilder combo. It‘s the same old recipe of farce. sentimentality and arrogant self-righteousness. Yet again our two loveable heroes get caught up in the criminal underworld. through no fault of their own. This time Wally (Pryor) and Dave (Wilder) are respectively blind and deaf. as opposed to previous outings where the two have just been plain dumb. Having witnessed a murder outside their New York news-stand they proceed to outwit anyone who may have cause to chase them. However the script writers (including Wilder) are too concerned to make statements about handicaps and our patronising attitudes towards them. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank 10.
I Sex. Lies and Videotape (15) (Steven Soderbergh. US. 1989) Andie McDowell. Laura San Giacomo. James Spader. Peter Gallagher. 101 mins. The sex: John (Gallagher) is conducting a steamy affair with his sister-in-law Cynthia (San Giacomo). The lies: they neglect to tell his wife. Anne (McDowell). The videotape: John‘s black-clad buddy. looking like an undertaker for the arts world. Graham (Spader) gets his kicks by videoing women‘s sexual confessions. Reduced to the bare bones. you may well wonder what all the fuss was about. Yet. 26 year old hotshot Soderbergh‘s first feature and winner of the Palme d‘Or is astrikingly assured piece of work. forcing us to examine our own attitudes toward sex. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Cameo. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank 10.
I The Shining ( 18) (Stanley Kubrick. US. 1980) Jack Nicholson. Shelly Duvall. Philip Stone. Kubrick'soverwrought horror film dispenses with much ofthe psychic apparatus of Stephen King‘s novel to concentrate on the deeper horror ofa family turning 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 final scenes are. literally. chilling. Edinburgh University Film Society.
I Shirley Valentine ( 15) air (Lewis Gilbert. UK. 1989) Pauline Collins. Bernard Hill. Tom Conti. 1 10 mins. Highly entertaining screen version of Willy Russell‘s celebrated play. now expanded from a monologue to include Bernard Hill as the
insensitive hubby and Tom Conti as the
Greek bit ofstuff bored housewife Pauline Collins meets on a Mediterranean holiday that turns into a voyage of self-(re)discovery. Hers is an outstanding performance. using perfectly timed humour to undercut the odd moments of sentimentality. A great audience picture despite the sometimes dowdy visuals and the hint of smugncss in the sexual politics. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. UCl Clydebank l().
I Slaves of New York ( 15) (James Ivory. US. 1989) Bernadette Peters. Adam Coleman. Nick Corri. Madeline Potter. 121 mins. Surprising dip intoTama Janowitz‘s Eighties sleaze from the man who brought you all those glossy Forster adaptations. But Ivory holds back and lets the sassy dialogue work for itself. with inconsistent but highly intriguing results. Most effective is the portrayal oftense shyness which besets Abby (played by Janowitz herself) and Eleanor in the face of boorish Big Apple art-bore brashnesss. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Sleep 01 Reason (15) (Ula Stockl. W.Germany. 1984) 82 mins. A woman gynaecologist runs into marital problems when she takes on her husband‘s pharmaceutical firm over its production of the Pill. A tense and nightmarish scenario which reaches an unpleasant and gripping climax. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Speaking Parts (18) (Atom Egoyan. Canada. 1989) Michael McManus. Arsinee Khanjian. Gabrielle Rose. 92 mins. See Film Preview feature. Glasgow: GFT. I Spellbound (PG) (Alfred Hitchcock. US. 1945) Ingrid Bergman. Gregory Peck. Leo G.Carroll. 111 mins. Complex. not entirely satisfactory Hitchcock suspenser with psychiatrist Bergman coming to the aid of mentally disturbed amnesiac Peck who is passing himself off as Dr Edwardes. 1t transpires that he has witnessed a murder. This is the one with the Salvador Dali designed dream sequences. amateur Freudian analysis. lush Miklos Rosza music and particulary wooden
'rformance from Peck. Still ofinterest. gdinburgh University Film Society. I Star Trek V: The Final Frontier(PG) (William Shatner. US. 1989) William Shatner. Leonard Nimoy. DeForrest Kelley. James Doohan. 107 mins. Their mission to boldly go where no man has gone before. well where this lot have been four times before. This time Cap'n James Tiberius Kirk makes his directorial debut. On the plus side most of the characters are as well written and credible as they were in the TV sereies. albeit with rather more grey hairs. However. the plot turns out to be the normal formula hokum. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Grosvcnor. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: Caledonian. Cannon. Regal. Strathclyde: Cannon. Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCl Clydebank 10. I A Strange Place To Meet ( 15) (Francois Duperyon. France. 1988) Catherine Deneuve. Gerard Depardieu. Nathalie Cardone. 97 mins. Debut director Francois Duperyon's film lives up to the title. though its appealing quirkiness does not end there. An arguing couple are glimpsed speeding along the motorway then. after narrowly avoiding an old lady. the man pulls into a lay-by. throws his wife from the vehicle and speeds off. Thereafter the film is set in the lay-by and adjacent cafe. Here Catherine Deneuve. certain that hubby will repent and return. remains and here she meets the lay-by's other resident. Depardieu. a doctor hiding from life. The two bring a genuine credibility to their rather odd roles in this simultaneously emotionally intense and curiously distanced movie. Glasgow: GET. I Supreme Judgement (Hertz Franck. Latvia. 1987) 69 mins. Documentarist Franck offers a shattering look at capital punishment from the perspective of condemned double murderer Valery Dolgov. Presented by New Beginnings. Glasgow: GFT. I Talk Radio ( 15) (Oliver Stone. US. 1988) Eric Bogosian. Ellen Greene. Leslie Hope. 110 mins. Fascists and racists. bigots and rapists. but above all the anonymous run riot over the airwaves every night. Barry Champion (Bogosian) is the DJ confessor pushing his listeners closer to the limits ofexcess. a mastcrof the put-down and the hang up button. Out of the world oflate-night radio shows where dangerous prejudices surface.
‘Stone has conjured a taut and thrilling
movie. spiced by Bogosian‘s napalm wit. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Tall Guy ( 15) (Mel Smith. UK. 1989) Jeff Goldblum. Emma Thompson. Rowan
Atkinson. 90 mins. Goldblum plays Dexter King. American actor in London. stuck as a straightman to Rowan Atkinson‘s obnoxious bastard comedian. but whose life and career are to change forever when he becomes heavily smitten with nurse Thompson. Reasonably straight but slight love story needs a lot of comic business to keep it going. but amiable performances all round makes this a likeable debut as director for Mel Smith. Edinburgh Broughton Film Society.
I The Terminator (James Cameron. US,
24 The List 27 October — 9 November 1989