I The Meaning Of Life (18) (Terry J ones. UK, 1983) John Cleese. Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle. 103 mins. Ragbag of occasionally gross Python sketches loosely following this mortal coil from womb to grave. Watch out for the exploding Mr Creosote. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Medea (15) (Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy. 1969) Maria Callas, Giuseppe Gentile. Massimo Girotti. 118 mins. Opera diva Callas was a brave choice for the lead in Pasolini‘s version of Euripides, but as the high priestess wreaking her revenge on the lover who betrays her, the expected sparks fail to fly. Still, the director’s trademark barren landscape adds immensely to the film‘s distinctive visuals. Glasgow: GFT. I Men Al Work (12) (Emilio Estevez, US. 1990) Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen. Leslie Hope, Keith David, John Getz. 98 mins. See review. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon, UCI. Strathclyde: La Scala, UCI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
I Miami Blues ( 18) (George Armitage, US, 1990) Alec Baldwin, Fred Ward, Jennifer Jason Leigh. 97 mins. Formula cop thriller meets social satire in Armitage‘s ambitious but not wholly successful parody, which attempts to expose the shallowness of Florida society and glossy police drama. Enthusiastically quirky performances from Baldwin as the hood, Leigh as his happy hooker and Ward as the exasperated cop on their tail can‘t compensate for a basic lack ofdrive in the plot and pacing. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Monsieur Hire (15) (Patrice Lecontc, France, 1989) Michel Blane, Sandrine Bonnaire. 82 mins. An elusive neighbourhood recluse (Blane), whiles away his evenings spying on his alluring neighbour Alice (Bonnaire). Gradually, he becomes entangled in an unsolved murder and a passionate romance. Based on a Simenon novel this sensitive and enthralling film, which was almost overlooked in Britain. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. University Film Society.
I The Music Teacher (U) (Gerard Corbiau, Belgium, 1988) Jose Van Dam. Patrick Bauchau. 100 mins. The conflicting demands of art and love are sumptuously explored in this beautifully mounted tale about a leading opera singer (Van Dam) who retires to devote himself to tutoring two young proteges. He is forced to compete through them when a rival teacher (Bauchau) demands a musical contest with his own pupil. The score features Verdi, Mahler. Schumann. Mozart, Bellini. Schubert and Offenbach. Glasgow: GFT.
I My Childhood (PG) (Bill Douglas. UK. 1972) Stephen Archibald. Hughie Restorick, Jean 'I‘aylor-Smith, Bernard McKenna. 48 mins. The first instalment of Maxim Gorky‘s trilogy of autobiographies, all ofwhich Douglas filmed over a period of seven years. The setting is transported from 19th century Russia to Scotland in the 1940s, but the picture ofgrit. determination and human warmth in the face of awful hardshipis beautifully preserved. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I My Left Foot ( 15) (Jim Sheridan, Eire/UK, 1989) Daniel Day Lewis, Ray McAnally, Brenda Fricker. 90mins. The life story of paralysed painter and writer Christy Brown, lovingly adapted from his autobiography of the same name. Sheridan and screenplay writer Shane Connaughton have portrayed Brown warts and all to create a funny, touching and thoroughly absorbing movie with four quite excellent central performances, and a celebration of a remarkable person. Strathclyde: Haldane Film Society.
I My Lite As A Dog (PG) (Lasse Halstrom, Sweden, 1985) Anton Glanzelius, Manfred Server. Anki Liden. 101 mins. Wholly captivating rite of passage tale set
24 The List 8— 21 February 1991
FILM
MEN AT WORK
Men At Work (12) (Emilio Estevez, US, 1990) Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Leslie Hope, Keith David. 90 mins. Estevez and Sheen as a couple oi dustbin men in trouble is the gist at this soporilic comedy set in and around Redondo Beach, California. They Iaze about in their overalls watching the waves come in, always leave a trail at spilled garbage on their round and like to play practical jokes. Then one night they notice a guy in the apartment opposite getting violent with the girl who lives there (Hope) and decide to teach him a lesson by shooting him in the backside with an air rifle. Next morning they discover the same man inside a trash can and get very, very worried because he’s very, very dead. They didn't kill him, but linding out who did gets them into all kinds ot problems involving some toxic-waste-dumping villlans, the same girl next door (allowing Charlie to get misty-eyed), the local cops and a crucial cassette tape.
Liking this depends, first, on how much you’re a tan oi the two sibling stars and, second, how much you’re
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able to iorgive Estevez tor coming up with a comedy script with exactly one iunny line: ‘There are several things in this world that you never mess with: one is another man’s lries.’ (Well, it got a laugh on the night.) Otherlhan that solitary rib-tickler, there’s not much on otter here except two terminally relaxed performances and a succession oi contrived situations that should have been lirme deposited in Emilio's own waste-paper bin.
Sit stony-laced while our heroes pretend that the corpse is still alive, go out l6r some popcorn while they take a pizza delivery man hostage, and ask the person in the next seat to wake you up alter they’ve stopped hanging lrom the rear doors at a speeding truck. Or better still, find the back at an empty cigarette packet and write a iunnier movie yourseli. (Taw Jackson)
From Fri 15 Feb. Glasgow: Cannon, The Forge, Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Cannon, UCI. Strathclyde: La Scala, UCI Clydebank, UCl East Kilbride.
in Sweden during the 1950s. Twelve-year-old lngemar copes with his mother's terminal illness and his family's general indifference to him by indulgingin a high fantasy life. including the pretence that he is a dog. Terrible title. wonderful. unmissable film. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Harrow Margin (15) (Peter Hyams, US. 1990) Gene Hackman, Anne Archer. James B. Sikking. 97 mins. Disappointing remake of 1952 thriller has Hackman‘s cop escorting an important witness (Archer) to court by train. while the hoods are out to nobble both of them. Hackman's sardonic lawman routine fits the bill nicely. and the stunt-work — though overused — is well executed. but the subtle control of the original has been lost in translation, and anyway. who goes anywhere by train in the States these days'.’ Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride.
I The Heverending Story 2: The Next Chapter(U) (George Miller, US, 1990) Jonathan Brandis, Kenny Morrison. Clarissa Burt, John Wesley Shipp. 90 mins. Returning to the mysterious land of Fantasia via the magic book preserved in
Mr Coreander's bookshop, Bastian Balthazar Bux (Brandis) meets up with friends old and new. and when imagination comes under threat. he once again participates in the struggle between good and evil. Lots ofspecial effects and philosophical intricacies make this an entertaining and absorbing follow-up to the 1984 original. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: Dominion. UCI. Strathclyde: [3C1 East Kilbride.
I Night OiThe Living Dead (18) (George A.
Romero, US. 1968) Duane Jones.Judith ()‘Dea. Russell Streiner. 96 mins. Seminal black comedy shocker which spawned two increasingly nasty sequels and countless unauthorised imitations. A groupof people barricade themselves into a farmhouse to seek refuge from the hordes of flesh-crazy undead. created by misfiring military experiments. Filmed on a shoestring in Pittsburgh. with realgore supplied by a local butcher. Though it now seems dated. the rough and grainy qualities of the film only serve to make it more horribly convincing. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride.
I Hikita (18) (Luc Besson, France. 1990)? Anne Parillaud, Tcheky Karyo. Jean-Hughes Anglade. Jeanne Moreau.
114 mins. The latest exercise in stylish tosh from Gallic maestro Besson. Parillaud
stars as a junkie waif resurrected from her dreary existence by the enigmatic Karyo. an agent for the government‘s most secretive undercover organistaion. and
pretty soon she's a topnotch assassin. But does this make her any more fulfilled? Glasgow: GFT.
I Out at the Blue (18) (Dennis Hopper. US. 1980) Dennis Hopper, Linda Manz.
95 mins. Starring and directed by our Den. 1
Out Of The Blue takes up where'Easy Riderleft off, following the beat dream to its bitter end. Hopper is an alcoholic. self-indulgent truck-driver. consumed with guilt for a hideous car smash; Manz is his daughter, in permanent mourning for Elvis. Thome thematic thimilarity with
Jarmusch's Mystery Train. though it lacks
the later film‘s stylistic brilliance and control. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Painted Faces ( 15) (Alex Law. Ilong Long. 1988) Samo Hung. 100 mins. First of two Ilong Kong films screening in both Glasgow and Edinburgh stars Hung in an uncharacteristically subtle role as his former teacher and mentor Yu Tsim-yuen. who struggled throughout the l960s against changing fashions, and singlebandedly provided traditional. acrobatic training for actors including Hung at the now-defunct Peking Opera School. By turns funny and touching. this is both an explanation and an example of Hong Kong‘s minor nouvelle vague. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Passe Ton Bac D'Abord (PG) (Maurice Pialat, France. 1979)Sanine11audepin, Philippe Marlaud. Bernard Tronczyk, Anik Alane. 80 mins. As any teenagerwill tell you. hangin’ out beats swotting for exams any day. That‘s what the
working-class kids in Pialat‘s rough-edged
comedy do. with results that are neither Rohmer-twee nor Tati-silly. Edinburgh: French Institute.
I Picnic at Hanging Rock ( 15) (Peter Weir, .‘
Australia, 1975) Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, Ilelen Morse, Jacki Weaver, Kirsty Child. 115 mins. Paranoia grows among a group ofprivileged schoolgirls picnicking in the Australian outback in 1900, when members oftheir party begin to disappear. Weir’s second feature is strong on eery atmosphere and scenic photography. but his unwillingness to solve the enigma leaves a disappointing aftertaste. Edinburgh University Film Society.
I Presumed Innocent ( 15) (Alan J. Pakula,
US. 1990) Harrison Ford. Greta Scacchi, Bonnie Bedelia, Brian Dennehy. Raul Julia. 126 mins. Courtroom drama with Ford as the upright state prosecutor accused of the murder of his colleague, Scacchi, with whom he was having an affair. Julia shines as the brilliant defence lawyer determined to get him off. Ex-lawyer Scott Turow‘s bestseller gets the prestige big-screen treatment from veteran director Pakula, who returns to the themes of his earlier movies The Parallax View and All The President's Men in this thoughtful vision ofcorruption in America‘s corridors of power. Strathclyde: MotherwellTheatre.
I Ouatre Aventures de Heinette et Mirabelle (U) (Eric Rohmer. France. 1986)Joelle Miquel . Jessica Forde. Fabrice Luchini. 99 mins. Amiablc portmanreau offour stories concerning Parisian student Mirabelle and country girl Reinette. Made on a miniscule budget. purely forthe director‘s pleasure apparently, the film is based on anecdotes told him by the two actresses. A minor interlude in Rohmer's increasingly distinguished-looking career but performed with the usual easygoing delicacy and piquant wit. Glasgow: French Cine-Club.
I Raiders Oi The Lost Ark (PG) (Steven Spielberg, US, 1981) Harrison Ford,
J