22 11.. List a — 21 March 1991”
lawyer Douglas discovers the high price of infidelity when his casual one-night-stand turns out to be a dangerously psychotic woman who will stop at nothing to gain her man‘s affection. Glossy and well acted if misogynistic Hitchcock-style thriller. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.
I Fear(18) (Rockne S. O‘Bannon. US. 1990) Ally Sheedy. Lauren Hutton. Michael O'Keefe. 95 mins. See review. Edinburgh: UCl.
I Fellini's Eight And A Hall ()m) E Mezzo (18) (Federico Fellini. Italy. 1963) Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale. Anouk Aimee. 138 mins. Many regard this moody magnum opus as the Italian maesrru's finest hour. Following a scenario not unlike the one that faced the director when he was under pressure to come up with a sequel to the massive international success of La Dolee Vila. it stars Mastroianni as a film-maker plagued by intellectual insecurtiy and Catholic guilt as a weird succession of actresses. financiers. writers and hustlers dog his every move. As ever with Fellini. it's all about spectacle rather than ideas. but the show is a Sparkling one. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I Flatliners ( 18) (Joel Schumacher. US. 1990) Keifer Sutherland. Julia Roberts. Kevin Bacon. 111 mins. Arresting adventure flick in which the bankable Ms Roberts plus Messrs Sutherland Jnr and Bacon play a band ofmedical students exploring the fine line between life and death. By tampering with life support machines they‘re able to reach the moment when all the vital signs have stopped and the monitors are showing flat lines (hence the title). before being brought back by their associates. But the side-effects of the process are to prove dangerously unexpected. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Frankenstein Unbound ( 18) (Roger Corman. US. 199(1) Michael Hutchence. Raul Julia, John Hurt. Bridget Fonda. Nick Brimble. Catherine Rabett. 87 mins. The first film in twenty years from the veteran B-movie prince of horror should have been an engaging reworking ofthe classic story. Based on a novel by Brain Aldiss. it stars lNXS singer llutchence as Percy Bysshe Shelley. plus a number of screen luminaries and a new-look prosthetic make-up job. for the monster himselfand for Frankenstein’s fiancee Elizabeth. Sadly. despite an expert cast. an intriguing premise (1 lurt‘s scientist sent back from the future to confront a Gothic scenario) and some touches ofgrim humour. the plot is as tired andover-ripe as you might expect after so many remakes. Edinburgh: UCl.
I Fun For Boys And Girls ( 15) A selection of lesbian and gay comedy shorts. which rejoices in such titles as I (i0! This Way Front K issin' Girls. We're Talking Vulva and Ray '5 Male Heterosexrml I )ance I {all . The clue‘s in the title. really. Fifth Lesbian And Gay Film Festival On Tour. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The German Sisters ( 15 ) ( Margarethe Von Trotta. W. Germany. 1981)Jutta Lampe. Barbara Sukowa. Rudiger Vogler. 107 mins. Two contrasting sisters. feminist journalist Lampe and Baader Meinhof activist Sukowa. are brought closer together when the latter is imprisoned and goes on hungerstrike. Though possibly more meaningful at home this absorbing film is a serious dichssion of personal commitment and the means by which we bring about change in society. (ilasgow: (if-'1‘.
I Ghost ( 12) (Gerry Zucker. 1991)) Patrick Swayze. Demi Moore. Whoopi (ioltlherg. 'l ony (ioltlwyn. 12o nuns. (\n erstwhile happy couple are split up when Patrick Swayze falls victim to a late night mugging. .\'ot content merely topass-on however. he returns to try and get back in touch with Demi Moore. via medium Whoopi (ioldberg in order to warn her about some financial shenanigans. Jerry
FILM
s... 3 , ‘ ‘ §v 3
Green Card (12) (Peter Weir,
Andie MacDowell, Bebe Neuwirth, Gregg Edelman.1’07 mins. In the wake of Dead Poets Society’s bumper box office grosses, the Australian Peter Weir is again free to make the kind of movie, best exemplified by his earlier The Yeaer Living Dangerously, The Mosquito Coast and, to a lesser extent perhaps, Witness—films that gleam with an attractive commercial surface gloss while offering a more intriguing subtext for those who care to ferret it out. Green Card is most readily approachable as a chalk ‘n’ cheese romance, patterned by those formula-abiding folk at Touchstone Pictures as a worthy successor to last year's megahit Pretty Woman. But to these eyes it seems to take the old archetypal opposition of nature and nurture much beloved by the lyric poets of yore and apply it to the stressful realm of lurve and relationships in our post-industrial none-too-lyrical society.
Hollywood debutant Gerard Depardieu's musician George Faure is an illegal French alien desperately
seeking a green card, the
documentation that will secure his US residency. Horticulturalist Bronte Parrish, played by Andie McDowell (familiar as the prissy wife from sex,lies and videotape), on the other hand, has just spotted an enviable apartment replete with its own magnificent greenhouse, but has to face inspection by the conservative committee that run the building. A marriage of convenience is the perfect resolution to each of their problems so
GREEN CARD s v. as.“
| a mutual friend arranges that they get US/Australia, 1990) Gerard Depardieu, (
“ ‘ . as:
1“ xi}
hitched. Before long however, the Immigration Dept are on theirtail and the pairing will have to appear like a bona fide marriage, instead of the paper sham it actually is, or else criminal charges could be in order. With a weekend to get to know each other before a stern official interrogation, George and Bronte set to work amid much mutual antipathy, but the unacknowledged attraction between them soon works its way to the surface.
There’s a lot of the classic romantic comedy in here but the preponderance of ‘green' imagery (the plants in her conservatory, the verdant growth of the nearby park) indicates the nurture/nature schema at work. Can the central twosome create a relationship that doesn’t really exist, orwill the instinct of their natural feelings actually do the job forthem: such is the dichotomy delightfully expressed in a film of sensitivity and not a little charm. Hofty-toity ice queen McDowell and gorilla-with-a-heart Depardieu play off against each other most affectingly.
Although the ending for once pitches us into straining sentimentality, forthe most part Weir is rather adept at avoiding the saccharine in favour of an agreeably natural sweetness. (Trevor Johnston)
From Fri 15 Mar. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road, Cannon The Forge, Grosvenor. Ddeon. Edinburgh: Ddeon, UCl. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon, Ddeon Ayr, Odeon Hamilton, UGI Clydebank, UCI East Kilbride.
Zucker's amiable supernatural. comedy-drama has been the surprise box-office success of the year and is charming audiences here. (ilasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: l'Cl. Strathclyde: l'Cl Clydebank.
I The Godfather lll ( 15) ( Francis Ford Coppola. L'S. 199(1) Al Pacino, Andy (iarcia. Diane Keaton. Talia Shire. 161) mins. The final instalment. we're assured. of the Coppola Puzo saga has Pacino's Michael Corleone struggling to keepthe peace both w ithin the famin and throughout his Mafia contacts. In a bid for peace of mind and stability. he turnsto the Church and away from organised crime. but the demons of his past are not so easily left behind. Painted on the same
broad canvas as its two prequels. this is a lavish and beautifully played gangster drama with a true note of tragedy. But there's a faint odour of formulaic remake.
See feature. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge.
Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Cannon. Dominion. L7Cl. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. ()deon Ayr. ()deon Hamilton. L'Cl Clydebank. L'Cl liast Kilbride.
I GoodFellas ( lfs') (Martin Scorsese. 12S. 199(1) Robert De Niro. Ray Liotta. Joe Pesci. Lorraine Braco. Paul Sorvino. 145 mins. A return for Scorsese and De Niro to the creed of amoral violence seen in Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. Liotta plays Henry Hill. a real-life mafiosu. while De Niro is his mentor in crime. And while the
bullets. fists and carving knives fly. Scorsese brings us back to that unavoidable question — yes. it‘s glamorous and lucrative to live this way. but can anyone really live with the consequences? Strathclyde: La Scala.
I Green Card (12) (Peter Weir. US. 1990) Gerard Depardieu. Andie MaeDowell. Bebe Neuwirth. Gregg Edelman. 107 mins. See review. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Grosvenor. ()deon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCl. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Odeon Ayr. ()deon Hamilton. UCI Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride.
I The Drifters ( 15) (Stephen Frears. US. 1990) Anjelica Huston. John Cusack. Annette Bening. 119 mins. Hugely
satisfying noir melodrama. eentring on the 7
relationship between three streetwise ‘grifters‘ — mob moll l.in (Huston). her estranged son. injured con man Roy (Cusack). and Roy‘s ambitious girl Myra (Bening). When Lily decides to visit Roy- in hospital. skeletons start tumbling from closets. and their loose grip on security begins to weaken. Rich. dark and very substantial. Glasgow: ()deon. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Handmaid's Tale ( 18) (Volker Schlondorff. US. 1989) Natasha Richardson. Elizabeth McGovern. Faye Dunaway. Robert Duvall. 108 mins. Despite the excellent cast and the screenplay by Harold Pinter. Schlondorff's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's anti-Utopian novel disappoints. Set in near—future America. the plot revolves around the tribulations of fertile white women. who are forced to act as child-bearers for the ruling elite. Predictable resistance-movement adventures follow the heroine's capture. and the novel's subtlety drowns despite everyone's efforts. Edinburgh:
Film house .
I Heathersl 15) (Michael Lehman. US. 1989) Winona Ryder. Christian Slater. Lisanne Falk. 102 mins. Anultrablack parody of the high school teenflick. Lehman's first feature film manages to combine box office success with artistic merit. This cult hip hit of the year has Slater and Ryder starting a suicide craze to muscle in on the cliquey Heathers running the joint. Tune in. turn on. dropdead. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Henry And June ( 18) (Philip Kaufman. US. 199(1) Fred Ward. Uma'l‘hurman. Maria de Maderios. Richard E. Grant. 137 mins. The triangular relationship between the erotic writers Henry Miller
1
and Anais Nin and Miller's wife June isthe
backbone of this well mounted biopic. which suffers from the slightly incongruous explicitness of Kaufman's previous Unbearable IJg/irness ( )f Being and the same uncomfortably slow pace. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Home Alone 1 PG) (Chris Columbus. es. f 1990) Macaulay Culkin. Joe Pesci. Daniel 3
Stern. John Heard. Catherine O'Hara. 103 mins. Peter and Kate McCallister (Heard and ()‘l lara) have an eight-y'ear-old brat and wisely — albeit
accidentally — leave him behind in Chicago 1
when they“ go on holiday to Paris. Left to his own devices young Key in (Culkin) has to deal with two bungling burglars ( Pesei and Stern) who threaten to invade his peaceful haven. Jolly. ifsadistic. scare-comedy antics produced by teenflick veteran John Hughes. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. ()deon. Edinburgh: Odeon. L'Cl. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr, UCI Clydebank. L'Cl East Kilbride.
I Kindergarten Cop ( 12) ( lvan Reitman. L'S. 199(1) Arnold Schwarzenegger. Penelope Ann Miller. Pamela Reed. Richard Tyson. 111 mins. The large fellow is the polis in question, taking up the reins in a nursery class when he goes undercover to track down the wife and child ofa murder suspect. This is a sleazy. exploitative mishmash ofgenre-blending.