made. but failed to keep. A witty. sexy and eccentric movie with dark ttndercurrents from the directorof Monsieur Hire. Glasgow: (if’l‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Halloween ( is) (John Carpenter. L35. 1978) Donald l’leasence. Jamie Lee Curtis. Nancy Loomis. l’.J. Soles. ()1 mins. The first and best ofthe series—and one of the best ofall slasher movies. Escaped psycho Michael Myers returns to the town where he killed his sister several years before and picks tip where he left off with remarkable ease. l’lcasence is the obsessive psychiatrist on his trail. convinced he is to blame for the escape. A scary reminder of what a blood—soaked genre could achieve if only it recovered from sequelitis. (ilasgow: (if-'1‘.
I Hamlet ([3) (Franco Zeffirelli. US. 1990) Mel Gibson. Alan Bates. (ilcnn Close, Paul Settfieltl. Helena Bottham-(‘arter. lati Holm. 135 mins. A young man returns home from university to find his father dead atid his mother
marrying his ttnclc. 'I‘hcn Hamlet senior's
ghost shows up. whispering to him of mttrder most foul. and it's all downhill after that. More than twenty years after Zeffirelli's Romeo ,-t iitht/it'i comes this colourful and lively production of Shakespeare's greatest play. with a very strong. mostly British cast and the best performance in years from (iibson iii the title role. (ilasgow: (ii-'1'. Edinburgh: Dominion.
I High Hopes ( 15) (Mike Leigh. LR. 1988) Philip Davis. Ruth Sheen. Edna Dore. l leather Tobias. 110 mins. The state ofcontetnporary Britain is summed up in the foibles and divisions of asingle family. Davis and Sheen play a wholesome. left-wing. working-class couple. looking after his aging mother (Dore). who has been neglected by her appalling daughter (Tobias). Tensions come to a head at the old lady's birthday
FllM
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THE BALLAD OF THE SAD CAFE
The Ballad Of The Sad Cafe (15) (Simon Callow, US, 1990) Vanessa Redgrave, Keith Carradine, Cork Hubbert, Rod Steiger. 101 mins. Carson McCullers' original novella is a strange and passionate tale of misshapen characters and their malformed relationships, played to a bleak conclusion against a scrawny po’ white trash community in the depths of Georgia. Terribly British thespian Simon Callow might be the last man you‘d expect to be charged with adapting such quintessentially American material forthe screen, but here he is making a directorial debut (courtesy of Merchant Ivory Productions) that largely overcomes its technical ungainliness through the sheer power and conviction of the performances.
Vanessa Redgrave (her sunny blonde crop and high cheekbones drawing out a coincidental resemblance to David Bowie) plays Miss Amelia, the stern owner of the local village store and still. Her solitary and businesslike
existence is disturbed by the sudden appearance of an extrovert dwarf (Hubbert) who proclaims himself her Cousin Lymon and promptly moves in to transform the place into a thriving little eaterie. A second arrival is recently released ex-convict Marvin Macy (Carradlne), Miss Amelia's disgruntled husband who drifted into petty crime when she resisted consummating their marriage. Tension rises between the three to the point where an explosive release can hardly be far away.
Callow baldly strings together individual constituent scenes without ever quite reaching a feeling of cohesion, but Redgrave‘s sheer physical presence dominates throughout. Although the hothouse amatory capriciousness of the original story is intriguing enough in itself, it‘s still her provocative and risk-taking artfulness that makes the film worthwhile. (TrevorJohnston)
Glasgow Film Theatre Sun 30 June—Sat 6 July.
party. (‘austic and at times excruciatingly painful comedy of embarrassment. which rather ttnsttbtly signposts whose side we are meant to be on. A decidedly patchy return to the big screen for one ofBritain‘s individual talents. (ilasgow: OFT.
I A High Wind In Jamaica (PU ) ( Alexander
.‘vfackcndrick. US. 1965) Anthony Quinn. James ('oburn. Ben (‘arruthers 103 mins. Victorian children en route hotne from
Jamaica are ambushed by pirates but come to exercise an influence overtheir sea-going life ofcrime. Piquant and unsentimental adaptation of the Richard Hughes novel. in which Scots director
M ackendrick ( The Sweet Smell of .S'ueeess) brings off the mixture ofbuccaneering high-jinks and deep-rooted adult and childhood anxieties with some aplomb. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
IThe HilChBTHB) ( Robert Mandel. l 'S.
1986) Rutgcr l latter. (I 'l liomas l low ell.
Jenitifchason Leigh. 98 mins. l)l‘ti\\sy driver Howell gets tnorc titan lie bargained for when he picks up psycho-hitchcr l latter iii this genuinely cdge-of-the-seat suspense thriller. (ilasgow: (if’l‘.
I Jean De Florette i l’(i) it‘luutie Berri. France. 1986) (icrard Depardieit. Yves
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FESTIVAL
IOAUGUST ISEPTEMBER I99I
Everyone comes and anything goes.
The List 28Jtine— l l July llilil 29