FILM
IST|.NG
l
S
Films screening this fortnight are listed below. with certificate. credits, brief review and venue details. Full-length reviews of selected new releases can be found close to the appropriate entry. Programme details appear in the Listings section which follows. Film lndex compiled by Alan Morrison.
I After Dark, My Sweet ( IS) (.Iames I-‘oley . US. 1990) .lason Patric. Rachel Ward. Bruce Dem. 114 mins. See review. Glasgow: (iIi'T.
IAwakeningS( 13)(Penny Marshall. CS. 1991 ) Robert De Niro. Robin Williams. .Iohn Heard. Julie Is'avner. Penelope Ann Miller. Max von Sydow. 121 mitts. Based on the book by psychiatrist Oliver Sacks. Awakenings tells the story of a reclusive neurologist (Williams) whose new post at Bainbridge I Iospital in New York is not the clinical experience he had anticipated. Instead. he finds himself drawn toa particular group olstatue-Iikc encephalitic patients. among them De Niro's Leonard I.owe. As hisobsession with their unexpressed inner lives grows. he develops a relationship with Lowe which begins to release both Lowe‘s ability to communicate and hisown repressed emotions. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.
I Backdraft ( 15 l ( Ron Howard. CS. 1991) William Baldwin. Kurt Russell. Scott (ilenn. Robert De Niro. Donald Sutherland. 136 mins. Chicago‘sfinest firefighting men receive the Hollywood treatment in the film that burned upthe CS box office charts. Baldwin and Russell's sibling rivalry plays against a backdrop of stunning fire effects and big screen action as the Fire Department and De Niro‘s arson investigator search for clues amongst the charred remains of several victims with links to the forthcoming civic elections. (ilasgow:
- Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall
Street. Edinburgh: Cannon. Dominion. UCI. Central: Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. ()deon Ayr L'CI Clydebank. UCI East Kilbride.
I Bonfire Of The Vanities ( 15) (Brian DePaIma. L'S. 1991)) Tom Ilanks. Bruce Willis. Melanie Griffiths. Morgan Freeman. 126 mins. Tom Wolfe‘s celebrated New York satire is brought to the screen by veteran director DePaIma. with a starry cast. but disappointing results. which failed to capture the [IS box office's imagination. and led to Wolfe's
disassociatioti with the project. Hanks
; stars as ill fated yuppie Sherman McCoy.
whose blossoming fortunes take a
downturn after a car accident involvinga
‘ young black man. (‘rriffiths plays his
mistress Maria. Willis the newspaper hack on his trail. and Freeman the black judge
overriding corruption in the courts.
Central: MacRobert ArtsCentre. I Le Chateau De Ma Mere ( L‘ l ( Yves
Robert. l‘rance. 199(1) Philippe Caubere. L--.
74 The List 16— 2.7. August 1991
AFTER DARK, MY SWEET
After Dark, My Sweet (18) (James Foley, US, 1990) Rachel Ward, Jason Patric, Bruce Dern.111 mins. Director James Foley sums up his attraction for the writings of cult 50s novelist Jim Thompson by explaining that they share a common fascination with ‘the plasticity of language.’ Indeed, with its constant verbal obfuscations and dialogicaf dilemmas, After Dark, My Sweet comes across as an object lesson in the silence of truth.
Faithfully reproducing the Thompsonian poetry of the novel, Foley effectiver transfers to the screen the
author’s vision of an internal triangle of
passion and deceit. Centring around an ex-boxer's relationship with a beautiful, but devious, woman and her crazin twisted side-kick, this is an ensemble piece with a difference, a film of physical rather than verbal power which prioritises the poetry of motion overthe logic of language.
At the heart of the film's balletic qualities are the sinewy movements of leading man Jason Patric, who stars as
the beleaguered tighter whose fisted guard is always raised. With its vigorous attention to physical shape and motion, Foley’s vision more closely resembles a dance than a drama; just as Thompson‘s text is constructed in a manner that is allusive ratherthan logical, so Foley’s interpretation dwells upon visual imagery which transcends the narrative form.
Fittingly, the most powerful episode in After Dark, My Sweet is one of non-verbal communication, wherein Patric and Ward (the only weak link in the chain) writhe through a choreographed and boldly episodic sex scene, evoking a tangible screen passion reminiscent of Roeg‘s Don't Look Now. Bruce Dern, meanwhile, turns in his finest performance since Silent Running, turning down the histrionics to inject a genuine sense of menace into the psychotic character of Uncle Bud. Awesome. (Mark Kermode)
Glasgow Film Theatre Sunday 18—Saturday 24 Aug.
Nathalie Roussel.1)idicrPain.Therese Liotard. 98 mins. The second instalment of Marcel Pagnol‘s .Ilenmries of
Childhood picks up from where Lu (r'lm'n'
de mon I’ere left off. The plot. ifthat‘s what it is. concerns a key the family is given to allow a short cut to their mountain holiday home. but which a jobsworth type confiscates. claiming they are trespassing. For the most part. it has all the emotional resonance of a picture postcard. (ilasgow: (iI’I‘.
I Cinderella (t? ) (Wilfred
Jackson Hamilton Luske Clyde (ieronimi. L'SA. 1949) With the voiccsol Ilene Woods. Iileanor Audley‘. \"erna Felton. William Phipps. 75 mins. The classic Disney version of one of the world's most popular fairy tales makes for a welcome school holidays re-rclease. Treated as little more than a slave by her
cruel stepmother and stepsisters. Cinderella‘s life is transformed w hen her Fairy (iodmother grants her three wishes. Magical animation and fun songs make for a film to be enjoyed over and over again. (ilasgow: Cannon The Forge. Iidinburgh: l'CI. Strathclyde: ()deon Ay'r. lfCl Clydebank. [SCI Iiast Kilbride.
I Circus Boyst 15) ( Kaizo I lay ashi . Japan. 1989) lllo mins. Two brothers have spent their entire lives with the ( ireat Crescent Circus. from vs ide-eycd childhood to impoverished adult years. When the circus hits hard times. one boy stays. the other leaves to become a conman. (ilasgow: (ll-'1’.
I Cruising ( 18) (William liricdkin. CS. 1981)) Al Pacino. Paul Sorvino. Karen Allen. Richard Cox. 100 mins. Pacinois the undercover cop. posing in the Manhattan gay underworld in order to
track down a killer. Iixploitativeand violent. with a surprisingly limp climax. (ilasgow : (il'vl'. I Dances With Wolves ( l2) ( Kevin Costner. CS. 199(1) Kevin Costner. Mary McDonnell. (iraham (ireene. Rodney (irant. 179 mins. Costner's debut as director and co-producer. in which he also . stars. has already been widely praised lor its epic scale and its sy mpathetic depiction of Red Indian culture in the 1800s. Itwon seven ()scars including Best Film and Best Director. with no less than twer e nominations. Set at a remote outpost during the American Civil War. a time of violent struggle between pioneering Yankees and Sioux Indians. it offers a sensitive and intense analysis of both
factions. and of a man caught between two
different cultures. (ilztsgow : Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Iidinburgh: L'CI
' I Dark Angel ( lts’) (Craig Baxley. US. 199“) Dolph Lundgren. Brian Benben. Betsy Brantley. 92 mins. Dolph stars as
all-action Houston cop Jack Caine on the
| trail of drug pushers from space who
remove their enemies by me ofkiller
compact discs. doubtless featuring K-Tel's
tribute to Sydney Devine. Strathclyde: l'Cl Iiasl Kilbride. I Dead Poets Society ( PU) ( Peter Weir. CS. 1989) Robin Williams. Robert Sean l.eonard. Iithan llawke. l29 mins. Ina
staid private boys" school itt Fifties New
' lingland. an unconventional teacher (Williams) interests his charges in
literature and philosophy to such an extent
thatthey form a secretclubtoinvestigate them (along with booze and girls) further. Though Williams is on good form. the film focuses mainly on the boys' emotional development and crises. and on the mystery and beauty surrounding their midnight meetings. A sensitive. tense and
moving study of the conflict between
I passion and authority. ey en if the plot is
_ somethingof a cliche. (ilasgow: CrI’T.
g I Edward Scissorhands ( P( i ) (Tim Burton.
1 CS. 1991 ) Johnny Depp. Winona Ryder.
' Dianne Wiest. Vincent Price. ltlfi mins.
I Burton follows tip the excesses of Batman ' with this fairy tale for the 911s. which works as a welcome return to the darker sideof the genre. Depp is the unfinishedcreation l ofThe Inventor ( Price). who lives alone in
a crumbling mansion. unable to even
scratch his nose without needing stitches.
l Discoverd by a friendly Avon lady. his
talent for coiffure and topiary makes him a
i neighbourhood favourite until tragedy
strikes. Beautifully shot. tenderly acted
and full of hidden depths. (ilasgow:
Cannon The Forge. ()deon. (irosvenor.
Iidinburgh: ()deon. lfCl. Central:
Caledonian. Strathclyde: Kelburne.
()deon Ayr. ()deon Hamilton. La Scala.
1 [Cl Clydebank. CCI Iiast Kilbride.
i IForeverMaryt 18) (Marco Risi.ltaly.
: I989) Michele Placido. Claudio
: Amendola. Alessandro Di Sanzo. Hit)
1 mins. A teacher accepts a job at a reform
I school for no-hopcrs' in Palermo. and
l
l
attempts to win the friendship and respect of his difficult pupils. including transvestite 'Mary'. (ilasgow: (1171'.
I Henry: Portrait DtA Serial Killer( l8)
1 (John McNaughton. CS. 1986) Michael Rooker. Tom Towles. Tracey Arnold. 80 mins. Based loosely on the true life (and subsequently recanted) confessions of