INDEX FILM
FILM -mz-
Films screening this fortnight are listed below. with certillcate, credits, brief review
‘ and venue details. Full-length reviews ol selected new releases can be found closeto the appropriate entry. Programme details appear in the Listings section which follows. Film Index compiled by Alan Morrison.
I Abba The Movie (1') (Lasse l lalstrom. SweAustralia. 1977) ABBA. Robert Hughes. Tom Oliver. Bruce Barry. 95 min. Made at the height oftheir
popularity. the wafer-thin plotline consists
of the four Swedes being pursued across 02 by a Sydney D.l. Dancing Queen.
Water/on. S. U. .S. . etc. Takes you back ch'.’
Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Alter Dark. My Sweet ( 18) (James Foley. US. 1990) Jason Patric. Rachel Ward. Bruce Dem. 114 mins. A faithful film
version of the book by cult 50s novelistJim Thompson. The plot centres on an infernal :
triangle of passion and deceit. involving an .
ex-boxer. his devious lover and her side-kick. Foley's intensely dark and intensely physical film is skilfully choreographed throughout. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Akira (12) (Otomo Katsuhiro. Japan. 1989) Animated by Nakamura Takashi. with the voices of lwata Mitsue. Sasaki Nozomu. Koyama Mami. lshida Taro. l 4 mins. Based on the multi-volume graphic novel by Otomo. A kira is a mythical. futuristic talc ofpost-holocaust Tokyo. where pill~popping biker kids begin to unearth a government project designed to exploit the psychic and telekinetic powers of a group of laboratory-bound children. Superbly animated. with a fantastic visual and narrative imagination. but you'd be well advised to know something of the plot before you see it. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Cameo.
i
IAllce(12) (Woody Allen. L78. 1990) Mia .
Farrow. Joe Mantegna. William Hurt. Keye Luke. 105 mins. Despite living in a designer paradise. Alice (Farrow) has an eye for a fellow parent at herchildren's
school and a backache her therapists are at
a loss to ease. Cue Doctor Chang‘s mystical. medical herbs and hidden aspects of her personality shine through. Another gem from Mr Allen. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon.
I American Friends (PG) (Tristram Powell. UK. 1991) Michael Palin.Connie Booth.Trini Alvarado. Alfred Molina. 95 mins. The semi-fictional story ofPalin's great-grandfather Edward. an Oxford don who fell in love with a pretty young Irish-American girl. Elinor (Alvarado). whom he met while walking in the Swiss Alps. The story of their romance is complicated. however. by the social constraints of Academe. by the college philanderer Oliver Syme (Molina) and by Elinor‘s Aunt Caroline (Booth). who also has designs on Palin. Whimsical. archetypally Palin-esque and rather bland. The sort of film you can see with your elderly relations on a Sunday afternoon. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre. '
I Ana's Steps (15) (MarysaSistach. Mexico. 1990) Guadalupe Sanchez. Emilio Echavarria. David Beauchet. Glentora Otcro. 95 mins. Recently divorced. Ana has been unemployed for three months and has spent her money on a video camera which she uses to make a personal diary. When she is offered a new job. a night's celebration involves a casual affair. An insightful film about the
problems of a single mother. Glasgow: GF'T.
I Backdralt ( 15) (Ron Howard. CS. 1991) William Baldwin. Kurt Russell. Scott Glenn. Robert De Niro. Donald Sutherland. 136 mins. Chicago‘s finest firefighting men receive the l lollywood treatment in the film that burned upthe US box office charts. Baldwin and Russell's sibling rivalry plays against a backdrop ofstunning 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. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Dominion. L'Cl. ('entral: Caledonian. Strathclyde: ()deon Ayr. LICl Clydebank. L'Cl East Kilbride.
I Bathroom lntimacies ( is) (Jaime HumbertoHermosillo. Mexico. 1989) Gabriela Roel. Alvaro Guerrero. Marta Navarro. Maria Rojo. 78 mins. A rather obnoxious middle-class Mexican family are viewed from their bathroom mirror. Whatever Hermosillo's dubious motives for bringing sex. porn and suicide tothe screen. there are clearly shades of
Almodovar lurking in the wings. Glasgow: : Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Edinburgh:
GFT.
I Beetlejuice ( 15) (Tim Burton. US. 1988) Geena Davis. Alec Baldwin. Michael Keaton. 92 mins. Recently deceasedand very charming New England couple have difficulty in adjusting to the afterlife. .\'ot the least of their worries is the tasteless refurbishment of their old home by a nasty New York yuppie family. and they eventually call on freelance bio-exorcist BetelgeUse (pronounced ‘Beetle-juice' ) to deal with the problem in hisown inimitable fashion. A movie of exuberantly eccentric cartoonish capers. which creates its own comic cosmos where the unexpected is the norm. Great fun it all istoo. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Black Sheep ( 15) (Roman Chalbaud. Venezuela. 1988) Eva Blanco. Arturo Calderon. Zamira Segura. 98 mins. Deep in the underworld ofCaracas live a group of con artists. whose community is disrupted by the arrival of a prostitute. A strange melodrama of police and thieves. with a slight hint of Santa Sangre. Glasgow: GFT.
I Blade Bunner(15) (RidlcyScott. L'S. 1982) Harrison Ford. Rutger Hauer. Sean Young. 117 mins. A tough coptracks down a group of malfunctioning androids in this gritty hi-tech retread of Raymond Chandler. executed with Scott's customary visual flair. and with strong performances. especially from Ford and Hauer. But try following the confusing plot first time around. Edinburgh: Catneo I Blue Steel (18) (Kathryn Bigelow. CS. 1990) Jamie Lee Curtis. Ron Silver. Clancy Brown. 106 mins. Curtis stars asar‘. ill fated rookie cop. who kills agun-toting hood on her first night on the beat.landiny herselfin terrible trouble when Silver's yuppie absconds with the .44-calibre evidence. and prepares to do some killing of his own. There are shades ofSeu Of Love when he ominously begins dating her. but the film as a whole is anoriginal. fast-paced and stylish thriller with a pinch offeminism thrown in. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Blue Velvet ( 18) (David Lynch. CS. 1986) Kyle MacLachlan. Dennis l lopper. Isabella Rossellini. l20mins. 1n small-town Middle America. would-be boy detective Macl.achlan finds a severed car on some waste ground. When the police shoo him away he decides todo some investigating of his own. A singular fusion of the cosy and the terrifying which blends kitsch and nightmare. B-movie detection and brutal sex to deconstruct our complacent vision of normal society. This is film-making of remarkable imagination and skill. Edinburgh: Catneo.
I Brazilian Shorts ( 15) (Various. Brazil.
1988—90) A selection of innovative shorts.
I shown as part of the GFT‘s Latin
!
American Film Festival. with the added bonus of a personal appearance by director Cao l lamburger. Glasgow: GFT. I Captive ol the Desert (PG) (Raymond Depardon. France. 1990) Sandrine Bonnairc. Dobi Kore. Dobi Wachinke. Fatli Taha. 100 mins. A young French woman is captured by rebel soldiers in Chad in 1975 and. while not underthreat from her captors. she is constantly battling against exhaustion. lonliness and despair. A remarkable central performance by Bonnairc gives heart to this true story.
which director Depardon covered as a j reporter. Glasgow: Gl'T.
I Cinderella (L') (Wilfred Jackson Hamilton Luske Clyde Geronimi. LISA. 1949) With the voicesof
; llene Woods. Eleanor Audley. Verna : Felton. William Phipps. 75 mins. The
l
l
. classic Disney version of one of the world s most popular fairy tales makes fora
welcome school holidays re-release. Treated as little more than a slave by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. Cinderella's life is transformed when her Fairy Godmother grants her three wishes. Magical animation and fun songs make for a film to be enjoyed over and overagain.
L'Cl. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. L'Cl Clydebank. L'CI East Kilbride.
I Cinema Paradiso (PG) (Giuseppe Tornatore. ltaly France.1988) Phillipe .\'oiret. Jacques Perrin. Salvatore Cascio. 123 mins. Tornatore's vision ofhis movie-mad childhood is a wonderful love letter to the cinema itself. Told largelyin flashback. it traces the young Salvatore‘s infatuation with his village cinema. and his growing friendship with its projectionist (played to perfection by Noiret). Essentially. it‘s Tornatore's lament for the joyous movie-going experience ofhis youth and a recognition of the price we pay for our maturity. 1990 Oscar winner
' for Best Foreign Film. Edinburgh:
Cameo.
I Close My Eyes ( 18) (Stephen Poliakoff. CK. 1991) Saskia Reeves. Clive Owens. Alan Rickman. 107 mins. See preview. Glasgow: GET.
I The Cook, The Thief, His Wile And Her
Lover( 18) (Peter Grecnaway.UK.1989) ; Michael Gambon. Helen Mirren. Alan i Howard. Richard Bohringer. Tim Roth.
120 mins. A superb film which nonetheless contains something to offend everybody.
Beautifullyphotographeddirected.
written. acted and art-directed (with lavish costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier). its
subject matter is at once bizarre.
repulsive. romantic and compelling.
Centringon Greenaway‘sobsessions with
food. decay and infidelity. it's an unforgettably stylish tale of forbidden love and brutal revenge. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Creature From The Black Lagoon ( 18) (Jack Arnold. US. 1954) Richard Carlson. Julia Adams. Ricou Browning. 79mins. Fifties‘ monster movie classic has a party ofscientists on an Amazon expedition discovering a strange amphibious creature. the gill man. who proceedsto threaten the safety of the entire group. Impressive underwater camerawork and some sympathy for the big green fella mark this out as far superior to most ofthe genre. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Cry Baby ( 12) (John Waters. US. 1990) Johnny Depp. Amy Locane. SusanTyrell. Polly Bergen. 85 mins. Baltimore. 1954. and droolsome drape Johny Depp‘s across-the-tracks romance with once prim Square gal Locane is the catalyst foropen warfare between the town's teen factions. but love is to prove itself stronger than prison bars. Boasting the usual theoretical trash casting (Traci Lords. Patty Hearst. Iggy Pop). lapsed sleaze merchant Waters” most mainstream effort to date is an exuberant and knowing satire on Fifties juvenile delinquency movies. Edinburgh:
Cameo.
I Oscar (PG) Sylvester Stallone is gangster 'Snaps‘ Provolone. persuaded by his dying fatherto give up his shameful life. But cops and mobsters alike find his new image too much to believe. See review.
I Prospero's Books ( is) Peter Greenaway's visually stunning reworkingof Shakespeare's The Tempest is all the more remarkable for a wonderful performance by John Gielgud as the exiled Duke of Milan.
I Pump Up The Volume (15) Uncommunicative schoolboy by day. pirate DJ Happy Harry Hard-On by night. Christian Slater finds himselfat the centre ofa social crisis. See review.
I Truly. Madly. Deeply I (PG) Struggling to come i to terms with the deathof her lover. Nina (Juliet Stevenson) life is turned around when he Comes back from the dead.
Funny. thoughtful and touching. See preview. I Where Angels FearTo , Tread (l’G)The latest 1 EM. Forsteradaptation has Helena Bonham Carter accompanying widowed l lelen Mirrcn to Italy. only to find love and tragedy on the way.
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The List 30 August — 12 September 1991 23