INDEX FILM
FILM muz-
Fllms screening this tortnight are listed below, with certificate, credits, hrielreview and venue detalls. Full-length reviews of selected new releases can he tound close to the appropriate entry. Programme details appear in the Listings section which follows. Film Index compiled by Alan Morrison.
I Aardman Animation (1!) (Peter Lord/David Sproxton. Nick Park. l'K. 1983—89) Eight short animated films from the Aardman Studios. where Park‘s Oscar-winnin g ( ‘reumrc Comforts was made. Although it isn‘t on the bill. hisA Grand Day Out is. as is Lord's promo for My BahyJusI Cures For Me. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I After Dark. My Sweet ( 18) (James Foley. US. 1991)) Jason Patric. Rachel Ward. Bruce Dem. 114 mins. A faithful film version of the book by cult 511s novelist Jim 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 physical film is skilfully choreographed throughout. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Alice (12) (Woody Allen. L's. 199a) Mia Farrow. Joe Mantegna. William Hurt. Keye Luke. 111.5 mins. Despite living ina designer paradise. Alice (Farrow) hasan 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: Salon.
IAngel Heart( 18) (Alan Parker. L's. 1987) Mickey Rourke. Robert de Niro. Charlotte Rampling. 113 mins. Scruffy. unshaven private eye Harry Angel is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to track down a missing Forties crooner who has reneged on a life-or-death deal. His investigations lead him to a seedy New Orleans dominated by voodoo cults and extremely dead bodies in this
uncomfortable mating of visceral gore and
moodyfilm noir. with some ingenious if nasty twists in the plot. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I At Close Range ( 15) (James Foley. US. 1986) Sean Penn. Christopher Walken. Christopher Penn. 115 mins. Brooding drama of two teenage half-brothers who are re-united with their ne'er-do-well father and soon come to realise what a mean mutha he really is. Surprisingly
well-acted domestic tensions. with Penn in
particular making a quite visceral impact. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter ( 12) (Jon Amiel. US. 1991 ) Barbara Hershey. Peter Falk. Keanu Reeves. See review. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Backdrait ( 15) (Ron Howard. US. 1991) William Baldwin. Kurt Russell. Scott Glenn. Robert De Niro. Donald Sutherland. 136 mins. Chicago'sfinest firefighting men receive the Hollywood 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. Edinburgh: UCI.
I Black Beauty (PG) (James Hill. UK. 1971) Mark Lester. Walter Slezak. Patrick Mower. 106 mins. An untameable wild horse suffers a variety ofmisfortunes before being reunited with its young master. Ho-hum version of the Anna
Sewell children's classic. with the nauseating Lester as would-be cute as usual. One for the gymkhana types. perhaps. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Ceremony ( 18) (Nagisa Oshima. Japan. 1971)Kenzo Kawarazaki. Atsuo Nakamura. Akiko Koyama. Atsoku Kaku. 121 mins. A quarter century of post-war Japanese history is commented on via a series ofceremonial family
gatherings. ()shima never lets the allegory
become too dense. however. and the film develops into a powerful dynastic drama
spread out on a 'Scope screen. Edinburgh:
Filmhouse.
I Charlotte's Web (U) (Charles A. Nichols. US. 1972) Voices of Debbie Reynolds. Henry Gibson. 85 mins. Animated version of the EB. White classic in which a farmyard spider befriends a shy piglet. Not badly done by the ltanna-Barbera studio. Glasgow: GF'l'.
I City Slickers ( 12) (Ron Underwood. US. 1991 ) Billy Crystal. Daniel Stern. Bruno Kirby. Helen Slater. Jack Palance. 114 mins. Funny man Crystal stars asthe fortysomething advertising salesman who faces up to the mid-life crisis by joininga two-week cattle drive with his pals. Moderately amusing second feature from the director of Tremors. Special charity gala premiere in aid of Save The Children. Edinburgh10deon. '
I The Commitments ( 15) (Alan Parker. UK. 1991 ) Robert Arkins. Michael Aherne. Angeline Ball. Maria Doyle. 118 mins. Sod U2 — when Dublin-based group The Commitments. specialists in the type ofguff churned out at weddings. change their manager. they become the force to really put Irish music on the map. Alan Parker delivers a humorous. down-to-earth. close-to-home variation on his own movie. Fame. Plenty tunes. plenty fun. See feature. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Grosvenor. Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCl. Central: Allanpark. Cannon. Strathclyde: Kelburne. Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. UCl Clydebank. UCl East Kilbride.
I Crimes of Passion ( 18) ( Ken Russell. US. 198-1) Kathleen Turner. Anthony Perkins. John Laughlin. 107 mins. Russell's debunking ofthe American way of sex is an uproariously black satire
w here moonlighting whore meets dildo-packing clergyman meets l luman Penis. A strident and courageous piece of filmmaking in that it casts the men asthe oppressors. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Desperately Seeking Susan ( 15) (Susan Seidelman. US. 1985) Rosanna Arquette. Madonna. Aidan Quinn. Ill-l mins. Fun and fizzy. role-swapping feminist fantasy comedy set in the Big Apple. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Divorce of Lady X (LI) (Tim Whelan. UK. 1938) Merle Oberon. Ralph Richardson. Laurence Olivier. 93 mins. Korda-produced comedy. recently restored by the National Film Archive. that tells the tale of a nobleman's daughter who wins a barrister by posing as a divorce client. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Diango ( 18) (Sergio Corbucci.
Italy Spain. 1966) 95 mins. Althoughit was a hit on the international circuit. British audiences have had only rare chances to view it. With its emphasison the violent and bizarre. this was one ofthe founding fathers of the spaghetti Western ouevre and a far cry from the run~of-the-mill revenge dramas often churned out by Hollywood. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Doc Hollywood ( 12) (Michael Caton-Jones. US. 1991 ) Michael J. Fox. Julie Warner. Bridget Fonda. Frances Sternhagen. Barnard Hughes. 104 mins. See review. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road. Cannon The Forge. Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Salon. Edinburgh: Cannon. UCI. Central: Allanpark. Cannon. Strathclyde: Cannon. Kelburne. ()deon Ayr. La Scala. UCl Clydebank.
UCI East Kilbride. WMR Film Centre. IThe Doors ( 18) (Oliver Stone. US. 1990) Val Kilmer. Meg Ryan. Kyle MacLachlan. Kevin Dillon. Frank Whalley. 141 mins. It's 1966. andJim Morrison. aspiring poet and film-maker. joins a band and transforms himself into the Dionysus ofthe Love Generation. From that point on. there's no let-up until his bathtime demise as an overweight alcoholic. aged 27. Kilmer's superb characterisation as Morrison dominates to such an extent that the other actors struggle to assert themselves even one-dimensionally. and little insight is given into what fired Morrison‘s self-destructive genius. Still. Stone’s ‘tits 'n' acid' version ofThe Doors‘ history. while selective and highly inaccurate. is never boring. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Edinburgh: UCl.
I Le Dossier 51 (15) (Michel Deville. France.‘\\’cst Germany. 1978) Francois Marthouret. Claude Mercault. Roger Planchon. Nathalie Juvet. 108 mins. Gallic paranoic thriller set in a strange world of espionage. which draws the audience in as accomplices in the attempt to ‘turn‘ an unwitting French diplomat. The film's narrow. almost voyeuristic point of view is compelling and fuels the nightmare that there is no such thingas privacy in the modern technocratic world. Edinburgh: French Institute.
I Dying Young ( 15) (Joel Schumacher. US. 1991 ) Julia Roberts. Campbell Scott. Vincent D'Onofrio. David Selby. 112 mins. A young woman takes on the demanding job of live-in personal nurse with a terminally ill playboy. and inevitably they fall in love. Julie Roberts gets her teeth (and lips) into herfirst ‘serious' Hollywood role. but. in the end. the film only scores half a hanky on the weepie scale. Unsatisfying in virtually all departments. Glasgow: Cannon Clarkston Road.
I Earth Girls Are Easy ( PG) (Julien Temple. US. 1988) Geena Davis.Jeff Goldblum. Michael McKean.Charles Rocket. 100 mins. A smallspaceship crash-lands in a Californian manicurist's swimming pool. Out step three furry aliens to enjoy the plastic delights ofbeach culture and. once they shave offtheir fur. the attentions of the native girls. Emphatically. but quite creatively. tasteless musical comedy which. on the whole. does a good job oflampooning the social whirl in which consumption is king and jargon the language of fools. For sure. Glasgow: GET.
I Edward Scissorhands ( PG) (Tim Burton. US. 1991 ) Johnny Depp. Winona Ryder. Dianne Wiest. Vincent Price. 1115 mins. Burton follows up the excesses of Batman with this fairy tale for the 9(ls. which works as a welcome return to the darker sideof the genre. Depp is the unfinished creation ofThe Inventor (Price). who lives alone in a crumbling mansion. unable to even scratch his nose without needing stitches. Discoverd by a friendly Avon lady. his talent for coiffure and topiary makes him a neighbourhood favourite until tragedy strikes. Beautifully shot. tenderly acted and full of hidden depths. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Edinburgh: Cameo. ()deon.UC1. Strathclyde:()deonAyr. UC1(‘|ydebank.WMR Film Centre.
I ET(Steven Spielberg. US. 1982). Dec Wallace. Henry Thomas. Peter Coyote. 115 mins. An alien creature gets stranded on earth (the opening sequence of threatening legs and flashing torches is beautifully done). where he is adopted by some kids. who help him construct a communication device to summon back his spaceship. All the little guy wanted to do was go home. but Spielberg made sure he had lots of cute and agreeable
; adventures first. and slipped in the most tear-jerking psuedo-death since Baloo the Bear in 'I'hcjungle Book for good
, measure. Strathclyde: UCl East Kilbride.
I Let Him Have |t(lS) Cinematic version of the topical Bentley case. in which a young man with the mental age ofan 11-year-old was sentenced to death in the 19505 for the murder ofa policeman. although it was his friend — who was too young to hang — who actually pulled the trigger. See preview.
' fl ‘ . s I Mannequin On The Move (PG) Modern day fairy tale concerning a young department store employee who brings a mannequin to life by removing the necklace that has placed her under a curse for 1.000years. Less of a direct sequel than might have been expected. I Poison (18) Controversial mixture of three stories with deviance as the central theme. The Genet-influenced third section. with its explicit depiction of prison love. has raised the ire ofthe American moral pressure groups. See preview.
I The Rescuers Down Under(L‘) The rodent heroes of the popular 1977 Disney adventure return in a new full-length animated feature. which this time takes them tothe Australian outback to save an endangered eagle. IToy Soldiers ( 15) Rich kid socialdelinquents group together to fight off the Columbian drug terrorists who take over their school. Surprisingly violent and gripping adventure that nevertheless has you squirming during the all-too-frequent scenes of young male bonding. See review.
I Uranus ( IS) A small French town in the aftermath ofthe Second World War is the setting for Claude Berri's portrait ofa community torn apart by hypocrisy and hatred. The strong east features Gerald Depal'dicu. Michel Blane and Philippe Noiret. See res iew.
The List 1 il—zfociahci-iifln 21