FILM INDEX
I Ring Of Bright Water (PG) (Jack Couffer, UK, 1969) Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna. 107 mins. Modest story of one man and his otter. Perfect, credible filming of a heartwarming animal story. A treat for adults and children alike, with lovely wildlife photography. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Robin Hood: Prince OiThieves ( 12) (Kevin Reynolds, US, 1991) Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman. 147 mins. Second outing of the year for the Nottingham legend, this time with Hollywood‘s golden boy in the title role. Costner’s Robin slips into Indiana Jones mode as he sets about undoing the wrongs of Rickman‘s scene-stealing Sheriff in a way that is wonderfully reminiscent of the best Saturday matinee swashbucklers. Glasgow: Cannon Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: UCI. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I The Rocky Honor Picture Show (15) (Jim Sharman, UK, 1975) Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Meat Loaf. 100 mins. The cult film to end all others, this rock spoof on old horror movies has created a breed of Rocky Horror crazies, and packs them in at late shows everywhere. The film has its moments, and Curry is splendidly camp as the bisexual Frank N. Furter. Glasgow: Grosvenor. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride.
I Scottish Film Archive Nighi (PG) 90 mins. Unashamedly nostalgic programme to celebrate the Archive‘s 15th anniversary. Various film clips show aspects of Glasgow's history -— from boat launches to housing protests to holiday scenes at Rothesay. Introduced by archivist Janet McBain, with piano accompaniment by Jim Lightbody. Glasgow: GFT.
I Scrooged (PG) (Richard Donner, US, 1988) Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Robert Mitchum, John Forsythe. 101 mins. Umpteenth screen version of Dickens‘ Christmas Carol, with Murray as a miserly television exec determined to exploit the yuletide schedules for all they are worth. He learns the error of his ways just in time for a cringe-inducing finale demanding peace on earth and goodwill to all men. Despite lavish effects and a motley constellation of guest stars, this is a formula comedy of contemporary cynicism whose uneasily vicious humour seems at odds with the spirit of the original. Alastair Sim, where are you now? Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I Shattered (15) (Wolfgang Petersen. US, 1991 ) Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, Greta Scaachi, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer. 98 mins. Emerging from a car crash with body and mind intact, but with no memory of the events leading up to the ‘accident‘ , Dan Merrick (Berenger) tries to piece together his life using only contradictory scraps of information. By lettingthe audience know only what Merrick does, Petersen (director of the acclaimed
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submarine epic Das Boot) cranks up an intelligent and exciting mystery thriller. General release.
I She’s Gotta Have it ( 18) (Spike Lee, US, 1986) Tracy Camilla Johns, Redmond Hicks, Spike Lee. 85 mins. Spirited, sympathetic comedy of sexual manners, with a snappy script and a fluid technique that marked an auspicious debut for its young, gifted and black writer/director/star. Edinburgh: Cameo. I A Short Film About Killing (18) (Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland, 1987) Miroslaw Baka, Krzysztof Globisa, Jan Tesarz. 84 mins. A brutal, intelligent exploration of the mechanics of murder and capital punishment. Kieslowski builds the tension to an unbearable pitch, his documantarist’s eye for physical detail focused unblinklingly on mortality, while his humanist’s intelligence pleads for the right to life. A masterpiece. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Singing Ringing Tree (U) (Francesco Stefani, East Germany, 1958) 73 mins. Imaginative adaptation of the Grimm Brothers’ tale, in which Princess Thousandbeauty‘s suitor prince has the unenviable task of supplying her with said vegetation in order to win her hand. Glasgow: GFT.
I Switch (15) (Blake Edwards, US,1991) Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, JoBeth Williams, Perry King. 103 mins. Undistinguished comedy from the director of Victor/ Victoria. again covering areas of male/female role reversal. A notorious, recently deceased womaniser is returned to Earth in the body of a woman (Barkin) and is given the chance to redeem himself ifhe can find any woman who genuinely liked his previous incarnation. Barkin‘s use of male body language is convincing, but Edwards tends to overdo the visual gags and completely fails to answer any of the questions raised. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge, Odeon. All UCIs.
I Tales oi Beatrix Potter (U) (Reginald Mills, UK, 1971) 90 mins. Various stories from the children‘s writer are told in musical form and danced by members of the Royal Ballet. Although Peter Rabbit and all his chums appear on screen, ballet is not perhaps the most engaging way to hold a young audience’s attention. Nevertheless, twenty years after its original release, it has become part of the holiday season and here benefits from being seen on the big screen. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (PG) (Michael Pressman, US, 1991) Paige Turco, David Warner, Ernie Reyes Jr. 87 mins. A quick return for the original shell-suits, although with less plot and less violence than the original. The evil Shredder has decided to grow a couple of mutants of his own, and it seems that only our four adolescent amphibians can save the day with the odd pizza reference and a truly dire ‘Ninja Rap‘ (with the painfully embarrassing Vanilla Ice). Time to hang
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22 The List 6- 19 December 1991
up those shells, dudes. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr, WMR Film Centre.
I The Tenant (18) (Roman Polanski, France, 1976) Roman Polanski, Melvyn Douglas, Isabelle Ad jani, Shelley Winters. 126 mins. A bureaucratic clerk (Polanski) takes over the lease of a gloomy Parisian apartment, but finds himself at the centre of a real (or is it imagined?) conspiracy. Well crafted but creakily plotted return to the paranoiac territory of the more successful Repulsion. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Thelma a Louise (15) (Ridley Scott, US. 1991) Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen. 129 mins. The buddy/road movie genres are turned on their heads as Sarandon and Davis grasp the steering wheel and head off leaving a trail of murder and mayhem in their wake. On one level, the film isthe critical catalyst that had the feminists cheering and put the stars on the coverof Time magazine; just as importantly, it‘s an accessible piece of entertainment with excellent central performances. Glasgow: GF'T‘. Edinburgh: Cannon. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.
I The Thief 0i eagdad (PG) (Ludwig Berger & Michael Powell, UK, 1940) Sabu. Conrad Veidt, Rex Ingram. 155 mins. Super Arabian Nights fantasy has native boy Sabu outwitting evil Grand Vizier Conrad Veidt with the help of a magic carpet and a rather splendid genie (played by silent director Ingram). The blend of fantasy, thrills and special effects has rarely been bettered, and children will absolutely adore it. Glasgow: GF'T.
I Total Recall (18) (Paul Verhoevcn, US. 1990) Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside. 109 mins. In Verhoeven’s hugely expensive rollercoaster of violence, Arnie plays a construction worker whose vacational fantasy (implanted by Rekali Incorporated) is to pitch him into a netherworld of assassins and femmes farales before unleashing the full truth about his nightmares of life on Mars. The crazy Dutchman‘s Martian chronicle, teeming with sicko incident, is powered along by bursts of gee-ain‘t-this-fun-brutality, but scores points for the playful ingenuity of the plotting, and Arnie looks like he‘s enjoying himself. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I T010 The Hero (15) (Jaco Van Dormael, Belgium, 1991) Michel Bouquet, Mireille Perrier, Jo De Backer. 90 mins. Fresh from film festival success (the Chaplin Prize at Edinburgh and the Camera D‘Or at Cannes) Van Dormael‘s intelligent first feature goes out on general release. Elderly Thomas reflects on his life, beginning with his rescue as a baby from a hospital fire, an event which he believes caused him to be mixed up with another child, with the result that he feels that he should be enjoying the comfortable existence of rich neighbour Alfred. Past and present, childhood and adulthood, are edited together to create a wonderfully absorbing whole. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I The Untouchables (PG) (Brian De Palma, US, 1987) Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Charles Martin Smith, Patricia Clarkson. 119 mins. David Mamet’s highly entertaining update of the old TV series. Eliot Ness learns the hard way how to deal with underworld crime and police corruption in Chicago during the Prohibition years. An Oscar-winning performance from Connery as the seasoned Irish Cop with a Scots accent, and De Niro turns in a grandiose Capone. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Valmont (12) (Milos Forrnan, France/GB, 1989) Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly, Fairuza Balk. 140 mins. Not so dangerous screen version of Choderlos de Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses, detailing the seductive intrigues of 18th century French aristocracy. Unlikely, however, to receive the same acclaim as Stephen Frears‘ adaptation of the same material—
Dangerous Liaisons — some years ago. See preview. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Welcome Home. Roxy Carmichael (12) (Jim Abrahams. US. 1990) Winona Ryder. Jeff Daniels. Laila Robbins. 95 mins. Rarely seen Winona Ryder vehicle seems destined for an embarrassing entry on her (and Hot Shors.’director Abrahams‘) CV. Teenage oddball Dinky Bosetti (Ryder. typecast again) is convinced that she is the forgotten lovechild of a homecoming celebrity and causes chaos as she sets about to tell the world. A flop in the US. and there‘s no reason why it won‘t follow suit overhere. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I What About Bob? (PG) (Frank 02. USA. 1991) Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss. Julie liagerty, Charlie Korsmo. 107 mins. Dreyfuss and Murray return to top form with this lunatic comedy about a multi-phobic patient who drives his anal-retentive shrink to distraction. The suggestion ofsomething a little more disturbing threatens to rear its head every now and then. but is restrained by the strait-jacket of the Touchstone formula— as it was in Down and ()ur in Beverly Hills. Still. the duo generate laughs aplenty in one of the year‘s more successful comedy outings. All UCls.
I Why Has Bodhi-Darma Left for the East? (12) (Bae Yong-Kyun. South Korea. 1989)135 mins. Award-winning feature written. directed. produced and photographed by Bae. whose use ofthe mountains of Korea as a visual and thematic backdrop to his characters' search for the meaning oflifc is stunning. An old master. his young disciple and an orphaned boy struggle with Zen Buddhist philosophies in a remote monastery. A subtly beautiful piece of film-making. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Wings Oi Desire ( 15) (Wim Wenders. W. Germany .1987) Bruno Ganz. Otto Sander. Solveig Dommartin. Peter Falk. 127 mins. Restless angel Ganz on duty over Berlin takes a tip from American movie star and former angel Falk on the possibilities of crossing over, and follows his mentor‘s path to consummate his relationship with beautiful circus acrobat Dommartin. Gorgeous black-and-white photography and a sensitive feel for the people and places of Berlin grace this thematically rich and uncharacteristically optimistic slice of Wenders enchantment. Highly recommended. Glasgow: GFT.
I The Wizard Of 02 (PG) (Victor Fleming. US. 1939) Judy Garland. Frank Morgan. Ray Bolgcr. Bert Lahr. Jack Haley. Margaret Hamilton. Toto. 10
mins. Miserable Dorothy runs away from home but is soon whisked up into a magical land where her adventures teach her that happiness is to be found in her own back yard. Classic stuff indeed . just chockful ofgreat songs. Glasgow: GFI‘. I The Wolves oi Willoughhy Chase (PG) (Stuart Orme, UK, 1989) Stephanie Beacham, Mel Smith. Geraldine James. 93 mins. Based on the eponymous book by Joan Aitken the film is set in a wolf-infested Victorian Britain. Beacham is the villainess in charge of the mansion to which the young heroes are sent. A rather scarey adaptation is brightened considerably by superb production design by Derek Jarman‘s regular chum and collaborator Chris Hobbs. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown ( 15) (Pedro Almodovar, Spain, 1988) Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas. Julieta Serrano. 98 mins. When Pepa‘s illicit affair with an older man is abruptly terminated, she sets out for revenge. but is distracted by a succession ofoffbeat visitors seeking her calming influence. A splendidly bizarre character comedy from the maker of Law ()fDesire. with some off-the-wall acting and a plot that pays ironic but affectionate homage tothe classic Hollywood comedies of the 1950s.
Glasgow: GFI". 4