INDEX FILM
V OPENERS
I Delicatessen (15)
A group of underground vegetarian resistance fighters rescue a former clown from a tenement of hungry cannibals. Wonderful and bizarre French hit is highly
recommended . I Father of the Bride (PG) Steve Martin just can‘t believe his baby girl is all grown up. Predictable cinematic slush masquerading as domestic comedy. See review. I the Favour. the Watch. and the Very Big Fish ( 15) Bob Hoskins is a French photographer using down-and-out Jeff Goldblum as the model for a devotional picture of Christ. See review. I Flaming Creatures ( 18) Unavailable in Britain since the ‘605. the late Jack Smith‘s avant-garde classic is simultaneously poetic. shocking and playfully sexual. I Problem Child 2 (PG) The return of the troublesome kid in the bow tie is perhaps not the most eagerly awaited event of 1992. Thistimc surrogate father and son take on the women in their new home town. I liaise the Bed Lantern (15) Visually beautiful and intensely moving account of a young Chinese girl‘s experiences as a concubine early this century. A finely crafted film from the director of Red Sorghum. See preview. I Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (U) Heigh ho! lt‘s off to the movies we go. Disney‘s most famous fairytale classic is re-released for the school holidays. I Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (PG) The original crew boldly go where they’ve gone several times before. but this time encounter the intergalactic equivalent of a superpower peace conference between the Federation and the Klingons. Special screenings of all six Star Trek movies will take place on Sun 23 Feb at UCl Clydebank (HS/£10), beginning at 10.30am. and at Edinburgh Cannon (£10). beginning at 11am. See review. I Surprise Film To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, the cinema will show a major new film not yet seen in the UK at 9pm on Sat 15 Feb. Tickets for this free screening will be in great demand, but pairs of tickets have been set aside for the first 20 people taking this copy of The List to the Filmhouse box office before 2pm on Sat 15.
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Films screening this fortnight are listed below, with certificate. credits, brief review and venue details. Full-length reviews of selected new releases can he found close to the appropriate entry. Programme details
appear in the Listings section which follows. Film Index compiled by Alan Morrison.
I The Addams Family (PG) (Barry Sonnenfeld. US. 1991) Anjelica Huston. RaulJulia. Christopher Lloyd. Dan Hedaya. 100 mins. When long-lost Uncle Festcr returns from 25 years in the Bermuda Triangle. it disrupts the idyllic lifestyle of the Addams clan. But is this Festcr a fortune-grabbing imposter'? Big budget movie has all of the macabre sense of fun of the TV series and the original New Yorker cartoons. as well assets and design that any self-respecting ghoulish household would die for. Literally. General release.
Iera (12) (Otomo Katsuhiro. Japan. 1989) Animated by Nakamura Takashi. with the voices of lwata Mitsue. Sasaki Nozomu. Koyama Marni. lshida Taro. 124 mins. Based on the multi-volume graphic novel by Otomo. Akira is a mythical. futuristic tale of post-holocaust Tokyo. where pill-popping biker kids begin to unearth a government project designed to exploit the psychic and telekinctic powers of a group of laboratory-bound children. Superny animated. with a fantastic visual and narrative imagination. but you‘d be well advised to know something of the plot before you see it. Edinburgh: Cameo. Strathclyde: Motherwell Theatre.
I An American Tail 2: Flevel Goes West (U) (Phil Nibbelink/Simon Wells. US. 1991 ) With the voices of Phillip Glasser. Dom DeLuise. James Stewart. John Cleese. 75 mins. Disillusioned with their New York tenement. the Mousekewitcz family head out to the Wild West. where Fievel teams up with Sheriff Wylie Burp and his friend Tiger in order to clean up the town run by evilCat R. Waul. Not really up to the standard ofthe original. Edinburgh: UCI. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.
I Apocalypse llowl ( 18) (Francis Coppola. US. 1980) Martin Sheen. Marlon Brando. Robert Duvall. Dennis Hopper. 153 mins. Vietnam as The Ultimate Trip. We follow US Army assassin Sheen downriver and deeper into the Heart of Darkness ruled over by Brando's mad Colonel Kurtz. Alternately pretentious and visually overpowering (the Valkyries helicopter attack. for example). its grandiloquent folly somehow pierces right to the bone of the conflict. Glasgow: GFT.
I L'Avventura ( 18) (Michelangelo Antonioni. ltaly. 1960) Monica Vitti. Gabriele Ferzetti. Lea Massari. 145 mins. Slow and detached from plot devices. Antonioni's focus concentrates more on the developing relationship of a couple searching the Sicilian landscape for a missing friend than the how or why of the disappearance itself. A prime example of European chic. now looking a bit too self-conscious. Glasgow: GFT.
I Barton Filth (15) (Joel and Ethan Coen. US. 1991)John Turturro. John Goodman. Judy Davis. Michael Lerner. 117 mins. A special free preview screening on Sat 22 Feb at 1.30pm for those bringing along a copy of this issue ( 168) of The List. See review. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Betty Blue (18) (Jean-Jacques Beineix. France. 1986) Jean Hughes Anglade. Beatrice Dalle. 120 mins. Tempestuous love gone mad as an older handyman and a free-spirited woman embark on a passionate. pcripatetic fling that ends in tragedy. Filmed with a dazzling technique and an irritating emptiness by the maker of Diva. Glasgow: GFT. I Blll B l’ed's Bogus Journey (PG) (Peter Hewitt. US. 1991) Keanu Reeves. Alex Winter. George Carlin. Joss Ackland. 93 mins. Evil robot versions ofthat most excellent duo totally kill our heroes. causing them to take on the Grim Reaper at party games. make a quick visit to Heaven and eventually win the day. A triumphant sequel. slightly more coherent than the bodacious original - in Bill and Ted terms. at least. General release. IBllfy Bathgate ( 15) (Robert Benson. US.1991) Dustin Hoffman. Lorin Dean. Nicole Kidman. Bruce Willis. 107 mins. Fairly dull adaptation of the Doctorow novel has local kid Lorin Dean suitably impressed by the sophisticated evil ways of gangster Dutch Schultz (Hoffman). Flashes of violence. but suffers from a little too much Grey Suit Syndrome. Central: Regal.
I Blame It On The Bellhoy (12) (Mark Herman. UK. 1991) Dudley Moore. Bryan Brown. Richard Griffiths. Patsy Kensit. Alison Steadman. 79 mins. Three men — mild mannered clerk Mr
Orton. lecherous Mr Horton and hit man Mr Lawton - are confused by the bellboy at their Venetian hotel. Hilarious premise. huh? Strained comedy is the cinema equivalent of the local amateur dramatics group‘s production of the headmaster’s third-rate farce. General release.
I Blood Sllllple(18) (Joel Coen. US. 1983)John Getz. Francis McDormand. M. Emmet Walsh. 99 mins. Auspicious debut from the Coen brothers‘ direction/production team. Walsh excels as the seedy Sheriff investigating a simple murder whose devilish Texan chronicle of double-crossing is anything but simple. An enthusiastic attempt at contemporary film noir. which keeps everyone guessing even after the final frame. Edinburgh: Cameo. Filmhouse.
I The Blues Brothers ( 15) (John Landis. US. 1980) John Belushi. Dan Aykroyd. Carrie Fisher. 130 mins. Bloated. overlong anarchic Chicago comedy with the two stars on a mission from God to salvage the imperilled fortunes ofan orphanage. Lots of guest stars. musical numbers and automotive destruction in a typical product of over-emphatic contemporary American humour. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Boyz N The llood(15) (John Singleton. US. 1991) Cuba Gooding Jr. Larry Fishburne. Ice Cube. Morris Chestnut. 112 mins. A poignant depiction of life in the rundown suburbia of South Central Los Angeles by debut director Singleton. A group ofteenage friends try to keep their heads above the never‘ending flood of reprisal killings. but find that it is all too easy to get sucked into the violence. Ultimately moving and emotionally harrowing. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.
I The Brave Don't Cry (PG) (Philip Leacock. UK. 1952) John Gregson. Meg Buchanan. Andrew Keir. Fulton Mackay. 90 mins. Two years afterthe Knockshinnoch mine disaster. John Grierson's Group 3 production venture put together this semi-documentary about a fictional pit collapse. Drawing from the acting talent ofGlasgow’s Citizens‘ Theatre. it is an emotionally compelling drama that celebrates the values of Scotland's working-class communities. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Buddy‘s Song ( 12) (Claude Watham. UK. 1991) Roger Daltrey. Chesney Hawkes. Sharon Duce. Michael Elphick. 106 mins. Daltrey plays retired rock ‘n‘ roller Terry. whose broken relationship with his wife (Duce) causes his son Buddy (Hawkes) great distress. While Terry spendsa short spell in the Slammer. Buddy moves in with his mum and forms a band. but a manager is needed to keep them on the straight and narrow. Cue Terry's release. Unambitious comedy drama with songs. which wastes a strong cast‘s talents on hackneyed subject matter. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Buffet Frold ( 15) (Bertrand Blier. France. 1979) Bernard Blier. Gerard Depardieu. Micehl Serrault. 93 mins. Crooked police inspector Blier pere. a man with an alarming tendency to shoot suspects on sight. suspects Depardieu ofan unsolved murder and thus a blackly comic chase begins. Freewheeling post-Bunuel caper in the best Blier (fl/s) style. which should be eagerly sought out by those who know him only for the arthouse smash Tmp Belle Pour Toi. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Caravagglo(18) (Derek Jarman. UK. 1986) Nigel Terry. Sean Bean. Tilda Swinton. 90mins. Jarman‘s biographical study of the brilliant ltalian Renaissance painter centres on the artist‘s triangular relationship with a low-life gambler and his prostitute lover. a passion that is to result in murder. Ambitious and accessible work that finds a delicate. cinematic equivalent for the subtle shadings of in Caravaggio‘s brushwork. Glasgow: GFT.
I Chinatown (Roman Polanski. US. 1974) Jack Nicholson. Faye Dunaway. John Huston. 131 mins. Private eye Jake Gittes takes on a routine case in 1937 LA and ends up uncovering more than he bargained for. Splendid conspiracy thriller with a handsome period look and a quite superlative cast. Despite rumours spread by Nicholson and Polanski. though. the nose-slitting scene was faked. Glasgow: GFT.
I City Of Hope ( 15) (John Sayles. US. 1991) Vincent Spano. Tony Lo Bianco. Joe Morton. 129 mins. Eleven years after The Return ofthe Secaucus Seven. John Sayles is still at the forefront ofthe American independent film movement. His latest work examines the urban dynamics ofa 19905 working-class community. ccntring on the civic corruption and old-style blue-collar honesty that surrounds the construction industry. Strathclyde: UCl East Kilbride.
I Close My Eyes (18) (Stephen Poliakoff. UK. 1991)Saskia Reeves. Clive Owens. Alan Rickman. 107 mins. During the long hot London summer of 1990. the affectionate familial bond of brother and sister Richard and Nathalie erupts into a passionate sexual liason. A calming shelter from a society on the verge of falling apart. their relationship is made more addictive by the taboo surrounding it. A troublineg effective and erotic drama. Central: MacRobert Arts Centre.
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The List 14 — 27 February—1992 17