Fllfl INDEX
Ell-M. mm:-
Films screening this fortnight enlisted below. with certificate. credits. brief review and venue details. Full-length reviews of
selected new releases can he found closeto the appropriate entry. Programme details
Film Index compiled by Alan Morrison.
IThe Abyss (15) (James Cameron. US. 1989) Ed Harris. Michael Biehn. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. 140 mins. An estranged couple get caught up in a tense drama on the sea floor in this movie made almost entirely underwater. Though Cameron has opted for a more contemplative exercise in tension. the intertwining of plots leads one to feel that he's crammed too much into the film‘s length. It may not go down as a great artistic achievement. but it does push back a few boundaries of the possible in movie-making. so it won‘t sink without trace. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Minster (18) (Atom Egoyan. Canada . 1991) Elias Koteas. Arsinee Khan jian. Maury Chaykin. 102 mins. A disparate array of plot elements — an insurance adjuster. film censors. a kinky couple — combines with off-kilter Twin Peaks-ish humour and some bizarre visuals in Atom (Speaking Parts) Egoyan’s most approachable movie to date. ‘A film about believable people doing believable things in an unbelievable way‘ is how he describes it. Wierd and. in its own way. wonderful. See preview. Glasgow: GF'I‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Ihiice in The Cities (U) (Wim Wenders. W. Germany. 1974) Rudiger Vogler. Yella Rotlander. Lisa Krezer. 110 mins. A despairing photo- journalist traveling across the United States finds himself on a journey back to Germany in the company of a 9-year-old girl. In the search for her family, he finds himself becoming surrogate parent and spiritual guide. Wise. perceptive and beautifully shot early Wenders. Glasgow: GF'I‘. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The American Friend (PG) (Wim Wenders. West Germany/France. 1977) Dennis Hopper. Bruno Ganz. Gerard Blain. Lisa Kreuzer. 123 mins. Based on the Patricia Highsmith novel Ripley’s Game. this excellent. existentialistfilm noir centres on an alienated Hopper at large in Germany. where his task is to locate and motivate a killer without a track record. He finds his hired man in the innocent Ganz. but loses his sense of identity in the process. Stirring stuff. with all that eloquent desolation that typifies Wenders' work. Edinburgh: Cameo. I The Mothnimetioe (PG) The programme includes the work of nine multiple award-winning animators from Western and Eastern Europe and North America. A wide selection of styles are on view. from the computer animated work of J ohn (Tin Toy) Lasseter to the pop culture references of Garry Bardin's Grey Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. Glasgow: GFT. IhwakeelegsUZ) (Penny Marshall. US. 1991) Robert De Niro. Robin Williams. John Heard. Julie Kavner. Penelope Ann Miller. Max von Sydow. 121 mins. Based on the book by psychiatrist Oliver Sacks. A wakenings tells the story of a reclusive neurologist (Williams) who finds himself drawn to a particular group of statue-like encephalitic patients. As his obsession with their unexpressed inner lives grows. he develops a relationship with Lowe (De Niro) which begins to release both Lowe‘s ability to communicate and his own repressed emotions. Fife: Adam Smith. I Basic lestinct(18) (Paul Verhoeven. US. 1992) Michael Douglas. Sharon Stone. George Dzundza. Jeanne Tripplehorn. 128 mins. Onotheoedgc ‘Frisco cop Nick Curran (Douglas) becomes embroiled with a successful novelist and murder suspect (Stone); she. in turn. treats him to a series of psychological fomications while going along a similar path with his body. Easily the best. im-pick-sharp thriller for several years. with steamy sex scenes that leave the screen dripping with sweat. General release. I La Belle lloiseuse ( 15) (Jacques Rivette. France. 1991) Michel Piccoli. Jane Birkin. Emmanuelle Beart. 240 mins. Jaded painter Edouard Frenhofer (a tremendous performance from Piccoli) finds inspiration in a new model . the effects of which spill over to his private life. Rivette‘s absorbing film minors the process of painting - minutely observed details build into a powerful artistic vision. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. 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. peripatetic fling that ends in tragedy.
18The List 5— l8June 1992
appear in the Listings section which loilows. i
Filmed with a dealing technique and an irritating emptiness by the maker of Diva. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Betty em: The Complete Version ( l8) (Jean-Jacques Beineix. France. 1986) Jean-Hugues Anglade. Beatrice Dalle. Gerard Darrnon. 180 mins. The story remains the same — boy meets girl. girl flips out — but the extra 60mins of unseen footage is a mixed bag. Some new scenes help give a creditable timescale to Betty's descent into insanity. while others are distracting. the cinematic equivalent of monstrous carbuncles on the face of a well-loved friend. Glasgow: GFI'. I The Ill else (15) (Luc Besson. France. 1988) Rosanna Arquette, Jean-Marc Barr. Jean Reno. 120 mins. Barr and Reno. friends since they were children. are divers competing to reach the greatest depths without the aid of breathing equipment. and also rivals for the romantic attentions of Ms Arquette. A commercial smash in its native France. Besson's film is astunningly photographed visual experience in varying shades of blue. Even if the plot is a load of tosh. the dolphins are nice. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Blue Velvet (18) (David Lynch. US, 1986) Kyle MacLachlan. Dennis Hopper. Isabella Rossellini. 120 mins. In small-town Middle America. would-be boy detective MacLachlan finds a severed car on some waste ground. When the police shoo him away he decides to dosome 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: Cameo.
I Boyz N The flood (15) (John Singleton,US.1991) Cuba Gooding Jr. Larry Fishbume. 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 of teenage 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. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Bum ( 18) (Barry Levinson. US. 1991) Warren Beatty. Annette Bening. Harvey Keitel. Ben Kingsley. 135 mins. Levinson‘s version of the life of gangster Ben ‘Bugsy‘ Siegel is a glossy package that‘s rather empty when unwrapped. Beatty is adequate in the title role. but is outclassed on screen by the feisty Bening as his actress moll. A violent. if glamourised. twist to the American cinema‘s obsession with ‘men of vision'. Strathclyde: Magnum.
I Can-Asian Shorts Prog 1 A programme of short film and video works by and about Canadians of Asian origin. Unsurprisingly. themes of alienation. exile and nostalgia dominate the new landscape that must now be called home. The five films shown here also emphasise women‘s perSpcctives. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Cape Fear ( 18) (Martin Scorsese. US. 1991) Robert De Niro. Nick Nolte. Jessica Lange. Juliette Lewis. 127 mins. Scorsese’s stunning remake ofthe 196
original leaves Silence of the Lambs pallid by comparison. De Niro is terrifying as white trash psycho Max Cady. out of prison and stalking the family of the lawyer who suppressed evidence to put him away. Disturbing sexual undertones. centring on lS-year-old Danny (Lewis). make this an even more uncomfortable. but unmissable.
top-notch scare-fest. Edinburgh: UCl. Fife:
Adam Smith.
I Cheto's Land (18) (Michael Winner. US. 1972) Charles Bronson. Jack Palance. Richard Basehart. 100 mins. That Winner/Bronson pairing leaves urban vigilante life behind and looks at the early Wild West with a typically violent eye. even including their trademark ‘wife rape' scene. Bronson is an Apache half-breed pursued by a posse of white men. but any comments about racism are bludgconed by the director‘s reprehensible approach. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Children of Nature (12) (Fridrick Thor Fridricksson. lceland. 1991 ) 85 mins. An old farmer moves to the city and in an old folks‘ home rediscovers the first love of his youth. In an attempt to regain their past. they steal a jeepand become a sort of geriatric Bonnie and Clyde. Fridricksson emphasises the mythical qualities of the lcelandic settings in this deservedly Oscar-nominated meditation on old age. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Colossal Love (15) (Jutta Bruckner. Germany. 1984/92) 105 mins. Set in 1808. Bruckner's second film in her planned trilogy on love centres on Jewish writer Rahei Levin. who begins a curious relationship with a young poet against a background of anti-Semitism. The unusual format juxtaposes 19th century prose with the latest video techniques. The director will discuss the film after this one-off screening on Mon 15. Edinburgh:
Filmhouse.
I Come and See ( l8) (Elim Klimov. USSR. i987) Alexei Kravchcnko. Olga Mironova. 142 mins. Klimov‘s epic account of an atrocious Nazi massacre in Byelorussia in 1943 is one ofthe
genuinely great films of the decade. The horrific events are seen through the eyes of a young boy (Kravchenko) . who ages visibly throughout a remarkable performance. Not simply a meditation on Russian history. but an epic about mankind. at once harrowing and visionary. which demonstrates that film can still take on the most monumental of issues in a serious fashion. Glasgow: GFI‘.
I The Commitments (15) (Alan Parker. UK. 1991) Robert Atkins. Michael Aheme. Angeline Ball. Maria Doyle. 118 mins. Sod U2 — when would-be manager J irnmy Rabbitte (Arkins) puts together The Commitments, soul comes to Dublin and the band become the force to really put Irish music on the map. Alan Parker delivers a hilarious. down-to-earth. close-to-home movie. stuffed full of good music and with some relevent social comment to boot. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Fife: Adam Smith.
I Dangerous Liaisons (15) (Stephen Frears. US. 1988) Glenn Close . John Malkovich. Michelle Pfeiffer. Keanu Reeves. 120 mins. Madame de Tourvel and the Vicomte de Valmont (Close and Malkovich) are treacherous 18th century aristocrats weaving a web of erotic duplicity around one another. Frears makes a notable Hollywood debut. guiding his east through a difficult set of narrative pirouettes. Yet for all the pent-up emotion on screen. little fervour seeps through. and the result is rather cold and calculating. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Deed Cairn (15) (Philip Noyce. Australia. 1989) Sam Neill. Nicole Kidman. Billy lane. 96 mins. A psycho on the seven seas disturbs a young couple trying to get away from it all on a cruise along the Barrier Reef. First rate suspense follows. in this canny mix of on-ship claustrophobia and wide open seascapes from Aussie new waver Noyce. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I 11de (15) (Damian Harris. US. 1991) Goldie Hawn. John Heard. Ashley Peldon. 108 mins. Given the title. it's fairly obvious that Hawn's sweet and loving hubby (Heard) will turn out to be a raving psycho. and guess what? A suspense-free thriller centring on a happily married art dealer who finds out that her husband and his supposed death in a car crash ain‘t what they seemed to be. Strathclyde: La Scala.
I Delicatessee (15) (Jean-Pierre Jeunet/Marc Caro. France. 1991) Dominique Pinon. Marie-Laure Dougnac. Jean-Claude Dreyfus. 99 mins. In a sepia wasteland somewhere in the future. a butcher feeds his neighbours with the juicy joints of his lodgers. But when former clown Louison (Pinon) arrives and falls for his daughter. an underground vegetarian resistance group come to the rescue. Hilarious blend of bizarre characters. slapstick and comic tension makes for the first true cult item of the ‘905. Glasgow: GFI‘. I Dive (15) (Jean-Jacques Beineix. France. 1981) Frederic Andrei. Roland Bertin. Richard Bohringer. 117 mins. The twisted fate of two tapes. one an illegal recording of an American opera star. the other exposing a crime ring. is the central strand of this daffy Gallic cult favourite. Style exudes from every sprocket hole. Glasgow: OFT. Fife: Adam Smith.
I Don't Tell “our The Babysitters Deed(12) (Stephen Herek. US. 1991) Christina Applegate. Keith Coogan. Josh Charles. 95 mins. In a somewhat dubious plot development. the elderly babysitter of five kids left at home for the summer kicks the proverbial bucket. leaving the teens to learn how to work together. accept responsibility. etc. etc. For all that. it‘s fairly amusing youth fare that grabs its various sub-plots with both hands. Glasgow: Cannon The Forge. Odeons: Glasgow. Edinburgh. Ayr. Hamilton. All UCIs.
IThe Doehle Lite olVeroeieue (15) (Krzystof Kiesiowski. Poland/France. 1991 ) lrene J acob. Philippe Volter. Alexander Bardini. 110mins. Two girls —one Polish. the other French - are born at the same time on the same day and come to discover that their fates are bound up together. An eerily fascinating and disturbing erotic dance of love and death from the director of Dekalog (The Ten Commandments). with an extraordinarj twin performance by Cannes award-winner Jacob. Central: MacRobert. Fife: Adam Smith. I Dreams (15) (Akira Kurosawa. Japan. 1990) Akira Terao. Martin Scorsese. 120 mins. Kurosawa's most personal film to date makes an interesting hybrid of Japanese culture and the latest in American film-making technology. Composed of eight separate dream sequences torn from the imagination of the old maestro himself. the end result betrays the occasional spot of self-indulgence but remains a visually stunning and emotionally uplifting experience. Look out for Scorsese as Van Gogh in a breathtaking sequence that has the artist moving through the worlds created by his own paintings. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
ITiie Emperor's ilekeehrmy Marches 0e(15) (Kazuo Hara. Japan. 1987) Kenzo Okuzaki. Shizumi Okuzaki. Kichitaro Yamada. 123 mins. Hara‘s doumentary on Kenzo Okuzaki. who staged a one-man campaign to lay the blame for
Japan's conduct in WWII at the feet of the Emperor. defies the conventions of the genre and touched on so many of the country’s taboos that no major Japanese distributor would handle it. Rough and raw. but undoubtedly compulsive. Glasgow: GFI‘.
I Europe “Me (15) (Agnieszka Holland. France/Germany. 1991) Marco Hofschneider. Julie Delpy. Halina Labonarska. 112 mins. In an attempt to avoid the death camps. a youngJewish boy tries to pass himself off as a member of the Hitler Youth. Despite touching a few raw nerves on home territory. the films uses its ‘based on a true story' caption as the excuse for all manner of unbelievable coincidences and laughable situations. A real disappointment. See review. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Fantastic Formats An unmissable event. prepared by the British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society. for anyone interested in the history of cinema and where its technology is heading. Two and a half hours of spectacularclips from the early silent days. through 3-D and Cinerama. to the latest groundbreaking formats. Places at this one-off event on Wed 10 June are sure to be snapped up. so book early. Tickets cost £7 (£5.90 for BKSTS rrcsnbere). Edinburgh: Filmhouee.
I FieslAeelyslsUS) (Phil Joanou. US. 1992) Richard Gere. Kim Basinger. Uma Thurman. Eric Roberts. 125 mins. Top psycho-analyst comes into contact with traumatised woman and her attractive sister. Affair follows. her husband dies. psycho-analyst finds himself prime suspect. Hollywood‘s formulaic approach to replicating the Hitchcockian thriller falls flat with a movie that is totally signposted and utterly dumb. Final analysis? It's a stiff. Edinburgh: Dominion. UCl. I The Fountain (15) (Yuri Mamin. USSR. 1988) 101 mins. One of the first films to take full advantage of recent opportunities to speak freely about Soviet society. Mamin‘s satire uses an overcrowded tenement with bad plumbing as a metaphor for political decay. An elderly newcomer to the building is appointed maintenance engineer. but. as he is unable to speak the local language. chaos ensues. Glasgow: GFT.
I Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (18) (Rachel Talalay. US. 1991) Robert Englund, Lisa Zane. Shon Greenblatt. Yaphet Kotto. 90 mins. Dearly beloved. we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Freddy Kruger. child killer and dream stalker. But the man whose bladed gloves put the rip in R.I.P. doesn‘t leave us before a final (and disappointing) 3D climax. Plot? Be serious. A very poor epitaph indeed. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Fried Green Tomatoes attire whistle Stop Cafe (12) (Jon Avnet. US. 1991) Kathy Bates.Jessica Tandy. Mary Stuart Masterson. Mary-Louise Parker. 130 mins. After the local Ku Klux Klan threatens the busy cafe in Whistle Stop. Alabama for serving coloured customers. the female owner and her black handyman find themselves on trial for an unsolved murder. A chronicle of courage and ingenuity that avoids becoming as overwhelmingly bean-warming as one might have feared. Not the most tantalising item on the menu. but a flavoursome little dish nonetheless. Central: MacRobert.
I The ileed That Rocks The Cradle ( 15) (Curtis Hanson. US. 1991) Rebecca De Mornay. Annabella Seiorra. Matt McCoy. 110 mins. Nanny manages to con her way into the home of the family who inadvertantly caused her husband‘s suicide and her own miscarriage. and soon begins to show psychotic tendencies. Despite implausible plotting. director Hanson cranks up the tension and delivers a slap-bang finale. In other words. beautifully crafted mainstream trash. General release.
I iiaegin' With The Homeboys (18) (Joseph B. Vasquez. US. 1991) Doug E. Doug. Mario Joyner. John Leguizamo. Nestor Serrano. 88 mins. Four friends -— an angry young black man. a struggling actor. a womaniser and a naive supermarket clerk — go off in search of a good time on a Friday night. It‘s supposed to be a break from their daily drudgery. but it only brings more trouble. Subtly addictive film that includes hilarious ensemble performances. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Hear My 80!. (15) (Peter Chelsom. UK/lreland. 1991) Adrian Dunbar. Ned Beatty. Tara Fitzgerald. 103 mins. Devious but loveable promoter Mickey (Dunbar) tries to win back his reputation and the woman he loves by booking famous Irish tenor and tax fugative Josef Locke for his Liverpool nightclub. A modestly charming British production that is fun if you're not expecting some sort of all-time classic. Edinburgh: Dominion. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. I High iieeis (15) (Pedro Almodovar. Spain. 1991) Victoria Abril. Miguel Bose. Marisa Paredes. 115 mins. More melodramatic frolics from Spain's finest. this time in the shape of a murderous triangle between a mother. her daughter and the latter’s husband. While Almodovar isn‘t quite at his best. Abril excels as the TV news presenter who admits on air to her