REVIEW FILM
0F MICE AND MEN
With one excellent version oi John Steinbeck’s classic novel already in the can-1939’s pairing oi Lon Chaney Jr and Burgess Meredith - does the world really need another? Yes, it it means that this moving story oi iriendshlp and dreams can be retold to a new audience jaded by the dog-eared copies at the boolr that are passed on from one D-Grade English class to another. , Attimes, John Malirovich’s i slow-witted but tender-hearted Lenny is a little too studied, too much like a puppy wanting sympathy than a man oi sweet simplicity. However, as the iilm develops, he periectly captures the
helplessness ol the encroaching tragedy. Gary Slnlse’s George has a quiet heroism about him, while Sherilyn Fenn brings a restless sexiness to the troublesome part oi Curley’s wiie. As director, Sinise marries the themes oi Steinbeck’s novel to vibrant landscapes oi rural iarrn lite and migrant workers, painted with the eye oi an American Breughel. This is American tragedy in its purest lonn: good but tlawed individuals set against the times and communities they live in. (AM)
Di Mice And Men (PG) (Gary Sinise, ; US, 1992) John Mallrovlch, Gary ’ Sinise, Sherilyn Fenn.111 mins. From
Fri 27: Edinburgh: Cameo, UCI.
; Strathclyde: UCI Clydebanlr.
l‘ '
Di Mice And Men: ‘American tragedy in its purest torm' ?
TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK i WITH ME With the original TV series rather I outstaying its initial welcome to lapse ' irom sell-parody into sell-seli-parody, . you might wonder with good reason I whether we actually need a Twin Pealrs ; movie to enrich our lives, but the i answer is surprisingly and I resoundingly In the aliirmative. Chronicling the events oi the last seven ' days leading up to Laura Palmer's I savage murder, David Lynch’s latest is ; as dark-hued and disturbing a mlasma oi small-town corruption and perversity as he’s ever conjured up for an unsuspecting audience. lt’s precisely this nightmarish quality- as well as the sensationalist excesses he’d never have gotten away with on US Til-that ‘ gives this celluloid visit to log ladyland ‘ a distinct identity outwith the mere gulrlrlness of its small screen iorbear. 1 While most oi your usual Peakle laves irom Kyle McLachlan’s Cooperto ; Ray Wise’s Leland Palmer dutliully i pitch up, the locus is largely on Sheryl Lee’s lll-lated Laura as the mysterious evil that has entered her Ilie whirls her into a spiral oi sexual and narcotic dissipation. The result is a grim iantasia oi arrant grotesquerie. Miss it at your peril. (TJ) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (18) 3 (David Lynch, us, 1992) Sheryl Lee, ‘ lier McLachlan, Ray Wise. 135 mins. From Fri 27: Glasgow: Cannon i
Sauchlehall Street. Edinburgh: Odeon, UCI.
Sister Act: ‘good-natured mugging irom ell
SISTER ACT
concemed'
America’s surprise box oiiice smash oi the year, the ecclesiastical musical comedy plays like Some Litre it Hot meets The Sound Di Music. Whoopi Goldberg is nightclub chanteuse Deloris Van Cartier, Involved in a somewhat unliker romantic liaison with mailosi main man Vince LaBocca (Harvey Keitel l) but iorced to go on the run when she sees him casually murder one oi his underllngs. Thanks to a lrlndly cop (Bill Nun), she’s soon llxed up with a hideout where Vince will never iind her, a nearby convent where stern Mother Superior Maggie Smith is initially rather disdainiul oi her all-too-worldly new arrival. Our
Whoopl soon proves her mettle, however, by helping to transiorrn the ; nuns’ in-house choir irom be-wimpled i whiners to soul stirring sisters. The 3 iilm is saved irom predictable ; Touchstone iluii status by good-natured mugging irom all concerned and the roundly entertaining : vitality of the musical numbers, which revisit the Motown standards oi yesteryear to cherishable eiiect. ‘My God’ indeed. (TJ)
SisterAct (PG) (Emile Ardolino, US, 1992) Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Smith, Harvey Keltel. 100 mins. From Fri 21: Ddeons: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ayr, Hamilton. Cannons: Falkirlr, Kllmamock. All UCls. Glasgow: Grosvenor, MGM Parlrhead. Central: Allanparit, Caledonian. File: Robin’s. Strathclyde: Kelbume, WMB.
GREEN I E8755;
I La Belle Noiseuse Divertimento Right then, all of you who baulked at the idea of watching the full four hour version of Jacques Rivette‘s masterly movie. Here we have the 126 minute version, which is not merely shortened but reworked in order to give brisker pacing and slightly different flavour to the plot. Alternative takes and reordered editing give even those who are familiar with the artist-model-wife plotline something new to chew
I Don’t Move, Die, Rise Again Two children use their wits to survive in an isolated Russian mining town immediately after the Second World War. This is a world in a state of flux, where the long-suffering miners co—exist with slave labourers and Japanese prisoners of war, and — like many great Soviet pieces of filmmaking— it uses its depiction of the past to cast an unforgiving light on the present. Although filmed with detailed realism, it captures the sense of optimism that pervades Russian folksongs and which is hinted at in the regenerative title.
I Euro Cinema Forget the stuffiness of the forthcoming Summit. Under the auspices of the European Commission’s MEDIA Programme, the Cannon cinema in Kilmamock — along with 99 other cinemas in towns within the European Community (and Switzerland)— will be celebrating new European cinema with a week-long programme made up of Europa Europa, The Playboys, Hear My Song and The Double Life of Veronique. See Listings for details.
I Fringe Film and Video Festival The Eighth Fringe Film and Video Festival— the country‘s foremost platform for young and experimental filmmakers — gets underway at the Edinburgh Filmhouse on Thursday 3 December. See Agenda, page 4. Full details next issue.
I Single White Female Jennifer Jason Leigh
moves into Bridget
Fondas flat, and proceeds bit by bit to take over her looks, life and boyfriend. Those List classified ads | will never be the same i again. See feature, page 8.