FILM INDEX
Italian sailors find themselves stranded in the Greek village they were supposed to be ransacking. and settle down to an idyllic life with the locals. A tribute to the kinship of the Mediterranean peoples. this 1992 Oscar winner carries sentimentality and knowing humour in 'equal amounts. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Iii” Pierce (PG) (Michael Curtiz. US. 1945) Joan Crawford. Jack Carson. Zachary Scott. 113 mins. Crawford excels (she won an Oscar) as the titular woman who turns her back on her husband and becomes a successful restauranteur. while fighting her own selfish daughter for the heart of a playboy (Scott) and getting embroiled in a murder plot. Viewed by some as the sort of strong woman's role that is so elusive today. its suggestion that death follows when a woman abandons the kitchen sink is actually pretty patronising. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I My 0'“ Private ldaiI0(18) (Gus Van Sant. US. 1991) River Phoenix. Keanu Reeves. William Richert. i0) nuns. Snakespeare’s Henry IV Parts I and 2 are given a sleazy. contemporary twist in Van Sant‘s follow-up to the admirable Drugstore Cowboy. Screen heart- throbs Phoenix and Reeves make brave career moves by playing a rent boy and the preppie layabout object of his affections. but to good effect. A compelling. idiosyncratic. left-field gem. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I Iifllt of the Living Dead (18) (Tom Savini. US. 1991) Tony Todd. Patricia Tallman. Tom Towles. 96 mins. Not as influential as Romero's original. but this remake by horror sfx grandmeister Savini is more intelligent and terrifying than the other zombie rip-offs that have oozed their rotting flesh onto the market. With a heroine in the Ripley mould. it's toughened up for an apocalyptic scenario. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Ito-hm To fill! (15) (Robert Hamion. US. 1992) Jean-Claude Van Damme. Rosanna Arquette. Kieran Culkin. 95 mins. Van Damme's biggest movie to date isn‘t his best. maybe because it tries to load him with too many traditional Hollywood hero traits while barely keeping the fans happy with the violent stuff. As an escaped prisoner who comes to the aid of a widow and her kids caught in a battle with land developers. he's weighed down a lack-lustre story. and can only prove that he's no Steve McQueen for the 90s. General release.
I Of Mice And lien (PG) (Gary Sinise. US. 1992) John Malkovich. Gary Sinise. Sherilyn
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Fenn. 111 mins. A slow-witted. gentle giant and his resourceful. protective side-kick search for work in Depression-hit America. Sinise the director marries the themes of Steinbeck's classic novel to vibrant landscapes of rural farm life. American tragedy in its purest form. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Out on the Box (15) A short season of four programmes of TV archive material featuring lesbians and gay men on the British small screen. Programme One includes Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane and The British Connection: A Comedy. Programme Two
features Country Matters: Breeze Anstey. Second City Firsts: Girl (with Alison Steadman) and The Important Thing Is Love. Glasgow: GFT.
I Passenger 57(15) (Kevin Hooks. US. 1992) Wesley Snipes. Bruce Payne. Tom Sizemore. 84 mins. Hijack specialist Payne kills his guards while flying to trial and takes over the plane. Disaster! But wait — isn't that terrorist expert Snipes sitting over there. accidently on the same flight. That's the set-up. but it's the action that matters and Hook delivers it pretty well. using the confines of the setting and the comic book traits of his characters to advantage. General release.
I Point Break (15) (Kathryn Bigelow. US. 1991) Keanu Reeves. Patrick Swayze. Gary Busey. Lori Petty. 120 mins. Director Bigelow (Blue Steel. Near Dark) takes on Hollywood's action/adventure big boys at their own game and comes out on top. Reeves is the eager young FBI recruit on the trail of a group of latex-masked bank robbers who are known to be surfers. Board under arm. he heads for the waves. Bigelow tackles cliches of buddy partnerships. macho bullshit and thriller shoot-outs with fresh energy. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Power Of One ( 12) (John G. Avildscn. US. 1992) Stephen Dorff. Annin Mueller-Stahl. John Gielgtid. A young Afrikaaner boxer begins teaching English to underprivileged township kids and becomes a thorn in the side of the white regime. Hollywood crassness hits an all-time high as Rocky meets Cry Freedom. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Return ("The living Dead(18)(Dan O'Bannon. US. 1984) Clu Gulager. James Karen. Don Calfa. Thom Mathews. 91 mins. Some meddling kids disturb some mysterious military gas canisters. causing the local dead to rise from their graves. demanding ‘More brainsl‘. Whether this cry is directed at the scriptwriters. the director or the audience is unclear. Packed with bad-taste gags. the film concludes. somewhat lamely. with the end of civilised life as we know it. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Samba Traore (PG) (Burkina Faso. 1993) 85 mins. On the way back to his village. Samba robs a petrol station and makes off with a case of banknotes. but although he subsequently becomes a successful businessman. his criminal past catches up with him and he is banished from the village. With short La Silence de la Famine. African Film Festival. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Sarina Halo (PG) (Cameroun. I991) 96 mins. An idealistic teacher arrives in a village determined to give his students a practical education. but his methods incur the wrath of the tyrannical village hierarchy. African Film Festival. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Sarafina! (15) (Darrell James Roodt. South Africa. 1992) Leleti Khumalo. Whoopi Goldberg. Miriam Makeba. 119 mins. Unlike traditional escapist musicals. this one confronts real political and racial problems without flinching. Filled with township music that celebrates life over hardship. it tells of a young girl whose dreams of peace and stardom are shattered when she becomes caught in a whirlpool of hate. Real Soweto settings underline the message and unnerve the audience. Extraordinary. shocking and uplifting. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Savage light: Les Nuits Fauves (18) (Cyril Collard. France. 1992) Cyril Collard. Romane Bohringer. Carlos Lopez. 126 mins. A photographer discovers he has contracted HIV and finds himself torn between a male and female lover. An incredibly powerful film that touches raw nerves of unprotected sex and the treatment of people living with AIDS. Probably one of the films of the year. made all the more poignant by director/writer/star Collard‘s untimely death three weeks before it swept the
French Cesars. Special List/Cameo preview screening - full coverage next issue. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Scent of a Womarm 15) (Martin Brest. US. 1992) Al Pacino. Chris O'Donnell. James Rebhom. 156 mins. A blind. alcoholic ex- serviceman and a scholarship college boy spend Thanksgiving Weekend in New York and find themselves in a series of funny and moving adventures which finally lead them to come to terms with their true selves. Overlong in its opening and closing scenes. this is still one terrific movie. with what is possibly Pacino's best performance in a distinguished career.
Central: Regal. Fife: Adam Smith.
I Slnglcs(l2) (Cameron Crowe. US. 1992) Bridget Fonda. Campbell Scott. Kyra Sedgwick. Matt Dillon. 90 mins. The way it‘s been sold you'd think it was some total guitar hardcore odyssey vibe. but in fact it‘s a honey-coated romance that just happens to take place in Seattle. There's a high recognition factor for twentysomethings in the audience as they watch the ensemble cast find its way around misdirected crushes. parties from hell and crap gigs. Watch your life flash before you.
Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Strathclyde: WMR.
I Sister Act (PG) (Emile Ardolino. US. 1992) Whoopi Goldberg. Maggie Smith. Harvey Keitel. 100 mins. When Nightclub chanteuse Deloris (Goldberg) sees her gangster boyfriend murder an underling. she goes on the run and ends up in as the unlikely new member of a nearby convent. A bit like Some Like It Hot meets The Sound Of Music. except the songs hark back to Motown and are by far the best thing about the movie. Glasgow: MGM Parkhead.
I Slacker (15) (Richard Linklater. US. 1991) Over 100 Texans. 97 mins. Unclassifiable piece of independent American moviemaking which doesn't have a plot as such: instead it provides a snapshot of over 100 ‘slackers' — young. happy- go-lucky drifters - as they get through their daily lives. Structured as a monumental relay (each character briefly appears. meets the next. and so on). it has a loose. experimental. almostjazzy format that you'll either love or hate. A sure-fire cult bit if it can find its audience in the first place. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Sommersby (12) (Jon Amiel. US. 1993) Richard Gere. Jodie Foster. Bill Pullman. 114 mins. The plot of The Return of Martin Guerre goes wandering for a few years before emerging from the mists of the American Civil War in the shape of Jack Sommersby (Gere). who's not quite the man his wife (Foster) remembers. She's in love. but a court has to decide the genuineness of his claims. As effective as a thriller as the original but the central pairing lacks the spark that would really have set it on fire. Glasgow: MGMs. Edinburgh: Dominion. Borders: Roxy. All UCls.
I Star Trek 1-6 (PG) (Various. US. 1979-91) William Shatner. Leonard Nimoy. DeForest Kelley et al. Buddy. can you spare a day? Trekkie-maniacs only should consider beaming up for this marathon voyage toward the Final Frontier: though others may enjoy watching the hairs turn grey over a decade of boldly flogging the flagging horse Enterprise where each instalment has gone before. Begins at 10am. with tickets costing a tenner. And at least all prints are 70mm. Glasgow: MGM Sauchiehall Street.
I Star Wars (PG) (Gorge Lucas. US. 1977) Mark Hamill. Carrie Fisher. Harrison Ford. Alec Guinness. 121 mins. A long time ago in a galaxy far away. a band of young heroes fight to rescue a princess and save her planet from destruction. Hugely influential and successful space epic: a modem fairytale with laser swords. Central: Allanpark.
I The Story of Out Ju (12) (Zhang Yimou. China. 1992) Gong Li. Lei Lao Fheng. Ge Zhijun. 100 mins. Zhang makes a departure from the opulent beauty of Ju Don and Raise the Red Lantern with this documentary-style tale of a shy. pregnant woman who refuses to accept the injustice dealt out to her husband. Again the role of women in society is highlighted and again Gong Li is superb as her resilience is pitted against the unfeeling authorities. A masterly performance. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Strictly Ballrm (PG) (Baz ~Luhrmann. Australia. 1991) Paul Mercurio. Tara Morice. Bill Hunter. 94 mins. Dancefloor hopeful Scott Hastings incurs the wrath of the Australian Dance Federation by using his own steps in competition. loses his partner and his friends. but finds love and artistic integrity with the local wallflower. The ultimate feelgood movie. it is crammed with colour. glitter. music and spectacle. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Taxi Driver (18) (Martin Scorsese. US. 1976) Robert De Niro. Cybill Shepherd. Jodie Foster. 114 mins. An alienated taxi driver in New York is so repelled by the squalor and the moral decay around him that he is driven to terrible violence. One of the key films of the Seventies with the Scorsese-De Niro partnership at its peak. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Tilee lilnla Kid: (U) (Jon Turteltaub. US. 1993) Victor Wong. Michael Treanor. Chad Power. 84 mins. Three mini-martial artists use their grandfather's training to help their FBI agent dad nail a baddie. Sort of Home Alone meets the Turtles (minus the suits) as the youngsters in the audience cheer their on-screen heroes as they kick the poo-poo out of a startlingly inept adult world. General release.
I Tilli (PG) (ldrissa Ouedraogo. Burkina
Faso/Switzerland/France. 1990) Rasmane Ouedraogo. lna Cisse. Roukietou Barry. 81 mins. Young Saga returns to his rural village to find that his fiancee has become his father's second wife. The young couple tryst in secret. but eventually the community finds out. and the law (Tilai) is intransigent: Saga must die at the hands of his brother Kuilga. lntemal and external struggles are so universal. and brought so vividly to life. that the film remains accessible despite its alien cultural origins. African Film Festival. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I truly. III-Ir. Down (PG) (Anthony Minghella. UK. 1990) Juliet Stevenson. Alan Rickman. Bill Paterson. 103 mins. Nina. a young translator. thinks her life is falling apart when her lover dies. But when he returns. albeit with a cold and looking a little paler. she begins to question her previous notions of happiness. A wonderfully literate screenplay by first-time director Minghella and a faultless performance by Stevenson raise Truly. Madly. Deeply above the level of its American counterpart. Ghost. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I W Ileart (15) (Tony Bill. US. 1993) Christian Slater. Marisa Tomei. Rosie Perez. 102 mins. Tomei and Perez were the finds of 1992. stealing My Cousin Vinny and White Men Can 't Jump from under the noses of the stars. with Tomei going on to win an Oscar. Here. she is a waitress who falls for the dishwasher who suffers from a dodgy ticker. You'll laugh. you'll cry. you'll snuggle up together. See review. Glasgow: MGM Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: UCl. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank.
I The Vanishing (15) (George Sluizer. US. 1993) Jeff Bridges. Kiefer Sutherland. Nancy Travis. 110 mins. Throwing subsequent credibility out of the window. Dutch director Sluizer goes to Hollywood to remake his own classic. but agrees to a screenplay that removes all of the subtleties of his original chiller. Boyfriend searches for girlfriend who disappeared at shopping centre. only to come into contact with abductor — that much is the same. but one can only compare the disasterous American decisions with the elements that made them want to do it again in the first place. See review. General release.
I Vertigo (PG) (Alfred Hitchcock. US. 1958) James Stewart. Kim Novak. Barbara Bel Geddes. 128 mins. Detective Stewart. a man with a fear of heights. falls in love with a woman who apparently commits suicide. When he meets her double. he becomes obsessed with the possibility that she is still alive. Extaordinary plotting in this undervalued Hitchcock study of romantic mania. with Stewart memorably cast against type as the distinctly on-the-edge c0p. The Bernard Herrmann score is simultaneously lush and disturbing. Glasgow: GF'T.
I What llave I Done To Deserve This? (Pedro Almodovar. Spain. 1984) Carmen Maura. Luis Hostalot. 100 mins. From the camera that brought you Women On The Verge. . .. an earlier. more surreal vision of desperation. sex and bizarre familial interactions in middle-class Spain. The central role is again played by a distracted Maura. this time as a housewife coping with her depression and her ghastly family by taking a wee snort of cleaning fluid with her prescribed amphetamines. Another gem. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Witches (PG) (Nicholas Roeg. US. 1990) Anjelica Huston. Mai Zetterling. Rowan Atkinson. 92 mins. Nine year-old Luke is warned by his Norwegian granny about the everpresent threat posed by witches. which isn't much help because within the next half hour he stumbles on their annual convention in a small English hotel and gets himself changed into a mouse. A pleasing adaption of Roald Dahl's children‘s story has director Roeg (in unusually straightforward manner) creating a superior kids movie that has you rooting for the mice all the way. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I lielflt: (U) (Peter Kosminsky. UK. 1992) Ralph Fiennes. Juliette Binoche. Janet McTeer. 87 mins. A visually splendid version of Emily Bronte's classic. capturing the original's sense of destructive. violent love. The decision to follow the book to the end will split audiences. as will the decision to cast French actress Binoche (Les Amants du Pant-Neal) as the English heroine. but in terms of costume. set design and the spark between the leads. it is a fine achievement that breaks from the stuffy British tradition of literary period dramas. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank.
I YI‘I (PG) (ldrissa Ouedraogo. Burkina Faso. 1989) Fatimata Sanga. Noufou Ouedraogo. Roukietou Barry. 90 mins. Yaaba is a lonely old woman who has been rejected by the villagers of the small desert community. but young Bila. a boy who treats the local scrub as his own adventure playground. is soon to break through the aura of mystery and suspicion that surrounds her. inventive African feature whose narrative charm has won a wide international reputation and audience. Recommended. African Film Festival. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
22 The List 4—17 June 1993