FILM
FESTIVAL ’4
:— lsland life
Ever since the Government started pumping money Into Gaelic language broadcasting and illm production, the Scottish industry has been split over its usetulness and cultural relevance. However, in the case ot the lirst ever Gaelic ieature film, As An Eliean, we have proot that steps are being taken in the right direction.
Based on two novels by llebridean poet lain Grichton Smith, the film tells ot a widowed schoolmaster who is creating a photographic record of village lite on an island on the very edge of Europe, while coming to terms
shorts. Two years ago, his 380 Screen Two production Dreaming, with a script by William hicllvanney, played at the EIFF. in As An Ellean, Alexander manages not to be over indulgent with
with his own attraction towards the
soon-to-be-married local nurse. :figm'm‘Z‘m I '
WOW“ I" u“ “mm”! m community and the individuals who
opposing lorces can be observed: the M. u up. 11,. am” m.
ggilansmndflz’ W Gaelic and English dialogue in Douglas Eadie’s screenplay emphasises the
mom”. a“ 3" 'm'm‘ duality of modern llie in the western departure to the mainland of a young '3'”. " also “filmy, u... canal student. ’
Director Mike Alexander is an mfmflgm'mfimu lslander ot a ditieret breed; he spent a” ma Mo“ ,3 Na." “ml. man his early lite on Arran, betor‘e making mum“) ' anameior hlmseliasoneo elm”
Scotland’s most distinguished 1 1&1;
Independent iilmmakers, specialising "on F," 27. mum" "I.
In documentaries, sports iilms and '
_ fascinating scenario tor Mark Gouslns and Mark Forrest’s docuentxy. They agreed with the participants that the
An lootage taken during one trip would be nsedtomdteatllmwlthno commentary. So the words oi the neo-
Iazis and the various historians, witnesses and survivors they meet on
' their lourney are the sole voices on the ill... ‘The neo-Iazis didn’t know what was going to happen,’ says Mark Cousins. ‘Vlhen they got up In the morning they didn’t know who they were going to meet or where they were going to visit. We did not know how they were going to react. Too often ill“!!! go out knowing exactly what is golng to happen, which miss tor unndventurous tlhmdlng. it you set up a combination oi elements which are potentially explosive, so long as they are not sensationallsed, then these elements challenge the documentary illm-maker.’ Forcing the confrontations would have given Gnnslns ad Forrest a tar more sensational and probdly a
Tie ionr nee-Nazis tram Scott-d, slightly more coherent and artistically
France, Germany ad hush-la. Tire ‘nfldy'ln" m. However, by
Mountable-munitions! placingthemselvesoutsidetheirue
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takethesetonrnnn-bnlieverslnthe m,theycreatednotlnsta
“WHOM-"0m" challengelnrthemsolvns,bntnnelor
Polad. To the concentration can at are audience toe. (Them llibdln)
Auschwitanmnetnndtalwllha “communalnbscm
minimums-s lnFlhhonseZatGASpmon
chabers. Wednesday, 25 Anpst. This is the compelling ad darkly
I Atlantis After sitting in its distributors’ cupboards for ages, Luc Besson's highly personal underwater odyssey has recently had a (scandalously unletterboxed) video release, but the big screen is surely the place to see it. There are no actors, no narrative, but instead Besson and his camera team have captured a fantasia of subaquatic images set to Big Blue collaborator Eric Serra's evocative score. Astonishingly, some of the footage looks like documentary film of another planet, while the beauty and grace of dolphins and manta rays is caught with obvious wonder and affection. Jacques Cousteau meets Koyaanisqatsi. (Tl) Atlantis, Filmhouse 1. Sun 22, 11pm.
I liock llndson’s Home Movies To those with short memories, Rock Hudson might seem chiefly famous as the first major Tinseltown star to die from AIDS- related causes, but in the 505, his granite chin and imposing frame epitomised all- American hetero-maleness. Mark Rappaport’s film contrives a revisionist cinematic portrait exploring this apparent contradiction, mingling clips from Douglas Sirk melodramas and Doris Day comedies with a running commentary from ‘Rock udson' himself. in the shape of lookabitalike actor. Eric Farr. The results do tend to benefit from hindsight. to put words into dear Rock’s mouth. but the whole undertaking is certainly further evidence for the movies’ efiortless parting of fact and fantasy. (TJ) ,
Rock Hudson '3 Home Movies, Cameo 1, Tue 24, 10.45pm; F ilmhouse 1, Wed 25, 2pm.
’ . .. 7'14}; I W Friends ‘All The Young Dudes’ blasts out midway through the fi as all the young dudes on screen go through a male bonding crisis, which unfortunately discounts any significant female presence. Machismo aside. Amongst Friends is a truly personal film about three young friends trying to find their niche in the notorious affluent gangland of Long island. it touches anyone — male or female — who at some stage in their life yearns to return to a time when friendship and loyalty was the natural way of life. Debut director Rob Weiss defines how the struggle to survive causes pain when this innocence is lost. (Julie Boyne) Amongst Friends, Filmhouse 1, $0121. 2pm; Cameo 1, Thurs 26. 4.15pm
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The List 20-26 August 1993 09