FILM INDEX
BACARDI BLACK
Kilbride.
I m. Juan (18) (Bigas Luna. Spain. 1992) Penelope Cruz. Anna Galiena. Javier Bardem. 94 mins. ‘Jamon' equals ham: ‘una mulierjamona‘ equals hot hispanic babe. Put them together and you've got this mix of reprehensible depravity and tease of social significance. As it tells of the desire of a pregnant woman for the bulgineg becrotched Manuel (with weightly subplots involving various mums). you can‘t help feeling it‘s aiming at too many targets. Sex. leering and exploitation. but not necessarily a fine film. Edinburgh: Cameo. Odeon.
I Jrrrassic M (PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1993) Sam Neill. Laura Dem. Jeff Goldblum. A group of scientists are invited to give their approval to a theme park filled with genetically engineered dinosaurs. but the giant reptiles are soon running amok. Unsurpassed computer effects ensure that the dinosaurs themselves are terrifyineg believable (moreso than the PG cenificate would suggest). but by the halfway point. it‘s more or less a chase movie with superior technology. Glasgow: All MGMs. Edinburgh: UCI. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. UCl C lydebank.
I The Killer ( 18) (John Woo. Hong Kort. 1989) Chow Yun-Fat. Danny bee. Sally Yeh. 111 mins. Genre-led thriller. with old school buddies turned cop and contract killer as sparring partners. transferred into the sleazy gangland of Hong Kong. The violence puts Robocop to shame. but there's a glorious. oriental fatalism about the whole shebang that lends it a certain sheen of romanticism. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I lethal Neuron 1,2 and 3 (18) (Richard Donner. US. 1987) Mel Gibson. Danny Glover. Gary Busey. 109 mins. This is the one that started it all: Gibson is a widower psychotically bent on revenge (any resemblance to Mad MarZ being purely incidental). while Glover is a middle-aged. middle-class family man. Formula buddy cop movie. lifted just above the average by its touch of humanity and charismatic performances. The two sequels follow similar buddy themes: the bangs just got bigger and the chases more thrilling. Glasgow: MGM Sauchiehall Street.
I The life at [mile Zola (PG) (William Dieterle. US. 1937) Paul Muni. Joseph Schildkraut. Gale Sondergaard. 116 rrrins. Filled with inaccuracies typical of most biopics. this portrait of the French novelist only really picks up when it comes to the Dreyfus affair. A little too studied. Glasgow: Delegation Culturelle.
I like Water For Mexico. 1991) Marco Leonardi. Lumi Cavazos. Regina Tome. 114 mins. At the end of the 19th century. Mexico is caught up in the Revolution. Against this backdrop. Laura Esquival’s novel and this film adaptation by Arau depict one woman's struggle for freedom from tradition. A classy melodrama that flits from comedy to tragedy to culinary excess. raising the new generation of Mexican filmrnaking talent to truly international levels. See review. Glasgow: GFT. I Mad Dog And Glory (15) (John McNaughton. US. 1992) Robert De Niro. Bill Murray. Uma Thurman. 97 mins. After saving the life of a loan shark. a cop is ‘given‘ a beautiful barmaid for a week: but when he falls for her. he has to fight for his love. Casting the major stars against type works well in a film that is at times disconcerting but consistenly enjoyable. Fife: Adam Smith.
I Hale It Antlca (12) (Richard Benjamin. US. 1993) Whoopi Goldberg. Ted Danson. Will Smith. 111 mins. When eighteen-year-old Zora raids the sperm bank‘s computer files to find her daddy. she uncovers a mix-up that brought her radical African-American mother and a crass cowboy car salesman together in a test tube. Completely unfunny 'romantic comedy' that is undoubtedly one of the worst films of recent
years. I the "It Without A Face (12) (Mel Gibson. US. 1993) Mel Gibson. Nick Stahl. Fay Masterson. 114 mins. A lonely boy gets the town recluse. a former teacher badly burned from a car accident. to help him with an exam resit. but local prejudices rear their heads. A delicate. emotionally balanced debut as director from Gibson. who also puts in possibly his best performance to date. The sentimentality is not overdone. and there is a tenderness to the central relationship that is more credible and fulfilling than in other American dramas. See review. Glasgow: Odeon. MGM Parkhead. Edinburgh: Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. Odeon Hamilton. All UCls.
I it Wt (18) (Robert Rodriguez. US. 1992) Carlos Gallardo. Consuela Gomez. Jaime de Hoyos. 89 mins. It may have been shot for a rrrere $7.000. but this consistently engaging thriller with touches of comedy quickly transcends its ultra-low budget A lone mariachi musician becomes an unwilling action hero when he is mistaken fa: a similarly clad hitrrran.
A great achievement. a great film. Fife: Adam Smith.
I Matador ( 18) (Pedro Almadovar. Spain. 1986) Assumpta Sema. Antonio Banderas. Nancho Martinez. Eva Como. 96 mins. Less uproarious than the works that established his commercial reputation. this is Almadovar at his most intensely dark and ecstatic. Themes of sex and death merge around a pervy ex-bullfighter. his sexually confused pupil and the latter's murderous defence lawyer. Quite delirioust amoral. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Hiller’scnsslng (18) (Joel Coen. US. 1990) Gabriel Byme. Albert Finney. Marcia Gay Harden. John Turturro. Jon Polito. J .E. Freeman. 115 mins. The Coen Brothers’ latest opus is a predictably quirky-but-stylish reworking of genre material — in this case the gangster flick. Set in an unnamed East-coast city in the 1930s. it centres on the falling-out between mob-leader Finney and his right-hand man Byme when both take a shine to the same broad (Harden). Possibly the best. most under-rated film of 1991. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I W Wonderful (12) (Anthony Minghella. US. 1993) Matt Dillon. Annabella Sciorra. William Hurt. 97 mins. Gus wants to remarry. but the alimony he pays his ex-wife is killing him. The solution: find her a new husband. a Mr Wonderful. But in the process. he discovers that he isn't ready to let go. An old-style romantic comedy with a heart. and a performance from Dillon that shows he‘s the only actor of his age who could cany off the working-class leading man role with any credibility. Great stuff that will leave you with a warm feeling inside. See
1 preview. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
MW (15) (Alfonso Arau. 3
I flush Ado About Nothing (PG) (Kenneth Branagh. UK/US. 1993) Denzel Washington. Kenneth Branagh. Emma Thompson. Keanu Reeves. 111 mins. A lusty. lively version of Shakespeare's comedy of love and deceit. set in the sun-drenched Tuscan hills. Barbed witticism fly across the screen as British thesps and American stars acquit themselves with honours. I lakerlus) (Mike Leigh. UK. 1993) David Thewlis. Katrin Cartlidge. Lesley Sharp. 126 mins. Johnny. a cynical drifter. wanders around the homeless of London spouting a bitter philosophy. An episodic. bleak. but bitingly funny portrait of 905 Britain that suffers from a few characters who could only exist in a Mike Leigh world. Scenes of sexual violence may be difficult for some audience members to sit through. but the virtuoso performance from
. Thewlis is one of the best of the year. Glasgow:
1 GFT. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I I” (PG) (Christian Jaque. France. 1955) Martine Carol. Charles Boyer. Jacques Castelot. 100 mins. A girl from the slums becomes a small-time actress and runs off with the rival of her upper-class ‘patron'. Mediocre performances in decent sets. but without the political underbelly of Zola‘s novel. Shown in French. Glasgow: Delegation Culturelle.
I Once Upon A Forest (U) (Charles Grosvenor. US. 1993) With the voices of Michael Crawford. Ben Vereen. Ellen Blain. A full-length animated feature from Hanna-Barbera that adds an ecological twist to a coming-of-age tale about woodland animals coping with a toxic waste cloud. Songs are by An American Tail's James Horner. but the film itself. while capturing something of classic children‘s storybook animation. is no classic itself. Central: Allanpark. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.
I m (PG) (Sally Potter. UK. 1992) Tilda Swinton. Billy Zane. Quentin Crisp. 92 mins. A male Elizabethan courtier begins a journey of self-discovery that involves four centuries and a sex change. Swinton's simple but unique beauty captures the androgyny of the perfect Everyman/woman. while director Potter creates from Virginia Woolf ’5 novel a humorous and visually splendid succession of episodes that is a constant joy to watch. At last. a literary film rather than a literature substitute. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I the Piano (15) (Jane Campion. Australia/New Zealand. 1993) Holly Hunter. Sam Neill. Harvey Keitel. 120 mins. Jane Campion's masterpiece follows mute Scotswoman Ada (Hunter) as she travels to 19th century New Zealand with her piano and daughter to enter into an arranged marriage. Soon she begins a passionate and erotic affair with her illiterate neighbour as the means of regaining her treasured instrument. lmpeccable performances lift this highly charged piece to the realms of classic cinema. undoubtedly one of the best films of the 90s. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo. UCl.
I Posse (15) (Mario Van Peebles. US. 1993) Mario Van Peebles. Stephen Baldwin. Billy Zane. 111 mins. A gang of black (bar one) soldiers desert from their insane commander during the Spanish-American war and. led by Jesse Lee (Van Peebles) go on a mission of
revenge. Posse is a western for the 90s generation. resembling Sergio Leone shot for MTV. Loud and stylish. it rewrites the historical role of the Afro-American in the Wild West and notches up some contemporary political references on the way. See preview. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCI. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank. I Psycho (15) (Alfred Hitchcock. US. 1960) Anthony Perkins. Janet Leigh. Vera Miles. John Gavin. Martin Balsam. John Mclntire. 109 mins. Hitch's misogynistic masterpiece has a young secretary take off to hicksville with a bagful of her boss‘s money. Unfortunately for her she chooses to put up at the Bates' Motel. run by that nice Norman boy. The ironic dialogue (‘Mother's not quite herself today‘) make it a joy to catch anytime around. We liked it. didn‘t we. mother. . . mother? Glasgow: GFT. I Puerto Escondido (15) (Gabriele Savatores. Italy. 1993) Diego Abatantuono. Valeria Golino. Claudio Bisio. 110 mins. Recovering from gunshot wounds. an Italian assistant bank manager recognises one of the interrogating policemen as his attacker and the man he witnessed kill a fellow cop. He flees to Mexico and gets caught up with some hippies. Mildly diverting. but one might have expected more from the director of Mediterraneo. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I llalnlng Stones(15) (Ken Loach. UK. 1993) Bruce Jones. Julie Brown. Ricky Tomlinson. 90 mins. Another slice of real life from one of Britain‘s most dedicated filmmakers. An unemployed father brings terror to his household when he goes to a loanshark in order to pay for his daughter‘s first communion dress. Throughout. the northern community's sense of natural humour makes this a heartening. amusing and very accessible film indeed. Edinburgh: Cameo. I lied Shoes (PG) (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger. UK. 1948) Anton Wallbrook. Marius Goring. Moira Shearer. 133 mins. Ballerina Shearer is torn between an autocratic impressario and a starving young composer as she dances her way towards madness. Remarkably serious treatment of the subject matter is helped by superlative design and cinematography in this classic piece of Powell/Pressburger expressionism. Glasgow: GFT. I Reservoir 0098(18) (Quentin Tarantino. US. 1992) Harvey Keitel. Tim Roth. Michael Madsen. 100 mins. A gang of hoods. known only to each other by colour-coded nicknames. meets at an abandoned warehouse to figure how out their rigorously planned heist went so drastically wrong. The best debut in years from writer-director Tarantino. whose stylish violence seduces the audience into complicity. Brilliant in every sense of the word. Glasgow: MGM Parkhead. Edinburgh: Cameo. Odeon. I Rift-flaifUS) (Ken Loach. UK. 1991) Robert Carlyle. Emer McCourt. Ricky Tomlinson. Jirttrny Coleman. 94 mins. A lighter-than-usual investigation of British poverty from our foremost political director. written from first- hand experience by former labourer Bill Jesse. Glaswegian-in-London Stevie (Carlyle) grinds out a meagre living on a building site and enters into a relationship with Susan (McCourt). who has musical aspirations. The jolly badinage of Stevie‘s co-workers (among them ex-Bmokie Tomlinson) provides an enjoyably humorous backdrop. for which the Grim-Down-South message comes over all the more forcefully. Glasgow: GFT. I lllalng Sun (18) (Philip Kaufman. US. 1993) Sean Connery. Wesley Snipes. Tia Canere. 129 mins. With these stars and a script from his novel by Michael (Jurassic Park) Crichton. this should have been a state-of—the-art Hollywood thriller. But instead. topical conflicts about Japanese business practises. a perverser erotic murder and some hi-tech complexities leave the sketchily drawn characters drifting like ghosts in the machine. Edinburgh: UCl. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank. I Rm, Open City (PG) (Roberto Rosselini. Italy. 1945) Anna Magnani. Aldo Fabrizi. Marcello Pagliero. 101 mins. Rosselini's definitive neo-realist film was shot in horrendoust difficult circumstances at the end of the war and provides a compelling picture of the resistance movement's efforts to disrupt the fascist authorities. These days what‘s perhaps most remarkable about the film is its refusal to conform to the then conventional filmic notions of sentimentality and heroism in favour of a hard edge that remains grimly affecting. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I llosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead (PG) (Tom Stoppard. UK. 1991 ) Tim Roth. Gary Oldman. Richard Dreyfuss. lain Glen. 117 mins. Stoppard's own screen version of his first play. premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1966. Set
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in the world of Hamlet. but with a new and highly quirky perspective on events. it presents Shakespeare's peripheral characters as existential fall-guys trying to work out how the situation brewing around them might relate to their future. Witty and very clever. but probably better on the stage. Edinburgh: Royal Museum. I Saqu (12) (Percy Adlon. Germany. 1991) kd lang. Rosel Zech. Chuck Connets. 94 mins. In her film debut. lang uses her androgynous looks to their best ability as an orphan living in a remote Alaskan village. who befriends the local librarian. Both attempt to lay their ghosts to rest on a journey to Berlin. a metaphor for the inner journeys they simultaneously undergo. Terminally slow exposition leads into an interesting second half. but by then most viewers will be deadened by frustration. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I to Samurai (PG) (Jean-Pierre Melville. France/Italy. 1967) Alain Delon. Francois Perier. Nathalie Delon. 105 mins. The classic French film noir. re-issued with. for the first time. subtitles rather than the appallingly dubbed version that did the rounds years ago. Delon is Jeff Costello. an enigmatic hired killer who becomes obsessed with the beautiful pianist who witnessed a hit but refuses to testify against him. Minimalist dialogue and perfect attention to detail make this the director's masterpiece. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Sebastiane (18) (Derek Jarman. UK. 1976) 86 mins. This early Jarman work. a homo-erotic piece about an early Christian martyr. is unusual in its use of Latin for dialogue. Filmed naturalistically. it succeeds in meshing its themes. so that it is effective as a whole and on its variorrs levels. Glasgow: GFT.
I The Secret Garden (U) (Agnieszka Holland. US. 1993) Kate Maberly. Maggie Smith. John Lynch. 102 mins. The unusual combination of the director of Eumpa Eumpa and the writer of Edward Scissorhands conspires to create an authentic and affecting version of the children's classic novel. Shipped back from 1ndia.lonely orphan Mary makes friends with a local lad and her sickly cousin. exerting a magical recuperative process on the latter and a hidden walled garden. Touching and uncontrived. Glasgow: MGM Parkhead. Central: Cannon. Fife: New Picture House. MGM Kirkaldy. Strathclyde: Cannon. All UCls.
I Seven Songs For Malcolm X (UK. 1993) 52 mins. Black Audio Film Collective's TV film combines archive footage. interviews with Malcolm's family. extracts from his writings and short staged pieces. It's an unashamedly black perspective of human rights. which profits from the man‘s own understanding of the media as a means of delivering his message. With lsaac Julien's short. The Attendant. Followed by an audience discussion with directors John Akomfrah and lsaac Julien. Sat 20 only. Edinbur h: Filmhouse.
I the Iver SM (PG) (Arthur Hiller. US. 1976) Gene Wilder. Richard Pryor. Jill Clayburgh. 113 mins. A train from LA to Chicago is the scene of a murder to which Wilder is a witness. Comic talents are given free rein. but despite the big-scale intentions. it never really comes off. Edinburgh: St Bride‘s.
I Sleepless In Seattle (PG) (Nora Ephron. US. 1993) Meg Ryan. Tom Hanks. 105 mins. One of the most warm-hearted romantic comedies to emerge from Hollywood in years. again proving the talent of Nora Ephron. who wrote When Harry Met Sally. Newspaper reporter Ryan hears a radio talk show which features recently widowed architect Hanks. She's sure they are made for each other. but the whole of the United States lies between them. Date movie of the year. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. Borders: Roxy. Strathclyde: WMR. All UCls.
I Sliver (18) (Philip Noyce. US. 1993) Sharon Stone. William Baldwin. Tom Berenger. 100 mins. Shazza moves into a modern New York appartment block. which has been the site of several murders. the perpetrator of which has been captured - along with several other indiscretions - by the in-house surveillance system. Self-censorship has pretty much done for the much-touted sex scenes in this supremely empty pile of old poo passing itself off as a ‘psychosexual mystery'.
I The WHIS) (Stephen Frears. UK. 1993) Colm Meaney. Trna Kellegher. Ruth McCabe. 90 mins. Don‘t expect the plusher production values of The Commitments with the latest screen version of Roddy Doyle's novels; instead. enjoy a hilarious comedy that never loses sight of its human heart. Sharon Curley announces her pregnancy but not the name of the father. setting the small Barrytown community into uproar. but bringing her family closer together. A gem. With Peter Capaldi‘s short Franz Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life. Central: MacRobert. ISOIWMMWUSHThomas
20 The List 19 November-2 December 1993