FILM INDEX
BACARDI BLACK
I
28 The List 28 January--I() February 1994
I It The Sol. (IS) (Alexandre Rockwell. US. 1992) Steve Buscemi. Seymour Cassel. Jennifer Beals. 95 mins. A would-be filmmaker (Buscemi. Mr Pink himself) struggles for financing until he meets up with an old-time gangster (former Cassavetes regular Cassel). Charismatic performances from the leads make this a very nice little film indeed. an affectionate black-and-white odyssey through no-budgetland. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
I The lnnocents(18) (Jack Clayton. UK. 1961) Deborah Kerr. Megs Jenkins. Michael Redgrave. 99 mins. Excellent adaptation of Henry James's Turn Of The Screw by Truman Capote has Kerr as a tormented governess looking after two mysterious Victorian children. Freddie Francis's
black-and-white photography is amongst the best i
of his career. Beautifully builds up its sinister atmosphere without resorting to crass shock tactics. Glasgow: GFF.
I m. Mon (18) (Bigas Luna. Spain. 1992) Penelope Cruz. Anna Galiena. Javier Bardem. 94 mins. 'Jamon' equals ham; ‘una mulier jamona' 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
TH E
desire of a pregnant woman for the bulgingly becrotched Manuel (with weightly subplots involving various mums). you can't help feeling it's aiming at too many targets. Sex. Ieen'ng and exploitation. but not necessarily a fine film. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Jane Canpion Shorts Early work by the director of The Piano. consisting of Passion/ass Moments ( 13 mins). A Girl '5 Own Story (26 mins) and the Cannes award-winner Peel (8 mins). Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Jazz Singer (U) (Alan Crosland. US. 1927) A1 Jolson. May McAvoy. Warner Oland. Myrna Loy. 89 mins. A cinematic landmark. widely acknowledged as the first all-talking picture although it contains a mere 291 (count’em) words. Jolson is a cantor's son caught between his devotion to family and tradition. and his need to express a God-given talent for jazz singing that his father feels is
i sacrilegious. Sixty years later its appeal is
mainly historical but in 1927 it earned a
f staggering 3 million. made Jolson a star and revolutionised an entire industry. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Jericho ( 18) (Luis Alberto Lamata.
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Venezuela. 1991) Cosme Cortazar. Francis Nueda. Alexander Milic. 90 mins. A 16th Century Dominican friar accompanies some Spanish conquistadores to South America. but when the group disintegrates. he is adopted by local Indians. A revisionist view of the conquest of the New World. with hints of Black Robe and Dances With Wolves. Glasgow: GET.
I .ltirassic Park (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 certificate would suggest). but by the halfway point. it‘s more or less a chase movie with superior technology. Edinburgh: Cameo. UCI. Central: MacRoben.
I The Last of the MohicansUS) (Michael Mann. US. 1992) Daniel Day-Lewis. Madeleine Stowe. Russell Means. Steven Waddington. 122 mins. James Fenimore Cooper‘s tale of the English/French colonial wars in America becomes the most thrilling movie of the year in the hands of Mann (Monhunter) and a splendid cast. Day-Lewis makes a fine llawkeye. blending Native American and European nobility to create a sympathetic. truly memorable hero. Strathclyde: UCI East Kilbride.
I Latino Bar ( 18) (Paul Leduc. Venuzuela. I991) 80mins. A new girl comes to work in a shanty town bar-cum-brothel. and is wooed by a penniless man. Glasgow: GFF.
I The lavender Hill Mob (U) ((‘harles Crichton. Uk. I951) Alec Guinness. Stanley Holloway. Sidney James. 78 mins. Chamiing Ealing comedy that has mild-mannered bank clerk Guinness being dragged into a gold bullion robbery. Smashing satire and cracking car chase. Glasgow: GET.
I Laurence 0t Arabia (PG) (David Lean. UK. 1962) Peter O'Toole. Alec Guinness. Jack Hawkins. Omar Sharif. 222 mins. Lean's mammoth desert epic. restored to its director's original cut and the big screen. where film- making on this scale belongs. ()‘Toole's debut as
‘ the enigmatic adventurer still impresses. but
apart from the majestic action sequences. it's the disturbing sense of clinical and cold-blooded violence hanging over the highly literate characterisation that today seems especially striking. Strathclyde: U(‘l (‘lydebank
I let’s All Make Love In London ( 18) (UK. 1968) 105 mins. London in the Swinging
’ Sixties. as seen by often interesting. hill
1 sometimes dull. documentary eye. Edinburgh:
Filmhouse.
I Like Water For Chocolate (15) (Alfonso Arati. Mexico. 1991) Marco Leonardi. Ltiiiii (‘avazos
Regina 'l‘orne. 114 mins. At the end of the 19th
. century. Mexico is caught tip in the Revolution. 5 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 llits from comedy to
tragedy to culinary excess. raising the new generation of Mexican filmmaking talent to truly intemational levels. Glasgow: (il’l‘.
I The lost Continent (PG) (Michael (‘arreras. UK. 1968) Eric Porter. llildegard Knef. Nigel
Stock. 98 mins. Hammer in the world of the
surreal rather than gothic. as a ship drifts into a nightmare world where the natives live in a time
warp. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Malice (15)(llarold Becker. LS. 1993) Alec
Baldwin. Nicole Kidman. Bill Pullman. Hot-shot . surgeon Baldwin provides the outsider eleriient
in yet another ‘married couple under threat'
movie which makes you wonder if the formula
thriller has finally run out of gas. Throw in a
college setting and a few unsolved crimes. and
; the result still suffers from its amusineg
predictable twists and turns. Glasgow: ()deon.
MGM Parkhead. Edinburgh: ()deon. Strathclyde: WMR. All [5(‘Is.
I The Man Without A Face (12) (Mel Gibson.
1993) Mel Gibson. Nick Stahl. liay Masterson. 114 mins. A lonely boy gets the town
recluse. a former teacher badly bumed 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. Fife: Glenrothes. New Picture House.
I Manhattan Murder Mystery (PG) (Woody
Allen. US. 1993) Woody Allen. Diane Keaton.
Alan Alda. 108 mins. When her elderly
neighbour dies mysteriously and suddenly. (‘arol ’ Lipton (Keaton) does some amateur sleuthing
along with the New York literary set. Allen
j returns to the comic formula that first made his
name - neat plot. snappy one-liners — making this a much more approachable and enjoyable experience than his more serious work of late. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Matador (I8) (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 Alrnadovar at his most intensely dark and ecstatic. Themes of sex and death merge around a pervy ex-bullfightcr. his sexually confused pupil and the Iatter‘s murderous defence lawyer. Quite delirioust amoral. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Mean Streets (18) (Martin Scorsese. US. 1973) Harvey Keitel. Robert de Niro. David Proval. 110 mins. Tony's Bar is the base for four young Italian-Arriericans. whose increasingly illegal activities lead to tragedy. Vividly observed character study which combines breathtaking technique with a pervasive sense of comiption. Keitel and de Niro give of their very best. Edinburgh: UCI.
I Menace 11 Society (l8) (Allen and Albert Hughes. US. 1993) Tyrin Turner. Jada Pinkett. Larenz Tate. 97 mins. A brutal btit thoughtful tale of life in Watts. LA. where guns and drugs rule the day. Unlike other recent movies by young Black directors about inner city life. this one concentrates on the criminal element typically dismissed. Superbly played and technically brilliant. it's depressing. disturbing stuff. Btit it‘s also the slap in the face we sometimes need. Recommended. Glasgow: MGM Sauchiehall Street. Edinburgh: UCI.
I El Misterio de los oios Escarlata (18) (AlfredoJ Anzola. Veriuzuela. I983) 90 mins. The history of Venuzuela iii the 20th century. as seen through a patchwork of footage and soundtrack. detailing the life of the director‘s father. Glasgow: GI’I‘.
I Mrs Douhttire (12) (Chris Columbus. (SS. 1993) Robin Williams. Sally Field. Pierce Brosnan. 125 mins. Separated from his wife and kids. out-of—work voice actor Daniel Hillard (Williams) dons make-up and body-padding to become a sexagenarian nanny. Another top- notch comic performance by Williams. who makes the most of his split personality zest without becoming overly sentimental. Ilugely enjoyable and well pitched with gags for the whole audience. General release.
I Naked (18) (Mike Leigh. I'K. 1993) David Thewlis. Katrin (‘artlidgc. Lesley Sharp. 126 mins. Johnny. a cynical drifter. wandeis around the homeless of London spouting a bitter philosophy. An episodic. bleak. btit bitingly funny portrait of 90s 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. btit the virtuoso perforriiarice froiii Thewlis is one of the best of the year, Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Once Upon A Time In The West ( 15) (Sergio Leone. LS. 1968) Henry Fonda. (‘harles Bronson. (‘laudia (‘ardinala Jason Robards. 165 mins. Probably Leone's best film. this classic western details in operatic fashion the drive of crooked railroad magnate Fonda to cheat widow (‘ardinale out of her land. until lone stranger Bronson comes to town. Brilliant Moi‘ricone score. achineg slow pacing. and an enthusiastic use of the wide screen mark this out as an idiosyncratic gem. Edinburgh: ('ameo.
I A Perfect World ( l 5) ((‘lint Eastwood. LS. 1993) Kevin Costner. (‘Iint Eastwood. Laura Dem. 138 mins. (‘areer criminal Butch Hayes (Costner) springs himself from the pen and takes a young boy hostage; pursued by a grizzled Texas Ranger (Eastwood) and a ci'iiiiinologist (Dem). he fomis a close relationship witli his captive. who begins to enjoy an adventure previously denied Iiiiii. I'nfontinately overlong. due to too many plot strands. there are still enough personal demons present to give it a compelling edge. Glasgow: MGMs. Edinburgh: Dominion. MGM. L'C‘l. Strathclyde: l'(‘1 East Kilbride.
I Performance ( l8) (Nic Roeg & Donald (‘ammelL UK. 1970) James Fox. Mick Jagger. Anita Pallenberg. 105 mins. A gangster on the run and a famous rock star in seclusion hole tip in a London mansion. and amidst a welter of sex and drugs their two lives begin to intertwine. Fascinating (ii-ant gurtle-ish mosaic that announced the arrival of two unique directorial talents. though the fragmentary narrative and visual overload make it an uneasy experience. 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 Yealand with her piano and daughter to enter into an arranged
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