FILM INDEX
89 mins. Twentysomething would-be author Max is pushed by her wise owl flatmate towards vet's assistant Ely. but the two girls' shyness could prove an unassailable obstacle. Troche's film bustles with visual invention. deliciously catty dialogue and natural performances. These are people. not issues. and even if Spike Lee was a romantic and a lesbian. he couldn’t make a movie as fresh. funny and openly entertaining as this. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I 8n." Old Men (12) (Donald Petrie. US. 1993) Walter Matthau. Jack Lemmon. Ann- Margret. 103 mins. Two grouchy neighbours re- run their earlier fight over the late wife of one when a sparky new woman moves in close-by. Matthau and Lemmon are as irascilbe and funny as ever. but the thin plot and predictable gags don't give them enough to get their dentures into. Plenty of sharp one-liners but a mite too strained to recapture the glories of yesteryear. Fife: Adam Smith.
I High Boot Benny (15) (Joe Comerford. Ireland. 1994) Marc O'Shea. 82mins. A young delinquent from Belfast. now living in Donegal as a handyman in the local school. feels alienated politically. socially and sexually from the community of his upbringing. His affair with a school teacher promises to pull him back into society. but the anal of British soldiers following the tnurder of the janitor throws him back a state of unease. O'Shea proves that the promise he showed in You. Me & Marley has not gone to waste. but the film is working on too many conflicting levels to achieve any thematic unity. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Highway Patrolman (18) (Alex Cox. Mexico. 1991) Roberto Sosa. Bruno Bichir. Zaide Silvia Gutierrez. 104 mins. Back on British cinema screens after a long absence. Cox's latest and greatest tells of the moral dilemmas facing a highway cop in Mexico. Car chases and shoot- outs are placed within a framework of supreme narrative clarity that also focusses on loftier ideals. Glasgow: GF'T. -
I Hitler's Children (PG) (Edward Dmytryk. US. 1943) Tim Holt. Bonita Granville. Kent Smith. 85 mins. Trernendously popular at the time of release. as much for its shocking content as timeliness. Dmytryk‘s attack on the Nazis casts its villains in a serious light. Granville stars as a woman threatened with sterilisation and public whipping when she refuses to bear a child for the Fatherland. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Homeward Bound (U) (Duwayne Dunharn. US. 1993) With the voices of Michael J. Fox. Sally Field. Don Ameche. 87 mins. Disney remake of The Incredible Journey. in which two dogs and a cat cross the Californian mountains to return to their family. More than mere anthropomorphisrn: the dratted animals have characteristics that would put Ghandi to shame. Under-sixes will love it. parents probably not. Fife: Robin's.
I The Hudsucker Proxy (PG) (Joel Coen. US. 1994) Tim Robbins. Jennifer Jason Leigh. Paul Newman. 111 mins. When Hudsucker lndustries' boss takes a dive from an upper storey boardroom window. mailroom boy Norville Barnes (Robbins) finds himself catapulted to executive status. But pretty soon he's forgotten his roots and is becoming as heartless as his manipulative mentor. played by Paul Newman. A winning blend of 40s screwball comedy. 50s consumer quirks and satire on 80s corporate greed. the Coen brothers' latest is cinematic fantasy in its purest form. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Innocent (15) (John Schlesinger. UK/Germany. 1993) Campbell Scott. Isabella Rossellini. Anthony Hopkins. 119 mins. An electronics ace is seconded to the Americans in 1955 Berlin. but finds himself having personal traumas when he must dispose of the corpse of his German lover's husband. Without the gross set-pieces of lan McEwan's novel. what we have
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is the retelling of a weary narrative and a director whose attempt to create a Cold War thriller doesn‘t fill the gap. See review. Glasgow:
GFT.
I Into The West (PG) (Mike Newell. Eire/UK. 1992) Gabriel Byme. Ellen Barkin. Ciaran Fitzgerald. Ruaidhri Conroy. 102 mins. Following the death of his wife. a former traveller (Byme) sets up home with his two sons in a Dublin slum. But when a mystical white horse appears and the boys head off into the Irish countryside with it. he is forced to come to terms with his present life and past culture. A
wonderful piece of family storytelling. blending .
ancient and modem myths. Glasgow: GF'T.
I It’s A Mad, Mad. Mad. Mad World (U) (Stanley Kramer. US. 1963) Spencer Tracey. Jimmy Durante. Milton Berle. 192 mins. In its day. the comedy to end 'em all. with a bloated running time and a stellar cast that also includes Jerry Lewis. Phil Silvers. The Three Stooges. Jack Benny and Buster Keaton. Everyone's out to find a deceased gangster's buried loot. but the emphasis is really on piling up as many stunts and gags as can be shoe-homed in. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I le Jeune Werther (15) (Jacques Doillon. France. 1992) lsrnael Jole-Menebhi. Thomas Bremond. Mirabelle Rousseau. 94 mins. Almost unknown on these shores. French director Doillon portrays a group of teenagers coming to terms with the suicide of a friend. The discovery of mortality and the minor tragedies of young love are presented without a hint of sentimentality in one of the most intelligent films ever made about childhood. Glasgow:
GF'T.
I Jurassic 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. Glasgow: Odeon.
I The Last Seduction (15) (John Dahl. US. 1993) Linda Fiorentino. Peter Berg. Bill Pullman. 110 mins. After double-crossing her husband. stealing some drugs sale cash and holing up in a small town. Grade ‘A' bitch Bridget Gregory uses her sexual chamrs to lure the naive Mike Swale into a plan that will free her from her troubles. No one handles polished pulp like John (Red Rock West) Dahl. and here he's got the added advantage of a deliciously nasty performance from Linda Fiorcntino as a femme who's more fatale than most. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Maltese Falcon (PG) (John Huston. US. 1941) Humphrey Bogart. Mary Astor. Sidney Greenstreet. Peter Lorre. 101 mins. Huston's first film is a quintessential. claustrOphobicfllm noir. Bogart is caught in a web of deceit and betrayal as the Fat Man uses every means. including murder. to get his hands on the elusive ornament of the title. Forget the twists and turns of Dashiell Hammett's plot: enjoy instead the darkly comic world peopled by Sam Spade and Joel Cairo. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Mask (PG) (Charles Russell. US. 1994)
' Jim Carrey. Cameron Diaz. Peter Reigert. 95
mins. A timid bank clerk finds an ancient mask that allows him to fulfil his innermost desires as a suave chamrer and crime-fighting whirlwind. An amalgam of 20s. 30s and 40s decor. The Mask has a skimpy plot. but its rousing musical set-pieces and eye-popping computer-generated effects (like a live action Tex Avery cartoon) make it the surprise hit of the summer. General release.
I Maverick (PG) (Richard Donner. US. 1994) Mel Gibson. Jodie Foster. James Garner. 127 mins. Romantic gambler Bret Maverick has got to get up a big enough pot to enter a poker game with a stake of half a million dollars. but encounters various loose and at times unconnected adventures on the way. A card-con movie with western trappings. Maverick showcases the ‘unpredictable' quirks of Gibson's screen persona. the kind of thing that he gives a lunatic edge in the Lethal Weapon series. Rollicking. pre-packaged entertainment that slips into the shambolic. Edinburgh: UC1.
I Miller‘s Crossing (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 19305. 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. Glasgow: GFT.
I Ministry of Fear (PG) (Fritz Lang. US. 1944) Ray Milland. Marjorie Reynolds. Dan Duryea. 85 mins. Adapted from the Graham Greene
novel. this is one of Lang's most satisfying American movies with star Milland at the peak of his popularity. A tense tale of espionage in wartime London and the framing of an innocent man it is tautly constructed. atmospheric and suspenseful in the Hitchcock tradition. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Mississippi Mermaid (l8) (Francois Truffaut. France. 1969) Jean-Paul Belmondo. Catherine Deneuve. Michel Bouquet. 123 mins. A love story cum thriller. with plenty of cinematic references and rather tepid genre performances from the leads. The plot concerns the mail-order bride of an island tobacco planter who turns out to be not all she seems. Glasgow: GET.
I Mr: Douhttlre (PG) (Chris Columbus. US. 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. Hugely enjoyable and well pitched with gags for the whole audience. Glasgow: Odeon. Strathclyde: WMR.
I My llte (12) (Bruce Joel Rubin. US. 1993) Michael Keaton. Nicole Kidman. Haing S. Ngor. 117 mins. 1n the process of making a video about his life for his unborn son. PR man Bob Jones disovers that having cancer is forcing him to reassess what is truly important. Rubin treads a very similar path to Ghost and Jacob '5 Ladder (both of which he wrote). alternating doses of sentiment with some depreciating and very human humour from Keaton. Strathclyde: UCl Clydebank.
I Naked In New York (15) (Daniel Algr'ant. US. 1993) Eric Stoltz. Mary-Louise Parker. Tony Curtis. 93 mins. An aspiring playwright in his late twenties. gives up comfortable co-habitation in Boston with an up-and-coming photographer and makes the move to the New York literary world. The conflicts between young love. raw artistic energy and the practicalities of maturity are set against a Player-like backdrop of NYC luminaries (Quentin Crisp. Ariel Dorfrnan. William Styron) and self-parodic performances (Kathleen Turner. Grifien Dunne. etc). See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Nikita (18) (Luc Besson. France. 1990) Anne Parillaud. Tcheky Karyo. Jean-Hughes Anglade. Jeanne Moreau. 114 mins. The latest exercise in stylish tosh from Gallic maestro Besson. Parillaud stars as ajunkie waif resurrected from her dreary existence by the enigmatic Karyo. an agent for the govemment‘s most secretive undercover organistaion. and pretty soon she's a topnotch assassin. But does this make her any more fulfilled? Glasgow: GFT.
I Olivier Olivier (15) (Agnieszka Holland. France. 1992) Francois Cluzet. Brigitte Rouan. Gregoire Colin. 105 mins. The latest from the director of Europa Europa is based on a true French newspaper story of a boy who went missing. only to turn up six years later as a Parisian rent boy. An intriguing. evokatively photographed depiction of family tensions. Bizarre bizarre. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Once Upon A Time In The West (15) (Sergio Leone. US. 1968) Henry Fonda. Charles Bronson. Claudia Cardinale. 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 Cardinale out of her land. until lone stranger Bronson comes to town. Brilliant Morricone score.aching1y slow pacing. and an enthusiastic use of the wide screen mark this out as an idiosyncratic gem. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Orlando (PG) (Sally Potter. UK. 1992) Tilda Swinton. Billy Zane. Quentin Crisp. 92 mins. A male Elizabethan courtier begins a joumey 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's novel a humorous and visually splendid succession of episodes that is a constantjoy to watch. At last. a literary film rather than a literature substitute. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Painted lleart (15) (Michael Taav. US. 1992) Bebe Neuwirth. Robert Pastorelli. Will Patton. 91 mins. Childhood beatings from an alcoholic father have a disturbing psychological effect on painter and decorator Willie. especially when his workmate takes a fancy to his wife. Cliched smalltown movie with a couple of moments of bizarre comedy that never really finds its tone and has an annoyingly patronising view of American working-class life. Fife: Adam Smith. I to Parrurn D'Yvonne (18) (Patrice Leconte. France. 1994) Hippolyte Giradot. Jean-Pierre Marielle. Sandra Majani. 89 mins. A young Frenchman (Giradot) goes to Switzerland in the 50s to escape conscription and scouts around for romantic adventure. Cue the beautiful Yvonne and mysterious fez-wearing associate Dr Meinthe. Like The Hairdresser '3 Husband.
Leconte's film enjoys its fair share of sunny reminiscence before darkening into a mode of existential tragedy. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Philadelphia (12) (Jonathan Demme. US. 1993) Tom Hanks. Denzel Washington. Jason Robards. 125 mins. A lawyer takes his former employers to court. convinced that he has been sacked because he is suffering from AIDS. Dernrne's film goes as far as any mainstream Hollywood movie on this subject could in the cun‘ent climate. but for all its compromises. it should be applauded for avoiding any notion of manipulative death-bed sensationalism. Hanks. for once. is allowed to break free from lightweight comic roles. and delivers a moving performance. Central: Allanpark. 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. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Raising Arizona (15) (Joel Coen. US. 1987) Nicolas Cage. Holly Hunter. 94 mins. Married ex-con Cage settles down to a life of crime once more and remedies his wife's childless state by stealing a millionaire's recently whelped quintuplet. Exhilirating. live-action cartoon combining non-stop action. crazy situations and deadpan wit. This second feature from the Brothers (Blood Simple) Coen is a joy. Glasgow: GFT. I Reality Bites ( 12) (Ben Stiller. US. 1994) Winona Ryder. Ethan Hawke. Ben Stiller. 99 mins. Soon after graduation. Lelaina (Ryder) loses her TV job (and the chance to complete her autobiographical documentary). and so has to buy food for her Generation X flatmates on the credit card daddy gave her. Self-indulgent. middle-class American problems that are hard to relate to and impossible to sympathise with fill this movie. if this is reality. it sucks rather than bites. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Rebel Without A Cause (18) (Nicholas Ray. US. 1956) James Dean. Natalie Wood. Jim Backus. Sal Mineo. 111 mins. Seminal youth movie has Dean as a sensitive brrt misunderstood kid battling to communicate with his parents and caught in the violent struggle for self-definition. Though irrevocably dated by now. this is still notable as the film that articulated the until-then unrecognised experiences and aspirations of a whole generation and does of course contain our favourite nostalgia icon in full flow. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I The lied Squirrel (18)(Ju1io Mcdem. Spain. 1993) Nancho Novo. Emma Suarez. 114 mins. Narrower in scope than the director's debut. Wear. The Red Squirrel has elements in common with the hysterical sex farces dominant in Spanish filmmaking. but is itself a complex melodrama about deceit. betrayal and love. shot through with angled symbolism. A clever blend of psychodrarna and thriller. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Renaissance Man (12) (Penny Marshall. US. 1994) Danny De Vito. Gregory Hines. Marky Mark. 129 mins. Unemployed advertising copy- writer Bill Rago (De Vito) is hired by the army to teach English to a bunch of recruits about to flunk their military training. Soon they're doing a rap Hamlet and Bill's becoming a nicer human being. Dead Poets Society in army fatigues. but with characters that eventually throw off their stereotypical shackles. this is bogged down by self-indulgent morality playing and point- making. Strathclyde: Magnum. I Hepulsion (18) (Roman Polanski. UK. 1965) Catherine Deneuve. lan Hendry. John Fraser. 105 mins. Left on her own in her sister's flat for a few days. a sexually repressed young woman gradually deteriorates towards complete mental breakdown. Polanski's first English language movie remains one of his best. a genuinely disturbing exploration of intense paranoia and claustrophobia that unfiinchingly picks at the audience's deepest neuroses. Glasgow: GET. I Reservoir Dogs (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: Odeon. Grosvenor. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Odeon. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. I noulln 1(12) (Hiroyuki Kitakubo. Japan. 1991) 78 mins. Based on a story by Otomo Katsuhiro. writer of the acclaimed Akira series. this lacks the groundbreaking animation splendour of that movie. The story features a bed
20 The List 23 September—6 October 1994