FILM INDEX
I later! (18) (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 rrray be difficult for some audience members to sit through. but the virtuoso perfomrance from Thewlis is remarkable. Edinburgh: Filmhorrse.
I Halted In New York (15) (Daniel Algrant. 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 Dorfrrran. William Styron) and self-parodic performances (Kathleen Turner. Grifferr Dunne. etc). Glasgow: GET.
I le Patron! D'Yvonne (18) (Patrice Lcconte. France. 1994) Hippolyte Giradot. Jean-Pierre Marielle. Sandra Majani. 89 rrrins. 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 's Husband. Leconte's filnr enjoys its fair share of sunny reminiscence before darkening into a mode of existential tragedy. Edinburgh: Cameo. 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. Bigelow tackles cliches of buddy partnerships. macho bullshit and thriller shoot-outs with fresh energy. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Princess Bride (PG) (Rob Reiner. US. 1987). Cary Elwes. Robin Wright. Mandy Patinkin. Billy Crystal. 99 mins. The princess in question is one Buttercup. chosen by the nasty Prince Humperdinck to be his bride. Her heart. however. belongs to Westley. a farm boy who has disappeared. The princess' kidnapping prompts the return of Westley. who has become a pirate. and launches a series of swashbuckling adventures. after which true love can prevail. William Goldman's heavily ironic fairy tale is given a spirited treatment by the director of Stand By Me and an enthusiastic troupe.
Edinbu h: Filmhouse.
I Putpréletion (18) (Quentin Tarantino. US. 1994) John Travolta. Samuel Jackson. Uma Thurman. Bruce Willis. 150 mins. Much nrore ambitious than Reservoir Dogs. the most awaited second feature of the 90s has many scenes that crackle with Tarantino wit. and a few others that fall flat as the writer-director bravely experiments. Interlocking stories in the pulp crime manner concern hitrnen. ailing boxers. gang bosses and their molls. drug fiends. and assorted riff-raff. This year's surprise Cannes Palme d'Or winner is a trip. all the way. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Raining Stones (15) (Ken Loach. UK. I993) Bmce Jones. Julie Brown. Ricky Torrrlinsorr. 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 Rear Window (PG) (Alfred Hitchcock. US.
1954) James Stewart. Grace Kelly. Wendell
Corey. Raymond Btrrr. 112 rrrins. Laid up with a
broken leg. Slitn Jim takes to neighbour-spotting
with binoculars and camera at the ready. Before
long. he's getting hot under the collar about the
dirty deeds done across the yard. is it murder?
Orjust naked vOyeurism'.’ One of Hitch's darkest
movies. with an intense. unrelenting
clarrstrophobia derived from confining the lens
to the apartment set. With The Invisible Hand
(11 rrrirrs). an investigation into male sexuality.
Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Red Rock West (15) (John Dalrl. US. 1992)
Nicolas Cage. Lara Flynn Boyle. Dennis Hopper.
98 mins. Mistaken for a Texas hitmarr. Nicolas
Cage is offered $5.000 by a srnalltown sheriff to
kill his wife . . . and then double the amount by
her if he'll reverse the hit. Scooting out of town
with the money and the job undone. ire bumps
9 into the real killer. and his problems begin. A slick tale of double. triple and quadruple dealing
i that adds a comic twist to the tight Blood Simple atmosphere. Edinburgh: Cameo.
1 I The lied Squirrel (18) (Jtrlio Mederrr. Spain.
1993) Narrcho Novo. Emrrra Suarez. 114 mins.
1 Nan'ower in scope than the director's debut.
‘ Wars. The Red Squirrel lras elements in
common with the hysterical sex farces dominant
itr Spanish filmmaking. btrt is itself a complex
melodrama about deceit. betrayal and love. shot
through with angled syrrrbolisrn. A clever blend
of psyclrodrarrra and thriller. Glasgow: GFI'.
; I Reservoir Dogs (18) (Quentin Tarantino. US.
1992) Harvey Keitel. Tim Roth. Michael
‘. Madsen. 100 rrrirrs. A gang of hoods. known
only to each other by colorrr-Ctxled nicknames. meets at an abandoned warehouse to figure how out their rigororrsly planned heist went so
l 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.
; Edinburgh: Cameo. Odeon. Stratirclyde: Odeon
Ayr.
I Sirens (15) (John Duigan. Ans. 1994)11ugh
: Grant. Tara Fitzgeral. Sarrr Neill. Elle
l MacPlrerson. 94 rrrirrs. Christian morality meets
: bohemian expression. English prissirress meets
Australian freedorrr. as a newly arrived English crrrate and his wife visit the lrorrre of ‘scandalous' painter Norman Lindsay. iltrgh Grant is his burrrblirrg screctr self. Tara Fitzgerald perches on the edge of a sexual chasm as his wife. supertnodel Elle MacPherson brings an easy. unselfcorrscions sexuality to it all. Fairly dull. really. btrt the nude tableaux add visual appeal. We may not know much about art. but we know what we like. Edirrbtrrgh: Cameo.
I The Snapper (15) (Stephen 1:1'Cars. UK. 1993) Colm Meaney. Tina Kelleglrer. Rtrth McCabe. 9O rrrins. Don't expect the pltrsher 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 Cur'ley announces her pregnancy but not the name of the father. setting the small Barrytown community into uproar. btrt bringing her family closer together. A gem. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Speed (15) (Jatr De Botrt. US. 1994) Keanu Reeves. Dennis Hopper. Sandra Btrllock. 115 rrrirrs. A white-knuckle adrenalin ride that is the fastest. most finely ttrrrcd fairgroutrd attraction of the year. With LA SWAT man Jack Traven
(Reeves) tip against mad borrrber Iloward Payne 1 (Hopper) it) a tower-block elevator siege. a btrs
wired to blow if it drops below 50mph and LA's ‘ as-yet-nnfinished srrbway. this is a movie that
will leave you on a high for days afterwards. General release.
I Support Your Local Sherrit (PG) (Burt Kennedy. US. 1969) James Garner. Joan llackett. Walter Brennan. 93 mins. It's hard to dislike this comedy western. mainly on account of amiable performances by Garner and genre die-hard Brennan. A stranger wanders into town and is offered the lawman‘s badge. and soon finds himself stumbling through rrrore cliches than plot. Edinburgh: St Bride's.
I Three Colours: White (15) (Krzysztof Kieslowski. France/Switszoland. 1993) Zbigniew Zarrraclrowski. Julie Delpy. Janusz Gajos. 91 mins. Another masterful piece of cinema by Kieslowski. tnuclr less lyrical and visually poetic than his rrrost recent works. This time the theme of the trilogy is ‘equality'. as a Polish hairdresser sets out to get revenge on his French ex-wife. Fife: Robin‘s.
I Threesome ( 18) (Andrew Fleming. US. 1994) Josh Charles. Lara Flynn Boyle. Stephen Baldwin. 93 rrrirrs. A serious. shy gay student and a slacker jock find themselves sharing a college dorrrr with a girl whose narrre has caused a bureaucratic error. Pretty soon. they're working out their incompatible triangular desires behind closed doors. A film that dares to challenge. btrt barely rocks the boat. Threesome sturrrbles through some incredibly patronising scenes before finding a little rrrore complexity. Far from psychological trtrth. however. See review. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCI. Strathclyde: UCls.
I Thumhelina (U) (Don Blutlr. US. 1993) Animator Blrrtlr comes close to rivalling Disney with this charming fairytale filled with little folk. princes. easy-to-follow messages and a Barry Manilow soundtrack. Young kids will love it and even the cynically hard-hearted may soften. All UCls. Glasgow: ()deorr. MGM Parkhead. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr.
I To live ( l2) (erang Yirnou. Ilorrg Kong/China. 1994) Ge You. Gong Li. Nitr Ben. 125 mins. With a gentle injection of humour alongside the tragedy. Zhang returns to the epic scope of his earlier films. following the effects of history on an nnirrrposirrg family. The ironies thrown up by political changes. taking in the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. may have bizarrely comic consequences. but they also inflict pain at a grass-roots level. Ge You is a magnificent lead. See review. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I True Lies (15) (James Cameron. US. 1994) Arnold Schwarsenegger. Jamie Lee Curtis. Tom Arnold. 141 mins. Arnie masquerades as a computer salesman to keep long-suffering spouse Curtis in the dark about his real job in the iii-tech spy world. At a price tag of over SlOOm. Cameron's attempt to redefine the visual possibilities of the action genre is thrilling. disappointing and exasperating in almost equal measures. but at least the money‘s up there on the screen. Dodgy value judgements. brilliant wholesale destruction. Glasgow: MGMs. All UCls.
I True Romance ( 18) (Tony Scott. US. 1993) Christian Slater. Patricia Arquette. Dennis Hopper. 1 19 rrrirrs. Corrric bookstore assistant Clarence rrreets. sleeps with and rrrarries novice hooker Alabama within a matter of hours. then
the lovebirds find themselves on the rtrn with an
accidentally stolen case of cocaine. Limelight- stcaling cameos and writer Quentin Tarantino's verbal set-pieces fire this excellent trrovie. the epitorrre of disposable pop culture for the fast- food generation. Edinburgh: Cameo. Strathciydc: l'Cl Clydebarrk.
I War [It The Buttons (PG) (John Roberts. UK. 1994) Colin Meaney. Gre yg Fitzgerald. John
Coffey. 94 mins. The rivalry between two
villages in the sorrth west of Ireland is taken up in childish skirmishes between local schoolkids. btrt soon their battles escalate. Colin Welland's script oozes Irish charm and a love of childhood. brrt the repetitive structure begins to wear thin. See Being Human feature. Glasgow: MGM Parkhead. Edirrbrrrgh: MGM. UCl. Strathclyde: UC Is.
I We Don't Want To Talk About It (PG) (Maria Luisa Berrrberg. Argentina/Italy. 1993) Marcello Mastroianrri. Lnisina Brando. Alejandra Podesta. 102 rrrins. A suave bachelor falls in love with a female dwarf. despite her mother‘s attempts to repress the tnrth of her disability by burning fairy tale books. A change in tone. content and style for director Bemberg. whose depictions of strong South American women have rrrade her a critical and popular hit. Tire film iras the sad cnchantrrrent of a fable that champions marginalised figures. See review. Glasgow: GET. I What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (12) (Lasse Hallstrorrr. US. 1993) Johnny Depp. Juliette Lewis. Leonardo Di Caprio. 118 mins. For once. Depp is the sole figure of calrrr in an oddball world. the oldest son in a dysfunctional fanrily who live in a neurotic lowa backwater. ()nly when holiday-maker Lewis arrives does he begin to consider his own feelings. With one eye on detail. the other on the absurd. director Lasse (My life As A Dog) Hallstrorrr delivers a sympathetic romance surrounded by American foibles. The acting is superb from all concerned. A low-key wonder. one of the films of the year. Edinburgh: Cameo. Fife: Adam Smith.
I When A Man loves A Woman ( 15) (Luis Mandoki. US. 1994) Meg Ryan. Andy Garcia. Ellen Btrrstyrr. 126 trrins. Casting Ryan against type as an alcoholic trrother going through rehab hell and piecing together her domestic life does add welcome friction to Marrdoki's follow-up to Burn Yesterday. but otherwise it‘s a rather typical piece about forgiveness. inner strength atrd reinforced farrrily values. The romantic content atrd emotional rrraniptrlatiorr. however. will please the lrankie carriers irr the audience. General release.
I Wolf (15) (Mike Nichols. US. 1994) Jack Nicholson. Michelle Pfeiffer. James Spader. 125 mins. If you go to this expecting a full-bloodied werewolf movie. you'll be disappointed. Director Nichols trades traditional settings and gore for a deeper analysis of one man's transformation on physical. emotional and psychological levels. Bitten by a wolf. Nicholson‘s books editor fends off his mid-life crisis and vents his passions on cynical rich girl Pfeiffer. More a date movie with teeth than out- and-out horror. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCI. Strathclyde: UCls.
I Wyatt Earp (12) (Lawrence Kasdan. US. 1994) Kevitr Costner. Dennis Quaid. Gene Hackman. 191 mins. A sprawling epic portrait of the legendary lawman that attempts to get beyond the myth of the OK Corral by showing Earp to be pig-headed in his determination that farrrily matters above all else. Unfortunately Costner is just too one-note to create a truly ambivolent Character. but the close quarter gurrfights are probably the most realistic ever put on the big screen. Strathclyde: Magnum.
I Zero Patience ( 18) (John Greysorr. Canada. 1992) John Robinson. Normand Fauteux. Diatrne Hetlrerirrgton. 100 trrirrs. Victorian sexologist and explorer Sir Richard Burton is alive and well. preparing a ‘llall ()f Contagion' for a Canadian Museum with a centrepiece exhibit on Patient Zero. allegedly the first person to bring AIDS to North America. A bright. ftrrrrry and poignant musical (featuring singing sphincters. amongst others) which satirises the world's preoccupation with scapegoatirrg. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
TO
A film by Zhang Yimou “BEAUTIFULLYACTED — UNMISSABLE.’
A modern Chinese classic, as visually stunning as it is dramatic” ran.-
“11/1/15 TERLY Zang has found a new approach to Chinese history... a hind of hlacle comedy infused with genuine human feeling”rhcosm-cr
OPENSMOGTOBER - CAMEO, EDINBURGH
From the director oij DOU and RAISE THE RED LANTERN
LIVE
Starring Gong Li
Ge You
{S’Winner ‘94 g Grand Jury Prize
*'\\
V and Best Actor, Manes 199
X}
.' ‘ ‘fi‘ Vl’olvfltn'r‘. )m"
24 The List 7—20 October 1994