FILM SCOTTISH
I London Film Festival: Scottish talent will come under the spotlight at the 38th London Film Festival (3—20 November) when Shallow Grave screens as the Centrepiece Gala on Friday 11 November. This event showcases the feature film debut of a British director. in this case Danny Boyle, whose handling of John Hodge‘s script has already won several prizes at
international festivals. Also in the LFF’s British section is Mike Alexander’s Mairi Mhor. front a script by John McGrath. while Patrick Harkins's short The [11st 'l'en Minutes — a collaboration between Glasgow‘s Rain Dog Theatre Company and Figment Films — is part of the Short Films Showcase. Box office info on 071 928 3232.
I Tech lloir: If the cinema of science fiction tries to indicate how we might live in the future. does it also comment on how we live today? That‘s one of the topics to be discussed at a six-week course beginning Wednesday 2 November at the Filmhouse. Edinburgh. Course fee is £20 (£15 concessions) and films to be screened include Silent Running. Metropolis. Kiss Me Dead/y. 'I'etsuo 2. Blade Runner: The Director‘s Cut and Roboeop. Info on 031 228 6382.
PHASE ONE VIDEO
Such is the demand for world cinema on sell-through video that any new label dedicated to widening the range of titles available is a welcome addition to the field. This month sees the arrival of Phase One, who will concentrate on those independent English language and foreign titles no longer in distribution. Even the best films become unavailable after their initial seven or eight year licence comes to an end, and few of these were able to establish themselves in the days before the world cinema video market became commercially viable.
For its first release, the company has chosen Carlos Saura’s vibrant flamenco adaptation of Carmen (15). Using the classic cinema device of merging the backstage relationships between the leading man and lady with the fictional characters they play,
Carmen
melodrama, jealousy and dance. Laura del Sol bewitches in the title role, while Antonio Cades’ choreography brings real Latin passion to the story. The video, digitally remastered in widescreen format, is enhanced by a comprehensive filmography and biography of the director on the sleeve, and this auteur approach will be strengthened with Phase Dne’s next scheduled release, Saura’s Blood
Size up
Scotland took a step towards European Union recognition as a small country - at least, in a screen Industries sense - earlier this month with the publication of the British 5 lucrative fund, SCALE.’ Screen Advisory Council’s response to F The BSAC’S response “0W adds UK the European Commission’s Audio- film and television industry support to Visual Green Paper. For the past four ? the campaigfl- It recommends that years, the Scottish Film Council, 1 positive discrimination should not be backed by Scotland’s screen ( restricted just to small member states, community, has campaigned in order 1 but also to defined regions within to win the ‘small country’ label, which ; larger member states. if the SFC’s would bring welcome financial support ! goals are reached, Scotland would be to Scottish-based producers. f in line to benefit from moves to spend ‘It is ironic that the European Union’s j one per cent of the EU budget on MEDIA Programme, which was set up ; developing Europe’s audio-visual to encourage a pan-European audio- i industries. (AM)
, recognise Scotland as a small
1 country,’ says SFC Deputy Director
Erika King. ‘This in effect excludes our I producers from applying to the
visual industry, has refused to
Youth of today
Wasted Youth
What Dazed And Confused has done for 70s American kids. Wasted Youth will do for Scotland’s slackers of the 90s. The second feature by Bruce Naughton, currently a film student at Edinburgh’s Napier University, it‘s described by its maker as ‘Cheech and Chong meet Gregory's Girl’. The film's hero stumbles upon ten tonnes of hash hidden in a skip; but this, ehm, pot of gold only distracts him from his exams, as does the deposit’s original owner. ‘We're trying for a Fast Times At Ridgemont High realistic approach,’ says Naughton. who shot the film in Edinburgh at Napier and at a self-made
20 The List 21 October—3 November 1994
studio set in Craigroyston High School. ‘At the end of the day. it‘s a fairly intelligent, light romantic comedy which is aimed at the stoners’ market.‘ Both Wasted Youth and Naughton’s first film. the Scottish horror story Blood Junkies (which now includes new footage to bring it up to feature length) are about to go into post-production. with a completion goal of 17 January. Although the plan is to utilise low-cost PC equipment for editing to a final Beta copy, additional funding is more than welcome, and Naughton can be contacted via Napier University. (AM)
Saura creates a rich blend of music,
Wedding. (AM)
I Ruby In Paradise (15) A low-key US independent movie that is lifted by a star-making performance by Ashley Judd. She plays Ruby. a young woman who leaves behind the drudgery of her native Tennessee for a quiet working life in Florida. Writer-director Victor Nunez captures this tale of self-discovery with
I In The Soup (15) A hip low-budget indie film about hip low-budget indie filmmaking. but by no means a self-obsessed exercise. The wonderful Steve Buscemi stars as a young writer-director so eager to get his 500-page script into production that he becomes drawn into the shady world of charismatic crook Seymour Cassel. Consistently funny. it plays out in a madly offbeat and semi-surreal world where catneos by Jim Jarmusch and Will Patton set the tone. Now available. as with its theatrical release. in pristine black-and-white widescreen. (Tartan.£15.99)
I La Scorta ( 15 ) Few thrillers from any country come as tight and knife- edged as this. A dedicated group of bodyguards protect ajudge in Sicily who has openly opposed mafia corruption. livery time they walk into the street, every time they open a car door. the audience holds its collective breath: this is a Russian roulette job where all the chambers are loaded. The Ennio Morricone soundtrack adds just the right note of almost mythical heroism. Director Ricky Tognazzi is definitely one to watch. and this is one of the
relaxed. gentle precision. (Mainline/Fox)
I Fearless ( 15) Architect Jeff Bridges survives an aircrash and becomes convinced of his own
1 immortality. At the risk of
alienating his wife and
family. he sets out to ; restore the faith of young
mother Rosie Perez. whose baby son died in the accident. Director Peter Weir gives the film art eliptical sense of
wonder and mysticism
releases of the year.
(Tartan £15.99)
I Tombs Of The Blind Dead (18) Although the sequel was released
earlier this year. it‘s only
now that this early 70s Spanish horror flick creeps out of the video
‘ crypt. Struck from the
original negative. this now ' contains fourteen tninutes ; of unseen footage — which
means fourteen extra minutes of rnisogynistic
.T tack with a pace that’s as
leaden as the zombie Templar knights who
; provide the chills.
(Redemption £12.99) I Cyber City OEDO 808
(15) A group of ex-cons —
2 sort of a techno-age trio in
the Dirty Dozen mould — are given the task of fighting 29th century computer crime.
; Moody pseudo-noir shadows fill the frames as
Manga goes fully cyberpunk. (Manga £9.99)
I Colden Balls (18) There‘s a fair measure of satire in Bigas Luna‘s
comic account of the rise
sitnilar to that which permeated Picnic/1t
3 Hanging RUi'k and The
; Last Wave. (Warner)
' I Time to hitch up at
home with British mega-
earner Four Weddings And A Funeral (15. Columbia Tristar); stalk murky
waters with Bruce Willis
in Striking Distance (18. 20:20 Vision); and share legal thrills with Julia Roberts in The Pelican Brief (12. Warner).
and fall of sex-mad. over- ambitious construction king Javier Bardem. Ashe
prostitutes his girlfriend . and marries for money.
it’s clear he‘s got a
Machiavellian libido. until
Collection £12.99);
; Warren Mitchell‘s
satiricaily intolerant alter- ego Alf Garnett comments
: — featuring the Monty Python team and others —
Columbia Tristar); Lenny
with Live And Loud (18.
a car crash puts a stop to his erections. both physical and professional. Luna doesn't. however. get the balance right. and so the film slips into offensive macho excess. (Tartan £13.99)
I There‘s a mixed bag of comedy on offer to brighten up those autumn blues. Norman Wisdom drags up his old routines in Trouble On Tour (U . BMG £10.99); Mike Reid takes the seriously tacky é approach with adult pantomime Pussy Ill Boots (18. Video
on the state of 90s Britain in The Thoughts of Chairman Alf (15. BMG £10.99); over two hours of classic material from Amnesty lnternational’s Secret Policeman‘s Balls
is brought together on Comic Balls ( 15.
Henry goes back on stage
Video Collection £12.99); and Dave Allen selects his own favourite gags on the imaginatively titled Dave Allen (12. BBC £12.99).
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