INDEX FILM
FILM .m-
Filnrs screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Alan Morrison.
I Abba The Movie (U) (Lasse Halstrorn. Swe/Australia. 1977) ABBA. Robert Hughes. Tom Oliver. Bruce Bany. 95 min. Made at the height of their populatrity. the wafer thin plotline consists of the four Swedes being pursued across Oz by a Sydney DJ. Dancing Queen. Waterloo. 5.0.5.. etc. Takes you back eh? Edinburgh: Cameo. I Above The Itill(15) (Jeff Pollack. US. 1994) Duane Martin. Leon. Tupac Shakur. 98 mins. Best kid on the block. Kyle (Martin). turns his back on the school basketball team when he's offered temptations by a local gang boss. but the baddie's good brother plays his hand at restoring Kyle to decency. While not the most original story in the world. Pollack's debut is backed by a relentless rap soundtrack and comes at a time when sports movies are back in vogue. See review. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: UCl. I The Adventures Di Priscilla, Dueen (it The Desert (18) (Stephan Elliott. Australia. 1994) Terence Stamp. Hugo Weaving. Guy Pearce. 104 mins. Two transvestites and a trans-sexual team up for a trip across the Australian outback for a drag show in Alice Springs. Serious issues pop up from time to time. but the emphasis is on the camp humour of the in-bus bitchiness and outrageous musical set-pieces. Edinburgh: Odeon. Cameo. I Annie (U) (John Huston. US. 1981) Albert Finney. Aileen Quinn. Carol Burnett. Tim Curry. 128 mins. Nauseatingly sweet screen version of the unprepossessing stage musical tale of a plucky orphan who wins the heart of a mean millionaire. Staid and wholly unimpressive. Edinburgh: St Bride's. I Baby's Day Out (PG) (Patrick Read Johnson. US. 1994) Joe Mantegna. Lara Flynn Boyle. Brian Haley. 98 mins. Talk about regression! After Home Alone and Dennis. writer John Hughes now has a drooling toddler on the loose in the big city after he escapes from his kidnappers. led by man-with-no—shame Mantegna. Saccharine sweet storytelling which diabetics would be well advised to steer clear of. Glasgow: MGM Parkhead. I Backbeat (15) (lain Softley. UK. 1993) Stephen Dorff. Sheryl Lee. lan Hart. 100 mins. Back before The Beatles were a musical phenomenon. they were just five young lads knocking out rock 'n' roll hits in seedy Hamburg. Softley's film pushes the music aside and concentrates on the odd three-sided relationship of John Lennon. painter and ‘fifth Beatle' Stuart Sutcliffe and German photographer Astrid Kirchherr. The period detail and acting is superb. particularly from Hart in his second excursion as Lennon (following The Hours And Times. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Bad Boy Ruby (18) (Rolf de Heer. Australia/Italy. 1993) Nicholas Hope. Claire Benito. Ralph Cotterill. 114 mins. Bubby's lead something of a sheltered life. trapped by his mom and used for sex in a bunker. When he emerges at the age of 35. he's got a rather limited view of the outside world and its inhabitants. An exceedingly warped and unforgetable cinematic experience that builds to a surprisingly moving climax. Glasgow: GFI‘. I Daralra (PG) (Ron Fricke. US. 1992) 96 mins. Environmentally aware eco-doc in the style of Koyaanisqatsi has the major advantage of having been shot in 70mm. which makes the stunning cinematography the star of the show. Beautiful footage of Planet Earth isjuxtaposed with man's harmful relation to it. with the Big Statement being pushed forwards by a series of powerful images. A genuine spectacle. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Dhaii on the Beach (12) (Gurinder Chadha. UK. 1993) Kim Vithana. Jimmi Harkishin. Sarita Khajuria. 100 mins. A group of Asian women from Birmingham leave their day-today cares behind them and head in a van for Blackpool. But the problems of culture clashes. a patriarchal community. domestic violence and generation gaps follow them onto the sand. A magnificently fresh. uplifting view of life in Britain through Asian eyes. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Fife: Robin‘s. I Boiling Point (18) (Takeshi Kitano. Japan. 1990) 96 mins. The most disappointing of Kitano's releases to date. Boiling Point lacks the power of Violent Cop and Sonatine. Perhaps part of the problem is that the man himself only appears briefly as a crazy yakuza. while the
focus is more on nerdy baseball fan Masaki. whose brush with a gangster causes him to go to town to buy a gun for protection. This style of comedy doesn't travel well. resulting in long periods of boredom. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Le Doucher (15) (Claude Chabrol. France/italy. 1970) Jean Yanne. Stephane Audran. 93 mins. In a small French provincial town. a timid butcher courts an equally unassuming schoolmistress as a series of brutal slayings shocks the local community. Part Hitchcockian thriller. part character study. this is Chabrol at his exquisite Gallic best. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Brighton lloclt (PG) (John Boulting. UK. 1947) Richard Attenborough. Hermione Baddeley. William Hartnell. 91 mins. The pre- luvvic Attenborough brings a menacing delinquincy to Pinkie. who has to sweet-talk a waitress who witnesses one of his murders. The seaside atmosphere is essentially English and somehow sordid in this fine adaptation of Graham Greene's novel. which has lost none of its power to thrill. Central: MacRobert.
I Bringing lip Baby (PG) (Howard Hawks. US. 1938) Cary Grant. Katharine Hepburn. Charles Ruggles. 102 mins. Zany gal Hepburn causes timid zoology professor Grant to lose a valuable dinosaur bone and rnislay a pet leopard within the course of one screwball evening. Archetypai Thirties crazy comedy with one outlandisth hilarious scene following another within the progression of an unerringly logical narrative. Both stars at their charismatic best. Glasgow:
GFT.
I Citizen Kane (PG) (Orson Welles. US. 1941) Orson Welles. Joseph Cotten. Agnes Moorehead. 119 mins. Stunningly successful biographical mosaic centring on a Hearst-like media tycoon. Welles' first film remains scintillating viewing for its sheer technical verve. narrative confidence and spellbinding performances. The best film ever made? Who's arguing? Glasgow: GFT.
I Clean, Shaven (18) (Lodge Kerrigan. US. 1993) Peter Greene. Robert Albert. Megan Owen. 77 mins. A disturbed young man. suspected of murder. searches for his estranged daughter. Using a carefully structured soundtrack of alienating voices and noises. a fragmented narrative style. bleakly minimalistic photography and an intense central performance by Peter Greene. Kerrigan allows the audience to truly appreciate the dreadful anxiety that is the schizophrenic’s daily life. See preview. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The client (15) (Joel Schumacher. US. 1994) Susan Sarandon. Tommy Lee Jones. Brad Renfro. 121 mins. Roundly superior to both The Firm and The Pelican Brief(which isn't saying much). this John Grisham adaptation has the benefit of credible performances by its leads. A young boy becomes the pawn in a legal battle when he finds himself on the run from both the Mob and the FBI. No masterpiece. but as a popcorn movie. there‘s more to savour than other airport novel fillers. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: Dominion. MGM. UCI. Strathclyde: UCls.
I The Collector (18) (William Wyler. US. 1965) Terence Stamp. Samantha Egger. Mona Washboume. 119 mins. Unsatisfying version of John Fowles excellent novel. with casting the real problem. Stampjust isn't nerdy enough to be the shy young man who kidnaps the object of his affections and holds her captive in an attempt to win her love. Wyler‘s direction is fine for a thriller. but lacks the twin perspectives that enlivened the book. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Corrine Corrine (PG) (Jessie Nelson. US. 1994) Whoopi Goldberg. Ray Liotta. Tina Majorino. 116 mins. Goldberg stars as the maid to a recently widowed jingle writer (Liotta). whose daughter helps them overcome the social distance that the times - the 1950s — demand. Comedy and drama move with seamless skill. although the triumph of romance over cynicism may prove too sweet for some. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Fife: Robin's. All UCls.
I Days Di Being Wild (12) (Wong Kar-Wai. Hong Kong. 1991) Leslie Cheung. Maggie Cheung. Andy Lau. 93 mins. Denied knowledge of his true parents by his desperately jealous foster mother. ice cool Yuddy (Leslie Chang) goes through life leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him. A fresh. chic original that uses the cool mood of 1960 and universal themes of restless youth to capture the current uncertainties surrounding 1997. See review. Glasgow: GFT. I Dazed And Confused (18) (Richard Linklater. US. 1994) Wiley Wiggins. Jason London. Rory Cochrane. 95 mins. The last day of the 1976 term for a bunch of US schoolkids. and. for some. it's time to face the initiation humiliations as they move from junior to senior high. Linklater abandons the baton-passing nan‘itive style of his seminal work. Slacker. and shows masterful skill as he weaves together a multitude of plot strands a la American Crafliti. Coo-ul. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Dear Diary ( 15) (Nanni Moretti. Italy. 1994) Nanni Moretti. Renato Carpeutieri. 100 mins. An intimate journal. captured with both narrative and technical freedom. Moretti‘s Cannes award- winner sees him zip around Rome on his Vespa. visit the Aeolian island home of a friend. and come up against the doctors who are having problems diagnosing his possibly malignant illness. What may seem loose and unordered is actually very carefully structured. with a level of intimacy rarely achieved in the cinema. See preview. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Divided Heaven (15) (Konrad Wolf. Germany. 1964) 110 mins. The Wolf retrospective continues with this examination of the division of Germany and a relationship that suffers because of it. One of the few films made at the time and in the place that the problem was current. Glasgow: Goethe lntitut.
I Dialogues With The Devil (18) Master animator Jan Svankmajer's surreal art is that of the modern alchemist. This series of three programmes showcases his shorter works and includes a selection by other animators working with similar themes and techniques. Programme 1 (Tue 6 only) consists of Svankmajer's The Flat. Down To The Cellar. A Quiet Week In The House and l’rri/e Games and Walerian Borowczyk's Renaissance and Dom: Programme 2 (Tue 13 only) consists of Svankmajer's Food. Punch & Judy and Dimensions 0/ Dialogue. as well as Wladyslaw Starewicz's The Mascot and the Brothers Quay's Street 0f C rocodiles. Glasgow: GET.
I The Exorcist ( 18) (William Friedkin. US. 1973) Linda Blair. Ellen Burstyn. Max Von Sydow. 1 10mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little possessed girl in this hugely effective scarefest. Dead good. dead scarey. dead priest. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon.
I Forrest Dunn (12) (Robert 7£lllCCle. US. 1994) Tom Hanks. Robin Wright. Gary Sinise. 142 mins. Even those with the lowest IQs can rise to the top in the land of the free. as this picaresque tale sets out to prove. But despite its incurany sweet hero and its fairly standard love story core. Forrest Gump has a surprisingly dark-tinted view on recent American history — complete with racism. drug and child abuse. war and political assassination. There are some bitter tasting choices hidden among the soft centres. General release.
I Four Weddings And A Funeral (15) (Mike Newell. UK. 1993) Hugh Grant. Andie MacDowell. Kristin Scott Thomas. 117 mins. Sweet but stuffy Englishman Charlie (Grant) is convinced that he is not the marrying sort. but when he keeps meeting the alluring American Carrie (MacDowell) at an assortment of church ceremonies. he begins to doubt his resolve. The sort of charming British comedy that was destined to storm America. but which adds a little grit to the glamour of the pretty settings thanks to Richard (Blackadtler) Curtis's script. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Dominion. Filmhouse.
I Free Willy (U) (Simon Wincer. US. 1993) Jason James Richter. Lori Petty. Michael Madsen. 112 mins. After moving from one set of foster parents to another. young Jesse finds himself helping out with chores at a marine amusement park where Willy the orca whale has also been separated from his family. Land and sea rebels become soul-mates. and the plot heads down a distinctly ET—like path. Easy-to-grasp adventure for the kids: a little too simplistic and manipulative for a more sophisticated audience. Fife: Robin's.
I Geronimo: An American Legend (I2) (Walter Hill. US. 1994) Wes Studi. Jason Patric. Gene Hackrnan. 115 mins. It's clear that director Hill and co-wtiters John Milius and Larry Gross see Geronimo. last of the Apache to surrender to the US Army. as a proud. fearless and dangerous rebel. Striving for authenticity and imbued with an unsentirnental respect for its subject. the film shows deep understanding over one of the most shameful episodes of ‘ethnic cleansing' in American history. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Done With The Wind (PG) (Victor Fleming. US. 1939) Clark Gable. Vivien Leigh. Olivia de llavilland. Leslie Howard. 220 mins. This new print has restored the original colour to the classic. fifty-three-year-old tale that brings alive the era of the civil war through gripping narrative and characterisation. remaining faithful to Margaret Mitchell's powerful novel. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I M. Day (PG) (Harold Ramis. US. 1993) Bill Murray. Andie MacDowell. Chris Elliot. TV weatherman Phil Conners (Murray) finds himself in the back of beyond. trapped in an ever-repeating single day. Partying and babe- chasing leads to serious romancing as he goes after his producer (MacDowell). Murray's cuddly sarcasm stops the movie from becoming the kind of moralising mush that surrounds so many of his contemporaries. At last. a Hollywood comedy that is really funny. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
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I Clean, Sharron A disturbingly accurate account of schizophrenia, made all the more remarkable for being a feature debut by writer/director Lodge Kerrigan. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I I Dear Diary Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti zips around Rome. visits friends on Aeolian islands and confronts his doctors in this funny and intimate film journal. Edinburgh: Cameo. llI Three Colours: lied The final instalment in Kieslowski’s trilogy strips away social conventions to reveal the deeper feelings of model Irene Jacob and judge JeamLouis Trintignant. Glasgow: GFTI Edinburgh: Cameo. ill Pulp Fiction Hitmen, boxers, doublecrossers and other down-and- out types in Quentin Tarantino’s interlocking tales. Funny, violent, ambitious and so hip it hurts. General release. I The Nightmare Before Dhrlstrnas Halloween meets Yuletide as Jack Skellington kidnaps Santa. A stop- motion musical filled with dark delights. General release. REPEHTDRY I The Wizard or 01 A genuine classic, freed from television for a seasonal big screen trip down the Yellow Brick Road. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I Dialogues With The Devil The first two programmes of short animated works by master sun'ealist Jan Svankmajer and others who use similar techniques. Glasgow: GET:
I Highlander (15) (Russell Mulcahy. UK. 1986) Christopher Lambert. Beatie Edney. Sean Connery. 111 mins. A handful of immortals battle through the centuries to win a mythical prize. A curious mixture of romance in 16th century heather and car chases in present day New York. the film is an inelegant. often ludicrous. but enjoyably daffy adventure. Lambert seems more at home with the contemporary passages and only the ever wonderful Connery has the requisite style for the kitsch Scottish scenes. Glasgow: Grosvenor. I Highlander 3 (15) (Andy Morahan. US. 1994) Christopher Lambert. Mario Van Peebles. 98 mins. Similar more to the Original than the lamentable sequel (even down to mirroring some scenes). the third and (we pray) final instalment takes Macleod to the French Revolution and modern New York to do battle with sorcerer Van Peebles. There should have been only one. General release. I Hiroshima Mon AIOII' (18) (Alain Resnais. France. 1959) Emmanuelle Riva. Eiji Okada. 91 mins. The romantic liaison between a French actress working in Hiroshima and a Japanese architect awakens the ghosts of her wartime relationship with a Gemtan soldier. First major work by a director who has altered the perception of cinematic time. here moving effortlessly through the flashbacks and flashforwards of Marguerite Duras' emotive script. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. I The HalemdtheTlIee(18)(Christopher , Munch. US. 1991) 60 mins. Based on an episode when Beatles manager Brian Epstein escorted John Lennon to Barecelona for a week's holiday — prepare to suspend disbelief. Edinburgh:
Cameo.
The List 2—15 December 1994 31