FILM PREVIEW
SCOTTISH FILM
I 100<CIIIE>1002 One of only nine proposals to make it to the next round of consideration by the Commissioners 0fthe National Millennium Fund is 10()<C1NE>1()(). a cinema museum based in Coatbridge. Highlights of the complex would include a state-of-the- art. 36-seat simulation theatre using laser projection: a 2()8-scat public auditorium programmed to show a wide range of films and videos. including archive footage. and equipped with a fully restored cinema organ; a completely intact 19th century building resembling a tnovie set: and a
museum facility that would illustrate the history of every aspect of film and
1 television in Scotland.
l Given that. statistically. the 17K’s tnost l avid film-goers live in Glasgow and
1 Edinburgh. such a development would
i undoubtedly lind an audience eager to
1 learn more about its own film culture rather than the American fare that dominates commercial screens. Anyone wishing to add a note of public support to what sounds like a very exciting venture should write to l()()<(‘1NE>l()(). c/o Dept of Planning and Development. Municipal Buildings. Kildonan Street. ('oatbridge MLS ALN. or call ()1236 441370.
Festival flies home fl
Four new features, three television length documentaries and twenty shorts - a strong year for filmmaking in Scotland is reflected in the home- produced line-up of this year’s Drambuie Edinburgh Film Festival, which runs from 13-27 August.
Scottish World Premieres are headed by The Hear Room, a Glaswegian noir directed by David Hayman and written by Robert Murphy, which follows journalist Adrian Dunbar’s slide into the city’s underworld. Writer David Kane also takes a turn in the director’s chair with quirky Glasgwegian character comedy Ruffian Hearts, while Morag McKinnon’s 3 uses Edinburgh’s Beltane Fire celebration as a key element in a mystical drama about a young man’s search for his spiritual self.
Back on the West Coast, Small Faces is a long-awaited collaboration between director Gillies and writer Billy Mackinnon, a story of three young brothers growing up amidst the gang violence of Easterhouse in the 19603. Gillies Mackinnon’s Hollywood feature starring Steve Martin, A Simple Twist Of Fate, also screens at the Festival, and the director will take part in two in-depth Scene By Scene discussions, one with Martin, the other on his award-winning BBC feature from a few years back, The Grass Arena.
David Halliday’s beautiful Uamh An Dir (Dave 0! Gold) uses computerised camera shots of changing landscapes
ead: one of twenty Scottish shorts at the DEFF
: to show the effect of modern life on
i the older Gaelic folk legends, while Bernard Rudden’s The Hunger Artist
l takes as its inspiration a Kafka story
1 about a professional faster. Two
| documentaries come from acclaimed
1 Scottish filmmaker Murray Grigor: In
g Search Of Clarity is a reflective
i portrait of the work of modernist
g architect Charles Gwathney, designer
l of Stephen Spielberg’s home, and The
1 Great Wall or China follows
1 performance artists Marina Abramovic
and Ulay as they walk ZOOOkm to meet
3 up on one of the wonders of the world.
i The latter film screens as a tribute to
its producer, Barbara Grigor, who died
i earlier this year.
I Actor-turned-director Peter Mullan
1 will present three of his shorts — The
Fridge, Close, Good Day For The Bad
Guys- at a special event, and this
1 year’s trio of Tartan Shorts will receive
their world premiere. Other shorts
include Scottish suffragette tale Ethel
l Maorehead, First Reels Award Winner
The Contract, Pat Harkins’s Nightlife,
i and brilliant Edinburgh College of Art
piece Mr Morris.
Elsewhere, Scottish acting talent can
be seen as John Hannah stars as a gay
man with an unusual disfigurement in
Madagascar Skin, and Robert Carlyle
3 comes to terms with multiple sclerosis
; in Do How, written by Crackers Jimmy
I McGovern. For times and venues of all
. these screenings, see the Film
Festival’s Free Preview, which will be
widely available from Friday 14. (Alan Morrison)
BEYOND VISION/T ERROR
VISION
Perhaps the most avid video collectors are horror and sci-ti fans, so it’s good to note that two new labels are being launched that treat genre connoisseurs with the respect they deserve. Beyond Vision falls into four categories - Sci-Fi Classics, Fantasy Classics, Cult Classics and Serial Sci-Fi - while its sister label Terror Vision unlocks from the vaults Horror Classics, Hammer Classics and The Crypt Collection. No cheaply thrown together packages these: in addition to the feature (in its original ratio whenever possible), several tapes contain original cinema trailers and ‘Making Of’ documentaries, as well as sets of informative cards in the Horror Classics collector’s packs. Highlights of the first batch range from the first ever UK video release of Forbidden Planet (widescreen, £14.99) to Bladerunner: The Director’s Cut (widescreen, £12.99); from The Wicker Man (£10.99) to Frankenstein Unbound (£14.99 with trailer) and To The Devil A Daughter (£10.99). Personal favourites, however, are this month’s two Vincent Price titles.
VIDEOS
Monday 17.
House Of Wax: Price at his best
House Df Wax, shows the actor at his best in a sensitive portrayal of an artist driven insane when his treasured wax sculptures - and his own hands - are destroyed in a fire. Another genuine classic is the deliciously gory and hilariously clever Theatre Of Blood, with Price killing off a group of critics in flamboyant set- pieces lifted from the more full- blooded moments in Shakespeare’s oeuvre. (Alan Morrison)
Beyond Vision and Terror Vision are launched by Warner Home Video on
I Out Of My Head (18) The wagging tongue of bored teenager/reasonable doctor/fortysomething drug-fiend Rik Mayall is spliced with real drug- users describing the highs and lows that can be bought on the street or harvested on damp autumn days. Graphic anecdotes and a clear distinction between psychological dependency and physical addiction receive musical backing from Oasis. The Shamen and l’ortishead. but the naughty-naughty see-saw it rocks on illustrates the pitfalls of ‘edutainment'. A rip-off and a damn waste. (Astrion £12.99) I Fear Eats The Soul (15) ()ne of Fassbinder's most accessible features charts the unusual love affair between an elderly ('ierman widow and a young Moroccan immigrant. Their commitment is strong. but all around them is the bigotry of neighbours ~ a grassroots indication of wider society's hypocritical hatred of anyone who goes against the ‘rulcs'. That this display of racism is set in Germany gives this sad. but all too true. little drama an added edge. (Connoisseur £ 15.99)
I Lola ( 15) Again Fassbinder is openly critical of post-World War 11 German society. but this time. he allows a comic cynicism to come to the surface. Barbara Sukowa
is a nightclub singer and a prostitute who snares upright Buildings
Commissioner Armin
director's portrait of a T corrupt. immoral hierarchy of local
Mueller-Stahl in a small Bavarian town. The
politicians and
f businessmen is made ' more fable-like by his use
of strong. expressionist
colours. (Connoisseur £15.99) I Martin Scorsese
Directs ( 15) Recently. we've heard Scorsese talk a lot about the work of other filmmakers; here. the American Masters series continues with a solid. fairly intimate portrait of his own career. Made at the time of (inm/fi'l/(IS. it includes insightful footage from the set and the all-
. important editing room.
supporting this with clips from earlier works and interviews with family
and some first division
colleagues (Spielberg. l)e
Niro. etc). By the end. . though. there's not much
here that the fan doesn't
already know. t.»\cademy
£12.99)
I Choose Me ( 15) Keith Carradine's just been released from a mental hospital. Lesley Ann Warren runs a downtown LA bar. Genevieve Bujold is a radio agony aunt. In Alan Rudolph's wonderfully offbeat movie. their lives and passions intertwine in a world where coincidence brings as much comedy as romance. There's a real need for love beneath the
modern veneer of these characters. and Rudolph manages to convince us that each of their quirks is genuine and worth sympathy. (Arrow £15.99) I Trouble In Mind (15) Another urban drama with a slight noir feel frqu Alan Rudolph. this atmospheric character study sets itself apart in its moments ofcompassion. Kris Kristofferson is an ex-copjust out of prison. lodging at Genevieve Bujold‘s cafe and becoming embroiled in the affairs of young mum |.ori Singer and her trash boyfriend Keith (‘arratline A low key classic. with the excellent standard of script and performance you‘d expect from this filmmaker. (Arrow £15.99)
I Ghostly love ( 18) An explicit reworking of A ('ltlm'st' (i/msl Slm‘y. this tale of a man and his supernatural lover adds sortie fantasy effects and martial arts swordplay to the bedroom action. Badly translated subtitles don't help clarify what there is of the plot. however, (liastern Heroes £13.99) I Success Is The Best Revenge ( 15) A Polish theatre director staging a multi-media show in London concentrates on his art at the expense of his family. particularly his rebellious teenage son. Jerzy Skolimowski‘s film is drawn out. fairly dull stuff. that only comes alive when the politically inspired theatre piece within the film is unveiled. (Arrow £15.99).
28 The List 14-27 Jul 19%