FILM REVIEW
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I RAFTA Scotland Nominations for the biannual BAFTA Scotland Awards - to be held in Aberdeen in November — reflect the growth of the film and television industries north of the border. in the running for Best Feature Film are Shallow Grave, Being Human and Rob Roy, while Best Short Film will be contested by Blue Christmas and the Tartan Shorts Fridge and Latin For A Dark Room.
Other film categories are: Best Writer (John Hodge for Shallow Grave. Peter Mullan for Fridge and Close. and Alan Sharp for Rob Roy). Best Actor (Brian Cox for Rob Roy. John Hannah for Four Weddings And A Funeral. and Ewan McGregor for Shallow Grave). and Best Actress Film or Television (Helen Baxendale for Cardiac Arrest. Katy Murphy for Takin' Over The Asylum. and Siobhan Redmond for Latin For A Dark Room).
I Sharing Stories Now established as the world’s largest conference devoted
to film and television co-production. Sharing Stories this year takes place at Glasgow’s Moat House Hotel from
17—19 November. Last year’s event saw producers. broadcasters. distributors. funders and financiers come from eighteen countries throughout Europe and North America in order to generate new projects and partnerships.
This year’s programme will include an examination ofchildren’s television. an independent producers guide to rights and distribution, and a live pitching session called ‘Two In A Room'. during which commissioning editors Stuart Cosgrove of Channel 4 and Christoph Jorg of La Sept/Arte will discuss their current output and programme criteria. giving delegates 24 hours to put together a programme idea and submit a proposal. A shortlist of producers will pitch their idea to the panel on the final moming. and it is anticipated that the winner will receive a commission and broadcast in the UK and France.
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Joyride: tense thriller to kickstart The Shooting Gallery season
A irequent criticism oi lllt broadcasters Is that they show only a haIi-hearted commitment to short iilmmaklng, throwing superb material Into badly publicised late night slots. In this light, Channel 4’s The Shooting Gallery Is something oi a revolution. From Wednesday 25 October, and tor the next seven Wednesdays aiter that, the series will showcase the best recent short iilrns irom around the world, grouped thematically like an all-night cinema club.
The line-up oi titles is nothing short at amazing. Anyone who has paid attention to the illm iestlval circuit over the last couple oi years will recognise than almost all the major award winners and critical iavourltes are here - Party Line (the Israeli winner oi the 1993 Edinburgh Film Festival Young Filmmaker oi the Year Award), Swinger (the 1995 Cannes Short Film winner irom Australia), German masterpiece Alpsee and Oscar nominee Lady In Weltlng.
With ten or so iiIms screening each
night, it truly is an impressive international line-up. Taken as a whole, the series also reveals the strong presence that Scottish short iilmmaking has on the world scene. The opening night ieatures Jim Gillespie and Angus Lamont's tense thriller Joyride- in which a car owner iinds himseii locked in the boot while thieves try to outrun the police car that’s ramming them irom behind - and Brotherly Love, Angus Reid’s moving, visually splendid examination oi the relationship oi two brothers as they journey north. Other Scottish titles In iuture programmes include IIannah Robinson’s train teaser Relax (8 IIov), Bernard Rudden’s critically ' acclaimed Hunger Artist (22 Nov) and luke Watson’s existential tale The Immortal Zugzwang Game. (Alan Morrison)
The Shooting Gallery begins on channel 4 on Wed 25 wlth a programme of films on the theme of cars and [aumeys.
VIDEOS
HALLOWE’EN HORROR
At least there's one night every year when fans who feed on a steady diet of scares can indulge themselves to the full. So with 31 October about tojump out and shout ‘bool'. it’s time to have a glance at what genre titles are new to the video shelves.
Wolf (15. Columbia Tristar £13.99) finds an elderly werewolf in New York as book editor Jack Nicholson's senses sharpen after an unexpected bite. Nicholson‘s animal attraction makes for perfect casting. with Michelle Pfeiffer playing beauty to his beast in an enjoyable movie that's happier in its lighter moments. Another Hollywood heavyweight. Robert De Niro. brings a vengeful innocence and a touch of pain to his portrayal of the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (15. Columbia Tristar £13.99). Kenneth Branagh might not be ideal as the obsessive Victor. but as director he has created an awe-inspiring. necessarily overblown gothic masterpiece.
The other end of the horror spectrum also has its appeal. particularly since this is often the testing ground of unknowns who go on to bigger things. Check out, for example, Demi Moore in Parasite (l8, M.l.A. £10.99), playing second fiddle to the real star. a razor-toothed slug that’s munching its way through the inhabitants of a post- nuclear wasteland. Mickey Rourke has a small part in Fade TO Black (18, M.l.A. £10.99). a rather good tale of a film buff who slips from reality as he takes on the personas of his screen heroes to murder his way into the heart of a Monroe lookalike. Or there’s director James Cameron making his debut with the trashy Piranha II: Flying Killers (18, M.l.A. £10.99). a Jaws rip- off with a beach resort being terrorised by the mutant offspring of a genetic experiment.
The genre has plenty of names you
can rely on. depending on your taste. Linda Blair has never shaken off her Exorcist tag, but although the formula of Hell light (18. M.l.A. £10.99) is familiar — college freshmen spend the night in a huge mansion that's hiding a killer — she’s onto a winner as death pops out of every shadow in a truly scary movie. Hammer tried out new ground in The legend Oi The Seven Golden Vampires (I8. Terror Vision £10.99). a colourful mix of fangs and kung fu. The plot is a bit like The Magnificent Seven, as Peter Cushing and Co are recruited to defend a Chinese village, but the slo-mo resurrection of an army of the dead is effective. The TV version of Stephen King's Salem’s lot (15. Terror Vision £10.99) has stuck in my mind since I first saw that shrieking skinned vampire as a kid. and the shortened movie version has always been a disappointment. Rejoice. then. as it is now released in its full form, giving the characters and background time to develop. For a lighter vampire venture, there’s always Roman Polanski starting in and directing The Fearless Vampire Killers (18, Terror Vision £12.99). a quaint comedy worth special mentions for Jack MacGowran’s silent slapstick style turn as the ineffectual professor and Alfie Bass as a Jewish bloodsucker (forget about crucifixes).
There's also room at this time of year for the kids. and The Hallowe’en Tree (U, First independent £9.99) is a sort of Christmas Carol in which four youngsters are whisked through time in search of their friend. On the way, they learn the history of Hallowe’en customs in a bright animated movie that shows better pace and imagination than The Pagemaster. 1n writer Ray Bradbury‘s world, Hallowe’en is ‘better than
‘Easter. better than Christmas'. For
some of us. that never changes. (Alan Morrison)
Wm your own horror videos; see competition page.
day behind the COUNCT- seamless edits from one While there’s no doubt timeframe to the next. I The Good Old Boys (12) that the laughs keep made the original :1
Just when everyone else is trying to reinvent the Western, Tommy Lee Jones in his directorial debut returns to traditional themes of tough men who love life. farmers who struggle against the land, and bankers who want to take it all away. in Hewey Calloway. Jones the actor has created one of the most roguishly lovable heroes to hit the plains. An innocent troublemaker whose slow way of living is at odds with a world moving faster. he's a totally charismatic figure in a warmly atmospheric film. (20:20 Vision)
I Glerks (18) With low levels of aspiration and humour (the sexual exploits of past girlfriends are a staple conversation ingredient), store assistants Dante and Randal pass a memorable
coming, the Clerks phenomenon has a lot to do with it being the right movie in the right place at the right time. The one by which all other low- budget slacker tales will be defined. (Fox Video)
RETAIL
l Film Oeiore Film (E) Coming across Werner Nekes’s illustrated lecture on early cinematographic devices from the years before the birth of the moving image is a bit like straying into an Open University broadcast. The slides and tricks are clearly shot, but the presentation is too dull to hook anyone less than a buff. (Academy £12.99) I Highlander (15) The strong and imaginative storyline, as well as those
fantasy action classic before sequelitis tarnished the series’ reputation. Here, it’s released in its proper ratio: if there can be only one, let it be on widescreen. (Beyond Vision £12.99)
I Itashomon (12) A woodeutter witnesses the rape, in front of her husband, of a woman by a bloodthirsty bandit: a simple enough case even for an OJ jury, surely? But Akira Kurosawa goes on to highlight the extremely subjective nature of truth, as the event is recounted from the differing viewpoints of the four characters. A masterpiece of storytelling, which stars Toshiro Mifune. who also reprises his ‘samurai with no name’ role in Senluro (12), the sequel to Yojimba. (Connoisseur £15.99 each).
14 The List 20 Oct-2 Nov 1995