FILM INDEX
Cucinotta. 108 mins. When exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Noiret) arrives on a remote island off the Neapolitan coast. he aids local postman Mario (Troisi) to woo the village barmaid. Gently paced and full of Mediterranean sun. Radford's film is nicely unsentimcntal. Sadly. Troisi died the day after shooting was completed. btrt he couldn't have left a finer legacy. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I Rebel Without A Cause (18) (Nicholas Ray. US. 1956) James Dean. Natalie Wood. Jim Backus. Sal Mineo. 111 mins. Seminal youth movie has Dean as a sensitive btrt misunderstood kid battling to communicate with his parents and caught in the violent struggle for self-definition. Though irrevocany dated by now. this is still notable as the film that articulated the until-then unrecognised experiences and aspirations of a whole generation and does of course contain our favourite nostalgia icon in ftrll flow. Glasgow: GET.
I Bepulsion ( 18) (Roman Polanski. UK. 1965) Catherine Deneuve. Ian llendry. John Fraser. 105 mins. Left on her own in her sister's flat for a few days. a sexually repressed young woman gradually deteriorates towards complete mental breakdown. Polanski's first English language movie remains one of his best. a genuinely disturbing exploration of intense paranoia and claustrophobia that unflinchineg picks at the audience's deepest neuroses. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I The Rocky Honor Picture Show (18) (Jim Shannan. UK. 1975) Tim Curry. Susan Sarandon. Barry Bostwick. Meat Loaf. 100 mins. The cult film to end all others. this rock spoof on old horror movies has created a breed of Rocky Horror crazies. and packs them in at late shows everywhere. The film has its moments. arid Curry is splendidly camp as the bisexual Frank N. Furtei. Edinburgh: ()deon.
I Rumble Fish ( 18) (Francis Ford Coppola. US. 1983) Mickey Rourke. Dennis Hopper. Matt Dillon. 94 mins. Electrifying expressionist visuals grace this rites of passage parable about the need to forge one's own identity and the alienation it can bring. Intense and stylish. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Scarlet letter (15) (Roland Joffe. US. 1995) Demi Moore. Gary ()Idmari. Robert Duvall. 135 mins. A woman who has a child outside of marriage is forced out of her 17th century Puritan community and made to wear a scarlet letter ‘A' for adultery. Period truths are
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chucked out of the window in favour of a crass bodice-ripper that sharnes the talents of those involved. It should have been something special. It isn't. General release.
I la Separation (PG) (Christian Vincent. France. 1994) Daniel Autetiil. Isabelle lluppert. Jerome Deschamps. 88 mins. A French couple can‘t quite cope with the fact that they've grown emotionally apart in this simmering cocktail of jealousy. insecurity. anger and recrimination.
lluppert and Auteuil create characters that are
compellineg real. and the result is a feelbad
movie of real quality. Fife: Adam Smith. I Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (U) (Stanley
Donen. US. 1954) Iloward Keel. Jeff Richards.
Russ Tamblyn. 103 mins. Classic MGM all-
singing all-dancing musical loosely based on the Rape of the Sabine Women. Despite its arch
symmetry. it remains a colourful and vigorous
affair with a cosily effective score by DePatil and Mercer (Spring. Spring. Spring — as in rites
of. . .). The dancing. choreographed by Michael
Kidd. is its strongest point but its status as an all time great is probably marred most by the brash and primitive technicolour filming. Glasgow:
GFI‘. ; I The Shawshank Redemption ( 15) (Frank Darabont. US. 1994)Tim Robbins. Morgan Freeman. Bob Gtrnton. 143 riiiiis. Banged up for a crime he didn't commit (ain't they all?) quiet
man Robbins plans a slow but effective revenge
on the unnecessarily harsh prison regime.
Freeman excels as the fellow con with an uncanny knack for procuring desired items. The lilm is certainly overlong. btrt the apocryphal feel to the storytelling and the period detail are well handled in what is. ultimately. a very line
movie indeed. Fife: New Picture House.
I Shopping ( l 8) (Paul Anderson. (K. 199:) Sadie Frost. Jude Law. Sean Pertwee. 107 mins. Just out ofjail. Billy meets tip with girlfriend Jo
and resumes joyriding arid ram-raiding —
crashing into shop windows and helping himself to the goods. High-speed police chases and
brushes with local crooks keep up the violence quota in Anderson‘s successful attempt to hit the
British MTV generation of filmgoers with slick.
commercial fare. Edinburgh: Filmhorrse. I Species ( l8) (Roger Donaldson. US. 1995)
Ben Kingsley. Michael Madsen. Natasha
lIenstridge. 108 mins. The offspring of alien and
human DNA escapes from a US government lab
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and sets out to mate in modern America. Brit right away a mismatched team is assembled to
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track her down - and kill her. The whole drive of; the plot takes an easy. misogynistic line. playing on male fears of the female power to reproduce. adding a serious complaint to basic moans against this unoriginal. non-scary piece of trash. Edinburgh: UCI. Borders: Roxy. Strathclyde: UCI Clydebank.
I Stranger Than Paradise ( I 5) (Jim Jaririusch. US/West Germany. 1984) John Ltrrie. Eszter Balint. Richard Edson. Cecilia Stark. Danny Rosen. 89mins. In Jannusch‘s debut feature. Lur'ie (later to star in Down By Law) is a New Yorker playing reluctant host to his cousin from Hungary. When she departs to play cards with her mad aunt in Ohio. he and his mate Edson follow her into the bleak. mid-western snowscape. All very low-key and monochrome. birt there's a wonderfully dry sense of humour at play. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Super Mario Bros (PG) (Rocky Morton/Annabel Jarikel. US. 1993) Bob Iloskins. John Leguizamo. Dennis Hopper. 105 mins. The film of the video game featuring Italian pipe-riiendei's plumbs new and tedious depths. In a parallel world. they try to rescue a princess from a lizard-like baddie. but otrr heroes are lost in over-designed sets and variable special effects. Glasgow: MGM Paikhead.
I Things To Come (PG) (William Cameron Menzies. UK. 1936) Raymond Massey. Ralph Richardson. Margaretta Scott. 113 trrins. Silly htit visually impressive early British sci-fr film (based on Wells' The S/IrI/u’ nj'T/rings to Come) aims for a philosophical ‘scierrce vs art' plotline. Wonderful trItra-mtxlernist sets by Vincent Korda. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I To Die For ( l5) (Gus Van Sant. US. 1995) Nicole Kidman. Matt Dillon. Joaquin Phoenix. 107 mins. Obsessed with TV fame. Suzanne (Kidman) takes ajob as a weathergirl with her local cable station. but uses her position to begin a documentary on modern youth. And uses her subjects to knock off her husband (Dillon). a ball-arid-chain around her ambitious ankles. \'an Sant‘s ultimately tragic satire on the psychological power of US media isn't a new subject. but his treatment is enlivened considerably by an excellently judged performance by Kidman. who’s beginning to show her true potential. Glasgow: MGM Film Centre. Edinburgh: MGM. UCI. Strathclyde: UCls.
I To Wong Foo (PG) (Beeban Kidron. IJS. 1995) Patrick Swayze. Wesley Snipes. John Leguizamo. 107 mins. Three extravagant drag queens find themselves in a one-horse town. pursued by a homophobic cop. Without the upbeat musical bounce or thematic concerns of I’rist‘i/Ia. 72) 112mg Fur) comes over like low camp for narrow-minded Americans who want to treat drag queens as entertainers without mention of homosexuality. Trite and dumb. and only Leguizamo looks remotely the part. Glasgow: MGMs. Edinburgh: MGM. L’Cl. Fife: Robin's. Strathclyde: UCls.
I Tommy Boy (PG) (Peter Segal. US. 1995) Chris Farley. David Spade. Rob Lowe. 97 mins. The popular but woefully inadequate Tommy Callahan (Farley) tries to save his dad's auto parts firm from his weaselly stepbrother and the banks. There's some amusing interplay between Farley and straight-man Spade. bill this is the lamest Saturday Night Live spin-off yet. See review. Glasgow: MGMs. All UCls.
I Under Siege 2 ( 18) (Geoff Murphy. US. 1995) Steven Seagal. Eric Bogosiari. Katherine lleigl. 99 mins. Seagal returns as former Navy SEAI. and gourmet chef Casey Ryback. this time finding himself taken hostage on a train by a mad computer genius and a bunch of mercenaries. Bogosiaii is a totally charismatic nutter. who has captured a secret satellite with explosive powers and has set his sights on Washington. so it‘s tip to our hero to save the free world. The soft-spoken Seagal is no great actor. but the film has plenty of action. and a satisfyingly explosive climax. Delivers the goods. Edinburgh: UCI. Strathclyde: L'CI Clydebank.
I The Usual Suspects (18) (Bryan Singer. US. 1995) Gabriel Byrne. Kevin Spacey. Stephen
French Klss
Baldwin. 106 mins. There's a good sense of noir fatalism hanging over T/H' l/xual Sita‘pr’t'h’. which is guessing game cinema at its best. A perfectly matched team of crooks discover that their chance meeting wasn't so random after all: they're being used in an intricate vendetta by legendary gangster boss Keyser Sose. So stylish. it sends a tingle down the spine: btrt the ludicrous use of Pete Postletwaite's character almost undermines it all. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: ()deon. Strathclyde: Magnum. Odeon.
I A Walk In The Clouds (PG) (Alfonso Ar'au. US. 1995) Keanu Reeves. Aitaria Sanchez- Gijon. Anthony Quinn. 10?. mins. A young woman retums to her Mexican grape-harvesting family pregnant. btit along the way has convinced already married GI Keanu Reeves to pose for a while as her husband. The director of Like Wiru'r For (,‘Iirx-nlalr' saturates each scene in orange and glowing smiles: this is celluloid honey. :1 film for the senses not the mind and. in that respect. Reeves is a pleasure to watch. General release.
I The Wanderers (18) (Philip Kaufman. US. 1979) Ken Wahl. John Friedrich. Karen Allen. 117 mins. The Bronx. the early ()Os. and a gang of Italian-American teenagers pull together in response to the danger of the streets. Basically a string of atmospheric vignettes. the film boasts strong performances and some memorable rumbles. Edinburgh: Crrriieo.
I The Warriors (18) (Walter llill. 1979) Michael Beck. James Remar. Thomas Waites. 94 mins. Stylised gang warfare flick that avoids the temptations of graphic violence and instead lifts the subject matter to something approaching medieval myth: the New York streets are labyrinths. the gangs are decked out in tribal dress. and a dangerous nightime journey across the city becomes an heroic quest. Moments of humour and a great soundtrack add to the enjoyment of what is one of llill's best achievements. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I West Side Story (PG) (Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins. CS. 1961) Natalie Wood. Richard Beyrner. Russ 'l‘amblyn. Rita Moreno. 155 mins. Romeo And Julie! revisited against a background of New York gangs. Great songs of course. but the playing of the stylised dancing against a realistic background contrives to make it all look rather camp these days. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I When Night Is Falling ( 15) (Patricia Rozema. Canada. 1994) Pascale Bussier‘es. Rachel Crawford. lleni'y (‘zernyz 93 mins. A stroneg Christian woman finds herself seduced by the relaxed and refreshingly libertine world of a female performance magician whom she meets by chance. Rozema (/ Hr'rtl'r/ The Herman/i Singing) manages something more than a homoerotic take on the traditional love-triangle plot by incorporating wider themes of faith and courage. but the film is a little too studied and
dispassionate. even if it is intelligent and poetic.
See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I While You Were Sleeping (PG) (Jon 'furteltaub. US. 1995) Sandra Bullock. Peter Gallagher. Bill Pullman. 104 mins. A railway
station ticket-seller resctres the man of her
dreams from an oncoming train. and is mistaken by his family for his fiancee while he is in a coma. She's happy to live out her fantasy. until
the situation becomes complicated when she
falls for her would-be beati‘s brother. A warm. somewhat sentimental coriicdy in which true
love is pitted against romantic idealism in safe
Hollywood fashion. Bullock carries her first starring role with an easy charm. Borders: Roxy. I The Young Poisoner's Handbook ( 18) (Benjamin Ross) lltigli ()‘Coiior. Antony Sher. Charlotte Coleman. 105 mins. Adolescent bitterness and a schoolboy fascination with toxic
substances become a lethal chemical cocktail
when teenager Graham Young starts poisoning
family and friends. Director Ross takes great
risks with his material. btrt the tone is expertly rendered — there are moments ofexciuciating horror and nastiness. btit they‘re coiiipleiriented
by a dark and disttrrbirrg comedy. Glasgow:
(ii‘osvenor. Strathclyde: East Kilbride Arts
Centre.
30 The List 17-30 Nov 1995