FILM INDEX
I Brillnll (I5) (Joseph Losey. UK. I960) Stanley Baker. Sam Wanamaker. Margit Sad. 97 mins. Also known as The Concrete Jungle. Losey's crime pic features a stunning performance by Baker as a self-destructive loner caught between a sadistic prison warden and the underworld kingpin who wants to kill him. The director's American sensibility gives it a visual style that sets it apart from other British movies of the time. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I Grim l’lde ( l5) (Tony Scott. US. I995) Gene llackman. Denzel Washington. George Dzundza. I I6 mins. When a rebel Russian nationalist general with his mitts on the nuclear trigger brings Armageddon back onto the agenda. the USS Alabama. with its 24 Trident missiles. is called into action. With a nightmare scenario. two top stars acting their socks off and a director who knows how to get the most front big budget effects. this tense and claustrophobic submarine thriller is a prime slice of weekend entertainment. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCI. Borders: Roxy. Strathclyde: UCIs. I Cyrano De Bergerac (U) (Jean-Paul Rappeneau. France. I990) Gerard Depardieu. Jacques Weber. Anne Brochet. Vincent Perez. I35 mins. A stirring adaptation of Rostand's classic. romantic tragi-comedy. Full of grandly mounted. bustling crowd scenes. it revolves around typically superb performance from Depardieu as the large-nosed hero. Although performed in rhyming verse throughout (with subtitles by Anthony Burgess). and a touch overlong. the film's dramatic and cinematic qualities are outstanding. Glasgow: OFT.
I Delicatessen (l5) (Jean-Pierre Jeunet/Marc Caro. France. I991) Dominique Pinon. Marie- Laune Dougnac. Jean-Claude Dreyfus. 99 mins. In a sepia wasteland somewhere in the future. a butcher feeds his neighbours with the juicy joint: of his lodgers. But when former clown Louison (Pinon) arrives and falls for his daughter. an underground vegetarian resistance group come to the rescue. Hilarious blend of bizarre characters. slapstick and comic tension makes for the first true cult item of the '905. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Erich“ And I’MUZ) (David Price. US. I995) Sean Young. Tim Daly. Lysette Anthony. 90 mins. Perfume scientist Richard Jacks is bequethed the notebooks of his great- grandfather. a certain Dr Jekyll: a few concoctions later. he's transforming himself into a female alter ego. Even Ilammer's Dr Jekyll And Sister Hvde handled it better than this
\M,
‘24 sweeping,
or. m r:
JULIETTE! BINOCHE
H.
visually smnptumrs epic...
FROM FRI 5 JANUARY:
cringeworthy ‘comedy'. Glasgow: Odeon. MGM Parkhead. Edinburgh: Odeon. UCI. Strathclyde: Odeon Ayr. UCIs.
I Ed WooduS) (Tim Burton. US. I994) Johnny Depp. Martin Landau. Patricia Arquette. I23 mins. Burton’s fondly atmospheric homage to the so-called 'worst director of all time' is his best film to date. It's more than a biopic pastiche. however: the emotional heart of the film is found in the genuinely caring relationship between Wood and the dying. drug-addicted Bela Lugosi (a marvellous Martin Landau). Depp plays Wood as a bundle of energy and innocent romanticism. capturing the spirit of dogged detemtination that makes the subject such an appealing character. Edinburgh: Cameo. I Elisa (l5) (Jean Becker. France. I994) Vanessa Paradis. Gerard Depardieu. C hlothilde Courau. llS mins. A street-wise girl moves from council estate to sleazy hotel to windswept lighthouse to exact revenge for her mother's suicide. Becker's film suffers an awkward change of tone from funny buddy action to father-daughter mind games. l‘aradis isn't bad. she‘s just asked to cover too much ground. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I les infants [Ill Paradis (PG) (Marcel Carrie. France. l944) Arlctty. Jean-Louis Barrault. Pierre Brasseur. I95 mins. Paris in the l840s. Amid the seething heart of the French capital’s theatre street. a mime artist falls in love with the delicious but flirtatious Gamace. One of the cinema's most extravagantly enjoyable productions. this gorgeous elephantine wallow of a film is crammed with incident and compellineg curious Gallic comic characters. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I The Exorcist (l8) (William Friedkin. US. I973) Linda Blair. Ellen Burstyn. Max Von Sydow. IIO mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little possessed girl in this hugely effective scarefest. Dead good. dead scary. dead priest. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Farlnelll (IS) (Gerard Corbiau. France/Belgium. I994) Stefano Dionisi. Enrico Lo Verso. Jeroen Krabbe. I I0 mins. Biographical details. period splendour and a fictionalised narrative combine for an account of the life of 18th century castrato Carlo Broschi. Dependent on his brother's music for his stardom (while his brother is dependent on him for an outlet for his compositions). his main desire is to sing the more emotional music of llandel rather than the custom-written
Diriecnros_()r
0N.
c; uolo- mesons-piss“ maria.
ornamental ditties his fans love. Omate costumes. arresting vocal set pieces and a strong dramatic undercurrent make this a feast for the eyes and ears that doesn't ignore the mind. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I Faust (PG) (Jan Svankmajer. Czech. I994) Petr Cepek. with the voice of Andrew Sachs. 97 mins. Surrealist animator Svankmajer turns his attention to the Faustian legend in his second feature (following 1987's Alice). As he draws from Goethe and Marlowe. but principally from Czech marionette theatre. he brings in a political aspect about personal choice. Another masterpiece. Edinburgh: Film Guild.
I Four Rooms (tbc) (Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez/Allison Anders/Alexandre Rockwell. US. I995) 90mins (approx). Difficult to say at this stage. as no one in this country has seen it. Tarantino and friends concoct a quartet of stories set in a hotel and linked by Tim Roth's bell boy. Word is very had indeed. with most of the criticism targetted at Quent‘s self-indulgent section. But it's up to you to decide whether or not the Tarantino bubble has burst. See preview. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo. UCI. Strathclyde: UCIs.
I French Classic Silents (PG) 90 mins. A programme made up of Jean Vigo’s short study of the Riviera. A I’m/ms De Nice. and Rene Clair‘s Paris Qra’ Dart. in which a mad inventor puts Paris into a state of suspended animation. The screenings mark the first ever Lumiere brothers show in Paris on 28 Dec I895 - the day cinema was truly created. exactly l00 years ago. Glasgow: OFT.
I French Kiss ( l2) (Lawrence Kasdan. US. I995) Meg Ryan. Kevin Kline. Jean Reno. llI mins. When her fiance skips off with a French beauty while on a Parisian business trip. Kate (Ryan)jumps on a transatlantic flight and tries to track him down. There she meets dodgy Frenchman Luc (Kline). and animosity gradually develops into something else. The script is mediocre. the plot formulaic. the middle sags. and the two stars don't muster the necessary chemistry to make it work as a romance. ~Borders: Roxy.
I Goldeneye (l2) (Martin Campbell. UK/US. I995) Pierce Brosnan. Sean Bean. Izabella Scorupco. I30 mins. A long wait. a new Bond. a twist to bring him up to the 90s. It‘s definitely worth it. because this is a solid two-and-a-bit hours of fun. filled with all the old puns and gadgets. but with a bit of character development. Brosnan is the best Bond since Connery. and his
wry smile helps our hero through his trials as he
tracks down the baddies who have hijacked a satellite system that can wipe the world‘s computers clean. General release.
I Heaven's Gate (18) (Michael Cirnino. US. I980) Kris Kristofferson. Christopher Walken. Isabelle lluppert. 2l9 mins. Extraordinary full- length 70mm version of Cimino‘s notoriously expensive western. which looks at the conflict between immigrant settlers in 19th century Wyoming and the aristocratic empire-builders who want them swept out of their way. Absolutely stunning photography and a wealth of period detail almost make up for the rather thin central narrative. A film to be seen and savoured despite the critical drubbing it has often received. particularly since this is a 70mm print. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
I the Horseman (In The Roof ( l 5) (Jean-Paul Rappeneau. France. I995) Juliette Binoche. Olivier Martinez. Jean Yanne. I30 mins. Rappeneau's follow-up to Cyrano De Bergerac lacks the verve of that modem arthouse blockbuster. An Italian hussar evades llapsburg agents and crosses cholera-ravished 19th century France. meeting up with a beautiful young woman. Emotions are repressed to the extent that it actually hinders audience involvement. and we‘re left just looking at pictures - which are spectacular. admittedly. See preview. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Cameo.
I The Iltrnchbaclr of llotre Danie (PG) (William Dieterle. US. I939) Charles Laughton. Maureen O'llara. Cedric Ilardwicke. II7 mins. Not exactly pin-up material. Laughton woos his gypsy love in and around the Notre Dame and wins much audience sympathy in the process. Stylishly and atmospherically directed. You might not remember Quasimodo's name. but his face rings a bell. Edinburgh: Filrnhouse.
I In A Lonely Place (PG) (Nicholas Ray. US. I950) llumphrey Bogart. Gloria Grahame. Martha Stewart. 9l mins. Bogart is on peak fonn as the self-destructive Hollywood hack suspected of murder in this tart and cynical mystery. Grahame is an appropriate foil as the woman in the opposite bungalow who offers a shoulder to cry on. Glasgow: Gl-‘I‘.
I II The Bleak Midwinter ( l5) (Kenneth Branagh. UK. I995) Michael Maloney. Julia Sawalha. Richard Briers. 99 mins. A group of actors undergo individual voyages of self- discovery while rehearsing a low-budget version of Hamlet. It sounds like luvvie hell. but there are some poignant moments and plenty of one-
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
IASED ON “I! NOVEL~IV J E A N G I O N O NAIVILL 'UILISHEIS N BYJEAN-
3*, AFIL
PAUL RAPPENEAU
were. *5 . 'jJEA’I'ClAlJl-JE CARRlERE ' 5 v. ; w: 2 w
\,-
“Equals the power of ‘(L'grana rle Bergerac ‘. "
42 The List 15 Dec 1995-” Jan I996