FILM REVIEW
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I Vanessa Paynton: Following Paula Visocchi's move to become Media Education Officer with the Scottish Film Council. the Glasgow Film Theatre has appointed Vanessa Paynton as its new Education ()fficer. A native of Oxfordshirc and graduate of Glasgow University in Film and Television Studies. Paynton has also taught film studies at Bracknell College near London. Her position will form a key role in the GFT's on-going programme for the Centenary of Cinema. and she hopes to use the celebrations ‘to broaden GFT‘s audience and to further develop both formal and informal education'.
Forthcoming education events include a look at Cinema and Religion (8 Feb—2 Mar). a seminar on the films of Pedro Almoddvar (21 Feb) and a special event focusing on Swiss film. which will include a vist to the GFT by filmmaker Patricia Plattner on Thursday 28 March.
SCOTTISH FILM
I Cameo Shorts: The Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh is still on the look-out for short films by filmmakers based in Scotland to programme alongside main features in March and April. A diverse selection is welcomed. but 16mm combined prints are preferred — although. depending on the work received. video projection may be possible. Hurry and catch the last post. sending your mastenvorks to Scottish Shorts Season. Cameo Cinema. 38 Home Street. Edinburgh EH3 9LZ.
I Centenary of Cinema: Scotland's first cinematic display didn't take place until 13 April 1896 (at the Empire Palace. now the Festival Theatre). so we‘ll have to wait until April 1996 to see just what the country's cinemas and film bodies have up their sleeves for the one-hundred-not-out celebrations.
()ne possible big event to look out for is a screening of Lumiere And Company. a unique documentary project that asked a wide selection of contemporary filmmakers to create their own 52-second hand-cranked movie using an original Lumiere Brothers camera and homemade film stock. Spike Lee. David Lynch. Wim Wenders. Peter Greenaway. Costa- Gavras and Zhang Yimou are just a few of the directors who participated in what Variety has called ‘an oddball gcm‘.
‘We‘re very excited about this project.‘ says Catherine Murtagh. co- ordinator of the centenary celebrations in Scotland. ‘and hope to have the film‘s UK premiere in Edinburgh. with a big party afterwards to launch the centenary in style‘. Further details of other Cinema 100 events will appear in The List throughout 1996.
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film in the next issue of The list.
Look closely at the picture, and fans of Irvine Welsh’s novel Trainspotting might recognise the pinnacle of toilet humour reached in the scene that involves Rents, a couple of suppositories and the worst public lavvy in the world. Ewan McGregor takes the lead role in the film version by the makers of Shallow Crave (director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew MacDonald and screenwriter John Hodge), which is set to take UK cinema audiences by storm on Friday 23 February.
Before then, however, three simultaneous premieres will take place in Scotland at the Odeon, Glasgow, and UCI and Cameo, Edinburgh, on Thursday 15 February, with all proceeds going to Calton Athletic Football Team, the support group for tonner drug addicts - tickets go on sale next week. Look out for an in-depth feature on the
RENTAL
I The Class Shield (18) Highly acclaimed when it played the film festival circuit in 1994. Charles (72) Sleep With Anger) Bumett’s classy cop story never made it to UK cinemas. it follows LAPD rookie JJ. Johnson as he faces everyday racism and corruption as the first African American deputy at a suburban police station. Burnett's characters exist beyond typical media images. while his portrait of Johnson reveals a man willing to compromise his principles and identity in order to be accepted by the pack. (Buena Vista)
I Serial Killer (18) A whispering psycho genius (and former taxidermist) escapes from prison and starts to terrorise the young female FBI agent whose ability to tap into his way of thinking caught him first time round. Producer-director Pierre David (who‘s had a hand in films as diverse as Deep Cover and Scanner Cop) plods through Thomas Harris territory without showing the filmmaking flair of Michael Mann or Jonathan Demme. As uninspired as its overly obvious title. (First Independent)
I Delta Oi Venus (18) The overlapping life and erotic fantasies of an Ana'i's Nin-like writer in pre-World War 11 Paris provides an apt playground for master of stylish sleaze Zalman King. This isn't the late 305 as it really was. but as it would be imagined in a designer wet dream — gold light. beautiful people. relaxed sexuality. Short erotic tales are linked by a fairly standard story of ambition and jealousy, but the attention to the rise of the Right in the lead-up to the war makes this more than adolescent top-shelf titillation. (First Independent)
RETAIL
I Reservoir Dogs ( 18) Whether you prefer the pain stretched out across widescreen or packed into every comer fullscreen, the Tarantino ground- breaker is now available at an affordable price for everyone. Each version includes a twenty—minute interview with the man himself on the making of the movie — and twenty minutes of Quentin crams in about an hour of anyone else. Worth losing an ear for. (PolyGram £14)
I Persecution (15) Not as famous as Whatever
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Happened To Baby Jane .7. this British Grand guignol psychological melodrama still has a lot to recommend it. The late Lana Turner revels in ice- cold bitchiness as a crippled woman who has dedicated her life to tormenting her illegitimate son on the pretext that he killed her favourite cat; Ralph Bates is the downtrodden bloke who finally turns the tables on her. A voyeuristically delightful mind game. (Arthouse/A Taste Of Fear £12.99)
I Surrealism And Science (E) Jean Panlevé was a pioneer in the world of underwater photography and nature documentaries, but his work is significantly different from Jacques Costeau. probably because he fell in with the French surrealists early in his career. This tape consists of nine of his films, shot between 1926—76. capturing bizarre images of the seahorse. octopus, spider crab and friends. David Attenborough with a sense of humour. butof interest more for content than filmmaking style. (Academy £15.99)
I Giant nobo 1 (PG) When a revolutionary renewable energy source falls into evil hands. the international Police Organisation are helped by a Japanese schoolkid who controls a giant robot. Er, right. The first of a new seven-parter. Giant Robo has an old- fashioned comic hero appeal, with Metropolis- style cityscapes. and features a spectacular scene in which Paris is trashed. (Manga £5.99)
I Had BIIIII (18) Also from Manga comes the first of four tales from NYPD‘s 34th Precinct. A timid new recruit is paired with a rogue cop whose violent tendencies and sexual exploitation are not all they appear to be. As violent a piece of anime as has been released to date. (Mango £9.99)
I The Inside Man (15) Sweden. the mid-80$. and a laser device which can
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locate Soviet nuclear submarines is stolen from a laboratory. so Military intelligence recruit a young security guard to be their spy on the inside. The stodgy plotting and crap music are straight out of 70s TV. which is where British director Tom Clegg has his roots. Utterly devoid of tension. with Cold War issues as faded as the print. And as for Dennis Hopper. . . he obviously just fancied a quick holiday in Stockholm. (Anow £9.99) I Mayerilng (PG) This boring historical romance about an affair between the rebellious Crown Prince of the Austro- Hungarian Empire and a beautiful Baroness has a sparkling international cast - Omar Sharif. Catherine Deneuve. James Mason. Ava Gardener - but has too many long. talky scenes about politics to keep the passionate fires burning. Squeezed into fullscreen format. with half the dialogue taking place off the edge of the telly. (Lumiere £10.99)
I Wing Chun (12) With a sound like a sword slashing through the air and hitting another blade. Yuen Woo Ping's acrobatic martial arts actioner has plenty of colourful comedy for younger kung fu fans. Nasty bandits. bumbling monks, love entanglements and bloodless battles make for upbeat fun. (Made in Hong Kong £12.99)
I The Many Faces Of Christopher Lee (E) ‘How do you define . . [meaningful pause] . . . acting.‘ asks the man best known as the British Dracula. Unsurprisingly. this documentary comes from the label that also releases Hammer movies on video, so the clips provide the good. the bad and the hammy. Lee. however. talks straight to camera in his deep aristo voice. and by avoiding the interview format. brings this romp through his career onto a more personal plane. (Lumiere £10.99)
28 The List 26 Jan-8 Feb 1996