FILM SCOTTISH
SCOTTISH FILM
I Small Deaths: 'l'rui'tis-[mm'ng may have been the buzz film at this year's Cannes Film Festival. btit Scottish success in terms of awards came elsewhere as Glasgow-born Lynne Ramsay's Small Dear/is won the Jury Prize in the short film competition. The 26-year-old National Film and Television School student graduated last year from the photography course at Napier L'niversity.
Small [Nut/is is based on Rariisay’s memories and childhood experiences on a Glaswegian housing estate. focusing on one girl’s sense of reflection and loss at three separate stages of growing tip. The eleven- minute long film is the first NFI‘S short to be invited to the competition at Cannes.
I New Visions: The organisers of New Visions. Glasgow‘s international festival of film. video and media due to take place during October and November. have ptit the call out for open subtiiissions for artists working iii the areas of experimental film. creative video and computer image production. Entries. produced no earlier than W94.
should be submitted for preview on VHS or i.7-.\1atic Lo and iii-Band along with return postage before i() .ltily. Application forms and information is available from New Visions. (ilasgow Film and Video Workshop. 34 Alhiori Street. Glasgow. (ii ll.ii.
I Screenwriting seminar: Michael llaugc. script consultant and story editor. presents his information-packed seminar at the Arches Theatre iii (iiasgow on 22 and 23 Jttne. The author of the well respected book ll'ri'Ii/rg St-i‘eeti/iltrvs 'l'lttt/ Sell will call upon his years ofcxpericnce as an independent writer and producer to pass on tips on content and presentation of screenplays for the mainstream filtii industry. The advance booking price is l; l 25. and further information is available from lilliot Grove at the European Film instittrte. Si lierwiek Street. London. \VIV .‘yi’i"t()l7l 2S7 lS7lll.
I Short Film Festival: Another qttick reminder that submissions (under 30 minutes long. btit on any format) are welcomed for the 2nd Manchester international Short Film and Video Festival. which takes place from ZS Sept-U Oct. The deadline is l’ri it) July. and forms are available front Kiiio Film Club on ()it’rl 448 0878.
st. /
When shall we three meet again: the Trainspotting trio plan A Lite Less Ordinary
Life after Trainspotting
It the voice on the other end of the phone said she was Sharon Stone, you‘d think someone was taking the piss. But it happened tor real when director Danny Boyle was in the editing room adding the tinal touches to Trainspotting. ‘She was very interested in us doing a thriller with her, but with a strong temale lead,’ he says, atter the actress ottered her praises tor Shallow Grave. Boyle, along with regular collaborators producer Andrew Macdonald and writer John Hodge, have sent Stone a ‘spec’ idea tor possible development.
This is only one of the major league stories that the tilmmaking trio have to tell, and there will be plenty more on the horizon when Trainspotting opens in America in July. Already Gene Hackman has been in touch with Hodge regarding a writing project and there have been meetings with Madonna and lunch with llma Thumian.
For their third film together, they’ve
decided on A Life less Ordinary, a romantic comedy written by Hodge. Due to be shot this September in Utah, it also reteams them with rising star Ewan McGregor, who’ll play a Scot coming to America in a ‘boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back’ plot. Thurman is currently the front- runner for female lead, although nothing is signed yet and the name Winona Ryder is also being bandied about.
In August, however, Hodge takes up his stethoscope once more and returns to his tirst career as a doctor in London. Since Shallow Grave went into production, he’s spent sporadic periods doing locum work. The trio have also consigned to the grave (unlike the Sigourney Weaver character) their involvement in Alien 4.
‘The trouble with Alien 4,’ says Boyle, ‘is that you’d never get to work with the actors. You get to meet them for a tew days and the rest of the time you’re iust stuck tor two years in ottices with computers. It’s just not the kind at thing we’d be any good at. Rather than hunting around for Sharon Stone or ditterent people - datt things, really — we want to get the chance to do something organic within a group and try to let the work emerge trom that.’ (Alan Morrison)
I La Haine t t5) lt' 'l‘rut‘nspotritie ciiatiged some peoples \‘it‘w's til. i-idinburgh as all castle and tourists. then [.(l Hui/re banishes any perception of Paris as beautiful boulevards and the liiffel Tower. A ti‘io of teenagers from different ethnic backgrounds prowl the riot—torn streets of l’ar‘is’s suburban housing L‘\l;tlt‘s‘ as director Matthieu ls'as'sovit/ lets the rhythm and tension btiild towards an inevitable e.\plosion. One of the most t'etiiarkable french films of the Vils. which has plenty to say to a disillusioned generation growing up in every city in iittr'ope, See cottipetition page for a chance to win a copy. t'i‘ai'tan. also retail at
l; l 5.99)
I Heavy t l5) 'i‘iriy details take on big significance tti small lives iti James hittltgttid‘s \‘.t‘ii ()i‘st‘t'veti btit utiiiiyolving character drama. ()ut iii the typical American indie hinterland. pi/xa chef Victor tl’rtiitt Taylor \'iricel silently suffers under the tyranny of his mother t Shelley Winters) while lusting in vain for the beautiful (‘allie tl.iv Tyler). iiyeryotie is too self-obsessed for real sympathy. btit l)ebbie Harry‘s run down waitress provides her with the best acting l‘L‘t'itH'ltlttllc‘L‘ of her career. tl‘ox (itiii(il
I Battleship Potemkin (PG) What can i add that decades of filtii criticism hasn’t already said'.’ liven 70 years on. iiisenstein's formalised teliirig of a ship mutiny and its consequences is a i'eiiiarkably intluential work. The famous ‘()dessa steps' sequence. with its powerful crowd scenesjuxtaposed with htiinaiiised close-tips. can still ama/e technically. arouse politically and shock eriiotionaliy. The same director's Strike (15) is a more expressionistic work and perhaps more enjoyable -- than Potent/art as its images areas enticing as its editing is
VIDEOS
Keanu Reeves in the romantic melodrama
A Walk In The Clouds (Fox Guild, rental)
e\eiiiplary Again the riiaterial reveals the heartless crushing of the spirit of revolution and workers rights by a greedy elite. t'l'artaii £15.00 each)
I Brimstone And Treacle t lh’l .\ collaboration between two topical
the late i)cttttis l’otlet and director Richard l otici‘aine. riding high with Ian McKellen‘s l\’l.‘lltlltl l/l. Sting has the right angelic/devilish persona to play a young man w ho cons his way iiito the house of a brain— tlaiiiaged girl: is he helping her. abusing her or simply acting as a figure ofiudgement on her family'.’ An extremely
with moral hypocrisy. (Att‘ow [099)
I Naked Killert its“. (‘an there be a better exploitation title to bring
A couple of Nikita—like fetiiale assassins hit out at ei'i‘irig males. although things get cotiiplicated when one falls iii lo\ e
saturated colours and odd catrrera angles give this iiong ls'otig actioiier' the feel of a pop video. biit unfortunately the gore is ctit a bit too tigiit to understand what‘s going on. the direction of the narrative is slack and it's less iiial‘i adequately dubbed. l‘atis should go instead for the original language w idescreeti version that's available iii a box set with extra goodies. (MiA £13.99 fullscreen; L' l 0.99 widescreen)
I French Cancan ti’(il .lean Retioir's lively backstage dance musical takes tts to the origins of l’aris's .\iotriin Rouge. back to a time of
impressionist painters like 'l‘otiiotise-l .atitrec and the
black comedy that has ftiii
together sex and violence'.’
with a cop Slo-mo actioti.
director's own father.
.‘ylorally comple\ loyalties pay off for a spectacular catican climax that rivals
’ anything Busby Berkeley
‘ arid llollywood could
muster. ls’enoir's Le Crime De Monsieur lange also celebrates the team effort. although here the political diriieitsion is more marked as a group of workers form a cooperative after the esploitative capitalist who run their publishing house is presumed dead. The film's sense of social justice still prevails. t(‘oiinoisseur L‘ l 50‘) each)
I High Season t IS) A motley crew of artists. spies. tourists and locals btitiip iiito each other on a Greek island iii this messy coriiedy that has no crossover appeal. l.ike director/co-w ritei' (‘larc l’eploe‘s latest film. Rune/i illttgtt'. this l‘)S7 effort places unfocused plot strands in a nice foreign setting and
ov erdoes the snapshot scenic photography.
Arrow £9.99)
I Gulliver’s Travels t P( i) The producer of Four lily/(litter xllltl .-l l‘itlteritl and the director oi lirltlt’yllt'tltl lt’t't l.\llt’tl come tip w itii one of ('haiiriel is greatest siiiali screen triumphs. An all- star cast and state-of-the- art digital effects are perfectly used iii this most complete version of Swift's novel. The superb screenplay. which slides iii and otit of the ‘fantasy’ sequences as Gulliver retells his tales in an attempt to prove his sanity back home. lifts the story from the kids' bookshelf. (C'haiinel 41.14.99)
I Eastern Condors t Is) Director/actor Sanio Hung shifts away from supernatural slapstick for one of the liar iiast‘s best war iriovies. Taking eieriietits frotii lllt’ Dirtv Mme/t. Rant/m arid 'I’lit' Deer/nutter. and seamlessly combining martial arts and hard gtinpiay. the filtii -- which concerns a teatii of ex- convict mercenaries oti a Vietnam search-and- destroy mission — is presented iii ati iiiiriiactilate subtitled
Politics are an obstacle to love tor Michael Douglas and l “’l‘lt‘hcm‘j‘ l‘rl'll- 913‘“ Annette Bening in The American President (th, rental) I l“ “011:1 Mitt: ~l- s”)
25 The List 3i May-i3 Jun 1996