but so does the old-fashioned iiioi'ality. which stresses the sanctity of marriage and that a woman‘s place is by her man's side. General release.
The Pillow Book ( l8) (l’etei' (ii‘eenavvay. IIK/NCIIICFIIIIKIS/I:I‘JIIICC. I996) Vivian Wu. Iivsan McGregor. Yoshi Okla. 126 mins. (ireenaway‘s distinctive style of frames
w itliiii frames and text scrolling across the screen reaches its zenith in this visual masterpiece A Japanese model chooses her loveis on the strength of their calligraphic skills. and slow Iy she puts in motion a revenge plan against the man who ruined her father. McGi'egor co-stars as a bisexual translator vs Iiosc kit is more off than on. bill the graphic nudity is .sciisually handled. Achingly gorgeous images make for sheer cinematic poetry Strathclydc; lias‘t Kilbride .-\its (‘ciitie
Portrait Of A Lady ( I2) (Jane Campioii.
l'S. I996i Nicole Kidiiian. John Malkovich.
Barbara Hershey. l-I-I mins. (‘ampion's follow -up to The I’iuno is a dark and difficult adaptation of Henry James's novel which stay s true to the oi‘igiiial's subtle psychological observations. Kidman — at once proud. naive. sensitive and determined ~ is cscclleiit as the young woman almost destroy ed by a disastrous marriage. while Malkov icIi is a little too cold and aiiibigtious. Beautiful. btit emotionally ieiiiote. Glasgow; ()deon Quay. lidinburgh: ('anieo. IFCI,
The Proprietori I3) (Ismail Merchant. IiK/Irance/I‘urkey/l IS. I996) Jeanne Moreau. Sean Young. Sam Waterston. I I3 mins. The decision of Ismail Merchant. the producer half of the Merchant-Ivory team. to sit III the directors chair backlires here in a liliii that slipped from London's West [find after a fortnight of damning reviews. Moieau plays an exiled author who leaves New York to return to her French homeland. Merchant fails completely to handle his actors with subtlety or to construct a neat narrative throuin flashback. Iidinbtirgh: UCI.
Quadrophenia (l8) (Frank Roddam. UK. I979) Phil Daniels. Leslie Ash. Philip Davis. Sting. l20 mins. Mods and rockers live it up on Brighton beach by swapping buckets and spades for chains and sticks. Lively first half has enough energy. music. violence and period flavour to carry it along. but all too soon it degenerates into some sort of treatise on the morality of youth. set to tunes by The Who. Glasgow: City Centre Odeon. Others: Kelso.
Ransom ( I 5) (Ron Howard. US. 1996) Mel Gibson. Rene Russo. Gary Sinise. IZI mins. Self-made millionaire Tom Mullen's life takes a turn for the traumatic when his son is kidnapped. After the FBI bungle the ransom drop. Mullen goes on network TV to offer the $2 million as a bounty on the kidnapper‘s head. A tightly paced. dark and brooding Hollywood thriller which has more than the average amount of tension and twists. The acting is all-round excellent. but it‘s Gibson's movie and he's perfect as the likeable bloke with an underlying vicious streak. General release.
Red River (PG) (Howard Hawks. US. I948) John Wayne. Montgomery Clift. Walter Brennan. 133 mins. A classic Western about the establishing of the Chisholm Trail. which closely examines Wayne's heroic image by pitting him against the more liberal viewpoint of surrogate son Clift. On another level. it pre-dates all those 805 male bonding movies and also has the benefits of an epic backdrop. A must-see. Glasgow: GI’I'. Iidinburgh: Filmhouse.
Ridicule (I8) (Patrice Leconte. France. 1996) Charles Berling. Jean Rochefort. Fanny Ardant. 102 mins. A young engineer travels to the court of Louis XVI to secure funding for a drainage project and discovers a cruel society where savage wit can open doors or slam them in your face. Verbal duels give the film a literate spark. and the portrait of a decadent world manages to achieve several contemporary parallels. A costume drama with depth beneath the costumes. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
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Set It Off (l8) (F. Gary Gray. US. I996) Jada Pinkett. Queen Latifah. Vivica A Fox. Kimberly Elise. 121 mins. Bringing the 70s exploitation market into line of a somewhat parodic and self-conscious post Boy: N The Hood action flick. Set It Off follows four women who decide to pull a bank robbery. The pro-feminist message is sullied by the decidedly male direction style. leaving a confused message. However. the action is slick and some of the acting good. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Seven (I8) (David Fincher. US. I995) Brad Pitt. Morgan Freeman. Gwyneth Paltrow. l27 mins. The outline is familiar — two cops track down a serial killer — but Seven is a step ahead of its rivals. From its opening title sequence onwards. it’s an extremely dark movie which winds through the most twisted recesses of human nature. I-‘ach death is a graphic interpretation of one of the seven deadly sins. giving Alien .i‘ director Fincher the material for an intense stylistic exercise in horror. Edinburgh: Cameo.
She's The One (I5) (Iidward Burns. US. I996) Edward Burns. Mike McGIone. Jennifer Aniston. 97 mins. 'Ihis pleasing comedy shares the same sense of humour as Burns's debut (The Brothers MeMu/Ien) and focuses on the fraternal tensions between a pair of Irish-Americans in matters of love. sex and marriage. A gentle. witty. perceptive film with neat dialogue. fresh characters and nicelyjudged acting — US indie cinema as quality soap. General relese.
Shine (12) (Scott Hicks. Australia. I996) Geoffrey Rush. Noah Taylor. Armin Mueller-Stalil. IOS mins. Winner of nine top awards at Australia's equivalent of the Oscars. Shine is a remarkable and devastating film about the life of child prodigy and pianist David Helfgott. who was forced to retire from the stage due to a mental breakdown. but returned later in life. The performances show real love. while the recital passages are presented with a conviction that underlines the quality of the
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film as a whole. Glasgow: Odeons. Showcase. Iidinbtirgh: Cameo. UCI.
Sitting Pretty (PG) (Walter Lang. US. I948) Clifton Webb. Robert Young. Maureen O'Hara. 84 mins. Webb brings his acidic humour to this better than average tale of a male nanny who manages to instill some sense of order in a suburban home terrorised by three brats. Genuinely funny. Iidinburgh: St Brides.
Sleepers (15) (Barry Ievinson. US. I996) Jason Patric. Brad Pitt. Robert De Niro. Dustin Hoffman. Kevin Bacon. 157 mins. Four boyhood friends are thrown into a juvenile detention centre when a prank goes wrong. and are sexually and psychologicall abused by the guards. Years later. two of the boys murder the ringleader and their pals try to pull off a scam that will see them go free. In its film form. Lorenzo Carcaterra's controversial ‘true' novel becomes a nostaglic rites-of-passage tale. tough prison ‘niessage‘ picture and edge-of-seat courtroom drama rolled into one powerhouse of a movie. Glasgow: City Centre ()deon. Showcase. UCI Clydebank. Virgin. Iidinburgh: Odeon. UCI.
Small Faces ( l8) (Gillies Mackiniion. UK. I995) Iain Robertson. Joseph McFadden. J.S. Duffy. l08 mins. (To-written with producer brother Billy. Gillies Mackiiinon‘s iiiarvellotisly detailed study about the growing pains of a boy caught in the fringes of Glasgow's gangland violence in the 60s emerges as a warm and accurate portrayal of working-class family life. (.‘entring on three brothers. it avoids the pitfalls of the Glasgow hard man movie. instead becoming a superior rites-of-passage tale. Iidinburgh: Filmhouse.
Some Mother's Son (IS) (Terry George. Ireland/US. I996) Helen Mirren. Fionnula Flanagan. Aidan Gillen. IIZ mins. 'Ihis gripping account of the IRA hunger strikes during the early 80s focuses on two fictional mothers. one a gentle pacifist. the other with a fierce hatred of soldiers. Terry George. writer of In The Name Of The Father makes
~"Sex,‘drugs, murder:
'vidlenee. romance I - the‘lot.
A top flick -
not tobe missed!" ‘)
Kale Burl- I 9 Magazine
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7—20 Mar 1997 TIIEUSTN