The Eighth Day (I5) (Jaco Van Dormael. France. I996) Daniel Auteuil. Pacal Duquenne. I I4 mins. The follow-up film by the direcror of Tom Le Hems will disappoint most. annoy many and win over only a few. Auteuil plays an uptight businessman whose life is transformed when he comes into contact with a man with Downs Syndrome (Duquenne). The film shifts its styles boldly from sentiment to comedy to drama. and its moments of bizarre magic realism give it a lift. but ultimately it falls into the dreadful ‘handicapped people are touched by God' cliche beloved of Hollywood. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Empire Strikes Back (U) (Irvin Kershner. US. I980) Mark Hamill. Harrison Ford. Carrie Fisher. I24 mins. Like the middle section of many great trilogies. The Empire Strikes Back is caught between reintroducing the popular elements of the original while setting up the context for the climax. As such. the story itself doesn't move on greatly. bttt the tone is somewhat darker. The effects were considerably advanced by this stage and. of course. are even snazzier in this special edition. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. UCI Clydebank. Edinburgh: UCI. East Kilbride: UCI. Galashiels: Pavilion.
The English Patient (IS) (Anthony Minghella. UK/US. I996) Ralph Fiennes. Juliette Binoche. Kristin Scott Thomas. I62 mins. A mysterious stranger. suffering from horrific burns. is cared for by a Canadian nurse during the final days of WW2. In flashback. we discover more about the great romantic affair whose tragic climax brought him to this state. Anthony Minghella alters the focus of Michael Ondaatje‘s Booker Prize-winning novel to concentrate more on boiling passions in the North African desert. Spectacularly filmed on location. the film boasts magnificent performances from each and every one of the leads. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. East Kilbride: UCI. Galashiels: Pavilion. St Andrews: New Picture House. Everyone Says I Love You (12) (Woody Allen. US. I996) Julia Roberts. Goldie Hawn. Woody Allen. I01 mins. Woody takes the plunge and makes a fully-fledged musical. with a story that flips from New York to Paris to Venice. Various lovers burst into song and dance at regular intervals. gamely performing 30s and 40s standards with varying degrees of success. The director himself looks distinctly pained when he sings his number. but his discomfort is nothing compared with ours when Julia Roberts opens her mouth to sing ‘All My Life'. A disappointing misfire. Edinburgh: Dominion.
The Exorcist (l8) (William Friedkin. US. I973) Linda Blair. Ellen Burstyn. Max Von Sydow. 1 IO mins. Earnest priest Von Sydow steps in to save poor little possessed girl in this hugely effecrive scarefeSt. Dead good. dead scary. dead priest. Edinburgh: Odeon. Farewell My Lovely (PG) (Edward Dmytryk. US. I945) Dick Powell. Claire Trevor. Anne Shirley. 95 mins. Powell is a world-weary Marlowe in Raymond Chandler‘s hard-boiled tale of a private eye searching for an ex-con‘s girl. The atmosphere is quintessentially noir. the plot has more twists and turns that those winding roads into the Hollywood Hills. Glasgow: GET.
Fingers (I8) (James Toback. US. I978) Harvey Keitel. Jim Brown. 'Iisa Farrow. 9| mins. Keitel is an aspiring concert pianist held back by his father’s criminal connections and his own fascination for the violence this brings. Toback‘s debut as director has a post-Mean Streets feel unique to good American cinema from the 70s. even if the violence and macho posturing are a little overdone. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Flirting With Disaster (15) (David 0. Russell. US. I996) Ben Stiller. Patricia Arquette. Tea Leoni. 92 mins. After the impressive Spanking The Monkey} writer- director Russell delivers a movie that's more contrived and less emphatic than his debut. but still pacy. funny and wickedly fond of its eccentric characters. The story is an offbeat road trip. with husband and wife Mel and Nancy trying to save their marriage and find his biological parents while having various affairs en route. (ireat performances and a nicely ironic script. Irvine: Magnum.
Fly Away Home (U) (Caroll Ballard. US.
I996) Anna Paquin. Jeff Daniels. Dana Delany. I07 mins. When her mother is killed in a car crash. young Amy (The Piano‘s Paquin) is sent to live with her estranged father in Canada. Soon they‘ve hatched a plan to help a flock of baby geese migrate south for the winter by leading them in a modified glider. An orphaned kid. some flufi’y animals — but this gets beyond the formula by injecting some credible emotional depth into the performances by the two leads. Glasgow: Virgin.
Force Of Evil (PG) (Abraham Polonsky. US. I948) John Garfield. Beatrice Pearson. Thomas Gomez. 79 mins. Complex. existentialistfilm noir. in which two brothers (Garfield and Gomez) become involved in an illegal lottery racket. which drags them both to destruction when a murder is discovered. Moody. atmospheric and beautifully acted. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Goin' To Town (PG) (Alexander Hall. US. I935) Mae West. Paul Cavanagh. Ivan Lebedeff. 74 mins. West was at the height of her fame when she made this film about a bar girl who inherits a ranch. strikes oil and finds herself promoted to the top end of society. Some of her bawdy irreverence is toned down. but she's still a lively screen presence. Glasgow: GFI‘.
Grace Of My Heart (I5) (Allison Anders. US. I996) llleana Douglas. John Turturro. Matt Dillon. I I5 mins. Looser inspired by the life Carole King. Grace ()fMy Heart is no standard biopic. but a heartfelt statement about a woman‘s determination to find her own voice within a male-dominated environment. llleana Douglas glows with personality as she takes Singer-songwriter Denise Waverly through a tempestuous decade of personal and professional heartache and triumph. The period design and songs are superb. adding to a filtn that has the scope of an old-fashioned epic. but an independent's sensibility. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith
Gridlock'd (I8) (Vondie Curtis Hall. US. I996) Tim Roth. 'I'upac Shakur. 'I‘handie Newton. 91 mins. Take a pedestrian stroll through the highways and byways of heroin consumption. as Spoon (Shakur) decides to get clean. backed up unconvincineg by Stretch (Roth). Bureaucracy foils them at every turn and their tails are hotly pursued by both the cops and the hoods. A satire on the US media and government policy. a black comedy and a druggy buddy movie. Gridlock '1] fails to settle convincineg on any one style. See feature and review. Glasgow: City Centre Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon.
Hamlet (PG) (Grigori Kosintsev. USSR. I964) lnnokenti Smoktunovsky. Mikhail Nazvanov. Elza Radzin-Szolkonis. I50 mins. To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. Kosintsev cut the text and produced this muscular and volatile version of the Danish tragedy. which interprets the play as an exercise in the machinations of state politics. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Hamlet (U) (Kenneth Branagh. UK. l996) Kenneth Branagh. Julie Christie. Kate Winslet. 238 mins. Four hours long (with interval). but strong performances. visual delights and hearty portions of sex. violence. horror and intrigue all combine to make Branagh‘s Hamlet worthy of its extreme duration. The story of the paranoid prince‘s revenge on his murderous uncle is freshened by its updating to the I9th century. while the glorious widescreen photography and succession of clever cameos also keep the audience on their toes. Edinburgh: Cameo. Irvine: Magnum. Stirling: MacRobert. Harriet The Spy (PG) (Bronweri Hughes. US. 1996) Michelle 'I‘rachtenberg. Rosie O‘Donnell. Gregory Smith. |()2 mins. Precocious schoolgirl Harriet. convinced she has a future as a writer. notes down the minutae of daily life in herjournal; but when her classmates discover her criticisms of them. she has to work hard to win back popularity. 'I‘rachtenberg gives a fresh. sparky performance. but the teacherly tone won't amuse accompanying grown-ups. Ayr: Odeon.
High School High ( I5) (Mark Boclmer. US. 1996) Jon Lovitz. 'Iia Carrere. Louise Fletcher. 89 mins. Lovitz stars as the dim- witted son of a respected headmaster. who
takes a job at an inner city school to fulfil his earnest and well intentioned desire to educate. Far from the freewheeling gagfest ofAirp/ane.’ or the Naked Gun movies. High School High makes the mistake of spoofing a specific film (Dangerous Minds) rather than a genre. Even when there are comedic opportunities. they are botched or just banal. (ilasgow: ()deon Quay. UCI Clydebank. Edinburgh: UCI.
Un Homme Et Une Femme A Man And/I Woman (IS) (Claude Lelouch. Erance. I966) Anouk Aimee. Jean-Louis 'I‘rintignant. Pierre Barouh. l()2 mins. Some odd camera and editing effects born out of the nourel/e vague sit oddly with the story of an affair between a racing driver and a script girl. Huger successful at the time — winner of the Cannes Palme D'Qr and the Best Foreign Film ()scar — it's now best known for its 'da-da-da-da-daaa. da-da-da-da-(laaa' tnusic. (ilasgow: (il’l‘.
The Hunchback 0f Notre Dame (PU) ((iary 'I‘rousdale/Kirk Wise. US. l996) With the voices of'l'om Hulcc. I)emi Moore. Kevin Kline. 9() mins. Young Quasimodo is kept prisoner in medieval Paris's great cathedral by the evil Jttdge I-‘rollo. but when the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda comes on the scene. the boy's heroic instincts save the day. Strong vocal performances. stunning cityscapes. grand songs and an expertly mature handling of adult themes make this an instant classic with plenty to say about moral hypocrisy. Edinburgh: ()deon.
The Hustler ( l5) (Robert Rossetl. US.
1961 ) Paul Newman. Jackie (ileason. (ieorgc C. Scott. Piper Laurie. I35 mins. Newman stars in the accustomed role of small-time con-man. this time hustling frotn pool table to pool table. Eventually. however. he is snookercd by love in this atmospheric downbeat melodrama. Edinburgh: Cameo.
In Love And War ( IS) (Richard ."\ttenlmrough. US. I996) Chris O‘Donnell. Sandra Bullock. Emilio Bonucci. I15 mins. If ever a film was killed by its casting. this is it. ()‘Donnell plays the young Ernest Hemingway. falling in love with American
index FILM
nurse Agnes Von Kurowsky (Bullock) in Italy during WWI. Bullock‘s face doesn't fit the period. and O'Donnell turns the writer‘s macho passions into spoilt brat arrogance — meaning there's no sense of romantic tragedy when they don‘t get it together. The true story that inspired A Farewell '12; Arms. it‘s devoid of irony or wit. Irvine: Magnum.
It Takes Two (PG) (Andy 'I‘ennant. US. I997) Kirstie Alley. Steve Guttenberg. 100 mins. The potentially eloying combination of romantic comedy and orphaned kids are strongly to the fore as case worker Diane (Kirstie Alley) and millionaire widower Roger (Steve (iuttenberg) are matchmade by identical girls. ()n paper. it all sounds very manufactured. with two stars who aren‘t exactly in the premiere league. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. UCI Clydebank. Virgin. Edinburgh: UCI. (’ilenrothes.
James And The Giant Peach (U) (Henry Selick. US. I996) Pattl Terry. Susan Sarandon. Simon Callow. 79 mins. From the director of Tim Burton 's The Nightmare lie/ore Christmas comes a wonderfully colourful adaptation of Roald Dahl‘s much- Ioved novel. Live action tops and tails the story. but for the most part. it's fun times with stop-motion puppets. By turns funny and scary. it stays true to Dahl's surreal and whimsical vision. Edinburgh: ()deon.
Jerry Maguire(15) (Cameron Crowe. US. I996) Tom Cruise. Cuba (iooding Jr. Renee '/.ellweger. I38 mins. Cruise is perfect as sports agent Maguire. who suddenly finds himself out of a job when he writes a Mission Statement calling for his colleagues to rediscover the sincerity of their business. Willi otin one client on his books ((iooding) and the loyal Dorothy (Yellweger) for affection and support. he soldiers on and — of course. becomes a better person for it all. Crowe's picture of an America crippled by a lack of genuine intimacy gives the film a maturity that's rarely seen in feelgood star vehicles. (ilasgow: ()deon Quay. Edinburgh: Cameo.
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“TOUCHING, DOWNRIGHT FUNNY AND {IWIWIIYS ENTERTAININ ”
Nicholas Briggs FILM REVI
Bernard Tapie
Fahrice Lucliini
.I I l
’L -._ Pierre Ardifi
Trcky Holgaiii
Pea:
en Women:
A USER'S MANUAL ‘2
(HOMMES FEMMES: MODE D’Ei’lPLOZ)
8 him i. CLAUDE LELOUCH
Original Music by FRANCE LN
LES Films Lilli-I Film? production
Released by Isl!“ Films
Carolicelli AnouItAimée
Assam Marries Ophélie Winter
6-19June FilmhoUse, Edinburgh Glasgow Film Theatre
30 May—12 Jun I997TIIE “ST 51