Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Alan Morrison.
The Addiction (l8) (Abel I-‘errara. US. I995) I.i!i 'I'aonr. Christopher Walken. Annabella Sciorra. 82 mins. New York philosophy student ’I'aylor finds herself abstractly questioning the nature of life‘s morality until she is passionately bitten one night by a beautifulwoman (Sciorra) and launched into a subversive. bloodthirsty lifestyle. Shot in black and white. and accompanied by an urban rap soundtrack. The Addiction captures the energy and power of addictive behaviour. See preview and review. (ilasgow: (iI’I‘. Iidinburgh: I-ilmhousc.
Alive And Kicking (I5) (Nancy Meckler. UK. I996) Jason Iilemyng. Antony Sher. Dorothy 'Iutin. 99 mins. Playwright Martin Sherman of limit fame also wrote this story about a ballet dancer diagnosed HIV+ who is determined to carry on dancing. MeckIer‘s direction is slightly theatrical (as was her film debut. Stvtt't' My Sister). bttt tlle performances are great. particularly tip-and- coming star l-‘Iemyng and Sher as his flawed. older lover. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith. The Apartment tl’(i) (Billy Wilder. US. I960) Jack I.emmon. Shirley Macl.aine. I-‘red MacMurray. Ray Walston. IZS mins. Splendid satire on sex. success and morality. in which I.emmon‘s clerk generates big bucks by sub-letting his apartment to senior executives for immoral purposes. only to find that his own girl is having it off with his boss. Both central performances are wonderful. generating both farce and pathos with admirable subtlety. Iidinburgh: I’ilmhouse.
Bananas (15) (“body Allen. ['18. l‘)7l) Woody Allen. Louise I.asser. Carlos Montalban. 8] mins. 'I'he Iad's second feature centres on a neurotic. wimpy. Jewish New Yorker (guess who plays this part?) who gets caught tip in a South American revolution. The plot is a somewhat flimsy vehicle for Woody‘s wonderful one-liners. btit there's a degree of cynical commentary on political power struggles. (ilasgow: (iI’l'. Basquiat (15) (Julian Schnabel. US. I996) Jeffrey Wright. David Bowie. Michael Wincott. I06 mins. Schanbel’s biopic of his friend Jean-Michel Basquiat truly captures the whims of the 80s New York art scene where hype mattered more than talent. Wright takes Basquiat from graffiti artist to overnight star to drug overdose victim. and conveys his charm and artistic vision. 'liie film is packed with cameos and larger roles by celebs -- notany Bowie’s turn as Andy Warhol — making it as much a film about hangers-on as its subject matter. liast Kilbride: Arts Centre.
Batman 8. Robin (PU) (Joel Seliumaeher. US. 1997) (ieorgc Clooney. Arnold Schwarzenegger. ('hris ()‘Donnell. I30 mins. Moving even further way from the (iothic melanchon of'Iim Burton‘s first two films. the fourth lit/Intuit movie brings in Poison Ivy (Uma 'liiurman) and disaffected scientist Dr I-‘reeze (Schwarzenegger). ’lhurman's scene-stealing performance saves the film from total failure. while Clooney does exactly vs hat's required. bttt no more. A showcase for fetishistic shots of tight bans in rubber. this is noisy. empty and without a hint of “it or intelligence. (ieneral release.
Beavis And Butt-head Do America (12) (Mike Jttdgc. IFS. I997) Mike Judge. SI mins. America's slackest slackers go frotn the small to the big screen taking their toilet humour with them and causing mayhem across the [S III search of a stolen IV and an unliker opportunity to score. Needless to say things don‘t go as planned and the usual pant-obsessed gags follow. I-‘or devotees mainly. (ilasgow: t.’(’l Clydcbank. Iidinburgh: L‘CI. liast Is'ilbride; UCI.
Big Night ( l5) (Stanley 'I'ucci/(‘anipbelI Scott. US. I995) Stanley 'l‘ucci. Tony Shalhoub. Ian llolm. I If) mins. Brothers I’rimoand Secondo Pilaggi run a New Jersey Italian restaurant that's all btit bankrupt because of I’ritno‘s punctilious attitude to his cuisine. so Secondo is persuaded to set
tip a ‘big night' for the famous singer Louis Prima. 'Ihe 50s setting is nicely but simply detailed. the characterisations strongly observed. and the dialogue gently humorous. A warm and inviting independent movie that doesn‘t slip into easy resolutions. lidinburgh: Cameo. Stirling: MacRobert. Blue Black Permanent (PG) (Margaret Tait. Scotland. I992) (ierda Stevenson. Celia Itnrie. Jack Shepherd. 86 mins. Poetic btit painfully obscure portrait of three generations of women. tied over the decades by love and death. As an art movie. 74-year- old 'litit's feature debut has some beautiful images. based around water. sea and rain: but its muddled narrative is so distracting that much of the impact is lost. With actress Gerda Stevenson's (iaelic language short The Sacrifice. Glasgow: (ill.
The Boy From Mercury (PG) (Martin Duffy. UK/I-‘rance. 1996) James Hickey. Rita 'I’ushingham. 'I‘om Courtney. 87 mins. liight-year-old Harry (Hickey) believes he has special powers granted him through his birthplace being Mercury rather than Dublin — a belief boosted by visits to the Saturday morning film club and his lack of a father figure. An irrisistible tale of memory. loss and the search for a better future. If you manage to sit through this without wilting intojelly at Hickey"s painfully innocent performance. then you have the heart of a tyrant. Glasgow: (irosvenor. Irvine: Magnum.
Carla's Song (15) (Ken Loach. UK. I996) Robert Carlyle. ()yanka Cabezas. Scott (iIenn. l27 mins. A tnore commercially viable outing for I.oach. without a loss of political commitment. Carlyle plays (ilasgwegian bus driver (ieorge. who gives up everything to help refugee Carla return to Nicaragua and find her boyfriend. The love story aspect of the first (Scottish) half of the filth is its strongest point; the revelations in Central America don't hold surprises nor does the director seem totally at home with the 'action' elements. Carlyle. however. is excellent — mildly tough and totally charming. With Caroline Paterson‘s short Lucky Suit. (iIasgow: (il-‘I'.
Citizen Kane (PG) (Orson Welles. US.
I94I ) ()rson Welles. Joseph Cotten. Agnes Moorehead. I I9 mitts. Stttnningly successful biographical mosaic centring on a Hearst-like media tycoon. Welles‘ first film remains scintillating viewing for its sheer technical verve. narrative confidence and spellbinding performances. The best film ever made'.’ Who's arguing‘.’ Iidinburgh: I-"iImhouse.
City Of Industry ( l8) (John Irvin. US. I997) Harvey Keitel. 'Iitnothy Hutton. Stephen Dorff. 97 mins. A crime movie. a jewel heist movie. a Harvey Keitel movie — yep. Reservoir Dogs is indeed a reference point. Harv plays a veteran criminal with an in-built code of honour who‘s dragged into the proverbial ‘Iast score' with. of course. goes wrong with plenty of accusations flying between gang members. l.ow on originality. but Iiiin on style. plot twists and acting abilities. (ilasgow: UCI (‘Iydebank Iidinburgh: UCI.
Con Air (15) (Simon West. US. I997) Nicolas Cage. John Malkovieh. John Cusack. I I2 mins. Sit down. strap yourself
X‘ , . - , . ’7; .,
Once bitten: Annabella Sciorra in The Addiction
in. stick your head into the roar of the jet engine of this noisy. stretch-the-credibility movie. Cage plays a manslaughter parolec whose prison plane ride home is hijacked by vicious convict Malkovich. so he draws on his military training and strong sense of honour to save the innocents in the air from certain death. liven under a constant attack of big bangs. action set-pieces and dry one-liners. the audience can't help but wrinkle its collective brow at the plot's illogical hiccups. (ieneraI release.
Crash (18) (David Cronenberg. Canada. I996) James Spader. Holly Hunter. Iilias Koteas. I00 mitts. Finally passed uncut. ('ms/t is not ~ as the I)(llll\‘;i1tlll and local councils would have you believe —- a film which will inspire copycat car crashes or copulation amidst the ensuing wreckage. Instead it is a cool. insidioust disturbing study of an evolving human pathology based on eroticised car crashes and techno- fantasies. livery hetero and homosexual permutation is explored as the fixed
index FILM
boundaries of ‘normal‘ sexuality give way to a creatively ‘perverse' fluidity. Provocative. extreme and intellectually exhilarating. Glasgow: ABC Clarkston Road. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Crucible (12) (Nicholas Hytner. US. I996) Daniel Day Lewis. Winona Ryder. Paul Scofield. I24 mins. Arthur Miller adapts his classic stage play based on the 17th century Salem witch trials and. although the relevance to the McCarthy hearings has drifted into history. it still questions many of today‘s irrational and hysterical belief systems. The finger- pointing is done by a spurned young woman. who accuses her ex-Iover's wife of witchcraft. and soon an all-cosuming tide ofevil and hypocrisy is devastating their village. Deception becomes a stronger force than the truth in a truly compelling and important film. Iidinburgh: Cameo. Death In Venice ( I5) (I.uchino Visconti. Italy. I97 I) Dirk Bogarde. Bjorn Andressen. Silvano {Vlangano 128 mins. Ageing celebrated composer Von Auscenbach (the capable. slightly miscast Bogarde) cotnes to Venice in the midst of a creative crisis and becomes infatuated with a beautiful Polish boy who embodies the kind of physical and spiritual purity he‘s been looking for in his work. Highly decorative attempt at the unfiltnable. thotigh the use of Mahler‘s I‘ifth Symphony is highly affecting. Iidinburgh: I-‘ilmhouse.
The Devil's Own ( l5) (Alan J. Pakttla. US. I997) Harrison I-‘ord. Brad Pitt. Ruben Blades. I I I mins. His father a victim of the ‘security forces‘. Pitt is driven into the IRA. but escapes to America. where he plots a daring revenge frotn the sanctuary of Irish-American NYPD man Harrison I-‘ord‘s home. The tension between the dedicated terrorist and the fatnin nest is the film‘s strongest suit: almost everything else is disastrous. not least the virtually unquestioned acceptance of the IRA cause. (ieneral release.
Continued over page
_ tic-ENAROWLA CNIFICENTI’
by NICK
FROM FRI 4 jULY
CASSAVETES
EDINBURGH FILMHOUSE
FROM FRI I8 jULY GLASGOW FILM THEATRE
II -24 Jul 1997 THELIST25