The Full Monty (15) (Peter Cattaneo. UK. 1997) Robert Carlyle. Tom Wilkinson. Mark Addy. 92 mins. Carlyle plays Gary. an unemployed Sheffield steelworker who. along with an odd mix of former colleagues. decides to go one better than the Chippendale troupes that fill the local halls. Cattaneo's laugh-out- Ioud film comes from the same tradition as Brassed Off. mixing comedy with a strong social conscience and showing unemployment as an emasculating experience. It's the ordinariness of these blokes that gives the film both its humour and its depth. General release.
The Game (15) (David Fincher. US. 1997) Michael Douglas. Sean Penn. Deborah Kara Unger. 128 mins. Fincher‘s follow-up to Seven is a psychological thriller with more twists than a helter-skelter. Douglas plays a lonely investment banker whose wastrel brother presents him with a gift certificate for a shadowy company that tailors personalised life games for its clients. Soon Douglas finds himself being sucked deeper into a vortex of fear as every certainty in his life is stripped away. An intriguing Chinese puzzle of a movie that teases and taunts the viewer almost as much as its hapless hero. See review. General release.
Grosse Pointe Blank (15) (George Armitage. US. 1996) John Cusack. Minnie Driver. Alan Arkin. 108 mins. Depressed freelance hitman Martin O. Blank (Cusack) returns to his home town for a high-school reunion. but finds his past private life and current profession are about to overlap. Armitage tums in a fair post- Woo action sequence here and there. while Cusack positively inhabits Martin. switching from comic/romantic lead to focused killer effortlessly and believably. Glasgow: Gilmorehill. Edinburgh: Cameo. Stirling: MacRobert.
Hercules (U) (John Musker & Ron Clements. US. 1997) With the voices of'I’ate Donovan. James Woods. Danny DeVito. 9| mins. British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe‘s designs marry his customary grotesquery with Uncle Wall‘s softer characterisations. Hades (a magnificently splenetic James Woods) wants to exact revenge on Zeus by destroying his son Hercules. but luckily our hero has Pegasus as his steed and Phil the grumpy satyr (Danny DeVito) as his coach. Classical purists might grumble. but this is one of the studio's most dynamic and entertaining features. See review. General release.
In The Realm Of The Senses At No Corrida (l8) (Nagisa Oshima. Japan. 1976) 'I‘atsuya Fuji. Eiko Matsuda. 105 mins. At last deemed fit for certification. Oshima's shockingly erotic film can now be publicly screened. In the militarist Japan of 1936. a couple enclose themselves in their own sensual world. their passion escalating until only death can provide the next orgasm. Masterly though necessarily extremely explicit look at the power of sexual arousal. which has attracted controversy throughout the world. Glasgow: OFT.
It's A Jungle Out There (12) (Hans-Christian Schmid. Germany. 1995) 89 mins. Seventeen- year-old Anna runs away to Munich after a row with her father and tries her luck as a singer. When her parents set out to find her. they discover the big city is an adventurous place. German Film Festival. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Jackie Chan's First Strike (12) (Stanley Tong. Hong Kong/US. 1996) Jackie Chan. Chen Chun Wu. Jackson Lou. 84 mins. No more than a series of set pieces linked by a kind of low budget travelogue. this story of a Hong Kong cop trailing ex-KGB officers across the world fails to give full rein to its star's astonishing gymnastic skills and fearless approach to performing his own stunts. Perfunctory. routine and utterly disappointing. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Showcase. UCI Clydebank. Edinburgh: ABC Wester Hailes. Paisley: Showcase.
Jour De Fete (U) (Jacques Tati. France. 1948) Jacques Tati. Guy Decomble. 87 mins. A rural French postie sees a film about the efficiency of the American mail service and decides to smarten up his act. Charming debut feature by Tati. effortlessly building visual set-pieces and establishing the amiable duffer ofa central role that was later to become the unforgettable M. Hulot. Re-released in the colour version. as was 'I‘ati‘s original desire. Glasgow: Gl’l‘. Gilmorehill. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Judgement At Nuremberg (PG) (Stanley Kramer. US. 1961) Spencer Tracey. Montgomery Clift. Maximillian Schell. 190 mins. Perhaps the courtroom drama to end them all. Kramer‘s depiction of the Nazi war trials is filled with star performances and brief cameos as judge Tracey weighs up whether or not defence attorney Schell‘s clients ‘were only obeying orders'. But the film has more texture than just its courtroom scenes and we really do get a vivid impression of a patchwork of victims and survivors. This screening is preceded by an introduction to Oxfam‘s new Cut Conflict Campaign. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Jump The Gun (15) (Les Blair. UK/South Africa. 1996) Lionel Newton. Baby Cele. Michele Burgers. 126 mins. A slice-of-life comedy about five working-class people in post-apartheid Johannesburg. Jump The Gun is episodic and a tad samey. British improvisational director Blair (Bod Behaviour) prefers people to plots. and sidelines both drama and political correctness. It may not please all tastes. but it‘s an amusing and insightful view of a South Africa which is ‘becoming African'. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Kids (18) (Larry Clark. US. 1995) Leo Fitzpatrick. Justin Pierce. Chloe Sevigny. 93 mins. Photographer Clark brings a gritty yet hip approach to his portrait of urban youth overdosed on sex and drugs. Verbally. but not visually. explicit. the film is as bleak as it gets. as HIV positive Jennie spends a day tracking down arrogant ‘virgin surgeon‘ Telly. Serious issues are touched on in an unadorned fashion. but it‘s up to us to discuss a way to find the solutions. Glasgow: GFI‘.
Lawrence 0f Arabia (PG) (David Lean. UK. 1962) Peter O‘Toole. Alec Guinness. Jack Hawkins. Omar Sharif. 222 mins. Lean‘s mammoth desert epic. restored to its director's original cut and the big screen. where film-making on this scale belongs. O'Toole‘s debut as the enigmatic adventurer still impresses. but apart from the majestic action sequences. it's the disturbing sense of clinical and cold-blooded violence hanging over the highly literate characterisation that today seems especially striking. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
A Life less Ordinary (15) (Danny Boyle. UK. 1997) Ewan McGregor. Cameron Diaz. lan Holm. 101 mins. It's the one you've been waiting for — Danny Boyle. John Hodge and Andrew Macdonald‘s follow-up to Trainspotting. This time they‘ve opted for an original script that boldly plays with the conventions of the romantic comedy. Ewan McGregor plays a young Scot who kidnaps his boss‘s daughtere when he gets the sack. only to find that his hostage turns the tables and uses events to get back at her dad. But what if those detectives on their tail are really angels sent to bring true love to the world. The production team will be on hand to answer questions at this preview screening. Exclusive McGregor and Boyle interviews. with full review. next issue. Glasgow: GET.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (PG) (Steven Spielberg. US. 1997) Jeff Goldblum. Julianne Moore. Pete Postlethwaite. 129 mins. Goldblum and Co drop onto a second dinosaur-filled island. which is disrupted by a mixed bunch of capitalists and safari hunters. sending the camavores on a rampage. The story is far better than Jurassic Park. making for a thrilling adventure with impeccible effects that renders the original as good as extinct. Watch out for the certificate though: sustained scenes of terror suggest it should have been a ‘12‘. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Virgin. Edinburgh: UCl.
Lottery Shorts A selection of short films made with the assistance of the Scottish Arts Council's National Lottery Fund. in association with Scottish Screen. Included is The Butterfly Man. made by regular Ken Loach cinematographer Barry Ackroyd. and set in a mining village near Edinburgh where an unemployed recluse breeds butterflies in his garden. Filmmakers will be present to discuss the projects. Stirling: MacRobert.
Love! Valourl Compassion! (15) (Joe Mantello. US. 1996) Jason Alexander. John Glover. John Benjamin Hickey. 114 mins. Terrence McNalIy's award-winning
index FILM
The Meds (15) (Matthias Glasner. Germany. 1994) 85 mins. A fast-paced comedy about four twentysomethings who fill their morally bankrupt and politically disaffected lives with TV. videos. computers and sex - until one day events bring an unease into their existence. German Film Festival. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Men In Black (PG) (Barry Sonnenfeld. US. 1997) Tommy Lee Jones. Will Smith. Vincent D‘Onofrio. 95 mins. Smith and Jones are two cryptically named ‘cosmic G—men' who monitor extraterrestrials living on Earth. while stopping the nastier breed of space baddie from colonising the planet. Jones‘s seen-it-all straight man is the perfect foil for Smith's wide-eyed new kid on the block. while Sonnenfeld's skilful integration of the visual effects proves that eye-popping spectacle and coherent storytelling need not necessarily be diametrically opposed. General release.
Mrs Brown (PG) (John Madden. UK. 1997) Judi Dench. Billy Connolly. Antony Sher. 103 mins. Queen Victoria's obsessive mourning for Prince Albert is casting gloom over the entire country. so Highland ghillie John Brown is called down from Balmoral to shake up the stuffy English court. Madden's film can't match the comic brio and visual panache of The Madness 0f King George. but his understated direction undeniably suits the story. The performances are uniformly splendid. with Dench and Connolly (both perfectly cast) giving the film a surprising emotional depth. General release.
My Best Friend's Wedding (12) (PJ. Hogan. CS. 1997) Julia Roberts. Dermot Mulroney. Cameron Diaz. 105 mins. The director of Australian hit Muriel '3' Wedding takes Julia Roberts out of her usual. wide-eyed role of irritating innocence and re-casts her as a two- faced career girl who tries to scupper the wedding of a former boyfriend whom she suddenly realises she is still very much in love with. A wonderfully scripted film with a fun performances all round. it ultimately affirms the enduring nature of friendship. General release.
Broadway play comes to the screen with the same director and all but one of the main cast in tow. Eight gay men spend weekends at the country house of a successful choreographer and his lover. but a couple of new arrivals threaten to upset the balance of their lives. A camp comedy that‘s driven by the sheer strength of the writing. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Ma Vie Sexuelle (15) (Arnaud Desplechin. France. 1996) Mathieu Amalric. Emmanuelle Devos. Emmanuel Salinger. 180 mins. Philosophy lecturer Paul (Amalric) is stuck in a rut with both his doctorate thesis and his love life. which is over-complicated by his desires for this best friend's girlfriend. 'Ihere is strength in the ensemble around him. but entire scenes could rest on the cutting-room floor and we wouldn't miss them. It has an air of self- importance that comes from its extended. dialogue-heavy running time. but we know that size doesn't matter. East Kilbride: Arts Centre.
The Maltese Falcon (PG) (John Huston. US. 1941) Humphrey Bogart. Mary Astor. Sidney Greenstreet. Peter Lorre. 101 mins. Huston‘s first film is a quintessential. claustrophobicfilm noir. Bogart is caught in a web of deceit and betrayal as the Fat Man uses every means. including murder. to get his hands on the elusive ornament of the title. Forget the twists and turns of Dashiell Hammett's plot; enjoy instead the darkly comic world peopled by Sam Spade and Joel Cairo. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith. Marieluise From Golzow (12) (Barbara & Winfried Junge. Germany. 1996) 141 mins. The latest (and fourteenth) instalment of the ongoing series of documentaries about children who started school in Golzow (in East Germany) in 1961 focuses on a woman who married the son of a Communist Party official. and shows how her family have coped with unification. 'Ihe filmmakers will be present to take questions on what has become the longest-going project of its kind in intemational cinema. German Film Festival. Glasgow: Gl-T. Edinburgh:
"Film-making doesn't come much better than this"
ELLE
*‘k‘k‘k‘k
"MAGNIFICENT"
THE SCOTSMAN
."A subtle and deeply moving human drama of a kind you never
WINNER CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 1997
knew existed" PREMIERE
IAN ATOM HOLIVI EGOYAN
GRAND PRIZE
INTERNATIONAL CRITICS' PRIZE
THE SWEET HEREAFTERH
[K
g ‘V 7t::--- B 2 is "
Now Showing The Filmhouse. Edinburgh 0131 228 2688 The Glasgow Film Theatre 0141 332 6535’
10 Oct—23 Oct 1997 THEUSTST