Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Alan Morrison.
Adam's Rib (I’(i) ((ieorge (‘ukor. L'S. I‘l-l‘h Katharine Hepburn. Spencer 'I‘racy. Judy Holliday. I()l mins. I’erfeci Hepburn and Tracy vehicle as they play two lawyers respectiver defending and prosecuting dumb blonde llolliday. who's charged with shooting her two-timing husband with intent to kill. (ireat stuff (ilasgow: (iilmorehill. Apocalypse Now! i is) (iii-ancis ('oppola. I’S. I980) Martin Sheen. Marlon Brando. Robert I)uval|. Dennis Hopper. I53 mins. Vietnam as The I’Itimate I'rip. We follow US Army assassin Sheen dovv nirver and deeper into the Heir/‘1 (N HHI'k/it'vv ruled over by Brando's mad Colonel Ktll'll. .-\lternately pretentious and visually overpowering (the Valkyries helicopter attack. for example). its grandiloquent folly somehow pierces right to the bone of the conflict. Iidinburgh: Cameo. Babe (I?) ((‘hris Noonan. Australia. 1995) James ('i‘oiiivyell. with the voices of Christine ('avanaugh. Miriam .‘vlargolyes. lltigo Weaving. 92 mins. .-\n orphaned pig falls under the eye of a kindly collie and begins to think he's destined for glory at the regional trials. ‘Ialkmg animals suggest that this is a kids' movie: to an extent it is and a great one but there's enough skew ered humour (hail the psycho mice?) for adults to discover an unexpected cult llll. :\ triumph for the underpig (ilasgow: Virgin. Ayr: ()deon.
Bean (|’(i) (.‘vlel Smith. l'K. IW7) Rowan Atkinson. I’eler‘ .‘vlacNicol. I’ainela Reed. 97 mins. limit the movie makes an attempt to broaden the range of Atkinson's tremendously successfully sight-gag character by sending him off to (‘alifornia to be mistaken for an art expert. \lost gags are agreeably daft; several are tiresomely lavatoi'ial; eventually. however. the film
upholds family values and true blue American schmaltz. You‘ll like it if you like the TV show. Real grown-ups should stay away. Motherwell: Mov'ieliouse.
La Belle Et La Bete (PU) (Jean Cocteau. France. I946) Jean Marais. Josette l)ay. Marcel Andre. ()2 mins. Sornbre. magical and extravagant rendition of the fairytale with Day as Beauty and Marais as her shepherd lover and the Beast. A haunting fantasy. (ilasgow: (iilmorehill.
La Belle Noiseuse Divertimento ( I5) (Jacques Rivette. France. I99l) Michel I’iccoli. Jane Birkin. liinmanuelle lieart. 126 mins. Shorter version of Rivette‘s film in which a painter finds inspiration in a new model. the effects of which spill over to his private life. Slightly different footage and re- editing gives a fresh. faster paced slant to an absorbing drama. lidinburgh: I'iilrnhouse. The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant ( is) (Rainer Werner I-‘assbinder. (ierniany. I972) Margit ('arstensen. Hanna Schygulla. Irin Hermann. I24 mins. In a sumptuous apartment lives a fashion designer. slavislily attended by her assistant. but the arrival of an attractive young woman whom the former wishes to use as a model changes the domestic power set-up. ()ne of the great Fassbinder films. incisiver examining the way in which social positions influence romantic relationships, lidinburgh: Iiilrnhouse.
Boogie Nights ( IS) (Paul Thomas Anderson. US. l‘)‘)7) Mark Wahlbeig. lltlt‘l Reynolds. Julianne Moore. |53 mins. I)oing for porn filmmaking what (imul/e/liiv did for gangsters. Bungle .‘v'r'g/irv charts the rise. fall and redemption of a fictional porn superstar (Wahlberg) against the enormous changes wrought in the industry between the 70s and 80s. Large-scale social commentary and small-scale human dramas account for the film's epic feel. while the kitsch fashions and funky disco soundtrack create a film that is as ambitious as it is entertaining (ieneral release.
The Borrowers (U) (I’etet' Hewitt. t'ls’. l‘)‘)7) John (ioodman. Jrrn Iiroadbent. ('elia lmrie. 86 mins. .-\t a height of only four
I'll-II...
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OOMMON GROUNDS
32 THE LIST 23 Jan—S Feb (998
inches. the Borrowers hide in wall cavities and living beneath the floorboards of the lender household. When a nasty lawyer tries to swindle the humans out of their inheritance. families big and small |()III forces. The design and effects ctetitc a strangely familiar. oddly iiiiplaceable world. and children will have little dilliculty suspending enough disbelief to be spellbound by the magic of the film. (ienei‘al release. Brassed Off ( I5) (Mark Herman. 13K. I‘Ntv) liwan .\Ic(iregor. 'I‘ara Fitzgerald. I’ete l’ostlethwaite. HIS mins. When the local pit is due to be closed down. it‘s the end of the day for the colliery brass band as well. even though they‘ve got a chance at w inning the national competition. I’olitics are the heart of the story. but w riter-director Harmen has created a film that balances nicely between pithy humour and heartbreaking poignance Performances are excellent. particularly liti/lyAivviirreel's Stephen 'l'ompkinsori. lialkirk. 'I’own Ilall. Career Girls ( IS) (Mike Leigh. l‘ls'. (007i Katriii ('artlidge. Lynda Steadniaii. .Ioe 'l'iicker. so mins. (‘urcer (iii/v doesn't work within a narrative. but a series of character encounters. playing out in two time-frames. Annie and Hannah meet up for a reunion weekend years after they shared a flat together as students. In the present and in the past. they cross paths - with credibility stretched to breaking point - with a past boyfriend. another flatmate. and a schi/ophrenic fellow student, I'he emotions and social backdrop ring true w here the characters themselves crucially do not. (ilasgow; (ii‘osvetioi'. Carla's Song ( (5) (Ken l.oach. t'ts‘. lWo) Robert ('arlyle. ()yanka ('abe/as. Scott (ilenn. |37 mins. .-\ more commercially viable outing for l.oach. without a loss oi political commitment. ('arly Ie plays (ilaswegian bus driver George. who gives up everything to help refugee ('arla return to Nicaragua and find her boyfriend. I he love story aspect of the first (Scottish) Iialf of the film is its strongest point; the revelations in ('entral America don't hold surprises nor does the director seem totally at home with the 'actioir elements. ('ai‘lyle. however. is excellent -- mildly tough and totally charming. ('umbernauld: 'I'heatie, Chasing Amy ( IS) (Kevin Smith. I'S. WW») lien Afllect. Joey Lauren Adams. lasoii lee | l I mins. The third film by the writer/director of ( 'li'rks is a wry and surprisingly mature look at twentysomething relationships ('oniic book artist Ilolden (Allleck) falls desiX‘rately in love w itli :\Iyssa (Adams). but she prefers gals to guys. Sexual desire and a crisis of masculinity come under the ltllc‘t‘tist'iipe ma film that's bloody funny in a risque way liast Kilbride: Arts Centre. Crash ( I8) (David (‘roneniwrg I996) James Spader. Holly Hunter. lilias Koteas. I()() mins. I-inally passed uncut. (‘iash is not - as 'l'lie I)tll/\ .llui/ would have you believe - a i film which will inspire copycat car crashes i
or copulation amidst the ensuing wreckage Instead it is a cool. insidioust disturbing
just too laiiguorous for its own good.
Shafted: Susan Lynch in Downtime
study of an evolving human pathology based on eroticised car crashes and techno- fantasies. livery hetero and homosexual permutation is explored as the fixed Imundaries of ‘iiormal‘ sexuality give way to a creatively 'perv'erse' fluidity.
I’rov oeative. extreme and intellectually exhilerating lidinburgh; l-‘ilnihouse. l The Damned ( IS) (I.uchino Visconti. ltaly/(iermany. I969) I)irk Hogarde. Ingrid 'I‘huIin. (‘harlotte Rampliiig. 164 mins. \'isconti's massive fresco on the rise of Nazism in 30s (ieriiiany virtually defines his later. operatic style. Beautifully composed throughout but very slow-moving. this saga of an industrial dynasty gradually being overwhelmed by its own decadence boasts highly impressive sequences like the Night of the l.oiig Knives massacre. but is finally
(ilasgovs': (il’l‘. Iidinburgh: I‘ilmhouse. The Devil's Advocate ( 1.x) ('l‘ayioi- Ilackford. l'S. WW) Al Pacino. Keanu Reeves. ('hai‘Ii/e 'I'heron. HS mins. Ilot shot lawyer Kevin l.omax (Reeves) is recruited by a New York firm. but comes to realise its founder. John Milton (l’aeiiio). is head of something a lot more scary than the legal industry. 'lhis modern-day morality play allows I’acino to grandstand in a part that's plainly absurd. while Reeves is too wooden for his supposedly charismatic role. (ieneral release. Devil's Island ( l5) (I-‘ridrik 'I‘hor liridriksson. Iceland. I997) Ballasar Korinakur. (iiin llalldt’irsson. Sveinn (ic‘ll‘ssnll. ll),‘\ mins I‘ridriksson's follow-up to ('olt/ liver is not nearly so freewheeling. althouin it also contains a winning mixture of humour and heartache I-‘ollow ing the fortunes of an impoverishedextended tamin Iiv mg on a forriiei' l'S army base. the film show s the painful consequences of a clash of two inimieal cultures America and Iceland where iriiported values are as out of place as a bright red convertible I against the w ild. barren landscapes, I
(ilasgovv, (il’l‘.
Double Indemnity (I’ti) (Hilly Wilder. US. I944) Barbara Stanwyck. lired McMurray. Iidvvard ( i. Robinson. (no mins. ('racking adaptation by Wilder and Raymond (‘handler of the James M. ('ain novel has insurance man McMurray attracted by the alluring Stanwyck. who talks him into murdering her spouse. and all goes well until his boss Iidward (i. begins to suspect foul play. Sexual chemistry. labyrinthine plotting. tart wordplay. it's all here. A classic Kirkcaldy. .-\daiii Smith. Downtime ( I5) (Iihai'at Nalluri. lIK. I997) Susan I.) nch. l’aiil .\Ic( iann. ‘)() mins. 'Ihis erratically suspenseful stuck-in-a-Iift thriller has good action sequences. btit the script also features a badly written. poorly integrated romance between aggressiver independent single mum lynch and emotionally scarred former police psychologist McGann. 'l'here's also a lot of naive and largely irrelevant social comment about Newcastle's unemployed. disaffected teenagers. See review. (ilasgow: U('l ('lydebank. Iidinburgh: UCI.