FILM index
FILM INDEX continued
Paws (PG) (Karl Zwicky. Australia/UK. I997) Nathan Cavaleri. Emilie Francois. voice of Billy Connolly. 83 mins. Clever doggie PC is on a mission to deliver a computer disc. but is being tracked down by the unpleasant baddie who killed his master. Befriending computer whizz kid Zac. the mutt links up to a voice simulator and starts talking with the broad twang of Billy Connolly. Some genuinely funny moments allow for a whole range of teenage crises to be dealt with in an uncringeworthy fashion. General release. Piuicata ( I 5) ( Edoardo Winspeare. Italy. I995) 84 mins. A low key hit at the I996 Edinburgh Film Festival tells the story of an Italian-American‘s shock return to the land of his forefathers when he is shot down during the war and looked after by a farmer and his daughters. A wonderful romance. set against a glorious landscape. Italian Film Festival. Glasgow: Gilmorehill. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Porzt'ts ( l5) (Renzo Martinelli. Italy. l997) I l0 mins. During the dying months of WW2. the German army carried out a massacre in the province of Udine. A group of partisans are accused of collusion by the Garibaldi brigade. and here they tell their side of the story. Italian Film Festival. Glasgow: GI’I‘. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Pretty in Pink (PG) (John Hughes. US. I986) Molly Ringwald. Harry Dean Stanton. Jon Cryer. 97 mins. Better-than-average teen movie from the doyen of that genre. Ms Ringwald is pretty in pink for the high school prom. but not before she has undergone the prejudice of the kids from the rich side of town. Her poppa. you see. is so poor that she has only a car. a telephone and an answering machine to call her own. This. incidentally. was when it became clear that the Psychedelic Furs had Sold Out. Edinburgh: Cameo. The Rainmaker ( I 5) (Francis Ford Coppola. US. I997) Matt Damon. Jon Voight. Danny I)eVito. I36 mins. It's Grisham time again. as idealistic law school
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The chase is on: Tommy lee Jones in US Marshals
graduate Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) discovers the realities of America's legal system when he takes on a giant corporation running a monumental insurance scam. Grisham and Coppola's indignation at the iniquities ofAmercan capitalism is impressive. but the film's plot is too cliched and predictable for their analysis to make the impact it deserves. The acting. however. is excellent. See feature and review. General release.
The Road To Nhill ( l 5) (Sue Brooks. Australia. I997) 85 mins. When four women from the local bowling team are involved in a car accident. the clueless community of Nhill is mobilized into a flap. Don't expect a barrage of witty one-liners as the slow burning humour takes on an oddball. farcical edge. although ultimately it lapses into a disjointed and meandering yarn. Australian Film Season. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Romeo And Juliet ( I 2) (Baz Luhrmann. Australia/US. I996) Leonardo DiCaprio. Claire Danes. Pete Postlethwaite. l20 mins. The Strictly Ballrmmt director's treatment of the Shakespeare tragedy is a magnificent riot of colour. action and sexy teen romance. without any need to sacrifice the text. To call it ‘MTV filmmaking' misses the point that the camera tricks and in-jokes don't in any way distract from the fact that Luhrmann has completely grasped the issues at the centre of the play. An intoxicating. breathtaking mix of Catholic iconography. high camp and street violence that's both deliciously feverish and studiedly cool. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Santo Stephano ( IS) (Angelo Pasquini. Italy. I997) 87 mins. Established screenwriter Pasquini moves behind the camera for a drama about injustice and social change set in the Mediterranean equivalent of Alcatraz. The story focuses on a reformist governor whose moves are challenged not by the prisoners. but by right-wing opponents. Italian Film Festival. Glasgow: GF'T. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (l5) (Karel Reisz. UK. I960) Albert Finney. Rachel Roberts. Shirley Anne Field. 89 mins. A defining moment of British cinema history. made at a time when the UK was finding its feet in the post—war industry by transforming new stage successes into ' movies. Finney is the Nottingham factory worker determined he won‘t ‘Iet the bastards grind you down‘. as he rails at the dead-end nature of his life. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. The Second Time (l5) (Mimmo Calopresti. Italy. I996) 80 mins. Director Nanni Moretti takes an acting role here as a man who meets the woman who tried to kill him in a terrorist attack over a decade earlier; she mistakes his interest as romantically inclined. A psychological drama that treats its subject seriously. Italian Film Festival. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Sense And Sensibility (U) (Ang Lee. US/UK. I995) Emma Thompson. Kate Winslet. Alan Rickman. Hugh Grant. I35 mins. Denied their inheritance when the father of the household dies. the female
members of the Dashwood family face a precarious future which complicates the romances of sensible Elinor (Thompson) and emotive Marianne (Winslet). Thompson's adaptation keeps the wordplay engaginly tart and sharp-wilted. but never loses sight of the powerful frustrations simmering beneath the surface. Infinitely more satisfying than your typical fiuffy period piece. Falkirk: Town Hall.
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers tU) (Stanley Donen. US. I954) Howard Keel. Jeff Richards. Russ Tamblyn. l03 mins. Classic MGM all-singing all-dancing musical loosely based on the rape of the Sabine Women. Despite its arch symmetry. it remains a colourful and vigorous affair with a cosin effective score by DePaul and Mercer (Spring. Spring. Spring). The dancing. choreographed by Michael Kidd. is its strongest point but its status as an all time great is probably marred most by the brash and primitive technicolour filming. Edinburgh: St Bride's.
A Simple Formality ( I 5) (Guiseppe Tornatore. Italy. I994) Gerard Depardieu. Roman Polanski. Sergio Rubini. I08 mins. Depardieu is arrested by policeman Polanski on suspicion of murder and grilled in an all- night session. With its metaphysical concerns and theatrical setting. this rivetting performance-led film is more like a play by Sartre than the warm-hearted nostalgia we expect from 'I‘ornatore - who will attend the screenings. See review. Italian Film Festival. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
A Simple Wish (PG) (Michael Ritchie. US. I997) Mara Wilson. Martin Short. Kathleen Turner. 90 mins. When she makes a wish for her singer-actor dad to land the lead in a Broadway musical. Mara Wilson (of Matilda fame) finds herself saddled with a bumbling fairy godfather in the shape of Martin Short. The magic world of the fairytale is updated to the 90s for a colourful but ultimately sickly sweet kids movie that features good effects. Stirling: MacRobert. The Sound Of Music (U) (Robert Wise. US. I965) Julie Andrews. Christopher Plummer. Richard Haydn. I73 mins. In the late l930s. vivacious nun Maria (Andrews) introduces the Von Trapp children to the joys of music. and their widowed father (Plummer) to the joys of love as Nazism begins to sweep Austria. One of the great screen musicals. completely uncynical. and boasting a host of memorable songs and charm-sodden moments. And it's all based on a true story. Glasgow: GFT.
Sphere (l2) (Barry Levinson. US. I997) Dustin Hoffman. Sharon Stone. Samuel L. Jackson. I33 mins. Jurassic Park writer Michael Crichton steals elements from Solaris and The Al)_\'.\'.\‘ for this story about a submerged spherical object which causes a group of scientists to give physical form to their innermost fears. The designs and special effects are classy. and the cast works hard: but any cerebral pretensions are sunk by a flawed narrative that buckles under pressure. General release.
SpiceWorId: The Movie (PG) (Bob Spiers. UK. I997) The Spice Girls. Richard E.
Grant. Alan Cumming. 93 mins. ‘A 90s Hard Day's Night. with a pinch of Spinal 721p and a little Speed thrown in.‘ says the publicity material. The story chronicles the hectic five days in the lead-up to the girls‘ first live concert at the Royal Albert Hall and. on the way. crams in so many celebrity cameos. you get the sense this could be the big screen equivalent of Noel Ts House Party. Of course. plenty of hit songs are included too. Glasgow: Virgin. Edinburgh: ()deon. Stella Does Tricks ( I8) (Coky Giedroyc. UK. I996) Kelly Macdonald. Hans Mathieson. James Bolam. 97 mins. Kelly Macdonald takes on her first leading role after Trainspotting. and proves to be the film's driving force. As one of a group of school-age prostitutes working in London. fuelling themselves with drugs and fantasies to keep the harshness of their situation at bay. she colours her character's toughness with just enough loneliness and fragility. A.l.. Kennedy‘s screenplay voices the despair of a generation. liast Kilbrtde: Arts Centre.
Summer Holidays ( I5) (Paolo Virzi. Italy. I996) l()8 mins. A ‘lefty intellectual' journalist and his friends are enjoying an environmentally sound holiday until their PC peace is shattered by the arrival of a coarse Roman family along the road. The ensemble cast keep the laughs coming. while Virzi satirises his country's cultural divide. Italian Film Festival. Glasgow: GF'I‘. Edinburgh; Filmhouse.
The Sweet Hereafter ( IS) (Atom Egoyan. Canada. I997) Ian Holtn. Bruce Greenwood. Sarah Polley. I l0 mins. When a small community is torn apart by a school bus accident that claims the lives of most of their children. an ambiguous lawyer with fatnin troubles of his own comes to represent them in a compensation case. The film unfolds in a patchwork of flashbacks and set-pieces. but it's Holm's beautifully judged performance that's the bedrock of the film. As a study of helpless grief. it's rarely been bettered. Glasgow: GI’II
Tales Of The Taira Clan ( I 2) (Kend Mizogucbi. Japan. I955) IZI) mins. 'l‘he Mizoguchi season continues with his lavish tale of a clan in the IZIh century. The chaos of the streets is set against the calm of the court in a filtn that Caliiers Du Cinema claimed made Western films ‘slow. old and turgid' by comparison. Glasgow: GFI'. Thank God He Met Lizzie ( l 5) (Cherie Nowlan. Australia. I997) 90 mins. Guy’s looking for the perfect partner. and is sure he's found her in Lizzie. Lizzic's agenda is to be married by the age of 30. and Gtty fits the plan. But when he discovers he's just supposed to look pretty. he remembers to his previous. more passionate love life. Comedy and calamity ensue in this tale of wedding day crisis. Australian Film Season. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Titanic ( I 2) (James Cameron. US. I997) Leonardo DiCaprio. Kate Winslet. Billy Zane. I94 mins. Cameron tackles the story of the doomed ocean liner through a touching love story that isn‘t overwhelmed by the awesome special effects. Rich girl Rose (Winslet) is unhappily engaged to arrogant Cal (Zane) but falls for third-class passenger Jack (DiCaprio): love blossoms as the ship hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic. In all its on-screen glory. Titanic does indeed look like the most expensive film ever made. conveying both the scale of the disaster and the feeling of claustrophobia as the water rises. General release.
True Romance ( 18) (Tony Scott. US. I993) Christian Slater. Patricia Arquette. Dennis Hopper. I I9 mins. Comic bookstore assistant Clarence meets. sleeps with and marries novice hooker Alabama within a matter of hours. then the lovebirds find themselves on the run with an accidentally stolen case of cocaine. Limelight-stealing cameos and writer Quentin Tarantino's verbal set-pieces fire this excellent movie. the epitome of disposable pop culture for the fast-food generation. Glasgow: Grosvenor. TwentyFourSeven ( I5) (Shane Meadows. UK. l997) Bob Hoskins. Bruce Jones. Frank Harper. 97 mins. A down and out (Hoskins) sets up a boxing club to give the locals a sense of purpose. but tragedy is always lurking. Shot in dazzling black and white. this is almost certainly the most notable portrayal of Nottingham since Albert Finney