film
index
Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate. credits. brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Alan Morrison.
An American In Paris (U) (Vincente Minnelli. US. 1951 ) Gene Kelly. Leslie Caron. Oscar Levant. 113 mins. Splendid - if sometimes garish — romantic musical. with Kelly on top form as a
would-be artist kicking up a storm in hi belle eire'.
Glasgow: GFT.
Angels With Dirty Faces (PG) (Michael Curiiz. US. 1938) James Cagney. Pat O'Brien. Humphrey Bogart. 97 mins. Two slum kids. Cagney and O'Brien. grow up together. One becomes a hood. the other a priest. The local kids look up to Cagney‘s glamorous. violent ways. but his childhood friend is on his case. pushing him down the path of redemption. Glasgow: Grosvenor.
Another Journey By Train (Mark Cousins/Mark Forrest. UK) 52 mins. Filmmaker and former EIFF director Cousins introduces the documentary he made with Mark Forrest in which four young neo-nazis agreed. after some coaxing. to talk about their love of Hitler. their disbelief in the Holocaust and their hatred of race-mixing — before visiting the ruins of Auschwitz. Part of the Human Rights Watch international Film Festival. Edinburgh: Cameo. Ant: (PG) (Eric Damell/Tim Johnson. US. 1998) The voices of Woody Allen. Sharon Stone. Gene Hackman. 83 mins. When worker ant 2-4195 (Allen) meets Princess Bala. he falls completely in love: but. while trying to prove himselfas a soldier. he uncovers a dastardly plan to flood the colony. Brightly coloured and full of gags with slick computer animation. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Galashiels: Pavilion. 1rvine: WMR. Apocalypse Now! (18) (Francis Coppola. US. I980) Martin Sheen. Marlon Brando. Robert Duvall. Dennis Hopper. 153 mins. Vietnam as The Ultimate Trip. We follow US Army assassin Sheen downriver and deeper into the Heart Of Darkness ruled over by Brando‘s mad Colonel Kunz.Altemate1y pretentious and visually overpowering. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Apostle(12) (Robert Duvall. US. 1997) Robert Duvall. Farrah Fawcett. Miranda Richardson. 148 mins. Actor Duvall turns writer- director for this gently absorbing tale ofa charismatic Pentecostal preacher‘s fall from grace and search for redemption. Duvall‘s acknowledged inspiration is Ken Loach. with whose work this shares a generous. non- judgmental naturalism. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Apple (PG) (Samira Makhmalbaf. lran. 1997) 85 mins. in a small Teheran community. a 65-year-old man and his blind wife were reported to the authorities by concerned neighbours for keeping their twin daughters locked up for the entire twelve years of their lives. Director Makhmalbaf‘s docu-drama observes the changes undergone by this family after their lives were publically exposed. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Babe: Pig In The City (PG) (George Miller. US. 1998) James Cromwell. Magda Szubanski. 99 mins. Just as precocious as before. young Babe accidentally injures Farmer Hoggett and puts the farm in jeopardy . in desperation Mrs H and Babe set off to make a fee-paying appearance at a State Fair where their adventures in the big city begin. Edinburgh: Odeon. Ayr: Odeon. Falkirk: FTH. Kilmamock: Odeon.
Beloved ( 15) (Jonathan Demme. US. 1998) Oprah Winfrey. Danny Glover. Thandie Newton. Kimberly Elise. 172 mins. Few novels convey the emotional and psychological consequences of slavery quite as vividly as Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize winner. Beloved. Unfortunately Jonathan Demme‘s film doesn‘t have the same power as the book. Its effectiveness is offset by a need to present its message within a suspenseful. more conventionally organised storyline. See feature and review. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Edinburgh: UCl. Paisley: Showcase.
The Beyond (18) (Lucio Fulci. ltaly. 1981) Kathrine McColl. David Warbeck. Sarah Keller. 88 mins. A young girl inherits a creepy old hotel which houses one of the Seven Doors of Hell in its cellar. Cue melting faces and crumbling zombies in another Fulci movie which makes an art of the gory gross-out. Part of the Dead By Dawn horror weekender. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. The Big Lebowski ( 18) (Joel Coen. US. I997) Jeff Bridges. John Goodman. Steve Buscemi. 113 mins. The Coen brothers give their unique twist
28 "IE LIST 4—18 Mar 1999
to a Chandler-esque LA noir. as 70s hippy throwback Jeff ‘The Dude' Lebowski (Bridges) is drawn into the sordid affairs of his millionaire namesake. Suddenly he has to sleuth his way through disorganised crime. Virtu0so comedy. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Bird With The Crystal Plumage ( 18) (Dario Argento. 1taly/Germany. 1969) Tony Musante. Suzy Kendall. Eva Renzi. 98 mins. Argento's debut wasn't the slasher-horror he’s now famous for. but a gin/lo thriller in which an American writer witnesses a knife attack and tries to track down the killer before he and his lover become the next victims. Stylish red herrings and set-pieces. plus a Morricone score and Storaro photography. Part of the Dead By Dawn horror weekender. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. The Brainiac (18) (Chano Urueta. Mexico. 1961) 80 mins. From its 17th century prologue to the transformation of a comet into a brain-eating monster. this may well prove the weirdest film of the season. Pan of the Dead By Dawn horror weekender. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
A Bug's Life (U) (John Lasseter. US. 1998) Voices of: Dave Foley. Kevin Spacey. David Hyde Pierce. Denis Leary. 95 mins. A Bug's Life takes us to Ant Island. where the colony is being oppressed by a gang of menacing grasshoppers. When inventive but clumsy worker ant Flik incurs the wrath ofgang leader Hopper. he heads off to find help heavyweight help in the battle against his oppressors. General release.
Carla‘s Song (15) (Ken Loach. L'K. 1996) Robert Carlyle. Oyanka Cabezas. Scott Glenn. 127 mins. A more commercially viable outing for Loach. without a loss of political commitment. Carlyle plays Glaswegian bus driver George. who gives up everything to help refugee Carla return to Nicaragua and find her boyfriend. All proceeds go to the Nicaraguan Woman's Self Help Group. Part ofthe'Human Rights Watch lntemational Film Festival. Edinburgh: Cameo. Caresses ( l8) (Ventura Pons. Spain. I998) 94 mins. Pon‘s ironically titled drama delves into the domestic lives of a group of people - a husband. a wife. a mother. a friend. etc — as they abuse and are. in turn. abused by one another. A paired- down visual style and good performances bring the whole. acidic tale to life. Glasgow: Gl’l'. Central Station (15) (Walter Salles. Brazil. 1998) Vinicius de Oliveira. Fernanda Montenegro. I 1() mins. Sugar-coated neo-realism or a film that stares poverty in the eye'? Salles‘s international hit is the st0ry of a young Rio de Janeiro street urchin and a former schoolteacher who go on the run together III a film explores that Latin American mainstay: the search for a missing loved one. See review. Glasgow: GET. Edinburgh: Carueo.
Come Next Spring (U) (R.G. Springsteen. LS. 1955) Ann Sheridan. Steve Cochran. Walter Brennan. 92 mins. Slice of Americana which sees a reformed drunk and his wife attempt to make a go of their Arkansas farm. Edinburgh: St Bride's Centre.
Cube (15) Vincenzo Natali. Canada. 1998) Nicole deBoer. Nicky Guadagni. David Hewlett. 92 mins. Six people awake in a cubic chamber and quickly learn they are in a maze of similar cubes. many of' which are booby-trapped with lethal devices. Should they attempt to escape“? And how'.’ Ingenious . cold. calculating. Kafka- esque mischievous sci-ti fun. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Before the war: Giorgio Cantarini. Roberto Benigni and
Nicoletta Braschi in Life Is Beautiful
Dancing At lughnasa (PG) (Pat O‘Connor. lreland/UK/US. 1998) Meryl Streep. Michael Garnbon. Catherine McCormack. 95 mins. The screen version of Brian Friel's successful and much loved play is strong in its sense of a community and a time - rural Donegal in 1936 — but doesn't quite develop any character outside of the live sisters at the centre of the story. although it's a strong ensemble piece. Edinburgh: Dominion. East Kilbride: Arts Centre. Stirling: MacRobert.
Days Of Heaven (PG) (Terence Malick. US. 1978) Richard Gere. Sam Shepard. Brooke Adams. 94 mins. Malick is one of’the great wayward talents of the contemporary American cinema (he has just returned after two decades with The Thin Red Line) and this is an exquisite triangular love story set against the wheat farming Midwest at the turn ofthe century. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Dear Diary Diririu Cum ( 15) (Nanni Morctti. Italy. 1994) Nanni Moretti. Renato Carpentieri. IOU mins. An intimate journal. captured with both narrative and technical freedom. Moretti‘s Cannes award-winner sees him zip around Rome on his Vespa. visit the Aeolian island home of a friend. and come tip against the doctors who are having problems diagnosing his possibly malignant illness. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Dr Dolittle (PG) (Betty Thomas. CS. 1998) Eddie Murphy. Ossie Davies. Oliver Platt. 85 mins. A turkey with Rex Harrison in its original form. and still pretty dire this time round. This wild family adventure offers crude bottom humour for the BMW audience. but the talking animals gimmick battles with cheesy morality and nothing comes together. Edinburgh: ABC Multiplex.
Dust Devil ( 18) (Richard Stanley. CK. 1992) Robert Burke. Chelsea Field. Zakes Mokae. 103 mins. After various behind-the-scenes battles. Richard (llurrlii'ure) Stanley delivers a longer. uncut version of his African shape shifter/serial killer movie. Certain flaws remain. but it is a uniquely imaginative. visually mind-blowing and anthropologically fascinating piece. Stanley makes a personal appearance. Part of the Dead By Dawn horror weekender. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
The Eel (18) (Sholiei lmamura. Japan. 1997). Koji Yakusho. Misa Shiinizu. 117 mins. lniamura‘s Paliiie D'Or-wiiining film about tss o wounded people. 'l'akuro. a man who murdered his adulterous wife and Keiko. the woman he discovers after an attempted suicide. Simplicity is its strength. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Elective Affinities Die lliih/i'erii‘itnilsrhit/ten (15) (Siegfried Kuhn. GDR. 197-1) Period drama based on Goethe‘s novel a middle-aged couple living on a quite country estate ss ho fall out of lose and find it elsewhere. Glasgow: (ii-'1‘. Edinburgh: l-‘ilmhouse.
Elizabeth (151(Shekhar Kapui. L'K. l998) Cate Blanchett. Geoffrey Rush. Christopher licclcstone. 131) mins. .\'ot your typical frock flick. Shekliar ls'apur's film ma_v be ravishing to look at. btit it's altogether darker and more disturbing than you'd expect. A political thriller from Tudor history. in which Blanchett's performance turns cherished notions about England‘s Virgin Queen on their head. Glasgow: Showcase. Galashiels: Pavilion. Paisley; Showcase. '
Enemy Of The State (18) (Tony Scott. US. 1998) Will Smith. Gene Hackman. 128 mins. A chance meeting with an old college friend plunges the unwitting Smith into a dangerous. convoluted conspiracy involving a rogue National Security Agency boss with an agenda of his own. When his life is electronically invaded and systematically dismantled his only hope is ex-ClA surveillance expert Hackman. A slick. entertaining stab at updating the 70s conspiracy thriller. Selected release.
The Faculty (15) (Roberto Rodriguez. US. 1998) Salma Hayek. Elijah Wood. Josh Hartnett. 105 mins. Preview of the new horror thriller from the pen of Kevin Scream Williamson which sees a retum to the genre for director Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn). Not just a monster movie. also an homage to Invasion Of The Body S/tulcher sci- fi flicks and another canny take on pop and teen culture. Part of the Dead By Dawn horror weekender. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Festen (15) (Thomas Vinterberg. Germany. 1998) 106 mins. Made under the banner of DOGME 95. a chief dictum of which filmic manifesto is that the inner lives of the characters mustjustify the workings of the plot. in this case the story ofa country house party given to celebrate the 60th birthday of rich patriarch Helge Klingenf’eldt. Tensions surface before long and a disturbing family secret is revealed. See preview and review. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Fire (15) (Deepa Mehta. Canada. 1996) Shabana Azmi. 104 mins. Sensitive examination ofthe break up of a New Dehli family as seen from the perspective of devoted wife Radha. When Radha's brother-in-law brings his feisty. new wife into her home. the ties that bind begin to unwind. Stirling: MacRobert.
Freaks (15) (Todd Browning. US. 1932) Harry Earles. Olga Baclanova. Wallace Ford. 6-1 mins. A rare screening of a totally unique film that some may find in dubious taste. although it treats its cast without resorting to voyeurism. A beautiful trapeze artist sets out to cheat a circus midget out of his fortune. only to face a terrible revenge from his fellow performers. Part of the Dead By Dawn horror weekender. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Full Metal Jacket (18) (Stanley Kubrick. UK. 1987) Matthew Modinc. Dorian Harewood. Lee Errney. 109 mins. Technically effective and narratively balanced depiction of raw Vietnam recruits as they endure basic training and the even greater horrors of the 1968 Tel offensive. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The General (L?) (Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman. US. 1926) Buster Keaton. Marion Mack. Glen Cavander. 80 mins. Au engine driver tries to get behind the Southem lines during the American Civil War in order to rescue a train. A silent masterpiece. containing some stunts that approach the realm of genius. Part of the Canieo's 50th birthday celebrations. Edinburgh: Cameo.
The Godmother i 18) (Vinay Shukla. lndia. I998) Shabana Azmi. Milirid Gunaji. Nirmal Pandey. 8-1 mins. Tale of an extraordinary woman. Rambhi (played by 7()s lndian cinema icon. political activist and lndian M.P...»\1.mi).
w ho urges her husband Veeram to seek greener pastures when their village is hit by drought. Screening includes a personal appearance by Azmi. Glasgow: (ii-'1‘.
La Grande Illusion (PG) (Jean Renoir. France. 1937) Jean Gabin. Pierre l-‘resney. Erich von Stroheim. Marcel Dalio. 117 mins. Renoir's classic prison camp escape story is more titan the strong anti-war statement that won it praise at the time of its release; it is also an ironic social analysis highlighting class differentiation. Falkirk: l-"I'H.
Grease (PG) (Randal Kleiser. US. 1978) John Travolta. Stockard Charming. Olivia Newton John. 1 1() mins. The long-running Broadway show arrives on screen dripping with 50s nostalgia. cheery tunes. high camp value and the winsorne charms of the plastic New ton-John and the toothy Travolta. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Great Expectations f 15) («Human Cuaron. LS. 1997) Ethan Hawke. Gwyneth Paltrow. Robert De Niro. lll tniiis. Stylish. qtiii'ky update of the Dickens (and Lean) classic. moving the setting for the rise and rise of Pip from London to Florida (Bar. Lulirmann's Romeo .‘lllt/Jlllff’l anyone?) It looks gorgeous. but the storytelling doesn't come off. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
The Green Berets (PG) (John Wayne/Ray Kellogg. US. 1968) John Wayne. David Janssen. 141 mins. Wayne got off his horse to co-dii'ect this shameful piece of propaganda. which portrays one of the most complex military actions