‘Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Alan Morrison.
American History X (I8) (Tony Kaye. US. I998) Edward Norton. Edward Furlong. “7 mins. A fierce. uncompromising study of racism amongst white working-class youths. American History X is as provocative as it is visually arresting. The film pulls no punches in its depiction of racist violence. but explores more fully the origins of bigoted attitudes that inform it. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Cameo. Odeon.
Antz (PG) (Eric Darnell/Tim Johnson. US. I998) The voices of Woody Allen. Sharon Stone. Gene Hackman. 83 mins. When worker ant Z-4l95 meets Princess Bala. he falls completely in love; btit. while trying to prove himself as a soldier. he uncovers a dastardly plan to flood the colony. Brightly coloured and full of gags with slick computer animation. Edinburgh: Odeon. Ayr: Odeon.
Apt Pupil (l5) (Bryan Singer, US. I999) Ian McKellen. Brad Renfro. David Schwimmer. I I I mins . This finely acted adaptation of a Stephen King novella tells the story of Todd (Renfro). an academically gifted 16-year-old. who is researching the Holocaust when he finds a photo of a Nazi that resembles Kurt Dussander (McKelIen). an old man living nearby. In his follow-up to The Usual Suspects. Singer again demonstrates his eye for suspense and pacing. See review. Glasgow: Odeon Quay. Edinburgh: UCI.
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (I5) (Jay Roach. US. I997) Mike Myers. Elizabeth Hurley. Michael York. 94 mins. Austin Powers. the Sixties‘ silliest superspy. is brought out of suspended animation and pitted him against his old nemesis. But the world has moved on three decades. so his tin-PC catchphrases and behaviour create a bit of a comic time-clash. Written by and starring Wayne is World‘s Mike Myers. Austin Powers has perfect detail. spot-on casting and a hilarious mix of clever pastiche and toilet gags. Edinburgh: Cameo.
L'Avventura (l8) (Michelangelo Antonioni. Italy. I960) Monica Vitti. Gabriele Ferzetti. Lea Massari. I45 mins. Slow and detached from plot devices. Antonioni‘s focus concentrates more on the developing relationship of a couple searching the Sicilian landscape fora missing friend than the how or why of the disappearance itself. A prime example of European chic. memorably photographed. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
Bedrooms And Hallways ( I 5) (Rose Troche. UK. I999) Kevin McKidd. Tom Hollander. James Purefoy. 96 mins. These Bt’t/t'oottis Am/ Hal/trays are populated by pretty. professional. loved-up or cast-down twenty and thirtysomethings. In this case they also happen to be gay. British farce mixed with a more liberated attitude towards sexuality (homo and hetero). Edinburgh: Cameo.
Beloved (I5) (Jonathan Demme. US. I998) Oprah Winfrey. Danny (iloyer. Thandie Newton. Kimberly Elise. I72 mins. Few novels convey the emotional and psychological consequences of slavery as : vividly as Toni Morrison‘s Pulitzer Prize winner. Beloved. Unfortunater Demme's rather conventional film doesn‘t have the same power as the book. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
Best Laid Plans ( I 5) (Mike Barker. US. I999) Alessandro Nivola. Reese Witherspoon. Josh Brolin. 93 mins. It's impossible to reveal much of the plot of this super-stylish. well-crafted thriller without mining it — so let's just say it involves The reunion of two old college pals and an accusation of rape. There‘s much to recommend: a palpable atmosphere of brooding menace and dark desire. a plot full of U-turns and an enormously impressive cast. See preview and review. (ieneral release.
Black Cat. White Cat ( | 5) (Emir Kusturica.
26 THE “ST 13-27 May I999
Germany/France/YugosIavia/Austria/Greeee . I998) Florijan Ajdini. Branka Katie. Bajram Sevredzan. l29 mins. Crazy film from the Yugoslavian director of Arizona Dream and Underground. set within a community of gypsy people and telling a tale of dodgy deals. family ties. young love and magical occurrences. A sensory
overload delight. Glasgow: GFT. Edinburgh:
Filmhouse.
Brassed Off (15) (Mark Herman. UK. 1996) Ewan McGregor. Tara Fitzgerald. Pete Postlethwaite. 105 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 winning the national competition. Politics are the heart of the story. but writer-director Harmen has created a film that balances nicely between pithy humour and heartbreaking poignanee. Edinburgh: Cameo.
A Bug's Life (U) (John Lasseter. US. I998) Voices of Dave Foley. Kevin Spacey. David Hyde Pierce. 95 mins. The colony ofAnt Island is being oppressed by a gang of menacing grasshoppers. When inventive but clumsy worker ant Flik incurs the wrath of gang leader Hopper. he heads off to find help heavyweight help in the battle against his oppressors. General release.
Un Carnet De Bal (PG) (Julien Duvivier. France. I937) Marie Bell. Harry Baur. Raimu. I35 mins. A wealthy widow gets a d0se of nostalgia and attempts to cure it by tracking down the men who attended the first ball she went to. twenty years before. She has varying success in finding them: one is a monk. another a town mayor. a third a crook. etc. Hugely successful on its first release. this remains a star-studded spectacle. Glasgow: GF'I‘.
The Changing Face Of Glasgow (U) (Various. UK. 90 mins) Three short films that illustrate what the programme title suggests: Glasgow Today And Tomorrow (made in 1949) and Glasgow I980 (made in I971) focuses on the aspirations of town planners. Meanwhile. Cumbernauld. Town For Tomorrow (I970) promotes the success of the new town. Glasgow: GF'I‘.
Cinema Paradiso (PG) (Giuseppe Tornatore. Italy/France. I988) Phillipe Noiret. Jacques Perrin. Salvatore Cascio. 123 mins. Told largely in flashback. this Oscar winner traces young Salvatore's infatuation with his village cinema. and his growing friendship with its projectionist (played to perfection by Noiret). Essentially. it‘s Tornatore's lament for the joyous movie- going experience of his youth and a recognition of the price we pay for our maturity. Edinburgh: Lumiere.
A Civil Action ( l5) (Steven ZaiIIian. US. I999) John Travolta. Robert Duvall. William H. Macy. ll5 mins. Travolta‘s slick. ambulance-chasing lawyer grows a heart when he adopts a hopeless case. but in so doing comes a cropper. An intelligent and candid examination of the corruption inherent in the US legal system. Glasgow: Odeon Quay.
Clockwatchers ( l 2) (Jill Sprecher. US. I996) Lisa Kudrow. Toni Collette. Parker Posey. 96 mins. Well cast. sharply-scripted black comedy about a quartet of office girls dealing with the politics and boredom of the 9 to 5 routine. Part of the American Independence Tour. Glasgow: GFT.
The Corruptor (I8) (James Foley. US. I998) Chow Yun-Fat. Mark Wahlberg. Ric Young. “0 mins. Intended as a dramatic vehicle for Hong Kong hero Chow Yun-Fat and as an opportunity for Glengorry Glen Ross director James Foley to try the action genre. this action-drama about corrupt cops in New York’s Chinatown is somewhat stilted. Everyone sounds like a cop caricatures. and only Ric Young is in deadly form See review. General release.
The Craft ( IS) (Andrew Fleming. US. I996) Robin Tunney. Fairuza Balk. Neve Campbell. Rachel True. I01 mins. A newcomer to an LA school falls in with a trio of misfits who turn out to be a teenage witches coven. Revenge on their tormentors begins to backfire however. as queen goth Balk goes out of control. Scarier than a lot of teen horror. particularly in the slimy. creepy-crawa department: btit only for an adolescent audience. Edinburgh: Cameo. Cube( | 5) Vincenzo Natali. Canada. I998)
Nicole deBoer. Nicky Guadagni. David Hewlett. 92 mins. Six people awake in a cubic chamber with a door in each wall. They have no memory of how they got
there. but quickly learn they are in a maze of
similar cubes. many of which are booby- trapped with lethal devices. The execution of Cube is as ingenious as its concept. Cold. calculating. Kafka-esque mischievous sci-ti fun. Edinburgh: Cameo.
La Dolce Vita (I8) (Federico Fellini. Italy/France. I960) Marcello Mastroianni. Anita Ekberg. Anouk Aimee. I73 mins. Paparazzi Mastroianni mixes with the beautiful people of rich Roman society and is ambivalently shocked and fascinated by the vigour of their excessive decadence. Everything you ever wanted from a Fellini movie - black humour. grotesque sexuality. inspired visual imagination and the wonderful Marcello. Edinburgh: Lumiere. 8mm ( l8) (Joel Sehumaeher. US. I999) Nicolas Cage. Joaquin Phoenix. James Gandolfini. I23 mins. Family man and private investigator Tom Welles is asked by a rich widow to track down the source of a reel of film. apparently depicting the viciOUs murder of a teenage girl. For a mainstream movie. this is fairly explicit while the treatment of the subject matter is laudany adult. General release.
Elizabeth (15) (Shekliar Kapur. UK. I998) Cate Blanchett. Geoffrey Rush. Christopher Ecclestone. I20 mins. Not your typical frock flick. Kapur's film may be ravishing to look at. but 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. Edinburgh: Cameo.
Eternity And A Day (PG) (Theo Angelopoulos. Greece. I999) Bruno (ianz. Isabelle Renauld. I32 mins. With a cinematic vocabulary of scrutinisineg slow and elegant tracks. the Greek director doesn‘t so much unravel a story as intuitively build towards one. Ganz wanders around Thessaloniki with several things on his mind. using his late wife's letters to evoke memories of the past.. See review. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
eXistenZ ( l 5) (David Cronenberg. Canada/U K. I999) Jennifer Jason Leigh. Jude Law. Willem Dafoe. 92 mins. An intriguing movie game about two fugitives on the run from reality. (’XIVIt'IIZ posits a future-now where groups of people participate in virtual reality games by literally plugging consoles that resemble foetuses into their bodies. Bizarre. magnetic and playfully grotesque. (ieneral release. Eye Of God ( l5) (Tom Blake Nelson. US. I997) Kevin Anderson. Martha l’limpton. 82 mins. Low key drama about a couple of kids
History lessons: Brad Renfro in Apt Pupil
from the small-town heartland ofAmerica. Fine performances. an offbeat sensibility and some ambitious non-linear editing mark out this US indie flick. Part of the American Independence Tour. Glasgow: (iF'l‘.
The Faculty ( I 5) (Robert Rodriguez. US. I998) Elijah Wood. Clea Duvall. Salma Hayek. 104 mins. The Faculty fits neatly into the niche we've come to expect from Kevin ‘St‘ream' Williamson's pen: lots of great-looking young actors. a rock soundtrack and plenty of nods to past movies (here sci-fi) for those in the know. General release.
Fear Of Fear (Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Germany. I975) 88 mins. Acute psychological study about a young pregnant woman who develops an unexplainable fear. Her comfortable family life is no release and when she gives birth to her son things spiral out of control. See Fassbinder preview. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.
Festen (The Celebration) ( I8) (Thomas Vinterberg. Denmark. I998) Ulrich Thomsen. Henning Moritzen. Thomas Bo Larsen. I06 mins. The eldest son of a country hotelier returns to Denmark for his father's 60th birthday celebrations. But the seemingly innocent family reunion becomes a nightmare as some shocking family truths are revealed. I-‘alkirk: Town Hall. Kirkcaldy: Adam Smith.
54 ( I 5) (Mark Christopher. US. I998) Mike Myers. Ryan Phillippe. Neve Campbell. 93 mins. In the mid-to-Iate 70s. Studio 5-1 was the hottest. hippest. most happenin‘ discotheque in New York City and. therefore. the world. Movie stars. models. socialites and assorted hangers-on worked their collective booty on the dance floor. A top night out all round then. but Christopher's film fails to capture any of the heady atmosphere that made the venue the planet's most exclusive nite spot. St Andrews: New Picture House.
Forces Of Nature ( l3) ( Bronwen Hughes. US. I999) Ben Affleck. Sandra Bullock. l06 mins. Ben is a nervous flyer seated next to eccentric Sarah on the flight that will take him home to his wedding. When the plane crashes before take off he gets Sarah as his unwelcome sidekick on a cross country road trip. A teeny (in both senses) romance with a couple of charismatic stars and a big budget. General release.
Four Little Girls ( I 2) (Spike Lee. US. I998) I02 mins. I.ee first foray into documentary filmmaking is a no-holds- barred study of the ciy iI rights movement of the 60s which focuses on the bombing of an Alabama Baptist Church in which four children were killed. Part of the American Independence Tour. Glasgow: (il’l‘.
Gadjo Dilo ( I5) (Tony (iatlif. France. I998) Romain Duris. lzidor Serban. Rona Hartner.