Film
Buena Vista Social Club
****
Ry Cooder had no idea he was about to kick-start a musical revolution when he went to Cuba in 1996 to record an album with the locals. When Cooder opened the doors of his Havana recording studio, the island's musical legends walked in, among them now familiar names including singer Ibrahim Ferrer and pianist Ruben Gonzalez. Wim Wenders documents Cooder and co's music making and secures candid interviews from the glorious, elderly musicians. Guitarist Compay Segundo, for example, is 90 years old, has been smoking cigars for 85 of them and wants to father a sixth child. Sound. (Miles Fielder)
' Buena Vista Social Club, ABC 1, 23 Aug, 8. 30pm; Glasgow Film Theatre 1, 25 Aug. 8.15pm, £7 (£4.50).
White Sky (Valkoinen Taivas)
** A it
This serene and quiet Finnish documentary is the legacy of the unnatural disaster that was C henobyl. The film tells the story of one family's everyday life in the ecologically damaged area as it is today. Beautifully shot and paced, it evokes the spirit of the late Andrej Tarkovsky. A film of intense, silent tragedy, it is not always easy to watch, but the human warmth of the domestic scenes more than compensate. A difficult, haunting and poetic essay on adapting to destruction, this one will stay with you. (Paul Dale) ' The White Sky, Filmhouse 3, 24 Aug, 3pm; 27 Aug, 6pm, £7 (£4.50).
The Cruise
1: fir A
Timothy 'Speed' Levitch has such an intense love/hate relationship with New York that he feels compelled to share it with us, and is given a vent for his energies in the form of director Bennet Miller's camera. We are treated to his camp and kooky tours wherein
festival
unsuspecting tourists are deluged with a flood of informative, but essentially useless, information about life in New York. As interesting as our hero might purport to be, he can't really sustain a feature of this length on his lonesome and things eventually begin to flag towards the end. (Mark Robertson)
I The Cruise, Filmhouse 2, 22 Aug, 70.30pm; 27 Aug, 10.30pm, £7 (£4.50).
Us Boys
* ir A
A simple project, but all the more affecting for it, this documentary provides a glimpse of a life unimaginable to the city sophisticate. Bachelor brothers Ernie and Stewart Morrow live on a farm in rural Northern Ireland, with lots of sheep, no electricity and a unique take on the world. Slow, gentle, good-natured and poignant without sentimentality, this film is hardly a rollercoaster ride, but it’s worthwhile for the eccentric turns of phrase alone. Ernie's take on Diana's death is priceless: ‘lt's a bit of a loss. A young girl snapped off the earth by mad idiots in cars.’ (Hannah McGill)
' Us Boys, Filmhouse 3, 23 Aug, 3pm. 24 Aug, 6pm, £7 (£4.50).
Trick
A A A
The unwelcome presence of Tori Spelling is not enough to dampen the spirits of this is rude but witty US indie comedy. Gabriel and Mark meet in a bar and spend much of their ensuing screen time trying to find a place to be alone together. Horny roommates, budding sex therapists and the aforementioned Miss Spelling (aptly cast as an airhead actress) are all obstacles to the boys finding an accommodating bed. The simple premise and well-rounded characters result in a fun, if predictable, romp. (Mark Robertson)
I Trick. Cameo 1, 20 Aug, 70. 30pm; Glasgow Film Theatre 2, 22 Aug, 2pm; Cameo 2, 25 Aug, 9.15pm, £7 (£4.50).
REEL LIFE PREVIEW Art Linson
His new film is Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton. His other credits include: Heat, The Untouchables, Dick Tracy, Scrooged and Car Wash. He's also worked with Jonathan Demme, Cameron Crowe, Mike Newell. Leonardo Di Caprio and Gwyneth Paltrow. He's Art Linson, Hollywood film producer and he’s coming to Edinburgh to talk (with film clips) about what he calls, 'the horror of Hollywood.’
'T he Hollywood producer is animal that is rapidly becoming extinct,’ says Linson. 'Very few Hollywood producers make a valid contribution to cinema. They’re on the way out and the void is being replaced by young college graduates. The cost of films has risen so high that greenlighting films is now a corporate decision.’
The horror, the horror: Art Unson
But what about Fight Club? ’I got lucky,‘ quickfires Linson. 'lt's a dark, wonderful, agressive film. but they're getting harder to do.’
Okay, but is there a silver lining? ’Independent films,’ raps Linson, 'T hey are the most important thing in Hollywood; they push the studios, they're my
biggest asset.’
Linson's kind of bemused that anyone would want to hear about the inner workings of the most ludicrously glamorous industry in the world. So, he closes with: ‘l’m coming to Scotland to see Edinburgh. Talking about
Hollywood is my penance.’
u Art Linson Reel Life, Filmhouse 1, 25 Aug, 7pm, £10 (£4). I
UEnnui ****
Tired of teaching, unable to write his book, and divorced from his wife (Arielle Dombasie), Martin (Charles Berling) is suffering from a species of boredom he can't define. He takes up with a plump and plain seventeen- year-old girl (Sophie Guillemin) who offers him quality sex but little else. The viewer watches as this endlessly questioning academic psychologically unravels in the presence of a working class girl who lives in the world of practicalities. Adapted from one of Alberto Moravia's many books on cerebral men crushed by blank women, Cédric Kahn’s film is a minor joy. (Tony McKibbin)
. L'Ennui, Filmhouse 1, 24 Aug. 10.15pm; Filmhouse 2, 25 Aug, 8pm, £7 (E 4.50).
The Flight Of The Bee (Parvozi Zanbur) 9: * it
If in American movies the bicycle is a lifestyle choice, in neo-realist cinema it's usually a signifier of poverty and integrity. Such is the case in Jamshed Usmonov and Min Beng Hun's Tajikistan film about a poor teacher trying to do something about a neighbour’s smelly toilet. We know in the first couple of scenes that we're dealing with an indomitable spirit; that even if he isn’t likely to win a legal case
away the ending, it's a reward that fits neatly with the film’s theme of the need for self-sufficiency. (Tony McKibbin)
a The Flight Of The Bee, Filmhouse 3, 20 Aug, 6pm; 28 Aug, 6pm. £7
(E 4.50).
Second Century (Segundo Siglo) ****
Sometimes fate is on your side. No sooner does the Film Festival announce that its retrospective subject will be Robert Bresson, than along comes a Mexican film that not only features Martin Lasalle (star of Bresson’s Pickpocket), but has at its centre a coast-to-coast journey across Scotland. An accessible, experimental documentary whose middle and end seem to consist of several beginnings, it makes full use of the flexibility of cinematic narrative and editing techniques. With an engaging spontaneity, it plays with our expectations, laying bare and revelling in the process of filmmaking, while giving Scottish audiences an opportunity to really 'see oursels as others see us'. (Alan Morrison)
I Second Century (Segundo Sig/o) Filmhouse 3, 21 Aug, 9pm; Filmhouse 2, 26 Aug, 5.30pm, £7 (£4.50).
STAR RATINGS
ll'v" yum ii
*iii* iiii'
Race relations: Bill and Karen. the subject of Jennifer Fox's epic (477 mins long) documentary. An American Love Story, Part 1 Filmhouse 3. 21 Aug, 10am: Part 2 Filmhouse 3. 22 Aug, 10am, £7 (£4.50). Parts 1 8: 2 £10
04 TIIE ust 19-26 Aug 1999
against his neighbour, the teacher will * * * be justly rewarded in a broader, * * metaphysical sense. Without giving *