FILM new releases
My Best Fraud (15) 98 mins *‘kt air Schizophrenic, cowardly, intolerant and frenetrcally vrolent, Klaus Krnski was all these things and much more. But he was also one of the finest actors of his generation and the burning heart of filmmaker Werner Herzog’s best frlms: Aguirre — Wrath Of God, Woyzeck, Fitzcarra/do and Nosferatu. My Best Fiend is Herzog’s affectionate goodbye letter to hrs old
friend and frequent enemy who med Love/hate relationship: Werner Herzog m 1991_ and Klaus Kinski in My Best Fiend
Herzog does not, however, search for easy truths or ask for sentimentality He travels round vrsiting old haunts and torturOus iungle locations, and talks to the = few peOple who actually have anything good to say about Kinskr, whose mood swrngs were legendary. By using the simple documentary method of long, discursive, static takes, interspersed wrth out-takes of the thespran’s histrronrcs, as well as footage of hrs remarkable performances, Herzog proves that he rs not only one of Europe’s frnest frction film directors, but also one of its great documentary filmmakers. Herzog’s crnema constantly deals With man's deinonrt struggle wrth hrs envrronment, and thrs film memorr rs the perfect testament to a man who had more than his farr share of personal demons. (Paul Dale) ' I Edinburgh: Fi/mhouse from Wed 5 Jan. Part of the Sheffie/d International Documentary Festival Tour.
Everest
, __ ‘V (U) 40 mins 1r *
term mmt The Livmg Sea
The grant screen format has had a chequered history, arising from the lack of
features avarlable specifically made for the screen size. Bradford's National Museum
of Frlm and Photography has made solid — if uninspiring « busrness out of its lMAX
. screens through educational screenings. Now grant screen comes to Scotland wrth
' , _ J the rWERKS attraction at the new Virgin Megaplex in Edinburgh, screening two I - 1 :. f _ documentaries — Everest and The Living Sea —- from a back (atalogue that's
r “ ' thankfully growrng year by year.
"I: Everest is a dry—as-sand account of a 70s expedition up the big yin A few scary m m a 'l W m w M w A 2 crevrce shots and the Obligatory avalanche-coming-out-of-the-s(.reen does no JUSthe to this medium. Filmed in the style of a Sunday afternoon docuclrarna, It also
has the dubious honour of rendering a remarkable adventure mundane A much
better bet is the vrsually wondrous The Living Sea. Straight out of the National
. Geographic school of filmmakrng, this is an educational and entertaining look at POI'IS fr 4 . mankind’s relationship With the sea. Sumptuous underwater photography and an , intelligently measured voice-over from Meryl Streep makes this a ride worth taking.
Madrid fr 6 l The only downsrde rs a frankly dreadful soundtrack by Sting.
While the iWERKS experience impresses on a technical level —- picture quality,
Before you 90’ hock sound, auditorium layout -— neither of these films transcend entertainment as rooms at good quality , lumbering fairground attraction. This medium still has a long way to go. (Paul Dale)
' ' youth hostels or budget a 5597339793;wail/7393195 TOY HEY/791 STU DE NT 8‘ hotels around the world. ; Mr Death: The Rise YO UTH TRAVE L Prices are per person per night. 0 And Fall Of Fred A.
5‘ BRANCHES NATIONWIDE SKl YOUR WEEKENDS AWAY Leud‘t?’ "- (15) 90 mins ***** 233 BRANCHES WORLDWIDE The French fr , Astounding is the key word in
WORLDWIDE - documentary filmmaker Errol Morris' InCIUdes overmght i portrait of Fred A. Leuchter Jr., aka Mr
the ultimate selection qualit
Departures from SCOt'Ond coach travel from London, ! Death. Leuchter was an execution ‘5 . technology expert based in BR'TISH A'RWAYS 2mghts 5&8’ . Massachusetts. His work began with r. fr £rtn 3 full days Skllng. the redesign of the electric chair, '1 ‘ * Lo nd 0 n 6 9 t ’ which Leuchter saw as inefficient and Ga"°‘"5 humm’" "ed A- Leud‘t" 1"
is Mr Death
I therefore inhumane. Subsequently,
gfgfse'S } tfigélgtgrsmade 'improvements’ to lethal injection tables, gallows and gas
Milan 1 1 9" DUNDEE ‘ Whether or not you advocate the death penalty, Leuchter's motivation has a Dusse|dorf 1 29. ; peculiar, not to say macabre, logic. But, in an even more astounding chapter in
H b .l 2 9. Leuchter‘s life, his own arrogance, born of ignorance and stupidity, proves to be om Urg his downfall. In 1988 Leuchter visited Germany for Canadian DGO-NaZl Ernst Fro nkfu rt 1 35 “‘ www°us' campus'co‘u ‘ ZUndel — then being tried for publishing false history to rncrte racial hatred — to
Munich 'I 45. _ determine whether Auschwitz had housed gas chambers. He said they hadn’t. M d .d .I 49 I. 92 Soulh C'e'k 5’ Edmburgh And then his life went down the tubes; everyone hated him.
0 r' 53 Forrest Rood Edinburgh Morris' ability to pick astounding subjects is exceeded only by that of eliciting Rome 1 65" 122 George sicrosgow extraordinarily candid interviews, no doubt resulting from hrs non-Judgemental
- . ' — he electrifying B- D d U I S, d. A ' approach He presents the material in a stylish check out I
ALSO AVAILABLE Ertn W e: r" ;I U D 52°C movie opening — yet matter-of—fact way, the combination making for some grim, Pa is 29 o lhi 369 Bilb irs ""9 °Ce U“ 39 ouran 65 Sycdn" m News?” m , but never disrespectful gallows humour. Absolutely raw dropping. (Miles Fielder)
Prague 135 Singaporo 391 t. Angeles 215 ATOL 3839 W h I Glasgow: GFT from Tue 4 Jan. Part of the Sheffie/d Internationa/ Documentary Festival Tour.
All prepaid taxes included “Fares valid for travel from 4 Jan 2000
52 THE lIST l6 Dec 1999—6 Jan 2000