FILM new releases
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Some Voices (15) 101 mins 1*
Some Voices is a tale of an unlikely romance that falls into the same trap as so many British films: being stunted by its own limited ambition. It's adapted by playwright Joe Penhall from his own successful stage play (first performed at London's Royal Court With Ray Winstone) and directed by Simon Cellan Jones (Our friends In The North), but the characters fail to transfer to the silver screen.
Ray (Daniel Craig) is trying to readjust to life after a stint in a psychiatric institution. As he wanders through Shepherds Bush in West London he stumbles upon a couple haVing a blazmg row in the street. Ray pulls out a toy gun, tries to come to the aid of the girl (Laura - being young, Wild and
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Stunted by its own limited ambition
Scottish she's played by Kelly Macdonald) and is beaten up. Laura takes pity on Ray and inVites him into her flat to tend to his nosebleed Not used to such tenderness, Ray becomes infatuated by her and the unlikely romance blossoms. For a While Ray's life seems to be on the up, but when things take a turn for the worse, Ray fails to take his medication and begins to hallucmate some VOices . .
The somewhat predictable descent into madness fails to prOVide much of an insight into the nature of Ray’s mental health, neither does the film present a believable acc0unt of a couple in love. Disappointing, conSidering the talent involved. (Kaleem Aftab)
I! G/asgow.‘ GE T from Fri 25 Aug, Edinburgh: Fi/mhouse from Sun 27 Aug.
Figgis' Strindberg adaptation, almost a period Dogme film
Miss Julie
(15) 100 mins r at * t
Mike Figgis' adaptation of Strindberg’s play is almost a period Dogme film. The hand-held cameras loop freely around the central characters, lending the film a live feel, as if recording a theatre performance Miss Julie and her footman, Jean, skirmish thrOughout, alternately flirting and hating, both desperate to cross the boundaries of class imposed upOn them, both hOping to use the other as a means of escape.
Considering the politically suspect nature of the work — Strindberg's Origrnal text was accompanied by a inisogynist manifesto — Figgis does well to present a faithful adaptation that is nonetheless thoroughly modern in its outlook At no pomt can the audience empathise entirely With one character or another, since both, while shown to be Victims of Circumstance, are for the
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most part either spOiIt or scheming. The film comes into its own, however, thanks to stunning performances from Saffron Burrows and Peter Mullen as mistress and servant. The pair excel as the sexual tenSion escalates, making the most of the battle raging between physical attraction and the rigid code of conduct constraining the two characters. Maria Doyle Kennedy is also splendid, playing Jean's put-upon fiance With a restraint that serves as a perfect fOil for Burrows’ neurotic histrionics and Mullens’ sniping, small- town Machiavelli. Miss Julie is a gripping, claustrophobic tale shot at a breakneck pace in a unique style With career-best performances from the small cast. (Jack Mottram) I Glasgow: GFT from Fri 7 Sep; Edinburgh: Fi/mhouse from Fri 75 Sep. Also screening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Cameo, 26 Aug. See feature, page 6.
Twin—Fallslda‘ho
Cherry Falls
(15) 92 mins ir *
One day soon a teen film might come out of America which is not a schlock horror in the vein of Scream or an adolescent flick out of the John Hughes mould. This is not that film.
A serial killer is on the loose in the sleepy town of Cherry Falls. The common link between all of the Victims is that they are all Virgins. How the killer knows this for sure is anyone's guess. It transpires that the only way for the kids in the community to feel safe is by attending the 'pop yOur cherry ball’ (nothing like this ever happened to this reViewer at school, either). So we have such amusing sights as Sheriff Brent Marken (Micheal Biehn) disappomted to hear that his teen daughter Jody (Brittany Murphy) is a Virgin. And Jody’s friends plan who to hook up With for their first time now that all their romantic notrons have flown out of the Window.
Unlike another recent teen schlocker, Final Destination, Cherry Falls is never slick enough to hold the audience on the edge of their seats and the ropey plot qwckly dooms the film to the so-bad-it's-almost-good-but-not-quite school of filmmaking, (Kaleem Aftab)
I General release from Fri 25 Aug.
So-bad-it's-almost-good-but-not-quite
(15) 120 mins *- it ~s a
A call girl (Michele Hicksi Visits a seedy hotel in an unnamed American city where she enc0unters a pair of Siamese tWins, Blake (Mark Polish) and FranCis (Michael Polishi. Impeccably polite, and lugubriously handsome, the brothers share several Vital body organs and the same blood, and dress in speCially-tailored Suns. Initially the prostitute is repelled by the duo, but on learning that FranCis is ailing, she sticks around to find them a doctor, and then takes them to a Halloween party ('the one night of the year they feel normal’;. FranCis, however, is ieaIOus of his siblings growmg attraction towards this female OUISlder,
An impressive debut for the Polish brothers, who wrote, directed and star in this melancholic fable in which plot takes second place to the eerie atmosphere An imaginative Variation on the traditional love-triangle, the filmmakers use the central relationship between Blake and Francis as a metaphor to examine notions of dependency and attachment, separation and loss, JealOUSy and loneliness Shot With painterly precision in de-saturated colours, TWin Falls i'daho successfully aVOids becoming a sensationalist freak show, not least because of the compassion and tenderness With Which it treats its conjoined protagonists (Tom Dawson:
I Edinburgh: Fi/mhouse from Fri 7 Sep. See Famespotting.
Himalaya
(PG) 104 mins +~ v: fir
In the high mountains of the Himalayas, a Village prepares for the annual yak caravan to market. However, the yOung chieftain has been killed in an accident and his father Tinle (Thlien Lhondup), the old clan head, refuses to recognise the hot-headed Karma (Gurgon Kyapi as his successor. Gomg against tradition, Karma deCides to start the cattle drive early as the weather is deteriorating, leaVing Tinle to follow on, accompanied by a motley crew including his docile priest son.
A worthy insight into the lives of a hardy people, this drama from Nepal-based director Eric Valli has a documentary feel to It, unsurprisineg Valli has preViously made films for National Geographic The landscape of precipit0us peaks and snow-laden passes is breathtakingly shot, and the attention to local detail feels authentic The plot has less going for it, being at heart a fairly hackneyed story of an heir to the throne haVing to prove he is worthy of the crown
As pure adventure, however, Himalaya has IIS moments The amateur (asl acouit themselves reasonably in roles not far from their own lives, With Wilt"? Lhondup the gr0uchy centre of the film, whether reminiscmg With hrs (omit. geriatric companions or dragging them through snowclrifts like some Tibetan Klaus Kinski (Simon Wardelli I Edinburgh. Fi/mhouse from Fri 7 Sep.
Imaginative variation on the love-triangle
Breathtaking photography; authentic detail