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34 THE LIST 2—16 Nov 2000
FILM INDEX continued
Grey Owl (PG) (Richard Attenborough, UK/USA, 2000) Pierce Brosnan, Annie Galipcau. 118 mins. Back in 1937, when Lord Attenborough was just a wee lad in shorts, he saw a wildlife lecture given by the half Scottish, half native Canadian Indian Archie Grey Owl. Such was the impression that this charismatic trapper-turned- environmentalist made on the young boy - and audiences throughout Britain and Canada, where he lived in the wilderness - 63 years later Attenborough made an adventure film about Belaney with 007's Brosnan in the lead. Attenborough's back on his favoured, if well trod ground - biographical films about heroic men, see also Gandhi and Cry Freedom - with another handsomely filmed solidly told tale. See review. Selected release.
Hamam: Turkish Bath (15) *ttt (Ferzan Ozpetek, Italy/Spain/Turkey, 1997) Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d'Aloja, Carlo Cecchi. 101 mins. Intelligent, perfectly realised tale of cultures clashing in Istanbul. Unhappy in his marriage an Italian designer moves to Turkey after inheriting a Turkish bath and becomes involved with the local community. Grosvenor, Glasgow. Harry, He's Here To Help (18) *ttt (Dominik Moll, France, 2000) Sergi Lopez, Laurent Lucas, Mathilde Seigner, Sophie Guillemin. 117 mins. Harassed young married couple Michel (Lucas) and Claire (Seigner) are en route to renovate their summer holiday home with their three demanding children when Michel bumps into Ilarry (Lopez), an old school acquaintance. Having invited himself to dinner, Harry reveals his motto - a solution to every problem - and promptly goes to work. Moll‘s well crafted blend of suspense and mischievous humour, assured pacing and fine set pieces (not to mention an opening credit sequence Saul Bass would be proud of) places the film up there with Highsmith and Hitchcock. See review. GFT, Glasgow.
High Fidelity (15) **** (Stephen Frears, US, 2000) John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Jack Black. 113 mins. Nick Homby’s story of a vinyl junkie who's more interested in his music collection than his relationships with women is practically a British institution. Yet, Cusack — and co-writcr/producer pals D.V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink — have drawn on their own pasts to make a film that's as funny and profound as the book. But the great script, cast and music wouldn't have meant a thing without a filmmaker of Frears' calibre taking charge. Adam Smith, Kirkcaldy.
Hocus Pocus (PG) *** (Kenny Ortega, US, 1993) Bette Midlcr, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz. 97 mins. Three 17th century witches are brought back to life in modern-day Salem, and go searching for young blood to keep them immortal. Katz is our hapless hero, helped out of one predicament to the next by resourceful heroine Vinessa Shaw. The story cracks along, the effects are moderate, the gags good, but it's for the younger end of the teen market. Carlton, Stirling.
Hollow Man (18) *i* (Paul Verhoeven, US, 2000) Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shuc, Josh Brolin. 114 mins. Verhoeven takes another foray into adult sci-fi with this loose adaptation of H.G. Welles’ The Invisible Man in which Bacon plays an egotistical genius leading a team of scientists involved in govemment/military-sponsored experiments with invisibility. Andrew W. Marlowe 's screenplay subscribes to some fascinating Platonic ideas about morality and culpability, which, unfortunately, is abandoned around the half way mark for straightforward action thrills. Still, the special effects are groundbreaking. particularly the scenes in which lab animals, and later Bacon, are injected with a radioactive serum causing them to vanish and reappear in layers: skin, muscle, organs, skeleton. General release.
Honey I Shrunk The Kids (U) tit (Joe Johnston, US, 1989) Rick Moranis. Matt Frewer, Thomas Brown, Amy O'Neill, Robert Oliveri, Jared Rushton. 92 mins. Hapless father and would-be inventor (Moranis) doesjust what the title suggests. The kids find themselves cut down to size (a
quarter of an inch) and swept out with the trash. Their mission: to escape from the garbage bag and somehow attract their father’s attention to their height problem. Well, we might think it’s old hat but Walt Disnae. GFT, Glasgow.
The House Of Mirth (PG) *tit (Terence Davies, UK, 2000) Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz, Anthony LaPaglia. 140 mins. Davies’ superb screen adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel, filmed in Glasgow, makes it clear that beneath the well-bred skin of New York society at the turn of the century lurks a remorseless savagery. Socialite Lily Bart (the excellent Anderson) would appear to be a natural survivor, but through a combination of naivety, folly and bad timing she is brought low. Davies charts Lily’s tragic descent with formal rigour, framing scenes with self- consciously painterly tableaux that evoke the era’s fashionable artists. But, as with his other work, aesthetic control goes hand in glove with a deep compassion. Dominion, Edinburgh.
In The Mood For Love (PG) ***** (Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong, 2000) Maggie Cheung, Tong Leung. 97 mins. In Kar-Wai’s new film, set in 605 Hong Kong, an adulterous romance is happening elsewhere - between the husband of secretary Cheung and the wife of Leung’s journalist. Kar- Wai's interest lies with the cuckolded, and the way that something even more intense, personal and fortuitous develops out of their shared ‘adulteree’ status. With Nat King Cole on the soundtrack, regular Chris Doyle behind the camera and beguiling wardrobe design, Kar-Wai offers a seductive surface texture that's undercut by the director’s trademark emphasis of the accidental over the clearly intentional. Subtly stunning filmmaking. GFT, Glasgow.
It Was An Accident (18) the (Metin Huseyin, UK, 2000) Chiwctel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, James Bolam. 100 mins. After four years inside, Nicky (Ejiofor) returns to his old London manor, where he’s determined to go straight and hook up with the beautiful Noreen (Newton). However, an inadvertent piece of bravery in a post-office robbery ensures that Nicky gets noticed by all sorts of local criminals. This Lottery~ funded adaptation of Jeremy Cameron's novel, has several assets: a distinctive vernacular, an unusual setting in the mean streets of Walthamstow, and the fact that this is a gangland talc which actually reflects London's multi-cultural mix. Ejiofor is a real find and Courtney Pine'sjazz score lends extra class. Selected release.
Kind Hearts And Coronets (PG) *tit (Robert Ilamcr, UK, 1949) Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson. 106 mins. Blacker than black Ealing comedy has a suave and sophisticated Price killing off an entire family tree (all played by Guinness) in order to move himself closer to the d'Ascoync family title. Low-key cynicism and disarming callousness make it a true gem of British post-war cinema. The Bathgate Regal, Bathgate.
The Land Before Time (U) *~k* (Don Bluth, US, 1989) 86 mins. Latest animated feature from Disney graduate Bluth follows the fortunes of orphaned Brontosaurus Littlefoot, who loses his mum to the claws of a nasty Tyrannosaurus Rex before teaming up with a gang of similarly parentless wee dinos to undertake the hazardous journey across country to the safety of the Great Valley. Classically drawn and chockful of edifying moral lessons, this is solid entertainment perfectly tailored to the demands of its target audience of very young children. Lumiere, Edinburgh.
The Land Girls (12) *it (David Leland, UK, 1998) Anna I-‘riel, Rachel Weisz, Catherine McCormack. 111 mins. Down on the farm comes a film that reminds us of times passed. Not necessarily good times, of course, as it is set during the confusion of World War II, but against this dramatic backdrop the human story it describes proves curiously affecting. Three contrasting young women join the Land Army, only to find themselves knee-deep in rustic accents and bad weather on a remote Dorset farm. Odeon. Kilmamock.
L'Humanite (18) ***** (Bruno Dumont, France, 1999) Emmannuel