Film
Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder
Abba The Movie it') 00. (Lasse Halstrorn. Sw'eden/AUstralia. 1977) 95 mins. Made at the height of their popularity. the wafer thin plotline consists of the four
Swedes being pursued across 0/ by a Sydney
journalist. Dancing Queen. Witter/mi. 5.0.5. etc. Takes yoti back eh'.’ (irosvenor. (ilasgow'. Alien Adventure it) (200) i. lwerks lixtreme Screen presentation. l'(i(‘ ('inemas. lidinburgh. Along Game A Spider i 15) 000 (Lee Tamahori. 200] ) Morgan Freeman. Monica Potter. Michael Wincott. 103 mins. This similarly nursery rhyme-inspired sequel to the serial killer thriller Kiss The Girls sees Freeman return as an intelligent. dedicated cop Alex (‘ross -- the kind of role he's been saddled with ever since Seven. While grieving the loss of his police partner. ('ross signs on a kidnapping case involving a senator's daughter. 'l‘amahori. who hasn’t bettered his striking directing debut. ()nr'e Wire Hirrrrnrs. since leaving New Zealand for Hollywood. is at the helm of a solid if run-of-the-mill cat- and-mouse chase thriller. Showcase. Paisley. Amores Perros (Love’s A Bitch) (18) .0... (Alejandro (ion/ale]. lnarritu. Mexico. 200i ) limilio lichevarria. (iael (iarcia Bernal. (ioya Toledo. 153 mins. lnarritu‘s debut feature is billed as ‘the Mexican Pulp I-‘r'r'tr'mi'. a description which sells it short. The Tarantino comparison is a useful starting point: the film tells three overlapping stories — a teenager drawn into the world of illegal dog-fighting. the infidelity of a rniddle-aged media executive and an elderly homeless man -- by using shifting time-frames. tangentially linked
hwl’rw I "I ’1.
characters and jagged verbal rhythms. l-ierce humanity underpins lnarritu's beautiful. grainy visuals and (iuillermo Arriaga Jordan's multi-lay ered script. The best film of the year so far. and unlikely to be surpassed. FilmhoUse. Edinburgh. Another Life f IS) .00 it’hilip (ioodhew. l‘K. 2001) Natasha Little. loan (iruffudd. Nick Moran. l It) niins. Little plays Edith Thompson. the woman wrongly convicted of murdering her hUsband l’ercy'. way back in I922. Although little is affecting in the lead role. (ioodhew’s film lacks both cinematic feel (it looks like a Sunday night television drama) and a feel for the period. Among other things lost in this uninspired drama is the emancipation of women. w liich seems rather relevant. ()deon. (ilasgovv. Antz t PG) 0... (line Darnell. Tim Johnson. W98) The voices of Woody Allen. Sharon Stone. (iene llackman. 83 mins. When worker ant VANS (Allen) meets Princess Bala (Stone). he falls coriiplctely in love; but. while trying to prove himself as a soldier. he uncovers a dastardly plan to flood the colony. Ant: is brightly coloured and full ofgags. so adtilts will chuckle while kids are pulled in by the slick computer animation. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
Audition ( 18) 0.. (Miike 'I’akashi. Japan. 2001) Ryo lshibashi. liihi Shiina. ll5 mins. ‘Where have all the good girls gone'." asks the chauvinistic Yoshikawa of his widowed. middle~aged btisiness partner Aoyama (lshibashi). The latter thinks he‘s found one. when he sets tip a series of auditions to select a new wife: former ballerina Asami (Shiiiia). who's young. beautiful. and submissive. But where have the scars on her legs come from. and what is the nature of her interest in pain'.’ After a deliberately measured buildsup. Takashi assaults the viewer's senses with a truly nightmarish finale. which threatens to overwhelm the film's critique of male Japanese attitudes to women. l’Tll Cinema. Falkirk.
Autumn In New York r IS) 000
iJoan (hen. LS. 3001 ) Richard (iere. Winona Ryder. “5 mins. Actress then made her directing debut iii (‘hina three years .igo with the bleak but moving .\'iu .\‘iu- 'I'Iir- Suri- Down (irrI. rillllllllll In .Veii lurk. her first film for Hollywood. could not be more different. This [we Sim-v -sty le weepie stars (iere as a play boy restaurateur who goes from girlfriend to girlfriend until he meets kooky hat designer Ryder. When he reels oil his standard copaiut line. ‘We have no future.‘ she surprisingly agrees She has a dodgy heart. Bttt cart she teach him about love before she tlles'.’ (ieneral release.
0 Bande a Partrpo) oooo iJeaii-ltic (iodard. l‘rance. WM) Anna Karma. Sami l‘rey. ('laude Brassetir. 95 mins. It's been said of (iodard that he etrioy s such critical favour because he turns viewers into critics, It's certainly a valid comment in this self- consciotis take on the heist movie as Frey and Brassetir persuade Karina to help them break into her employ er's house. Yet such archness curiously doesn't result in a smug movie. We‘re turned not into know mg viewers so much as sensitive. unsure spectators. as (iodard here creates a meaningful film otit of undermining specific. easily consumable slick meaning. See review. (ireat stuff. l‘illiihtiuse. lidinburgh.
Beautiful People t IS) 0000 lJti/ttilti Di/dar. l‘ls'. l‘)‘)‘)) (‘harlotte (‘oleiiiaiL lidiii l)/and/anovic. Danny .\'tissbatim. l()7 llillts. Tackling the legacy of faraway war in Bosnia and the break-up of domestic bliss among the linglish professional classes makes for a film that's far from uriambitious. l)i/dar has a keen eye. an eye trained on an often precarious British social scene. Drug-takers. racists. snobs, alternative therapists. liberals. forlorn housewives. lone fathers. even BB(‘ executives all feature kicking at life with varying degrees of hate and savagcry. l)i/.dar's cleverness comes in taking a diseased rump of British insularin and
in Edinburgh first.
imilil'lllllilFILM, FESTIVA
“12-28 AllllllSl El°ii‘¥§§"£2§fi
index Film
throwing in a good hand of common humanity. l-rlmhotise. lidrnburgh
0 Before Night Falls i 15).... tJulian Schnabel. LS. 300!) lift miris This biopic of the gay (‘tibaii author Reinaldo .-\rcnas has been gai'laiided with praise and awards. including .i deserved Oscar nomination for leading actor Javier Bardem It's more recognition than its subicct achieved in his lifetime. .iii irony the [K‘lscctilt‘tl .-\rciias might have fouitd wry ly amusing Schiiabel‘s film is based on the memoirs .-\renas dictated iii esile iii \ew York. terriiiiially ill with Aids. before his suicide in l‘Ntl 'l‘he painter turned director finds a style iii keeping w itli the man and his work. miviiig truth. poetic hyperbole and magic realism to di//y tiig effect (il’l‘. (ilasgow; ('ameo. ladiiibuigh
Best In Show l 13).... i('liristopher (itiest. l'S. Zlitll ) ('hristophei (iuest. l’arker l’osey. Michael McKean tit) miiis Directed. co~w ritten by and starring ('hristophcr (itiest ibcttcr known as .\'igel 'l'ufnel the rock guitarist whose amp goes up to eleven iii IIlly Iv .S/irnu/ Iii/i). “(\I In Show adheres to the spoof documentary format of Iii/i. 'l‘lie largely improvised action revolves around a bunch of dog-lov iitg oddballs who dream of their canines w timing the prestigious
May flow er Dog Show. Ilr'vl In Show is hilarious because it play s the hutiiotir straight. .\'o pause for laughter. this is comedy without the punchline. and it's definitely the better for it. ()deon. (ilasgow; MacRobert. Stirling.
Big Wednesday it’ti) 0000 (John Militis. l'S. N73) \Villiam ls'att. (iary Busey. Jan-Michael Vincent. Ill) mins. Rc-release of Militis‘s atittibiogi'aphical surfing iiiov ie. which follow s the lives of three htitltltes riding throuin the (itis and early 7lls on the crest of a wave. The director's litost audience- friendly work has gathered soiiiethrng of a cult reputation: here's your chance to see it as it was originally intended. The Lumiere. lidinbui'gh.
itltls til movie premieres
7 cinemas EBPOSS [llllllllll‘flll and Glasgow - 2 WEEKS IN AUGUST
From the next massive Hollywood blockbusters to the lat- est cool indie flicks, beautiful international movies and undiscovered gems - we bring them all to Edinburgh in August for you to get your teeth into. All our movies are UK, European or world premieres so you’ll always see it
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21 Jun—5 thJl 2001 THE LIST 25