Film index
0 Possible Worlds ( IS» 0000
(Robert Lepage. (‘anada. 200] i Tom .\lc('amus. Tilda Sw inton. Sean .\lc('ann. ()3 turns. What starts off as a routine. if grue- some. police drama body discovered. head sliced iii two. bratri removed qurckly switches into a fascinating and unnerving speculation about parallel universes. The premise of John .\lighton's script. brought to the screen by Lepage. is that 'each of its exists man infinite number of possible worlds. as just that we’re otily aware of experiencing otie of them. laxcept for (ieorgc. quietly troubled .\lc('amus. who has the misfortune to be aware of them all. It's really quite disturbing. (ilasgow l'iltii ’l‘heatrc. (ilasgow; The l‘ilmhousc. lidinburgh.
Recess: School’s Out ( t 'i 000 ((‘litick Sheet/. l S. 200i i Voices of James Woods. |)abney ('oleman. l)an ('astellaneta. 82 mins. l)isney pluriders its own small screen programming for this feature length version of its cartoon series. Recess Concerns the adventures of a gatig of pre-adolescent kids. whose roll call includes a natural leader. brainy nerd. cute girl. tomboy atid. ertii. a little boy who sings like a man. For the big screen school outing. the gang put their mischievous way s to good use when an evil ex-priticipal of their school. Mr Benedict (Arnold would that be'.’i hatches a scheme to etid summer vacations by causing permanent winter. (ietieral release.
The Red Violin ( 1m .00 (l'i‘ttne‘ois (iirard. ('aiiada. l‘Nb'l Samuel l.. Jackson. l)on McKellai‘. Jason l‘lemyng. l30 iiiitis. Not the story of a musician. but the story of a musical instrument. Spanning four centuries. the “life story ' of the v ioliti is related in five chapters. beginning in ati ltalian workshop. ending with an auction in .‘vlontreal. llauntingly lyrical. btit tirieveti filtii. The Lumiere. lidinburgh. Rembrandt ( lli ooo ((‘harles .\fatton. l‘rance/llolIand/(iermany. 200i) Klaus Maria Brandauer. Romane Bohringer. Joliaiitia ter Steege. l03 iiiins. .\fatton's biopic is as much an introduction to the work of the Dutch master as a revelation of his personal life. portraying Retribrandt's successes. loves atid losses through a pictorial chronology of his life. His early fortuitous career as the leading portrait painter in Holland is well documented. as the filrii brings to life some of Rembrandt's most famous paintings. Rather than just reproduce Rembrandt's masterpieces. Matton has the works bear resemblance to the actors rather than the originals. Rembrandt may provoke heated debates about its accuracy. but this fine-looking. well-acted film creates a fascinating celltiloid account of the great master's art. The Lumiere. lidinburgh.
The Rugged Island (D 000
(Jenny Brown. l'K. l‘)3-fi mins. John (irierson protege Jenny Brown's 'story doctunentary" about a young Shetland couple torn between duty to ageing parents and a new life iti Australia. The Lumiere. lidinburgh.
Rush Hour 2 ( lb .00 (Brett Rainer. LS. 200! i Jackie (‘han. ('liris Tucker. '/.hang '/.iyi. 8‘) niins. (‘lian and Tucker re-team fora big-budget sequel to their mediocre action- comedy hit. The basic set tip remains the same. btit with the roles reversed. Tucker is a fish-out-of-vvater l..-\l’l) cop bemused by the language and customs of ('hati's lioriie turf. llong Kong. The tiiis-iiiatclied buddies are meant to be on holiday. but the bombing of the local l'S embassy leads workaholic (ban to John Lone. his late father's ex-partner in the llong Kotig Police. now a Triad gangster. While the action remains iii llong Kong. the verbal humour and slapstick action play well; but once it shifts to l.as \‘egas. Jeff .\'atlianson's script runs out of steam.
How ever. Crouching Tiger. Hidden Dragon star Ziyi. as Lone's vicious henchw‘oinan. makes quite an impression. (ieneral release. The Season Of Men ( lb .000 (.‘vfoufida Tlatli. l’rance. 2000i Rabiaa Ben .-\bdallah. Sabah Bou/ouita. (ihalia Ben Ali. 12-1 mins. .-\icha decides to return to her old home of Djerba by the sea when Alix. her son with learning difficulties. just keeps getting worse. Her two grown tip daughters also join her. while disaffected husband Said
14 THE LIST 9-16 Aug 2001
refuses to have anything to do with the return to l)jerba. Their homecoming is mtercut w itli the day -to-day events leading tip to the birth of A/i/ over past Seasons ()f Men. the time of year when the men folk brieny return from the city. Tlatli's film is acliingly beautiful. constructed round themes of past and present. colours and light. family and freedom. The l‘ilmhouse. lidmburgli.
0 Shrek it'iooooo (Andrew Adamson. \‘icky Jenson. l'S. 300l i Voices of Mike Myers. ('anieron l)ia/. lzddie Murphy. ()0 mins. Shrek will have Walt Disney turning iii his cryogenic free/e tank. This truly sub- versive animated film takes pot shots at fairytale mythology. while singling out l'nclc Wall‘s beloved Snow \Vlittc. (‘inderella. l’itiiccliio. et al. l'rider the guise of a quest to rescue a princess from a dragon undertaken by the eponymous green ogre (which kids will Iovei. Shrek also ruthlessly pillages corporate Disney. satirising its theme parks and executives. And who's behind all this'.’ l’roducer Jeffrey Kat/enberg of Disney rival studio l)ream\\'orks. also fortiierly head of. yep. Disney. (ieneral release.
Spy Kids (1') oooo (Robert Rodriguel. LS. 3001 iAntonio Barideras. Alan Cumming. ('arla (iugino. 87 mins. Like any young children. ('armen and Juli ('orte/ harbour hopes of madcap adventure. btit unlike most children their apparently normal parents are top international super-spies. When they‘re kidnapped as part of a dastardly plot to destroy the world. cooked up by kooky mastermind l-‘egan Hoop ((‘iuiiming i. it falls to the children to save the world. Rife with fantasy. special-effects wizardry and high-octane thrills. Spy Kids is particularly enjoyable because it's the children and not the adults that ultimately save the day. Selected release.
Swordfish ( l5) .0 (Dominic Sena. LS. 2001 i John 'l‘ravolta. llugh Jackinan. llalle Berry. 9‘) niins. Opening with a magnificent explosion which occurs during ; bank robbery and l’Bl siege. Swordfiin flashes back iii time to tell us how matters came to a terminal head. (‘riminal mastermind (iabriel Shear ('l‘rav'oltai hires top computer hacker Stanley Jobsori (Jackman) to help him steal billions of dollars from the Drug linforcement Agency" money-laundering scheme. Berry plays Shear's partner (iinger. a role that naturally calls for her to remove her bikini top in a laughably gratuitous scene. lfltiiiiately'. just another big. brassy and pointless ‘actioner' from Hollywood mogul Joel Silver and hired-hand director Sena. (ieneral release. 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould it'iooooo (l-‘raticois (iirard. ('anada. l‘)‘)3i (’olm lieore. Derek Keurvorst. Katya Ladan. 93 mins. Partly a homage to the 32 sections of Bach's (ioldberg Variations. partly a radical approach to screen biography. this film tells the life-story of piano genius (ilenn (iould without resorting to cliched archive footage. The acting is superb. the structure fascinating. the music as vibrant as ever. Rarely has the act of artistic creation been presented on screen with such creativity. The Lumiere. lidinburgh.
Thrill Ride (l’(i) (Ben Stassen. LS. 2001) A mix of computer graphics and live action. providing a scientific. but fun look at the history of rides. from their early origins iii 17th century Rtissia to today's ride simulators. l.\fA.\' Theatre. (ilasgow. Time Code ( no 000 (Mike Figgis. l'S. 3000i Saffron Burrows. Saliiia llayek. Stellan Skarsgard. Jeanne 'l‘ripplehorn. 97 mins. Another audacious. experimental feature from liiggis. interweaving four improvised stories shot in real time and projected on to a split-screen simultaneously. The characters' lives criss-cross in time and space. as they enter and leave different locations. interact face-to-face or on the phone. and slowly converge upon the office of Indie film production company Red Mullet lnc.. where a tyrannical director is in the final stages of casting his new movie. lntellectually invigorating. technologically bold and — perhaps most surprisingly given the technical nature of the project —- always emotionally involving. The Filinhouse.
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Brazilian soap actress Regina Case stars in Me, You, Them (Eu, Tu, Eles), a gently amusing table based on the true story a woman who co-habited
lidinburgh.
Together ( 1M 0000 ( Lukas
Moody sson. Sweden. 3000) law Lindgren. (iustaf llammarsten. Satii Kessel. l0o mins. Set iii the mid-70s, \loody sson's follow-up to the highly -rated Show .\le Love gives a gentle. comic dig in the ribs to the hippy ideal. When lilisabeth (Lindgreni and her children take refuge from a violent husband with her placid brother (ioran tllatnniarstetii at his commune. named 'l‘ogether. their lifestyles are not the only ones that end tip being reassessed. lmportantly. the film eschew s both nostalgia for the period and mockery of it. despite the retro soundtrack (Abba. naturally i and embarrassing contemporary clothing. ('aiiieo. lidinburgh. Toy Story 2 (l') .C... (John l.asseter. LS. 2000) Tom Hanks. Tim Allen. Joan ('usack. 95 units. The new film expands on the original settings and themes: When Woody is not taken to (‘ow'boy (‘amp by his owner Andy. he begins to question the meaning of his ‘life'. When he‘s subsequently stolen by a collector who plans to sell him to a Japanese toy museum Bll/l. and the gang travel across town to rescue their pal. The emotive range of the animated characters is extraordinary; they say that computer generated images will never replace the real thing. bitt Toy Story 2 itiakes you wonder. Selected release.
Toy Story (l’(i) oooo (John l.asseter. LS. 1995) With the voices of Tom Hanks. Tim Allen. Don Rickles. 81 units. It isn't just the state-of-the-art images that distiiigtiisli [)isney‘s first cornputer-generated animation feature. it's got a cracking adventure story too. A tale of friendship and self-belief combined with aii excititig rescue and against-the-clock tension. Toy Story is sprinkled with comic asides. Don't be fooled into thinking these toys are just for the kids. ()deon Wester llailes. lidinburgh; ()deon. l)unfermline.
Tfichh Short Films ( l5) (Various. l'K. 2000i 70 mins. The results of the tripTy’ch 2001 Film ('oiiipetition. sponsored by Better Days. Tennents and The List. are to be judged at this free birt ticketed public screening. To recap: the competition aims to showcase the work of up-and-coming Scottish filmiiiaking talent. To this end entrants were provided with recording equipment and access all areas passes to trip'l'ych. Scotland's first nation-w ide music festival. and asked to capture the event on filmfl'he w inner will receive a state of the art [)\' camera and told to get on with his/her filmmaking career. (ilasgow Film Theatre. (ilasgow.
2001: A Space Odyssey it’iooooo (Stanley Kubrick. l'k. 1968i Keir l)ullea. (iary' Lockward. Leonard Rossiter. 13‘) mins. Re-release (with new widescreen 70mm print) of the greatest sci-fr film of all time. 33 years after it was made. in the year it was set. Kubrick's gloriously grand architecture sees prehistoric apes iimelined into a space ballet featuring a lunar craft docking to the sound of StraUss. This prefigures an extended drama aboard a spacecraft bound
with three husbands for a decade
for Jupiter involv mg a murderous .-\l computer and the giant embryo of a space child signify mg what "lhe next step in human evolutiotifl’ .-\n opaque masterpiece that suggests so much. yet explains so little Which is why it's a timeless classic Showcase Cinema. (ilasgovv; ('incvvorld. l‘alkirk.
Under The Sand (Sous Ie sable) ( IS» 0... (l‘rancois ( )/on. l'tance. 300l i ('liarlott': Raniplitig. Bruno(‘reniei 05 mins. Marie (Ramplingi has been happily married to Jean ((‘remeri for 35 years. but on a joint holiday. he mysteriously disappears whilst swimming at sea. Returning to Paris. .\larie continues her daily rotitiiie teaching at the university. refusing to believe that she has been bereaved. And then the coastguard rings to inform her that a corpse has been retrieved. l)c\ iscil by ()lon tli collaboration with three female writers. overblown melodrama is eschew ed iii favour of a sustained mood of melancholy. Ranipling prov ides a superb performance of understated expressly eiiess_ capturing Marie‘s peculiar blend of v ulnerability. self absorption and haunting emptiness. ('ameo. lidinburgh; MacRobert Arts ('entre. Stirling. Une Femme Est Une Femme ( ISi O... (Jean-Lite (iodard. l‘rancc. l‘)(il i mins. Anna Karina. Jean-l’attl Belmoiido. Jean-('laude Brialy. (iodard‘s first film iti colourscope (the marv clloiis l’ierrot l.e ion was to follow i. this is one iii a series of his Sixties output that's dedicated to exploring the many moods of his then vv ife Karina. The narrative pits her against suitors Belmondo and Brialy in a manner reminiscent of .\f(i.\l musicals. btit formally the film is much more playful. The l'ilmhouse. lidinburgli.
C9 Vertigo (l’( i f .0000 (Alfred Hitchcock. LS. 1058) James Stewart. Kim Nov‘ak. Barbara Bel (ieddes. IZS mins. Detective Stewart. a man with a fear of heights. falls iti love with a woman who apparently commits suicide. When he meets her double. he becomes obsessed with the possibility that she ls still alive lixtraordinary plotting in this undervalued Hitchcock study of romantic mania. with Stewart memorably cast against type as the distinctly on-the-edge cop. 'l'he Bernard llerrmann score is simultaneously liish and disturbing. (ilasgow liilm 'l‘heatre. (ilasgow. The Wicker Man i txiooooo (Robin llardy. l'K. l‘)73i lzdward Woodward. Britt liklarid. l)iane ('ilento. lngrid l’itt. ('hristopher Lee. l02 tiiitis. A devoutly celibate policeman (Woodwardi arrives at a remote Scottish island to investigate a schoolgirl disappearance and becomes involved in local pagan rituals. A llatiimer classic. with some extremely scary and erotic moments. (irosvenor. (ilasgow, Yaadein (l’(ii (lndtai IX‘) tiiitis. Story of a father. who finding it nearly impossible to raise his three daughters iii lingland without his wife. takes the girls off to lridia and. hopefully. a better life. liito this sentimental story is woven a meditation of rich versus poor and the trials of love. ('ineworld. lialkirk.