Film index
Les Carabiniers ( 18) 000 (Jean-Luc Godard. France. 1963) Marino Mase. Albert Juross. 80 mins. Two young peasants leave home tojoin the anny. but their bravery is betrayed when a peace treaty is signed. Although it seetns to be about tlte ltorrors of atty war. the Gaulliste authorities took exception to this impassioned piece of Brechtiatt cinettta and promptly banned it. GET. Glasgow.
Lucky Break ( 12) 000 (Peter (‘attaneo. l’K. 2001 ) James Nesbitt. ()livia Williattts. Timothy Spall. Bill Nighy. (‘hristopher Plununer. 107 mins. This prison escape comedy from The Full .llonrv's (‘attaneo showcases some great British acting talent and promises a lot of laughs. So when Lucky Brt'uk opens with the most pathetic attempt at a bank-robbery ever seen on screen. it's hard to suppress a loud wail of
disappointment. Bttt when the two sad culprits.
Jimmy (Nesbitt) attd Rudy (Jatnes). end up it) HM Prison Long Rudford. things soon start to look up. A farce with no real social agenda. Lucky Break runs away frotn the realities of the British justice system and tnobilises some old social stereotypes. to have a good laugh. And cheerfully comic yet poignant; trcacly- sweet yet deeply ironic. it does succeed as a
charming piece ofescapist cinema. See review.
General release.
Magic Pudding (t') 00. (Karl Zwicky. Australia. 2001 ) John ('lesse (voice). Geoffrey Rush (voice). Sam Neill (voice). 78 mitts. Lively animated version of Nortnan Lindsay's popular children's book sees Albert the sweet and savoury. bttt largely cantankerous pudding coming to blows with the Pudding Thieves. MacRobert Arts ('entre. Stirling.
Me, You, Them (Et, Tu, Eles) (PG) 0.. (Andrucha Waddington. Brazil. 2001) Regina Case. Lima Duane. Stettio Garcia. 106 mins. My. Tort. The") was apparently inspired by a real-life study of a Brazilian woman who lived with her three husbands uttder the sattte roof for a decade. In different hattds this might have been turned into a lusty. bed-hopping farce. yet director Waddingtott attd screenwriter Elena Soarez have carefully fashioned a low-key and gently amusing fable about an alternative fatnily unit and the way its members cope with the day-1o- day business of cohabiting in a menage a quartre. (‘ase. a huge television star in Brazil. deserves the plattdits for her portrayal of the earth mother figure. whose appetite for life isn‘t diminished by unprepossessing material circumstances. GET. Glasgow; l-‘ilmhouse. Edinburgh.
Merlin The Return (PG) 00 (Paul Matthews. t'K/l'S. 2000) Rik Mayall. (‘raig Sheffcr. Patrick Bergin. Tia (‘arrere. 88 mins. Mayall‘s Merlin has banished the evil sorcerer Mordred (Sheffer) to the depths of the earth and put King Arthur (Bet'gin) and his Knights into a deep sleep. Whett Mordred threatens to surface again thanks to the experitnental efforts of scientist babe Joan Maxwell ((‘arrere). these l2th century men awake to find themselves iii a modern world. forced to do battle with oil tankers rather than dragons. While the action jtttnps in and out of the dimensional time gate. the plot becomes
20 THE LIST 21$ Atttjti Set) 2001
tnuddicr and tnttddier. Mayall attd co do their best to inject some humanity into the film. but end up strangled by an unwieldy script and poor special effects. The Lumiere. Edinburgh. The Mummy Returns ( 12) 000 (Stephen Somtners. [S 2001 ) Brettdan Fraser. Rachel Weisz. John Hannah. 12‘) mins. The plot of the sequel to the smash hit period adventure revolves around Rick attd Evie ()'(‘onnell‘s (Fraser and Weisz) pilfering of ancient Egyptian tombs. a dark cult located in the British Mttseum and the legend of a warrior who promised his sottl to the god Anubis 5.000 years ago. Absurdly high octane action cinema. tipping the balance right over into comedy attd sometimes farce. Good fun. attd a good deal tttorc than a lazy sequel. lf(‘l. Edinburgh.
Mysteries 01‘ Egypt (17) (Bruce Neibaur. l'S. 2001 ) ()mar Sharif. Kate Maberly. mins. ()mar Sharif stars in the first National
Geographic film to appear itt IMAX. imparting
tales of tombs. treasures arid the amazing achiewtncnts of this anicettt civilisation. IMAX Theatre. Glasgow.
The Parole Officer ( 12) 000 (John Duigan. UK. 2001) Steve (‘oogan. ()m Puri. Lena Headey. ()5 tttins. As with many of (‘oogan's better known television characters. The I’urult’ ()ffit‘t’l’. concentrates on the comic possibilities that result frotn someone not being up to theirjob: Simon Garden is a hopelessly inept probation officer who has only helped three people go straight. So Garden’s employers transfer him to the Manchester office. where he promptly gets framed for nturder and has to pull off a bank robbery to prove his innocence. l'nfortunately. what would be a fine ('hristmas TV special doesn't have enough gloss for the big screen. despite the best efforts of the brilliant ('oogan. General release.
Pearl Harbor ( 15) 00 (Micltael Bay. [S 2001) Ben Afflcck. Josh llartnett. Kate Beckinsale. 180 mins. Affleck attd Harriett play lifelong buddies. Rafe attd Danny. who end up in the American airforce as pilots. The boys are based in Pearl Harbor. Hawaii. bttt Rafe volunteers for a posting to join the Battle of Britain. though not before falling for nurse Evelyn (Beckinsale). When Rafe is reported lost. missing-in-action. Danny slips into the bed of the fair Evelyn. And then jUst to bugger it all up. Rafe returns from the ‘dead‘ and the attack by the Japanese gets in the way of sortittg love affairs out. Pearl Harbor is over- long attd over-sentimental. and it) going for the broadest audience Bay has Vaselined the unpleasantness of war away. lessening its impact. ('amco. Edinburgh; Adam Smith Theatre. Kirkcaldy.
Planet Of The Apes ( 12) 000 (Tim Burton. LS. 2001 ) Mark Waltlberg. Tim Roth. Helena Bonhatn (’arter. 1 11) mins. Burton‘s remake of the science fiction classic retains more of the entertaining social satire of Pierre Boulle‘s source ttovel than the 1968 original. Nevertheless. the films share a similar plot: An astronaut (little Mark Wahlbetg taking the place of manly. be-loinclothed (‘ltarlton Heston) is tnarooned on the planet attd captured by the war-like apes. He meets a liberal female chimpanzee (Helena Bonham- (‘arter). w ho helps him escape. attd leads a
Scotland’s number one guide to Cinema
James Nesbitt does time inside in Peter 'The Full Monty' Cattaneo's
entertaining piece of escapist cinema, Lucky Break
revolt against the simian oppressors. As you might expect. Burton’s Apes exceeds the original film in make-up while paying respectful homage to it. However. the plot. tone attd pacing is a mess and this is the least Burton-esque of Burton's films. General release.
Prenom Carmen ( 18) (Jean-Lite Goddard. France. 1982) Maruschka Detmers. Jacques Bonnaffe. Myrietn Round. 85 mins. Godard‘s freeform adaptation of Bizet's ('armt'n sees on (‘armen X planning a bank robbery then falling for one of its guards. Godard himself appears in the film as X‘s t'ncle Jean. an ageing filmmaker confined to a mental institution. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Pyar lshq Aur Mohabhat (PU) (India. 2001 ) Asian cinema presentation. screening in Hindi without subtitles. ()deon At The Quay. Glasgow.
Rembrandt ( l2) 0.. (Charles Matton. France/Holland/(iermany. 2001 ) Klaus Maria Brandauer. Rotttatte Bohringer. Johanna ter Steege. 103 mins. Matton's biopic is as tnttch an introduction to the work of the Dutch master as a revelation of his personal life. portraying Rembrandt's successes. loves attd losses through a pictorial chronology of his life. His early fortuitous career as the leading portrait painter itt Holland is well documented. as the film brings to life some of Rembrandt‘s tttost famous paintings. Rather than just reproduce Rembrandt's masterpieces. Matton has the works bear resemblance to the actors rather that) the originals. Rembrandt may provoke heated debates about its accuracy. but this fine-looking. well-acted film creates a fascinating celluloid account of the great master‘s an. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
Rush Hour 2 ( l2) .0. (Brett Ratner. 17S. 2001 1 Jackie ('han. (‘hris Tucker. [hang '/.iyi. 89 mitts. Chan and Tucker re-tcam for a big-budget sequel to their mediocre action-
comedy hit. The basic set up remains the same.
but with the roles reversed. Tucker is a fish- out-of-water LAPD cop bemused by the language and customs of (‘han's home turf. Hong Kong. The mis-tnatched buddies are meant to be on holiday. bttt the bombing of the local [7S embassy leads workaholic (‘han to John Lone. his late father's ex-partner it) the Hong Kong Police. now a Triad gangster. While the action remains itt Hong Kong. the verbal hutttour and slapstick action play well; bttt once it shifts to Las Vegas. Jeff
Nathanson's script runs ottt of steam. However.
('rottt'lting 'Iigt'I: Halt/cu Dragon star Xiyi. as Lone's \‘icious hettchwoman. makes quite an impression. General release.
Salt Water ( 15) 000. ((‘onor McPherson. Ireland. 2001 ) Peter McDonald. Briatt (’ox. Brendan Gleeson. 97 mins. Playwright McPherson makes his directorial debut. after several well received plays attd screenplays including The ll't'ir and I 112'”! Down. with this bleak yet often amusing take on life iii a small lrish seaside town. The story. adapted from a series of stage monologues. revolves around the Benevettti family. owners of the local chippie. By ttsittg art off-season resort the feeling of waiting for something to
happen (echoes of Godot'.’). with the locals' lives mirroring the resort anticipating summer. is conveyed with subtle style. The Lumiere. Edinburgh.
Sansho The Bailiff ( 12) 0000 (Kenj'i Mizoguchi. Japan. 195-1) Eitaro Shindo. Yoshiaki Hanayagi. Kinuyo Tanaka. 125 mins. Master filmmaker Mizoguchi turns a story of oppression in feudal Japan into a moving statement on injustice. When a provincial governor is forced into exile. his son and daughter are sold as slaves to a tyrannical bailiff. Years later. the son is reunited with his blind. crippled mother. A slow pace and beautiful images add to the film's power. The Lumiere. Edinbttrgh.
The Season Of Men ( 12) em (Moutida Tlatli. France. 2000) Rabiaa Ben Abdallah. Sabah Bouzouita. Ghalia Ben Ali. 12-1 tnitts. Aicha decides to retum to her old hotne of l)jerba by the sea when Aziz. her son with learnittg difficulties. jUst keeps getting worse. Her two grown tip daughters also join her. while disaffected husband Said ref‘Uses to have anything to do with the return to l)jerba. Their homecoming is intercut with the day-to- day events leading ttp to the birth of Aziz over past Seasons ()f Men. the tittte of year when the men folk briefly return frotn the city. Tlatli's film is achingly beautiful. constructed round themes of past attd present. colours and light. fatnin and freedom. GET. Glasgow. See Spot Run (PG) 000 (John Whitesell. [S 2001 ) David Arquette. Michael ('lark Duncan. Pattl Sorvino. 96 mins. This shaggy-ish dog story is about Agent 11. the FBI's greatest sniffer dog . . . who is wanted by the Mafia after taking a bite out of the boss' balls during an arrest. Running alongside this story is that of hapless mailman Gordott (Arquette) who is in love with his beautiful neighbour Steph attd will do anything to impress her and her son James. Things start to get all too predictable when Gordon ends up looking after James for several days and the two becottte the owners of a stray dog who. surprise. surprise. is Agent 1 l.just escaped frotn an attempted Mafia assassination. Selected release.
Series 7: The Contenders ( 18)
0... (Daniel Minahan. 2001. l'S) Brooke Smith. Mary lottise Burke. Glenn Fitzgerald. 87 mins. You will die. unless you cart kill five other contenders first. You are given a gun. pursued by a cameraman. monitored by global television systems and left to play the game. These are the rules of Tht’ ('tmrt'mlt'rs. the hottest t'S reality TV show and fictional subject of writer-director Minahan‘s quite brilliant debut. Drawing frotn his backgrottnd itt tabloid documentary. \1inahan has created a gruesome satire on audience voyeurism that is as disturbingly familiar as it is comically absurd. The idea is repulsive and yet the action is engrossing. It‘s like (flat/(arm's for the 21st century. (‘ineworld Falkirk; Adam Smith 'l'heatt'e. Kirkcaldy.
Shrek (1‘) .0... (Andrew Adamson. Vicky Jenson. l'S. 2001 ) Voices of Mike Myers. ('ameron Diaz. Eddie Murphy. 90 mins. Slit-ck will ltave Walt Disney tttrning in