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Video/DVD
DRAMA AMORES PERROS (LOVE’S A BITCH)
(18) 153 mins 00000
On its theatrical release, comparisons were drawn between Amores Perros and Pulp Fiction. Admittedly, the two share similarities - three intertwined stories and a strong ensemble cast - but Quentin Tarantino’s cartoon reality is coated with a gloss of glamorous gore, while Alejandro Gonzalez
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lfiarritu’s film is sprayed with cinematic grit.
The story for Amores Perros could have been lifted straight out of Mike Leigh’s script ideas book: Mexico City youth Octavio (handsome Gael Garcia Bernal) is in out of his depth with local gangsters who organise dog fighting. He also harbours an obsessive crush on his sister-in-law, Susanna. Daniel is a successful magazine editor who leaves his wife and kids for Valeria (Goya Toledo), a supermodel, and El Chivo (Emilio Echevarria) is a tramp who works as a jobbing hitman, living among the city’s stray dogs and refuse. The three principles become inextricably linked through the fate of two dogs. This is achieved in the most believable, yet least imaginable manner possible. lr'iarritu’s touch is deft enough not to suffocate the players in ever-unfolding twisting plot lines - the leads, especially Echevarria, are given space to explore the many layered role.
The colourisation of the film is as vivid and saturated as the plot; the hues that little bit too bright and the contrast extreme, and this is wholly suitable for the film’s theme; in life emotions often run stronger and deeper than they may appear on the surface. At two and a half hours this is a long, but incredibly fast moving film, perfectly paced and slickly edited. Barbaric, passionate and enthralling, Amores Perros is a definite contender for Film Of
The Year. (Mark Robertson)
I Available from Optimum Releasing on VHS and DVD
retail from Fri 24 Sep.
THRILLER ANTITRUST (12) 120 mins 00.
The smarmy bad guy of Antitrust is digital pioneer Gary Winston (Tim Robbins). a dressed-down CEO with the global reach of a Gates. He hand-picks computer genius Milo (Ryan Phillippe) to help launch his new satellite communication network. Milo is at first delighted with his challenging work. but all is not well in Silicone Valley. Peter Howitt's film is hackneyed but habitually stirring stuff. but any serious message is lost in the race against time. and hardly reinstated by the film's glib conclusion that information should be free for all. (Fox Pathe VHS rental; DVD retail) (Alan Smithee)
DRAMA
THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE (PG) 126 mins .00
Robert Redford returns to one of his favourite themes — a quasi- mystical sponing pursuit as a metaphor for life — and this time it's a golfing table. The tale concerns a mysterious caddie (Will Smith) who acts as a guardian angel to a former golfing champ (Matt Damon). burnt-out after returning from WWI Europe. and guides him towards redemption. As one expects from Redford. The Legend Of Bagger Vance is long. leisurely
paced and expertly
crafted. As with a round of golf. some peOple will be enthralled by the struggle to master the inner game. some will be
106 THE LIST 90 Set) 4 Oct 2001
bored. while others will simply enjoy the scenery.
(Fox Pathe VHS and DVD rental) (John Smith)
DRAMA LIAM (18) 87mins «00
Anger/:4 s' Ame. t D I t 0
Stephen Frears continues to prove himself Britain's most intelligent and flexible filmmaker with this intimate. powerful tale of poverty and oppression in 19308 Liverpool. Liam (Anthony Borrows) is the youngest child of Ian
Hart's truculent docker.
A speech impediment forces him into awkward situations at school and church. When his father loses his job and his faith, Liam's proud mother (the brilliant
Claire Hackett) tries to
support the family in the face of public scorn. The master of zero exposition. Jimmy McGovern. has delivered another fine script. a heart-bled gem that shows poor-folks-have- it-tough drama Ange/a 's Ashes up to be the manipulative rubbish it
- was. (Artificial Eye VHS
retail) (Paul Dale)
DRAMA
UNDER THE SAND ESSOUS LE SABL
(15) 95 mins 00..
Marie (Charlotte Rampling) has been happily married to Jean (Bruno Cremer) for 25 years. but on a joint holiday. he mysteriously disappears whilst swimming at sea. Returning to Paris. Marie continues her daily routine 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. Devised by Francois Ozon in collaboration with three female writers. overblown melodrama is eschewed in favour of a
l sustained mood of . melancholy. Rampling
provides a superb
performance of understated expressiveness. capturing Marie's peculiar blend of vulnerability. self- absorption and haunting emptiness. (Artificial Eye VHS retail)
(Arthur Fusake)
DRAMA WAKING THE
DEAD (15) 101 mins 00..
Fielding Pierce (Billy
Crudup) sees dead people. Sound familiar? Well. Waking The Dead is more Vertigo than Sixth Sense. Ten years after Pierce's girlfriend was murdered by terrorists for her political activism, he begins to see visions of her everywhere. The narrative skips back and forth from the 70s to the 80s. perfectly reflecting his increasingly fractured state of mind as he becomes obsessed with finding her. convinced that her death was faked. This film works on so many levels it's impossible to do it justice here; intensely romantic. haunting and hugely compelling. you have to see it for yourself. (VVL VHS retail) (Kirsty Knaggs)
HORROR AUDITION (18) 110 mins 000
At first glance. yOu might think you‘ve got the wrong video out. Miike Takashi's film seems to begin as a mild. vaguely off-beat romance. but believe me. there's no shortage of ickiness by the end. In search of a wife. a widower (Ryo lshibashi) seeks a new woman through a spurious audition arranged by a film director friend. He lights upon a young girl with a seemingly untraceable past. As his obsession with her develops. we
explore the world between fantasy and reality a la Repulsion, before an truly grisly finale. The film isn‘t particularly well paced. but there's at least one scene you're unlikely to forget. Ever. Barf bags ready? (Metro VHS and DVD rental and retail) (Steve Cramer)
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sr. sauchiehall sr. Union St, ‘ _&_Olympla Centre. East Kilbride