T HIGR rive
JENNIFER LEASK, Filmhouse . manager and Edinburgh International Film Festival documentary programmer, namechecks her favourite black and white
. , ,. z.'mfe;na0ln9).-‘toiys:wlth the. ambitions ,gof fs'yoobh‘an é} Sidney .‘Falcoflony Curtlsreflortlessly " sleazy). ._Da’rl,<’.,“’sinister, beautiful New
:YOUI‘W" ‘
2 His Girl Friday A brilliantly funny script delivered at breakneck speed; you really need to see this more than once to catch all the dialogue. Cary Grant on wonderful wisecracking form; Rosalind Russell doing smart and sassy.
3 Indemnity Sizzling noir,‘With schmucky insurance salesman Fred MacMurray being led astray big time by the ultimate femme fatale, Barbara Stanwyck. Raymond Chandler had a hand in the crackling dialogue. and it shows.
4 Night Of The Hunter Robert Mitchum oozes evil as the villainous preacher on the trail of some stolen cash. and the kids who know where it's hidden. Scary and gorgeous. given a dreamlike quality by director Charles Laughton's expressionistic touches.
Wonderlulute Call . a‘sentir'nejntal ‘old tool, but they sure don't make like this any more. Clarence the. angels’hows Jimmy Stewarttha‘t he reallyvis the richest man in town, and there isn’t a dry eye in the house. Audiences
applaud at the end of this film,
that’s how great it is.
NICOLA McCARTNEY,
playwright and artistic director of LookOut Theatre Company, chooses her top five Irish exports.
' V1“ i.GjUinness,l-vobvi0usly.* ‘ 2 Actors Especially Liam Neeson.
a music U2. Johnny Logan, the Corrs...mayben0t.
4 Descendants Most of Scotland; we built this country.
' a tut-tun Shaw, Joyce, Wilde. p’Casey, MacPherson,McCartney. I’ .. V. modesty isn’t an Irish trait.
.5314} it? WHAT DID THIN
Elaine and John Students Deep Dish was totally amamng and the crowd were fantastic. just totally up for it. The best PreSSure In ages.
8 THE LIST 4—18 Oct 2001
K?
Cry feedom
The Labour government has turned the nation’s pupils into paupers. What kind of an education policy is that?
Words: Ruth Hedges
He promised things would only get better
y this time. eighteen years ago. I'd
already wet my pants and been called
snotbags. Not bad for a first term at school. With the whole of education’s echoing corridors stretching before me. unknowingly fated to a permanent detention with Mrs T. l embarked on an 80s education. Some eleven years later. we were told. things could only get better. Singing merrily along to l):Ream on sunny 2 May. 1997. we were released from the interminable detention: hand aching from writing the lines. ‘There is no such thing as society". This was freedom.
Oh. sorry. did 1 mistake you Tony'.’ You meant feedom. My mistake. We foolish things thought that the demise of the Iron Lady and grey-boy Major might lead to a society where kids could wet their pants and blow their noses all together in one big happy playground: rich snot. poor snot. middle-class piss. even aristocratic. Wouldn't it be great? Kids all learning: there‘s no essential differences. no one privileged above the other. you‘re all given a chance to share your knowledge and. if you choose. your fluids.
But for New Labour such values of equality have become as extinct as clause four. studied maybe in a history lesson. alongside the Romans and the NHS. but firmly kept in the
Pressure Arches. Glasgow
Kirsty Sftltienl Tot) night. Top crowd.
We thought the demise of the Iron Lady might lead to a society where kids could wet their pants together
1 Chris
Surveyor
‘ was excellent. Slari‘ blew me zit-Jay and Deep DlSl‘: just superb.
embarrassing past when people believed in things. a time when public schools and grammar schools — the structures that set about entrenching pre-existing divisions — were something to be broken down. a time when cohesion was seen as positive aspiration. and talents could be encouraged as they emerged. But. who were we kidding?
The government is now proposing specialist schools with 10% selection policy. Despite the survival stories of many who braved the state system. who were not contaminated by rubbing shoulders with Gary from the local council estate. Fettes' most famous schoolboy just cannot bring himself to endorse such cross pollination.
Spun in a cloak of many. many colours. the predominant tone emerging is unmistakably blue. It's all so depressingly familiar: ‘greater choice‘. ‘freedom of opportunity'. ‘tlexibility': code words for middle-class choice. middle- class freedom of opportunity and middle-class flexibility. It’s the rhetoric of that Thatcher detention coming to haunt us: whistling down the newly—decorated corridors. Make no mistake. read my lips: Labour does not have educational relations with the working classes.
Audacioust coasting on its second term. it's not even bothering to disguise it now. If Mr and Mrs Jones from Tunbridge Wells want to send little Johnny to a specialist business school. they jolly well shall. even if it means driving all the way across town. Never mind that little Johnny may not want to go into business. Never mind that others who might. won't. because there isn‘t one in their area. Never mind that selection generally favours more affluent children. Never mind that this is a total reversion to a philosophy that Labour fought against all those years in the wilderness. Never mind. children. never mind. At least. you can comfort yourself that when you’re working for the Middle England protégés. you‘ll have a minimum wage.
For Scotland. though. there‘s still some hope. Seemingly more enlightened than its Westminster cohort. Holyrood has cut its puppet strings and refuses to jerk to the dance of A2 demands. This is really something to be proud of and should be defended with the courage of anyone who has conviction in social equality. The mixing ofjuices should be applauded. Cerebral. or otherwise.
Disagree? react@list.co.uk
Mark and Simon
It was Shit hOl. really banging. Everyone Just seemed to be
going for it. Quality.