Film index
The King Is Alive ( 15) O... (Kristian Levring. l'S/Scandinavia. 2001) Jennifer Jason Leigh. Janet Mc'l'ecr. Rornane Bohringer. 109 mins. The films released under the Danish manifesto (this is
the fourth) have enormous power in terms of
capttrring raw. often physical emotion. In this category alone. Levring's filtn excels beyond all expectation establishing the direst of circumstances: a motley crew of tourists are stranded in the middle of the desolate Namibian desert. To lift the company‘s spirits while awaiting rescue. a retired actor suggests they stage a production of Shakespeare‘s most bitter tragedy. King Lear. What follows is an impressive and dramatic descent into madness as thee desperate individuals frantically attempt to stay alive. MacRobert Arts Centre. Stirlittg.
Kiss Of The Dragon ( 18) 000
(Chris Nahon. l'S/France. 2001 ) Jet Li. Bridget Fonda. 'I'cheky Karyo. 98 rttins. Li plays a top Shanghai secret agent who arrives in Paris to assist ruthless police boss Tcheky Kary'o in nailing a Chinese drugs lord. Naturally. Kat‘yo is the real villain and within minutes Li finds himself framed for murder and on the run. Fonda tags along as the hooker-who-know s-too-much. However. it seems clear that neither she nor Karyo saw the script before being roped in by producer Ltic Besson. as their parts are quite risible. In its favour. Nahon directing the action. if not the drama. with aplornb. See review. (iencral release.
A Knight’s Tale (PG) .0. (Brian Helgcland. LS. 2001) Heath Ledger. .Mark Addy. Paul Bettany'. 132 mins. After his master dies halfway through a jotisting tournament in medieval France. peasant William Thatcher (Ledger) dons his .suit of armour and drags begrudging pals Roland (Addy ) and Wat (Alan Tudyk) across Europe towards v iclor'y. Writer-director Helgeland's (INA. Confidential. I’uvlntr‘k) film displays a playful sense of humour with its anachronistic soundtrack featuring Queen. l)avid Bowie and other 7()s rockers. and amusing aIIUsions to the World Cttp. And unusually it also emphasises character interaction so that the working class heroes are aided by Laura Fraser's w idow-turned-blacksmith and Bettany 's scene-stealing gambler/poet '(ieoff' Chaucer. (ieneral release.
Kundun ( 15) 0000 (Martin Scorsese. LS. 1997) 1-10 mins. Scorsese's biography of the fourteenth Dalai Lama is also a painstaking record of a culture close to extinction. The beauty of'l'ibct and gentle nature of the people is disrupted by invasion by China. but the l)alai Lama remains true to the ideal of non-violence. A highly cinematic. though heavily wrought film. Is'torrlun also features a pulsating music score by Philip (ilass. The first hour. while beatrtiftrl to watch. does seem to pass very slowly. btrt. by the end. it has a curious calming energy all of its own. See preview. Part of the Tibetan Filrn Festival. Filrnhouse. lidinbtrrgh.
Kyo Kii . . . Main Jhuth Nahln Bolt (PU) (India. 2001 ) Asian cinema presentation. l'CI. Clydebank.
32 THE LIST 1 1:"; Nov 2001
Scotland’s number one guide to cinema
Lagaan (PG) 0000 (Ashurosh (iowariker. India. 2001 ) Aatnir Khan. Crracy Singh. Rachel Shelley. 224 mins. New Bollywood movie frorn the world‘s largest film industry. Set in the early days of the Raj. Lagoon pits Indian fartners against their colonial oppressors . . . over a game of cricket. This is a breakthrough for Bollywood cinema exports. having established crossover appeal for Hindi and non-Hindi speaking audiences. Showing in Hindi with English subtitles. Cameo. Edinburgh.
Leap of Faith (PG) .00 (Richard Pearce. US. 1993) Steve Martin. Debra Winger. Liam Neeson. l()7 mins. As the charismatic leader of a travelling preacher show. Martin would seem to be cut out for this role. but when the movie switches from him duping Bible Belters to his ‘leap of faith' following real miracles. then it becomes nonsensical. Either satirise the charlatans or say they have genuine powers — to hop from one to the other mid-movie alienates believers and sceptics alike. (iilmorehillCi I 2. Glasgow.
Legally Blonde ( 12) 000 (Robert Lttketic. 2001 ) Reese Witherspoon. Luke Wilson. Selma Blair. 97 mins. Legally Blonde is adapted from Amanda Brown‘s unpublished novel. an anthropological study of the ‘law student species' drawing on her experiences as a blonde attending law school. By contrast. Karen McCuIIah Lutz and Kinsen Smith's ([0 Things I Hate About You) screenplay focuses on the ‘clueless' nature of protagonist Iille Woods (Witherspoon). a California babe who finds herself to be a fish out of water when she follows her boyfriend to Harvard. It also resorts to a deeply conventional narrative about honesty and integrity winning the day. Thus. Legally Blonde lacks the bite of other teen satires such as lz'leeli'on. another filrn starring Witherspoon. but one which lived up to the actor's impressive talents. (ieneral release.
The Little Vampire (1') .00 (till Edel. CK. 2000) Rollo Weeks. Richard 15. (irant. Jonathan Lipnicki. 95 mitts. Tony (Lipnicki). fresh from the orange groves of California. moves with his family to beautiful Scotland. He quickly becomes the most unpopular kid in his class. but finds a playmate when a ten-year-old vampire conveniently falls down his chimney. Can Tony join in the quest for the missing amulet and help the fanged Rudolph and his family become human‘.’ Despite its Hollywood re- vamp. Angela Sommer-Bodenburg's well- loved novel emerges with its sense of fun intact. However. while this filtn certainly doesn‘t suck. ultimately. it lacks real bite. Selected release.
Magnolia ( 18) .000 (Paul Thomas Anderson. LS. 2000) Julianne Moore. William 11. Macy. Philip Seymour Hoffman. John C. Reilly. Tom Cruise. 185 mins. P.T. Anderson's follow-up to his superb 7()s LA porn industry flick. Boogie Nights is a snapshot of the lives of a dozen residents of LA's San Fernando Valley . Their stories are sad. funny and moving without ever becoming overly-sentimental and
Nicole Kidman turns her back on Moulin Rouge's excesses to play an austere leading lady in the chilling haunted house tale of The Others
Anderson's script is full of humble humanity and beautifully observed moments. And the quite stunning miraculous conclusion is audacious btit it works ~ the same can be said of the whole film. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Man Bites Dog ( 18) .000 (Remy Belvaux/Andre Bowel/Benoit Poelvoorde. Belgium. 1992) Benoit Poelvoorde. Remy Belvaux. Jenny Drye. 96 mins. Somewhere in the unexplored hinterland between Henry: I’orlmi! o/‘u Serial Killer and This Is Spinal 721/) came three young Belgians. who spruccd up their graduation film. Horrifically comic mock-doc on a poetry- quoting mass-murderer. it soon sharpens its serious edge and becomes truly shocking. A real chin-dropper of a film if ever there was one. C(‘r‘s. (ilasgow.
The Man Who Wasn’t There ( 15) 0.”. (Joel Coert. CS. 2001 ) Billy Bob Thornton. Frances McDormand. James (iandolftni. I If) mins. Set in the Californian backwater town of Santa Rosa circa the I940s. The Man Who Him: 'I There takes its cue from the cynical world of ptin crime writers like James M. Cain. The tale turns on a regular fella. Thornton's mild- rnannered barber lid Crane. who is unwittingly the catalyst fora spiralling series of events beginning with infidelity and extortion and ending with. well. maybe you can guess. The Coen brothers' latest reinvention of a classic Hollywood film genre is their most audacious to date. mixing hard-boiled. small town film noir with existentialism and metaphysics. It‘s a wry - humoured. retro-styled. wickedly-plotted. moody gem. (ieneral release.
Me Without You ( 15) (Sandra (ioldbacher. CK. 2001 ) Anna Friel. Michelle Williams. Trudy Styler. 1 10 mins. Preview of the funny. moving story of the friendship between two girls growing tip in the 80s. From their fiinations with drtrgs and boys in the post-punk period through college days in Brighton to professional life in London. (ioldbacher's film works a treat. benefitting frotn fine attention to period detail and strong performances from the two leads.
Sun 4th November La Vache et la President (PG)2:00pm
What’s Cooking? (12) 5:00pm Mon 5th November Fiddler on the Roof (U) 7:00pm
Tues 20th November
Lucky Break (U)Cuppa at 7 7:00am Lucky Break (U) 7:30pm
Tickets and further information from The Steeple Box office
(Tel: 01324 506850)
or on the day from the hall
Me, You, Them (Et, Tu, Eles) (PG) .0. (Andrucha Waddington. Brazil. 2001) Regina Case. Lima l)aarte. Stenio (iarcia. l()(i mitts. Me. You. The/n was apparently inspired by a real-life study of a Brazilian woman who lived with her three husbands under the same roof for a decade. In different hands this might have been ttrrned into a ltrsty'. bed-hopping farce. yet director Waddington and screenwriter Elena Soarez have carefully fashioned a low-key and gently amusing fable about an alternative family unit and the way its members cope with the day -to-day business of cohabiting in a menage a quartre. Case. a huge television star in Bra/i1. deserves the plaudits for her portrayal of the earth mother figttre. w hose appetite for life isn't diminished by unprepossessing material circumstances. Catneo. Edinburgh: Adam Smith Theatre. Kirkcaldy.
Memories Of Underdevelopment
( 15) (Tomas (iutierre/ Alea. Cuba. 1968) 10-1 mins. Drama about an intellectual man who attempts to come to terms with the post-revolution new order of his country after his family leave Cuba for Miami. (il’l‘. (ilasgow.
Merci Pour Le Chocolat (Night Cap) (PG) 0.. (Claude Chabrol. France. 2001 ) Isabelle Htippert. Anna Mouglalis. Jacques l)utronc. 99 mins. ()Id man of French cinema Chabrol has cast his favoured performer. Iluppert. as a fetnme fatale named Mika. ()r is she'.’ Sparky young piano student. Jeanne (Mouglalis). can't decide either when she comes to Mika’s hotne to meet husband Andre (Dutronc) and his son. Andre. with whom she was nearly switched at birth. Huppert's heiress to a Swiss chocolate-tnaking company is a stone-faced btrsinesswoman who gives little of herself away. It's that which creates the palpable sense of unease that pervades Chabrol‘s film. (irosvenor. (ilasgow. Midnight Cowboy ( 18) 00000 (John Schlesinger. CS. 1969) Jon \‘oight. I)ustin Hoffman. Brenda \‘accaro. Sylvia Miles.
1 13 mins. V'oight is the dim-witted Texan getting by in the Big Apple by acting as a gigolo for the rich ladies of New York. while Hoffman is the ttrberctrlar conrnan he befriends and helps through the cold winter in this seminal buddy movie. which helped both protagonists to major stardom in the early l970s. set Schlesinger off on an intermittently successful career. and further shifted the censorship parameters of mainstream American lilrn. (irosvenor. (ilasgow.
Mike Bassett: England Manager (15) 0.. (Steve Barron. CK. 2001) Ricky 'l'omlinson. Philip Jacksort. Amanada Redrnan. 90 mins. Comedy reigns on and off the pitch in .lli'ke Basset]: ling/uni] .Ilumrt'er. a self-effacing send-up of the linglish soccer scene. 'I'omlinson plays the affable but inept scouser Bassctt. the only person mug enough to try and steer the national team to the finals of a fictitious World Ctip in Bra/i1. Shot on digital video as a mock-documentary. an impressive amount of filming was done at the actual stadiums. lilsewherc. a dead-pan Martin Bashir (as himself) interview s an equally po-faced ’I‘ornlinson. and there is also a