Video] DVD
video@list.co.uk
DRAMA THE PIANO TEACHER (18) 127min eeeee
Isabelle Huppert Annie Benoit
Girardot Magimel Th“ Piano Teacher
'( (nit-l iikiirmii'
‘l-uniii (iaiiiu'
The Piano Teacher will ‘fuck you up’
Think of Bertolucci’s Last Tango In Paris stripped of glamour and invested with the dysfunctional heart of the insane and the loveless. Like Philip Larkin’s parents, The Piano Teacher will ‘fuck you up’.
No one knows that feeling better than Erika Kahout (Isabelle Huppert), an uptight fortysomething Vienna-based piano teacher who still lives with her hideously protective mother (Anne Girardout) while her father languishes in an insane asylum. Erika likes ruthlessly bullying her students. She also enjoys visiting private porno booths and sniffing the cum-ridden tissues left by previous clients.
Cut adrift from any real emotions by a self inflicted austerity, Erika is initially shocked when Walter Klemmer (Benoit Magimel), an archetypal Aryan student half her age, professes feelings for her. Unable to accept his attentions in any normal way, she outlines a series of perverse sexual rules for their relationship that ultimately create a rapist of her young lover.
This is another stunning piece of cinema from Austrian director Michael Haneke (Funny Games, Code Unknown). Though filmed in French, this more directly attacks cold house approaches to creativity and the diseased propriety of the Austrian middle classes as laid out in Elfriede Jelienek’s original novel.
Girardout and Magimel are excellent in difficult roles that, like a piano score, demand a constant change of pitch and focus. It is, however, Huppert that leaves you gasping. Whether she is slicing her labia with a razor blade or simply nodding, she is an actor capable of delivering more information in a second than most actors can in a lifetime. (Paul Dale)
I Available from Mon 27 May through Artificial Eye on VHS and DVD retail.
WAR
Wlii‘Oll is ( iven Wll’ll BEHIND ENEMY shoiild beJ’i routi 1e LINES ‘ ’ ‘ ' ’
Christmas reconnaissance mission over Serbia. Of course things go wrong and his
(12) 101 min on
Disillusioned American military navigator Owen
plane is shot down in a jaw-dropping Surface to air missile chase. This leads to a cat and mouse chase as Wilson attempts to reach safety. while Gene Hackman broods as his commander in chief strangled by red-tape.
Loosely (very loosely) based on the story of US Navy pilot Scott O'Grady. this is a desperate attempt to inject some simplicity and hereism into the Bosnian crisis. An undiluted slice of US patriotism that would border on the unwatchable withOut Wilson's laconic presence. (Fox Pathe VHS and DVD rental) (Henry Northmorel
CRIME CAPER HEIST (15) min tbc I.
This is the scruffy kid brother of Ocean's Eleven. Where that move was slick and elegant. a bank Job perfectly done. here DaVid Mamet's robber romp is awkward and uneven. a Job done. undone. then done again.
That's all part of Mamet's plan. He constructs this tale as if it were a hall of mirrors. In it. Gene Hackman's mob are hired by Danny
DeVito's mob to pull off
a gold bullion theft. Faced ‘v‘lllil temptation. they decide they'd rather keep the loot for themselves. And that takes cunning.
It's one twist after
another. and every twist has a countertwist. All very clever. but the effect ranges from the improbable to the tiresome. and though frequently engaging. it's ultimater unsatisfying. (Warner VHS rental and DVD rental and retail) (Mark Fisher)
DRAMA
THE MAN WHO CRIED
(12) 95min .0.
With a beautiful cast. moving score and lavish visuals from Orlando director Sally Potter. this film doesn't have. or need. much dialogue to tell its stery.
Christina Ricci plays a young woman whose Russian Jewish family was split up when she was a child: she shipped off to England and her father to America. Set during WWII and a background of encroaching NaZism. the film charts her journey to find him. Along the way. Cate Blanchett appears as Ricci's dancer friend while Johnny Depp is the love interest. Although intriguing throughout. the beautiful bleakness of the introductory scenes is never recaptured. It feels like an epic denied the time to unfold it deserves. (VVL VHS retail) (Louisa PearSOn)
TEEN COMEDY
THE PRINCESS DIARIES
(PG) 115min O
Goofy teenager Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) lives with her boho artist mother in San FranCisco. Although Mia gets the grades at school rather than the boys. she breezes happily through life. Until her paternal grandmother Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) arrives at her doorstep and tells Mia she's the heir to the throne of the European prinCIpality of Genovia. Thereafter. Mia suffers under the tutorledge of her stern royal granny as she is transformed from tigly duckling into a charming princess.
Garry Marshall's film IS horrible. from its sappy Wislrfiilfilinent premise to the sugar-coated execution. (Buena Vista VHS and DVD rental) (Miles Fielder)
ALSO RELEASED
Dekalog All ten pans of Krzysztof Three Colors Kieslowski‘s masterful interpretation of the Ten Commandments on two double DVDs. (Artificial Eye DVD retail)
Julio Medem's Vacas and Red Squirrel A pair of Medem classics. timed to coincide with the Spanish filmmakers current arthouse hit. Sex And Lucia. (Metro Tartan VHS and DVD retail) Lagaan Big Bollywood production that made
Video/ DVD
quite an impact on British audiences with its cinema release. (Columbia VHS rental and DVD retail)
The Lost Battalion Straight-to—Video World War ll drama starring fOrmer NYPD Blue star Rick Schroder. (Fox Pathe VHS and DVD rental)
The Sword Of Doom and Portrait Of Hell Two Cult-or-classic (make yOur own mind up) Japanese period adventures. (l/Varr/or DVD retail)
Usual Suspects - Special Edition - HMV
Exclusive
Released: 29 April 2002
Voted 17th Best Film ever in Channel 4's poll last year and only previously available on DVD for a short time. Special edition MGM extras include inteiviews and out-takes and audio commentary from the editor John Ottman.
Shooters
Released: 29 April 2002
Strong. gritty British gangster movie set in Liverpool and rOughly based on a real event there. Performed by non—actors and better for it.
Brass Eye
Released: 6 May 2002
The entire series, including the 'controversial' one—
off speCial episode.
Cold Feet - HMV Exclusive 1-3 Box Set
Released: 6 May 2002
Reactivated with a limited release to ceinCide Wllil the World Cup for non-football fans. Re-live the lives and dramas of 3 of our favourite TV couples.
Roxy Music — Live at the Apollo
Released: 6 May 2002
Filmed live at the Hammersmith Apollo (1. 1001) on the Roxy Music Reunion World Tour featuring many of their Greatest Hits. The DVD also includes a 20
minute interview/’dOCumentary made specmcally for
the release.
Thelma and Louise - Special Edition
Released: 6 May 2002
Re-released as Special Edition including "Last JOurney" — The Making fo Thelma and Louise. StOry boards. rare photos and film footage. Musrc Video. Deleted Scenes and Photo gallery.
Star Trek - Motion Picture: Special
Edition
Released: 6 May 2002
A d0uble disc edition of the first Star Trek mowe featuring 5 additional scenes from the 1979 theatrical version. 1 1 deleted scenes. along with various features and directors commentary.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Released: 11 May 2002
Released as a double DVD. Disc 1 includes the film. Disc 2 includes never before seen footage. self-guided t0ur of Hogwarts. features that allow you to mix potions and perform transfigurations.
:>:i Mag, 1:
.li." .‘alil? THE LIST 105