Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Miles Fielder
About a Boy ( 12) 0... (Chris and Paul Weitz. L'K/L'S. 2002) Hugh Grant. Nicholas Hoult. Toni Collette. l()lmin. Grant breaks free of his posh fop screen persona to play layabout Will Freeman in this wining adaptation of Nick Hornby‘s novel. Supporting a loafers' life of telly. booze and birds with wealth from his late father. Freeman‘s womanising brings him into contact with Marcus (Hoult). the young son of suicidally depressed Fiona (Collette). who proceeds to change the wastrel's life. The Weitl brothers keep things bright and breezy. but top honours go to Grant and Hoult who spend the film swapping places as the titular character. (ieneral release. Akira ( I2) 0000. (()tomo Katsuhiro. Japan. 1989) Animated by Nakamura Takashi. with the voices of lwata Mitsue. Sasaki Nolomu. Koyama .\lami. lshida Taro. 124mm. Based on the multi-volume graphic novel by ()tomo. Akiru is a mythical. futuristic tale of post-holocaust Tokyo. where pill-popping biker kids begin to unearth a government project designed to exploit the psychic and telekinetic powers of a group of laboratory-bound children. Superbly animated. with a fantastic visual and narrative imagination. btit you‘d be well advised to know something of the plot before you see it. (El-'1‘. (ilasgow.
Ali Zaoua ( IS) 000 (Nabil Ayoch. France/NlorroccofTunisia. 2000) Said Taghmaoui. .‘vluim Khab. 100mm. Bunuel's superior [.m ()ll‘fdudlM’ updated to the streets of (‘asablanca with [11 Huim' star Taghtnaoui. (if‘T. (ilasgow.
All (15).... (Michael Mann. 2002) Will Smith. Mario Van Peebles. Jon \‘oigbt. 154mm. The trouble with xlli is that two and a half hours is not enough time to relive the tale of the Sports Personality ()f The Century. liven condensing it into the ten years from l‘)o-l. when Ali beat Sonny Liston to win the world title. to his victory in the Rumble in The Jungle against (ieorge Foreman still proves unsatisfying. The film ttrges tis to forget what we thought we knew. steering the action away from the ring as much as possible. Yet there are still 30 minutes of ring time to appease light fans.
Cameo. Edinburgh; Adam Smith. Kirkcaldy.
UNNlNG GIRL...
In the time it takes to bleed to death...
TRAMWAY, . ' THUR 13th - SAT 15th JUNE
TIME 8pm PRICES £8/E4 PREVIEW 13th ALL TlCKETS Clo lBOX 011.1 287 3900i
CORN-EXCHANGE . THUR 4th — SAT 6th JULY ‘
TIME 8pm PRICES £8/Elo BOOKING VIA THE QUEENS BALL lBOX OFFICE 0131668 2019]
IWWW.boilerhOUSe.org.uk/runninggirl
Afl5(0;irlcil
28 THE LIST 6—20 Jun 2002
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Kevin Costner gets the Sixth Sense in Dragonfly
Angela’s Ashes I 15) 0... (Alan Parker. l.'K. WW) Robert ('arlyle. liniin Watson. Joe Breen. I48min. l-‘rank .\lc(‘ourt's Pulitzer Prize-w inning childhood memoir of Limerick in the 30s is a publishing phenomenon. loved across the world by those with no connection to the book‘s three defining elements — Ireland. Catholicism and poverty. Parker can't establish the same level of engagement as .\lc('ourt does. but he can train his lens on the faces of his remarkable cast to show a texture of emotions. Sentiment here is a natural ingredient. not a saccharine additive. ()deon. Dunfermline.
Atanariuat, the Fast Runner ( IS) 0.... (Zacharias Kunuk. Canada. 2001 ) Natar l'ngalaq. litigene lpkarnak. Peter llenry Arnatsiaq. l72min. This remarkable singular beautiful Iilm is the first to be entirely in the liitiit language. It is qtiite simply as pure and perfect a piece of narrative cinema as you are ever likely to see today. When an unknown shaman puts an evil spell on a group of nomadic Inuits living off the (‘anadian Arctic it takes twenty years before two brothers emerge to challenge the evil order. Director Kunuk never lets the stunning scenery overpower the many minute dratnas being acted out by a mostly non- professional. though impressive cast. l-‘l‘ll ('inema. l‘alkirk.
Au Revoir Les Enfants (PUD... (Louis .\lalle. France/W. l987) (iaspard .‘vlanesse. Raphael I‘ejito. Philippe .\lorier- (ienoud. l l3min. l.ow -key. (mania-verity influenced portrayal of incidents from Malle's own boyhood. Set during the (ierman occupation. the film follows the developing friendship between two boys at a small school run by monks. one of whose secret Jewish identity proves dangerous to both boys as the Nazi presence looms. Simple. subtle. and very moving film. which avoids the clichés of the coming-of-age genre. and makes its larger political points firme but unobtrusively. (iI'T. (ilasgow.
Basquiat ( IS I... (Julian Schnabel. TS. 1996) Jeffrey Wright. David Bowie. Michael Wincott. l()(unin. Schnabel's biopic of his friend Jean-.‘ylichel Basquiat truly captures the whim of the 80s New York art scene. where hype mattered more than talent. Wright takes Basquiat from graffiti artist to overnight star to drug overdose victim and conveys his charm and artistic vision. The film is packed with cameos and larger roles by celebs - notably Bow ic's turn as Andy Warhol - making it as much a film about hangers-on as its subject matter. l-‘ilmhouse. lidinbtirgh.
Bend it Like Beckham I I2) 00.. ((itiriiider ('hadha. l'ls'. 2002) Parmiiider K Nagra. Keira Knightlcy. Jonathan Rhys- .\leyers. 1 12min. The parents of llouiislovv teenager Jess (Nagra) want her to concentrate on her studies. to learn how to cook
traditional Indian food. and to marry a respectable young man. Jess. however. is far more passionate about playing football. and is asked by fellow schoolgirl Jules (Knightley) tojoin the local womens‘ team. As with Bittle (m the Beach and What‘s (mimic writer-director (‘hadha confidently uses comedy to explore social. racial and familial issues. with football a device to investigate what it means to be young. female and self-confident in contemporary Britain. (ieneral release.
C9 Betty Fisher and Other Stories (Betty Fisher et autres histoires) (18) O... ((‘laudc Miller. France. 200l) Sandrine Kibet‘lain. Nicole (iarcia. Mathilde Seigner. 100mm. Miller's psychological thriller takes us through a strange story involving the collision of the lives of two women and the unexpected arrival of an estranged mother. Part of the lirench liilm l-‘estival. See review. Filmhouse. lidinburgh. Bhopal Express ( 15) (Santoin Sivan. lndia. WW) Nasserudin Shah. Zeenat Amati. 90min. Tells the true story of a tragic gas explosion at a (‘arbide plant in 198-1. which claimed 16.000 lives. Narrated through the eyes of newlyweds Verma and Tara. and their best friend Bahir this film explores the devastation that such a disaster leaves behind. David Lynch was suitably impressed. Adam Smith. Kirkcaldy.
Billy Elliot ( 15) 0... (Stephen Daldry. t'k. 2000) Jamie Bell. Julie Walters. (iary Lewis. I l 1min. Billy (superb newcomer Bell) finds release from life's daily drudgery. and ultimately self-fulfilment. through ballet dancing. :\s unlikely a leisure pursuit as that might be for a teenage boy grow ing up in the recession-hit Yorkshire of the 80s (and that's the point). it becomes young Billy's ticket out of hard times. Making his film debut. theatre director Daldry handles the political backdrop and dramatic foreground with equal assurance. The dance routines provide much of the film's humour and quite overwhelming feelgood factor. l‘(i(‘ Parkhead. (ilasgow. Bridget Jones’s Diary I I5) 0000 (Sharon .‘vlaguirc. l'S/l'K. 2001) Renee Zellwegcr. Hugh (irant. (‘olin l-‘irth. 96min. Bridge! ./()Il('.\ '.v Diary is that rare thing. an adaptation that vastly improves on an over- rated original. in this case llelen l’ielding's bestselling new spaper column-cum-book. Jones has a rather nice job. and looks rather nice. but worries a lot about her appearance and career. In between weighing herself and ranting about the modern male. she entangles herself with nasty boss Daniel ('leav er ((irant). before taking up with nice Mark Darcy (l‘irth). On paper. Jones was a snivelling. neurotic wreck. on film she‘s a snivclling. neurotic wreck who also happens to be consistently hilarious. .-\nd Xellweger adds a touch of warmth to w hat is essentially a wholly unsympathetic. bi‘ittlc character. ()deoii ('ity (‘enti‘e. (ilasgow.