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) 0000 (Chris and Paul Weitz. L'K/L'S. 2002) Hugh Grant. Nicholas Hoult. Toni Collette. 101min. 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 \\'eitz brothers keep things bright and breezy. but top honours go to Grant and Hoult who spend the film swapping places as the titular character. V'ikingar Cinema. Largs; Showcase. Paisley.
American Magus (tbc) (Paola Igliori. ltaly/L'SA. 2002) 93min. Full-length documentary about the cult figure Harry Smith who became known with his Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952. CCA. Glasgow.
Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch) (18) CO... (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Mexico. 2001) Emilio lichevarria. Gael Garcia Bernal. Goya Toledo. 153mm. Inarritu‘s debut feature is billed as ‘the Mexican Pqu I‘iclimi'. a description which sells it short. The Tarantino comparison is a useful starting point: the film tells three overlapping stories ~- a teenager drawn into the world of illegal dog-fighting. the infidelity of a middle-aged media executive and an elderly homeless man -- by tisitig shifting time-frames. tangentially linked characters and jagged verbal rhythms. Fierce humanity underpins lnarritu‘s beautiful, grainy vistials and Guillermo Arriaga Jordan‘s ttiulti-Iayered script. Filmhouse. Edinburgh.
Baise-Moi (Rape Me) ( 18) 00 (Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi. France. 2002) Raffaela Anderson. Karen Bach. 87min. Based on a novel by Despentes. liaise-Jim depicts the sex-and- killing spree of two nihilistic young women. rape victim Manu (Anderson) and prostitute Nadine (Bach). Blending real sex — Anderson and Bach cotne front professional hardcore backgrounds ~ and deliberately stylised violence. liaise-Mm" constantly references other movies. whilst being aware of its own shortcomings. ('rudely shot on digital video. and accompanied by a thrash metal soundtrack. it lacks aesthetic finesse aitd intellectual rigour. btit its raw anarchic energy is undeniable. Cameo. Edinburgh.
The Battleship Potemkin (PG) .0... (Sergei Eisenstein. L'SSR. 1925) A. Antonov. Vladimir Barski. Grigori Alexandrov. 75min. Made for the 20th
anniversary of the 1905 revolution. liisetistein's all-time classic follow s the mutiny by the crew of the Prince Potent/tin atid the support giveti by the local civilian population. who are movvn down by the ('zar's troops in the famous ()dessa Steps sequence. Fxpressiv'e camera technique atid a grasp of editing that wrote the textbooks are just some of the innovations that ptit liisenstein atid Rtissian film firmly on the cinematic tnap. (EFT. Glasgow.
Behind the Sun ( 12) 0000 (Walter Salles. Brazil. 2002) Rodrigo Santoro. Jose Dumont. Flavia Marco Antonio. 105mm. lit a remote northeastern province in Brazil circa 1910. a deadly feud is being waged between two neighbouring families. 'l‘onho (Satitoro). the middle son of an impoverished sugar-cane farmer (I)umont). is asked by his father to avenge the killing of his elder brother. A terrified 'I'onho fulfils his filial duty. but the cycle of violence resumes. ('onvincingly acted and impressively shot. Behind lllt’ Sun incorporates symbolic elements w itliiti the framework of an emotionally engaging storyline. It may draw on an array of sources. not least Greek tragedy arid the American Western. and yet it) a world scarred by atavistic conllicts. the film‘s contemporary resonance is considerable. Filttihouse. lidinburgh.
(9 Betty Fisher and Other Stories (Bettey Fisher et autres histoires) ( 18) 0... (Claude Miller. France.
2001 ) Sandritie Kiberlain. Nicole Garcia. Mathilde Seigner. l00min. Miller's
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40 THE LIST 4—18 Jti' 2002
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 French Film Festival. Gl’l’. Glasgow: Filmhouse. Iiditiburgh.
Big Fat LiariPG) 0 (Shawn I.evy. l'S. 2002) Frankie Muniz. Paul Giamatti. Amanda Bynes. 88min. l-l-year- old Michigan schoolboy Jason Shepherd has his overdtie term paper stolen by evil movie mogul Marty \Volf. who intends to turn it itito a blockbuster. Jason and best friend Kaylee set off. l.A-bound. on a mission to put the situation to rights. l-i'rris [fuel/er-esque moments reminiscent of John Hughes' 80s work. General release. Birthday Girl ( 15) 0.. (Je/. Tom atid Stephen Butterworth. l'K. 2002) Nicole Kidman. Ben ('liaplin. Mathieu Kassov'itz. 93min. St. Albans batik clerk. John. (Chaplin) marries Rtissian internet bride. Nadia. (Kidmati ). Their successful sexual. if ttoti-coitititunicativc relationship is disrupted with the arrival of two Rttssiatt cousins w ho threaten to kill Nadia if John does not rob his own batik. An aw kvvard and curiously llimsy hour-atid-a-half. not quite managing to combine its overall light comic tone w ill) some of its darker pretensions. See review. General release. Blade Runner( 15) ooooe (Ridlcy Scott. 1S. 1982) Harrison Ford. Rutger Hatter. Sean Young. 1 17min. A tough cop tracks dovvtt a group of malfunctioning androids it) this gritty hi-tech retread of Raymond ('handler. executed with Scott's customary visual flair. and with strong performances. especially frotn Ford arid llauer. Btit try following the confusing plot first time around. Moviehousc. Mothet'well. Brazil ( 15) 0... (Terry Gilliam. IS. 1985) Jonathan Pryce. ls'im Griest. Robert De Niro. Peter Vaughan. 142mm. lixtravagatttly designed attd blackly humorous ()rvvelliati vision of the future. as modest bureaucrat Pryce battles the forces of totalitarianism and lights for his dream girl. fcisty trucker Griest. ()vcrlong and
ramshackle fantasia. with moments of sheer
creative adrenalin atid a classic ending. Movichouse. Mothct'well.
Bridget Jones’s Diary) 15) 00.. (Sharon Maguire. l'S/l'ls'. 2001 ) Renee '/.ellwegcr. lltigli Grant. (‘olin Firth. Domin. link/gel Jones '.v Diary is that rare thing. at) adaptatioti that vastly iitiproves on an over- rated original. itt this case llelet) Ficldittg's bestselling newspaper coluiiin-cum-book. Jones has a rather nice job. and looks rather nice. btit worries a lot about her appearance and career. It) bctvv ectt weighing herself
Ben Chaplin c
omes over all sappy in Birthday Girl
and ranting about the modern male. she entatigles herself with nasty boss Daniel ('leavet' (Grant ). before taking up with nice Mark Darcy (Firth). ()n paper. Jones was a snivelling. neurotic wreck. on film she's a stiivelling. neurotic wreck who also liappetis to be consistently hilarious. And '/.el|weger adds a touch of warmth to what is essentially a wholly unsympathetic. brittle character. l'GC Renfrew Street. Glasgow; Cameo. lidinburgh.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin ( l5) .0. (John Madden. l'K/l'S/l-‘t'ance. 2001 ) Nicolas Cage. Penelope Cruz. John Hurt. 120mm. This adaptation of Louis de Bernieres' bestseller sees Greece taken by the Italian Army during World War 11. Captain ('orelli and his squad of opera enthusiasts arrive on the island of (‘ephallonia. causing much uproar. And when the ('aptain is billeted to Dr lannis' (llurt) house. (’orelli and the Doctor‘s beautiful daughter. Pelagia ((‘ruzi. fall in forbidden love. Madden has sttick to his guns and tnade a movie at once distinctly litit'opean attd likely to appeal to Attiet‘icati audiences. ('ommercial. unfaithful to the book. but still head and shoulders above any of the eye candy llolly wood has to offer. l'(i(‘ Parkhead. Glasgow. Chicken ( lis’) (Various) 80min. (‘ompilation of gay short films. takitig its title from a short drama iii which two boys push a game of dare as far as it w ill go. Part of the Lesbian and Gay film Festival oti Tour. (ll-'1'. Glasgow; Filttihousc. lidinbut‘gh.
The Comedy of Innocence (PG) .00. (Raoul Ruiz. France. 2000) Isabelle lluppert. ('harles Berling. Jeanne Balibar. 95min. Psychological thriller in which a young boy spurns his mother for someone whom he refers to as his ‘real mother'. Smartly directed by Ruiz and well-play ed by his cast. ('ameo. lidinburgh. Comment j’ai tue mon pere ( 15) .0. (Anne Fontaine. France/Spain. 2001 ) ('harles Berling. Natasha Regnier. Amira Kasar. 08min. The life of Jean-late (Berliitg). a successful Versailles gerontologist with a beautiful young wife lstt (chnier) and a loyal mistress (Kttsttt'l. is disrupted by the sudden reappearance of his sev etity -soitiething father Maurice (Michel Bottqttet ). who decades earlier had walked out on his family to becoitte a doctor iii Africa. Avoiding simplistic psychological ‘c\p|anatiotis' for its characters' actions. the film scrutinizes the father-son conflict with icy assurance. and clima\es in an emotional confrontation of venottious intensity. Filttiliouse. lidinburgh.