Film index
Lotte Relplger: Programme 1 (cert tbci (Lotte Reipiger. (iermany. 1923/26/53/71 i 107mm. Retrospective of the films of Reipiger. the innovative Germany animator who Used back-lit silhouettes and who is credited with creating the first animated feature. ten years before Walt Disney. Film/rouse. Edinburgh. Lotte Helplger: Programme 2 mm (Lotte Reipiger. (iermany. l928/54l 75min. Retrospective of the films of Reipiger. the innovative Germany animator who used back-lit silhouettes and who is credited with creating the first animated feature. ten years before Walt Disney. l'iliiiliouie. Edinburgh. Love Liza ( lSi .00 (Todd Luiso. L'S. 2003i Philip Seymour Hoffman. Kathy Bates. JD Walsh. 90min. Wilson Joel‘s wife. Liza. has just committed suicide. As he grieves he finds a suicide note. which his mother-in-law chides him to open. Instead. Wilson hits the road with the Liza's missive burning a hole in his back pocket. In this is a dark. strangely bland trip down Bereavement Boulevard Hoffman is remarkable in the underwritten lead role. But. in this film which says love hurts and there is no retribution in death. emotional manipulation. excruciatingly. wins over aesthetics. Warner l’illagi'. Edinburgh.
A Ma Soeuri (Fat Girl) ( 18) eeee (Catherine Breillat. France. 200! i Roxane Mesquida. .Anais Reboux. Libero dc RICH/0. 86min. The family vacation of fifteen-year- old Elena (Mesquidai and IZ-year-old Anais (Rebouxi and their parents provides French feminist auteur Breillat (36 I’i'llene. Roniam‘ei with another disconcerting exploration of female sexuality. inspired by a new spaper report of a family tragedy. Breillat has crafted an impressively acted film. frank and discomforting to the viewer. which dismantles the cosy assumptions of the teenage summer romance movie. Cameo, Edinburgh.
0 'fhe Magdalene Siatera ( (Si O... (Peter Mullan. CK. 2003) Anne- Marie Duff. Nora-Jane .‘s'oone. Dorothy Duffy. 1 19min. Denounced by the Vatican and honoured by the Venice Film Festival. Mullan's controversial film drarnatises the outrageoUs true story of the Magdalene laundries. where the irish Catholic Church. State and family colluded to imprison young women for 'immoral crimes' ranging from being raped to giving binh out of wedlock. It's tough to watch. yet Mullan's powerful film isn't as harrowing as it could be. But then this committh filmmaker doesn't want to dissuade people from seeing an important story. He's right. General release.
Magnificent Obaeaelon (PGi
“O. (Douglas Sirk. L'S. 1954i Rock Hudson. Jane Wyman. Barbara Rush. 108mm. Driven by guilt. Hudson gives up his playboy lifestyle to study medicine and operate on the widow he indirectly blinded. Love also blossoms. although he must assume another identity. Classic melodrama from the master of the genre. OFT. Glasgow:
Maid in Manhattan (PGi ee
(Wayne Wang. CS. 2003) Jennifer Lopez. Ralph Fiennes. Stanley Tucci. 105mm. Lopez's independent single mother .Marisa Ventura works as a maid at luxury Manhattan hotel. but she's mistaken for a guest by rising politician Christopher Marshall (Fiennesi. Much as she wants the romance. she's scared of losing her job and so begins the 'will they/won‘t they get it together‘ tried and tested rom-com fomiula. More explicitly about two people from different worlds developing respect for one another than. say. Pretty Woman. Maid in Manhattan also has a strong supporting cast to recommend it. Although
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34 'I’Hl LIST 13-27 Mar 2003
the leads may well cringe at their performances before laughing all the way [0 the bank. (it’ltr’l'al I‘t’lt'avi'.
The Man without a Past (Mica Valila Mennelayytta) I IN eeee (Aki Kaurismaki. Finland“it'l'lllttll)li'l‘ullc‘c. 2002i Markku Peltola. Kati ()utinen. 97min. A man is mugged and disappears. only to mysteriously reappear with no recollection of his previous life. He creates a new life for himself amongst the homeless community. and falls in love with one of his soup servers. A comic depiction of a man's journey to make sense of himself and the world. this love-story is from one of Finland's best-know n filmmakers. (ii/rim. Edinburgh. Manhattan ( 15) ..... (\Voody Allen. LS. I979i Woody Allen. Diane Keaton. Mariel Hemingway. 96min. Woody wanders through the female iiingle of New York in search of a perfect souliiiate after the demise of his marriage. Sublime comic delight with a soulful (iershwiii sc‘til'c. ('(i'l. (ilaygoiv.
Martha . . . Martha ( l5i (Sandriiie \'eysset. France. 2000i Lucie Regnier. Yaiin Gov-en. \‘alerie Don/elli. 129mm. \'eysset's film following the misfortunes of Martha. a volatile young women haunted by a personal trauma. I-‘i'lniliouvi'. lz'iliiiliurgli. Martin . . . Hache ( fSi (A Arisiarain. Spain/Argentina. 1997i 134mm. When a Brazilian teenager's drug overdose is interpreted as a suicide attempt by his family. the boy is send to stay with his expatriate filmmaker father in Madrid. Intense examination of family. responsibility and communicatioii. (ii-"I. Glasgow:
The Maak (P(ii 0.. (Charles RUssell. CS. 1994i Jim ('arrey. (‘ameron Diaz. Peter Reigert. 95min. A timid bank clerk finds an ancient mask that allows him to fulfil his innermost desires as a suave charmer and crime-fighting whirlwind. An amalgam of 20s, 30s and ~10s decor. The .Vask has a skimpy plot. but its rousing musical set-pieces and eye-popping computer-generated effects (like a live action Tex Avery cartooni make it the surprise hit of the summer. Sm ('mmrv. Edinburgh.
Matilda (PGi .... (Danny De \‘ito. LS. 1996) Mara Wilson. Danny De \‘ito. Embeth Davidtz. 98min. Capturing the delicioUs wickedness of Roald Dahl's writing. director De \‘ito fully exploits exaggeration and playful camera work to tell the tale of a gifted child who uses her super brain to outwit her neglectful parents. ()ffsetting the Iov cable Matilda against a series of horribly iiifiated bad characters. the film‘s empowering message for children will appeal to the mischev ious kid in everyone. CCA. Glasgow.
Meet me in St Louis il'i eeee (Vincente Minnelli. LS. 1044» Judy (iarland. Margaret O'Brien. Mary Astor l l ‘imiii Released during w artimc. this musical was an optimistic attempt to emphasise family values. but Minnelli never w allows in nostalgia Instead he combats it with sparky and sarky family dynamics. Set in 100}. the put-upon father wants to move his family from St Louis to New York but faces resistance from his gaggle of girls who have romances to get on with. and the fast-approacliing World in” lo enioy. Perfect casting and performances. along with songs like ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little ('hristmas' add to the warm glow ('('I. (.lHlt'l’flIlk.
Mildred Pierce d’(ii eeee (Michael ('urtiI. l‘S. 1045i Joan Crawford. Jack Carson. Zachary Scott. 1 13min. ('raw ford excels (she won an ()scari as the titular woman who turns her back on her husband and becomes a successful restauranteur. while fighting her own selfish daughter for the bean of a playboy (Scotti and getting embroiled in a murder plot. View ed by some as the sort of strong woman's role that is so elusive today. its suggestion that death follows when a woman abandons the kitchen sink is actually pretty patronising. St liriilc'v ('e'ntn’. Iii/inhurg/i.
Miaalng Allen - The Man who Became a Camera ( lSi (Christian Bauer. (iermany. 2001 i 92min. l‘iliiimaker (‘liristian Bauer traces the disappearance of friend and colleague. indie filmmaker. Allen Ross. After vanishing four years ago Bauer's alarming search to Allen takes him from Chicago's art scene to satanic sects in Waco and Oklahoma (‘ity Subtitled. (il-“I. (ilavgoii .‘ l'illilllt’llu‘. Iz'iliiiliiirg/i.
0 Monday Morning d’(h eeee (()tar losseliani. France/Italy. 200] i Jaques Bidou. Arrigo Mono. Anne-Krau-
Tarnay sky. 133mm. Vincent (Bidoui is a welder. He lives in a small l‘rench village with his wife and his artistically gifted kids. He goes to work every day at the local factory. He likes to smoke. but he is not allowed to at work. At home he likes to smoke and paint landscapes. but his wife always has him cleaning out the guttering. Then one day he disappears, (ieorgian Filmmaker losseliani has been making these son of ‘pastorales' since the early l‘)(i(is. While the catatonic pace may be a problem for some. this is a kooky little gem. See review. I‘ilm/iouve. lit/inhurgli.
Moving (P(ii (Shinp Somai. Japan. 1993i Min tbc. Domestic drama in which a young girl tries to prevent her parents' divorce by planning a family trip. See review. (iflniore/itllU/l (ilavgoii.
National Security ( lZAi (Denis Dugan. l'S. 2003i Martin Lawrence. Steve Zahn. Colin Feore. 88min. National St'elll‘th teams Lawrence with the somewhat more
Matrix-style sci-ii action in Equilibrium
talented Zahn as a pair of losers who. too crap to become cops. have to settle on low ly security guard status. And wouldn't you know it. the bad boy s get to bust tip a smuggling operation. which lands them in the shit with both the criminals and their beloved l.:\i’l) police force. \eu. See
prev iew. (iv/rival I‘¢‘l(‘if\¢'.
No-one Will Speak of Us When we are Dead (Nadl Hablabara . . .) ( Isi (Agustin Dial Varies. Spain. I‘N5i 104mm. A young woman (played by Victoria Abrili w itiiesses and crime and narrow ly escapes gangsters try irig to kill to move back to Madrid and her family (il‘l. (i/avguii. Only the Strong Survive d’(ii ti):\ Peiinebaker/(‘hrn liegetltts. LS. Sflflzl 95min. Documentary king Pennebaker and his Momma om co-maker llegedus go iii search of the great soul performers who were left behind by disco Sela ml ri'lmvi', The Pellet (El Bola) ( l5i (Achero Manas. Spain. 2000i 85min. Pellet is a ll- year-old boy with a dark and disturbing secret and no friends. until. that is. new classmate :‘vllreslti ttitnes ttllo his neighbourhood and brings ioy into the troubled boy ‘s life. l'illtflltiilu'. Iz'iliiiliurgli, The Pianist ( 15i 0.. (Roman Polanski. l‘K/l‘raiice/(iermany/ .\'ctherlands/Poland. 2002i Adrien Brody. l‘rank l‘inlay. Maureen l.ipman. l-Wmin An intensely personal film from acclaimed Polish director Polanski. as he himself survived the Krakow ghetto. l‘lii' I’ianivt follows the persecution of the Jews in Warsaw during World War H. The focus is on brilliant Polish pianist \Vlady slaw S/pilmaii (Brody i who escapes deportation to an exterrriinatioii camp and is left struggling for survival in the wasteland that's left of Warsaw. Adapted from S/pilman's memoirs and making use of Polanski's own childhood memories. The Piano! is undoubtedly a brave and ambitioUs project. Although rewarded by its winning the Palme d'()r at last year's (‘aiines i‘lllif l'estival. it is. however. debatable w liether this film won on its wonliiness rather than it being a coherent and compelling narrative. Selected I'l‘lr'uu‘ Place Vendome ( fSi eeee (Nicole (iarcia. France. 1999i Catherine Deneuve. Jean-Pierre Bacri. Jacques Dutronc.
l 18min. This sleek thriller has some of the same pleasures as last year's l.'.-lppart¢'ni¢'nt: an intricate narrative. criss- crossing relationships and an iconographic use of Paris. (iarcia's film. though. has a bit more emotional resonance. courtesy. perhaps. of the characters' seniority here 7 Deneuve as a woman in her fifties whose life has fallen apart; whose husband is surcidal. There's plot enough here for (iarcia to rollercoast. but the director's more interested in character study. (fl-'7: Glasgow,
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