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DRAM/k THML ; E H ABOUNA (OUR INTACTO FATHER) (15) 104min oooo (PG) 80mm «Me'ner‘tu'r‘ W ’ ftl’f'b
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Juan Car‘w,
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feature puts forward the intriguing t;u:"1:sé: that luck. rather t'ar: being an al;§;‘_'a',t gift is
the eponyriious father only twice. once at the beginning of the film as a concrete corn'nrxlit.
he strides across the
that can lge bought. sold or stolen. faking so'neone's luck against their will is a racket run by Auschwit/ sur‘. |‘.’()l Samuel Berg ithe \.'.ronderful Max von Sytlo‘.‘.'l. who loads up on good fortune to play Russian roulette
abandoned —- first b, their father and then by their mother. A slow and deceptively simple :loriiestic drama ~ shot through with moments of inspired surrealism ~— lhis is by turns heartbreaking and
desert. and later on. as he stares from a .'ll().'|(,‘ screen at the t.vo young boys he's left behind. Soon they're sent to a Koran school ll) their native ()had and here they try to come to terms With being
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RED BEARD, SANJURO 8: IKIRU ((15)/(12)/(12)) 172min / 95min / 137min lBH Video DVD Vl l8 retaili
The three latest additions to the British Film lnstitute’s Akira Kurosawa collection ably display the Japanese master's brilliant diversity. Ikiru (O... ), probably the weakest of the three, is the tale of a clerk (the splendid Takashi Shimura) who is diagnosed with stomach cancer and spends his final months trying to live a full and meaningful life. A Japanese reflection upon the Capraesque sentimentality that strangulated the English language films of the post-war depression, Ikiru's profound and touching opening 90 minutes are marred by the film’s final third: a prolonged attack on the Japanese political system.
Made a decade on. Sanjuro (COO. ) is a prequel to Yojimbo, once again featuring Toshiro Mifune's unnamed Ronin warrior. Although its tone isn’t as dark as that of Yojimbo. Kurosawa plays out a perfectly pitched comedy of manners between the gruff, uncouth Mifune and the polite Samurais and women he is protecting.
Presented here on DVD and video for the first time ever, Red Beard (0....) reunites Kurosawa and Mifune in a more serious mode. Three hours long and two years in the making, it revisits the director’s ‘master and apprentice’ theme, and is Kurosawa’s forgotten masterpiece. Unusually, it is Mifune who plays the master. Here he’s the eponymous Red Beard, a doctor who teaches his immature young charge Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama) about the rewards that selfless service can bring. Despite being such a long film, it is neither an epic nor a saga. just a piece of simple storytelling that finds a magic from the start, and just keeps on going. Extras for all three DVDs include filmed introductions with director Alex Cox. (Nick Dawson)
106 THE LIST 2 '11 0.". .‘t‘qfi
against his rr.ats Played out agai'ist an other .'.orldl, lunar landscape ‘the Canaries. it turns out. this is a highlj. i'nagicatiye genre bending fantasy Part futuristit~ sci fi, part crime thriller and part romance. it's stimulating stuff for hearts and minds. lCather'ine Bromleyi
AHl HOUSE ()(JME DY WARM WATER UNDER A RED BRIDGE
(15) 120min
(Tartan Video DVD retaili .00
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Set)tuagenarian director Shoi lmmamura's scene setting is at all times excellent and this tale of an unemployed Tokyo salary man's guest for fortune in a small fishing town starts auspiciously. However. the attempt to be effective on too many levels has diluted this film's strongest flavours; subtle mysticism is atomised by preposterous pseudo science. pathos drowned by dreadful comedy and narrative focus eroded by unnecessany banality. That a (lisapi'Jointing whole can be the sum of such compelling parts is quite tragic enough. but lmmamura saves the worst and most wince-worthy until last. One to watch and wonder what might have been. But not
MOSTLY MARTHA (PG) 105mins
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MOSTLY MARTHA
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Mar Martina (‘iedt-ckl is the flight, talented but
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emotional". reticent head chef at an ll))'ll£lll\(:i lla'nburg restaurant. following the death of her sister. Martha has to cope with the arrival of her eight yearold niece and a gregarious Italian sous chef Mario iSergio ()astellittoi into her perfectly ordered kitchen.
There is nothing new here but. like the meals so lovingly prepared throughout the film. its not the |ll(l|‘.’l(lll<’ll ingredients but the way director Sandra Nettlebeck combines them that lifts this above the standard fare. Wonderfully real With endearing characters who flush through the gentle narrative flow. this is an emotionally uplifting treat. But be warned: llll(l*lll()‘.’l(,‘ snacking may be necessary lEddie Felsoni
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FEMME FATALE (15) 110min
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l Slkllul' l ll lltll l l ll ATANARJUAT - THE FAST RUNNER
(15) 168mm
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ATANARJUAT
Shot in Canada's fro/en north, /ar.harias Kunula's Atari.'ir/t/af is unbelievably the first film to ever be entirely shot in the Inuit language. Alanariuat is a nice young man who likes to do a bit of hunting and socialising with the men of his community. lhon he falls in love Willi the wrong girl the one the local bully has his eyes on. What is unleashed is a fugitive thriller With Atanarruat outrunning his nasty predators. Based on ancient myth. this is pure narrative driven joy. It does. however. need to be seen on the big screen. Whaler/(fer may have made more money but this baby is the classic of its genre.
lPaul Dale)