Elephant ( l5) 0... ((itis Van Sant. CS. 2003) Alcx l-‘rost. liric l)cttlcn. John Robinson. lilias McConncll. Jordan 'l'ay lor. 81min. Quict. intclligcnt. non judgmcntal pscudo rcconstruction of thc cycnts that could hayc lcd up to a Columbinc-sty lc school massacrc. Van Sant tiscs rcal studcnts to play thc parts of thc kids as hc slowly rcycals diffcrcnt parts of thc day through \at‘ious points of \‘icw. .\ major work. this is a fascinating cxpcrimcnt in thc lic‘at'l of thc ['5 indic sccnc. CC]. C/y'ilclmnk: (’(‘I. Edinburgh.
Escape from Tibet (P( i) (Nick (il'c‘y. l'K. 200l ) ’I'hc Scotland 'l‘ibct .-\ssociation and lidinburgh l'niy'crsity Tibct Socicty arc hosting this scrccning of a powcrful documcntary about thc pcrilous cscapc from Chincsc opprcssion by a group of 'l‘ibctan rcfugccs. 'l‘hc film follows two rcfugccs. 19-ycat'-old l’asang and l l-ycar- old ’l‘cn/in. across lhc llimalayas in thcir flight. 'l‘hc scrccning is in cclcbration of thc CK llomc ()flicc‘s w clcomc dccision to grant thc boys right to rcmain in Britain. l’asang and thc film's dircctor .\'ick (ircy will bc at thc scrccning to talk about thc film and thc issucs it raiscs. ('Cxl. (i/(lygun:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ( l5) 0.... (Micth (iondry. CS. 2004) Katc Winslct. Jim Carcy. Tom Wilkinson. Kirstin l)unst. 108mm. Charlic Kaufman's sccond collalmration with dircctor Michcl (iondt'y (aftcr Human .Vulun'l is his bcst film yct. l.ikc living .lU/lll .l’ll/knl‘ft‘ll. lilcrnul Sum/iin is a wildly imaginatiyc flight of fantasy. This film‘s gloriously balmy conccit sccs Carrcy's loy'clot'ti loscr. Jocl Barile haying thc painful mcmorics of his cx-girlfricnd surgically rcmoy'cd. Shc's Clcmcntinc Kruc/ynski (\Vinslct). a lo\ cably wild. impctuous girl who. an incrcasingly miscrablc Barisli discoy'crs. had lhc proccdurc pcrformcd upon hcr aftcr shc got borcd with thcir rclationship and cndcd it. ()ycr thc coursc of a night thc staff (Mark Rufallo. Drum and Wilkinson) of a non-dcscript mcdical facility. Lacuna lnc oblitcratc Barish’s mcmorics. but w hcn Barish finds himsclf scini-conscioUs. hc dccidcs hc wants to rctain his mcmorics. But hc's unablc to fully wakc to halt thc proccdurc. and a cra/y cat—and-mousc chasc through thc paticnt’s subconscious bcgins. with Barish attcmpting to hidc Clcmcntinc in dccply rcprcsscd mcmorics. placcs thc Lacuna tcchics would ncy'cr think of probing. It's an outragcoiisly dcmcntcd ridc. but undcrlying this tcrrific trip arc somc .scrious mctaphysical quc‘stions about human rclationships. Can lo\'c cndurc'.’ If not. was it worth it in thc first placc‘.’ (iciiius. (iwu'ml rclt'uw.
50 First Dates ( 12A) 0. (l’ctcr chal. CS. 2004) Adam Sandlcr. l)rcw- Barrymorc. Rob Schncidcr. Scan .-\stin. l.usia Sti‘tis. Dan Aykroy d. 001nm. Charmlcss rcunion of Sandlcr and Barrymorc. Thc duo wct'c so appcaling in NW luv/(ling Singi'r but this takc on l’irandcllo‘s linri'i‘u Il' fails to rccapturc pil\i glUl'lCS. SCll'C’l'tl ICICHXC.
Finding Nemo (Big Scream) it') 0... (Andrcw Stantoii/l.cc l'nkrich. CS. 2003) VoiL‘Cs of Albcrt Brooks. lillcn l)c(icncrcs. :‘slcxandcr (iould. \Villcm [)afoc. Brad (iarrctt. Allison Janncy. l00min. l’ixar's latcst now that it is frcc from lhc mnbrclla of l)isncy is thc dclightful talc of a littlc lish and his daddy's attcmpts to find him w hcn hc gcts scoopcd ottl of thc watcr by a human. Clcycr. funny and bcttcr than 'l'lu' Lin/v .llcrmuid (just). ('umcu. [film/Hugh.
The Flower of my Secret ( 15) O... (l’cdro Almodoyar. Spain. 1995)
Marisa l’arcdcs. Juan lichanoy'c. Rossy dc l’alma. l0lmin. 'l‘hc cult dircctor liltiVCs
Checkout the ' "
away from hystcrical high camp towards a morc sci'ious mclodrama as wiitcr l’arcdcs dcspairs of hcr lifc as a popular romantic iioyclist. .-\ maturc. controllcd. oftcn (lccply moving work that rctains somc typically arch humour and sly ironics. ('unn'u. [film/Hugh.
The Football Factory t 18) .0
(Nick l.o\'c. CK. 2004) Danny l)ycr. Frank llarpcr. .\'cil .Mask’cll. Roland .Manookian. 00min. l-‘ilm adaptation of John King's two noycl that lacks both imagination and tccliniquc whilc taking a chcap. brutal no- nonscnsc approach to thc story. Dircctor l.o\‘c‘ ((imu/byt' ('liurlic Brig/Ill has dccidcd to makc a film that. likc his dcbut cffort. is a poor rip off of 'Ii'iiiii.\/mIIiIig. “c arc trcatcd to 90 mitilttcs of drcadful digital imagcry following 'l‘oinmy
l)a\ idson‘s (Danny l)y cr) scx-drugs-and- throwing-rocks lifcsty lc on match day. which is thcn juxtaposcd against his mundanc cycryday lifc. This is anothcr occasion on which thc final w histlc docs not conic a momcnt too soon. (icm'm/ rc/r’uu'.
Freedom for Us (A Nous La Liberté) (l') I... (chc Clair. l‘rancc. l‘Bl ) llcnri Marand. Raymond Cordy. Rolla l‘rancc. l’aul ()lliyicr. Jacqucs Shclly. Andrc Michaud. (icrmainc .-\usscy. l0-linin. Classic .silcnt lcft-wing satirical comcdy that cxplorcs thc dchumanising cffcct of nicchaniscd indtIstry on factory workcrs. .»\ hugc inllucncc on Chaplin's 1930 film .Um/vrn ‘Ii'nii's. this is gcncrally rcgardcd as a pcr\ crsc. anachronistic mastcrpiccc of l‘rcnch cincma. film/must: Ifi/iiilHiI'fli.
Ghosts of the Abyss 30 (PG) (Jamcs Camcron. CS. 2004) 59mm. l)ocumcnlary in which mastcr storytcllcr Jamcs Camcron Icads an cxpcdition back to thc sitc of his grcatcst inspiration thc w rcck of thc lcgcndary Titanic w hcrc ncarly l500 pcoplc lost thcir li\C\ oVL‘t' a ccntury ago. l'sing statc-of-thc-art tcchnology dcu‘lopcd spccilically for thc film. Camcron and his tcam arc ablc to cxplorc thc w rcckagc and bring it to scrccn in 3|). 'I‘hc audicncc is ablc to cxpcricncc an at‘chacological diy c as if thcy w ct'c right in thc dch ships or cycn as lhc crcw ()0 ycars ago. I.\I.'l.\'. (i/ilyuim:
Grill Point (Halbe Treppe) 1 IS) (Andrcas l)rcsscn. (icrmany. 200] ) Stcffi ls'uchncrt. ’I‘horstcn Mcrtcn. :\.\cl l’rahl. (iaht‘icla .Maria Schmcidc. 105mm. 'l‘wo couplcs in lifclcss Frankfurt/t)dcn. liastcrn (icrmany. arc floating through lifc in quict dcspct'ation and borcdom w hcn inlidclity strikcs. cntangling thcm in a joint csamination of thc stagnation of thcir cxislcncc. (il'nl. (i/usumi;
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight (tbc) (Noam (ionick. Canada. 1997) ()(lllllll. An insightful documcntary chronicling Canadian dircctor (iuy Maddin's films. including an intcryicw in which hc disctisscs his surrcalist impulscs in prcparing to shoot his dcbut. Includcs It's (1 lliuiili'r/u/ lily (Canada. 2001 i. a nuisic \‘idco for thc .-\incrican rock band Sparklchorsc. plus ()(lllllll Rnlun (Canada. I‘NS) (5 min) in which a fathcr and son rcscuc a woman from a train crash and makc hcr part of thc family. l’lus Ilmpilu/ l‘mgnu'nl (Canada. l‘)‘)‘)) (3 min). a scrics of imagcs inspircd by his Iii/m [rum I/It’ (iimli Hospital; and l'kmry'. I‘UIH‘V living Ix’i'i‘li (Canada. 2002) (5 min). a silcnt. stirrcal short about drunk sailors hunting womcn. Part of thc Maddin rctrospcctiy'c. I'iliii/muu'. I'J/I'n/mruli.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (P( i) 0.0 (Alfonso Cuaron. CS. 2004) l)anic| Radcliffc. Richard (irifliths. l’am l‘crris. l-‘iona Shaw. (iary ()ldman. 141mm. Scc rcy icw. pagc 2‘). (ir'm'l‘il/ I‘(’/('(l\t'.
Hum Tum ( l2:\) (Kunal ls'ohli. liidia. 200-1) Saif Ali Khan. Rani Muklici‘icc. Rishi Kapoor. Kiron thr tbcmin. Karan Kapoor (Khan) is a cartoonist with onc of India‘s lcading ncw spapcrs. ()n a trip to Amstcrdam shc mcts Rhca (Mukhcricc). 'l‘hcy disagrcc
musical. Music by Jatiii l.a|it. ()(l(’l’ll ul I/H’ Qum: (i/usgmi;
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (15) ... (Nltls‘c llodgcs. l'K/l'S. 200.“) Cliyc ()wcn. Jonathan Rhy s-Mcy crs. Charlottc Rampling. Malcolm Mcl)owcl|. .\'ocl Clarkc. l02min. (iv! Curlcr dircctor llodgcs rcyisits old tcrritory with this slca/y. cffcctiyc talc of a down and out Will (iraham (()wcn) who cmbarks on a ranipagc of rcycngc w hcn hc finds out his brothcr has committcd suicidc. But (irahani is morc than hc sccms. .-\ maturc surprising follow up to 1907's cxccllcnt ('mupl'i'r. ('( 'xl. (i/uwnu‘.
Japanese Story 1 IS) 0000 (Sut- Brooks. Alistralia. 2003) Toni Collcttc. (iotat'o 'l‘sunashima. l07min. Scc fcaturc. pagc l2 and rcyicw. pagc 30. (ii-“II (i/(Iygmi‘.
Jenin, Jenin ( l5) (Mohammad Bakri. lsracl. 2002) 54min. l’alcslinian dircctor
Mohammad Bakri \ isitcd thc Jcnin rcfugcc
camp (oncc homc lo l-l.000 pcoplc) illilL'l' thc April 2002 massacrc by lsracli soldicrs. llis angry yct dignificd film is a rccord of tcstimonics from local rcsidcnts. l'i/m/musc. Iii/inlmruli.
Jim Poole Short Film Award l IS) (Various, Scotland. 200] ) (illmin. And lhc winncrs arc . . . l‘abuloUs awards
ccrcmony to annotmcc and scrccn lhc
w inning films from this ycar's cxccllcnt Scottish short film award namcd aftcr thc grcat Jim l’oolc. Cumin lat/inluu'gli.
index Film
Kill Bill: Volume 2 ( l8) 0... (Qucntin 'l‘arantino. IS. 2004) l'ina 'l‘hurman. l)a\'id Carradinc. Daryl Hannah. Michacl Madscn. Samucl l. Jackson. l3timin. 'l'arantino‘s rollicking rampagc of rcycngc changcs gcar for its concluding part. .\ dialogtlc-licayy \Vcstcrn. bathcd in thc spirit of B and cxploitation inmics. this is a thrilling. pcrplcsing cnd to a grcat pscudo fcminist riff on \‘iolcncc and rcy ciigc. It is also may nicc to scc Carradinc back in a film dcscrying of his talcnts. (ii'iii'ru/ I't'lt'tlu’.
0 Knife in the Water I IS) 0000. (Roman Polanski. Poland. 1062) Icon \icmclyk. Jolanta l'mccka. Xygmunt .Malanow ic/. ‘Mmin. l’olanski camc to promincncc with this tight but imaginatiy c thrcc-charactcr psychological study. .-\ couplc going on holiday pick tip a hitch- hikcr and soon dangcrous cmotional gamcs arc bcing play cd. 'l'hc dircctor's simplc approach kccps lhc tcnsion high and inclodramatics low. Part of thc l’olanski rctrospcctiy c. Scc prcy icw. pagc 2‘). I'i/m/mmi’, Iii/inlmrgh.
Labyrinth of Passion ( la) 00 (l’cdro .-\tiiodo\at'. Spain. 1982) Cccilia Roth. lmanol Arias. Antonio Bandcras. ‘Mmin. .-\ nympho club chantcusc falls for a Middlc liastcrn hcir. who. in turn. is haying a fling with a tcrroris: w lio‘s out to kidnap him. Sluggishly paccd and rclcntlcssly tawdry. this cai'ly work is not thc placc for would-hc l’cdropliilcs to start. Cantu). I'Li/i/i/nu‘g/i.
on just about cy crything but thcrc is dclinitcly a spark thcrc. and it's going to bc a bumpy courtship. l’lcasing romantic
Gotaro Tsunashima and Toni Collette in Japanese Story
"Ma. '0 .J.iii L‘L‘Z‘J THE LIST 35