cleverly using memory as the trigger to show how love can conquer all. General release.
Pepi, Luci, Born and a Whole Lot of Other Girls ( l8) “0 (Pedro Almodovar. Spain. I980) Carmen Maura. Eva Silva. ()lvida Gara. 80min. Written while Almodovar still had his day job at the National Telephone Company. this is the work of a young director at his wildest. An advertising exec (Maura) who mastenninded a campaign for a revolutionary pair of panties introduces a mild-mannered housewife to a spikey-haired chanteuse. and the two begin a sado- masochistic relationship. A must for Pedrophiles everywhere. Part of Almodovar retrospective. Film/muse. Edinburgh. Performance (18) ooooo (Nic Roeg & Donald Cammell. UK. 1970) James Fox. Mick Jagger. Anita Pallenberg. 105mm. Chas (Fox — never better than here) is a violent gangster who has to go into hiding to avoid retribution from Harry Flowers' (Johnny Shannon) mob. By chance he ends up in the Notting Hill house of Turner (Jagger). Turner sees Chas as a source of rekindling his creativity and starts tormenting him with drug-induced mind games with the help of the beautiful Pherber (Pallenberg) and the androgynous Lucy (Michele Breton). Shot in two halves. one half gangster film. one half a requiem to psychedelic enhancement. experimental film and the belief in the self. P'rforrnance looks. feels and sounds like nothing else; it is a miraculous piece of cinema that will stand the march of time. Miss at your peril. Filrnhouse. Edinburgh.
Peter Pan (PG) 00. (PJ Hogan. CS. 2003) Jason lsaacs. Jeremy Surnpter. Rachel Hurd-W(X)d. Ludivine Sagnier. Olivia Williams. Richard Briers. 105mm. (‘lap your hands if you believe in fairies! ()ne hundred years on from the original play. J M Barrie's enduring classic is brought to life by Australian director P J Hogan (Muriel '3 Wedding. My Best Friend's Wedding). Sumptuous in its production. the effects dreamed up by Moulin Rouge‘s director of photography are magical. but the real hook (if you‘ll pardon the pun) is in the characterisation. where Hogan goes right to the heart of Barrie‘s psychological issues. Wendy and Peter on the cusp of childhood and adulthood struggle with their conflicting instincts for innocence. adventure. freedom. love and maturity. Strong performances from the kids and grownups. and a particularly nice cameo role for Richard Briers as Smee. ensure you'll be cheering for Tinkerbell as her fairy-lights fade. UCI Clydebank.
C Iy'debank: UCl Edinburgh. Edinburgh. Polanski on TV (NC) (. UK.
1967/ l 969/2000) 90min. Three profiles from British television. Part of the Roman Polanski retrospective. CCA. Glasgow. Ropulsion (18) oooo (Roman Polanski. UK. 1965) Catherine Deneuve. [an Hendry. John Fraser. 105mm. Left on her own in her sister's flat for a few days. a sexually repressed young woman gradually deteriorates towards complete mental breakdown. Polanski‘s first English language movie remains one of his best. a genuinely disturbing exploration of intense paranoia and claustrophobia that unflinchineg picks at the audience’s deepest neuroses. Part of Polanski retrospective. C CA. Glasgow.
Rosplro (Rosplro Mlo) (15) 0000 (Emanuele Crialese. Italy. 2002) Valeria Golino. 90min. ()n Lampedusa. an island near westem Sicily. fun is restricted to Saturday nights. Grazia (Golino) is the affectionate young mother of three children who is also as unpredictable and stormy as the sea surrounding her island. Set against rough and jagged rocks. this fable concems jealously. cruelty. sexual tension and tolerance. Cameo. Edinburgh.
0 The Return (12A) oooo (Andrei Zvyagintsev. US. 2003) Vladimir (iarin. lvan Dobronravov. Konstantin Lavronenko. Natalya Vdovina. 105min. After an entirely unexplained 12 year absence. a father (Lavronenko) returns home to his two adolescent sons Andrei ((iarin) and Ivan
(Dobronravov). and suggests to their mother (Vdovina) that he takes the children on a fishing trip. The trio head out by rowing boat to a little-known island. but the boys are unprepared for their dad's remote and brutally demanding nature. This ominous. sparse and laconic fable opens itself up to various allegorical and metaphorical interpretations. be they religious. political. or ()edipal. which revolve around the conflict with paternal authority. Impressively shot by cinematographer Mikhail Kritchman in colour-drained tones and in long. carefully framed takes. which convey the harshly elemental nature of the film's universe. The Return is given real resonance by its three compelling lead performances. Scary beans. Selected release.
Roger and Me (15) oooo (Michael Moore. US. 1989) Michael Moore. Roger Smith. 90min. Alternately hilarious and saddening portrait of the disastrous effects of widespread unemployment on Moore‘s home town of Flint. Montana. A former journalist. Moore sold his house and auctioned its contents to make this movie. An unexpected hit in the States. it follows the trail of his camera as he gleans comments from all manner of folk and sets off in search of Roger Smith. the head of General Motors. who closed down their Flint factory with the loss of 30.000 jobs. See feature. page 18. ('arnea. lz'dinburgh. Russian Ark (L') O... (Alexandr Sokurov. Russia/Germany. 2002) Sergei Dontsov. Mariya Kuznetsova. Leonid Mozgovoy. 96min. Sokurov (Mother and Sun) has always been a formalist par excellence. In this look at modern Russian history. Sokurov's camera passes through one room to another in a vast St Petersburg museum as history unfolds before us without a cut. Like the earlier one-take wonder. Mike Figgis‘ 'li'rner‘mle. this might achieve little dramatically: there's a limited emotional range at work here. as we follow the unseen director and his camera into different eras. Nevertheless. it‘s undeniably a seminal work. ('arneo. Edinburgh. Scooby 000 2: Monsters Unleashed (PG) 0. (Raja (iosnell. US. 2004) Freddie Prinze Jr. Sarah Michelle (iellar. Matthew Lillard. Linda (‘ardellinL Seth Green. Peter Boyle. 92min. The second live-action film spawned by the 1970s cartoon series is an amiable enough. if eminently forgettable romp. Where the first movie was pitched somewhere between
r ~ ' 4 "B‘ ’. -. . - a . - . ..M.W:¢.'r ".'l.—,'fl‘,.- _,-t - “ V -
tribute and send-up of the llanna-Barhera show. the sequel plays things pretty straight. The gags are a mix of pop culture intertextuality and low-brow silliness: (iellar's Daphne in a nod to her 1mm role ~ shows off her martial arts chops. while Shaggy and Scooby repeat the first movie‘s fart jokes. Younger viewers will be atntised and grown-ups will find the experience relatively painless. ()dean ll'esler' Hui/es. Edinburgh. Edinburgh.
Seabiscuit (PU) ooo ((iary Ross. LS. 2003) Tobey Mac(iuire. Nick .\'oltc. (‘hris Cooper. Jeff Bridges. 150mm. Making films about horses and horse-racing should clearly be made an executable offence but here is one that slipped under the wire and is actually pretty good. When a half-blind ex-prize-fighter (Maguire) teams up with a millionaire (Bridges). a mustang breaker (Cooper) and an undersized horse. things begin to happen at the finishing line. The men bring .X‘eabisi'uir incredible heights. helping him earn. Based on the true story of the beast that won the Horse of the Year in I938 this is one story from depression-era America that does not involve freight trains. hobos and Woody (iuthrie ballads. Film/rouse. Edinburgh.
Seconds ( 12A) 0000 (John Frankenheinier. l'S. I966) Rock Hudson. Salome Jens. John Randolph. 100mm. Really great overlooked societal conspiracy thriller about a man who decides to change his face and identity with the help of a secret organisation. But things are not as they seem and Antiochus ‘Tony' Wilson (Hudson) ends up in a seemingly endless nightmare. A classic of its kind that deserves to be rated alongside l-‘rankcnheimer's earlier The .llaru‘hurian Candida/e. ('arnerr. Edinburgh.
Shrek 2 (l') .0. (Andrew Adamson. Kelly Asbury. (‘onrad Vernon . LS. 2004) Mike Myers. iiddie Murphy. (‘ameron Diaz. Julie Andrews. Antonio Bandcras. John ('leese. Rupert liverett. Jennifer Saunders. 92min. Patchy. episodic sequel to DreamWorks' inspired. satirical riff on Disney fairy tales. this fails to replicate the magic of the original. Back from honeymoon. swamp-dwelling Shrek and his bride. Princess Fiona are invited to visit his in-law s. King Harold and Queen Lillian. rulers of the kingdom of Far Far Away. Zorro-like assassin l’tiss in Boots (Banderas) is hired to do away with the ogre interloper and restore the natural order. Bttt
index Film
the plotters have underestimated l‘iona’s love. Shrek‘s sense of self-worth and the loyalty of their asinine sidekick. Donkey (Murphy). More contrived than clever. the in-jokey' movie parodies are funny but lazy. The slapdash selection of music is often smeared on to disguise the erratic pacing. Nevertheless. the dazzling fairytale ball finale will probably blind viewers to these many imperfections. (ierier‘a/ release.
0 Silence Between Two Thoughts (PG) 0.. (Babak Pay'ami. Iran. 2003) Maryam Moqadam. Kamalan Narouli. 96min. See interview. page 29 and review. page 30. Film/muse. Edinburgh.
Since Otar Left ( IS) 0000 (Julie Bertucelli. France/Belgium. 2003) Esther (iorintin. .\'ino Khomasuridze. Dinara Drukarova. 'l'emur Kalandadze. Rusudan Bolqvadze. Sasha Sarishvili. Duta Skhirtladze. [03min (irandma. daughter and granddaughter all live in a (ieorgian townhouse together. All they ever talk about is beloved l'ncle ()tar who lives and works in Paris and then one day news of his death arrives.unfurling a remarkable amount of deceit and emotion. Beautifully played and structured character study that manages to be uplifting. despite its maudlin themes. Glasgow I'll/m Theatre. Glasgow.
Space Station 30 (t') (Toni Myers. (‘anada/l'S. 2003) 47min. Narrated by Tom (raise. this big screen IMAX presentation follows real astronauts into the big blue. Impressive. but not as awesome as it should have been. IMAX Theatre. (ilasgou.
0 Spider-Man 2 t 12A) oooo (Sam Raimi. LSA. 2004) Tobey Maguire. Kirsten Dunst. James Franco. l27min. See review. page 30. General r't'lt'us‘i'.
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and . . . Spring ( IS) 00.. (Kim Ki- Duk. South Korea/(iermany‘. 2004) ()h Yeong-Su. Kim Ki-l)uk. Kim Yeong-Min. 102mm. A monk living with his elderly Buddhist master on a floating temple on a beautiful lake experiences the various stages of life. from childhood to adulthood. learning important lessons along the way and eventually acquiring a young disciple of his own. Set theatrically against the metaphorical. painterly changing seasons. and featuring splendid performances. this film is so stunningly beautiful that it's likely to continue resonating in the memory for a long time. in fact. throughout spring. summer. autumn. winter . . . and spring.
('( ‘xl. (ilusgmt:
. - w ‘ .. L.‘ . 5; .. -~' "3" "g". a» ~13 . ‘énr 3%». z» m": a 1" . ‘ '« .- ’1 "-'.r If » 5-“. \ '
Rhona Mitra in Highwaymen
8*22 Jul 2004 THE LIST 37