8 ii I’) .’l‘: ll’li‘l l'll, l)‘ ll ’1‘:'>[)li‘: l‘r’i . ill’) graxrta', 'n spades. he cant rlo enough to engage the .rre.‘.r_er .‘rrth nrs prerlrrernent .vorkrng frurtlessl, agarrrst the sheer rrnl')e|rel./alrrrrt, of the lrlrrrrnaker", careless nrelrlrng of Speed and Rudolph Mate". superb 19630 lrlrn rrorr classrr. DOA. More of a rnrlrl tmst than a (,téllll’ really. rErlrlre Harrrsonr
I Out now on general release
GOl/llfl) r DRIVING LESSONS (15) 100min 0.
There's going to he no l’rolrrla‘, fun for near"; son Ben Harry Potter's tlarne harrerl Rupert Grrntl rn the North
l onrlon suhur'hs, Just hrl)le classes and helprng out hrs rlornrneerrng rnother llaura l.rnneyr wrth her (to
HORROR FABLE THE WICKER MAN (12A) 101 min 000
Love can make us do the strangest things. Just ask Neil Labute, the writer/director of In the Company of Men, Our Friends and Neighbours and The Shape of Things. Labute, for all his inconsistencies, has long been noted as the foremost chronicler of the uglier side of human nature — misogyny, abuse and a Mametian talent for filthy talk are all in a day’s work for Labute. His belief that ‘entertainment should be good, not nice or carefree’, seemed to chime with his inability to make a commercial film despite the persistent interest in his work of some of the biggest names in the industry (Ben Stiller, Morgan Freeman and Renee Zellweger have all starred in his films). Indeed, until now, Labute’s desire to polarise an audience has seemed his sole raison d'etre. And then he fell in love.
Labute says he made the new version of The Wicker Man because, like many of us, he was so obsessed with Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer’s bizarre and brilliant 1973 mystery about an uptight Protestant Highlands policeman who comes to the small island of Summersisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, only to find maypole dancing, folk singing locals, free morals and a mad laird in the shape of a cross-dressing Christopher Lee. Shaffer’s original novel and screenplay dealt with ideas that Labute wouldn’t touch in a month of Sundays - notably, communal forbearance, the sacrifice (quite literally) of the individual for the good of the group and pagan ideas of worship and bio diversity. It seems however that Labute was so fascinated by this gem of British horror that he was willing to put his (let’s face it) diminishing
goorlrng Chrrstran tasks. while hen- per;kerl Dari rNrCholas Farrellr keeps out of the way. Enter rnto Ben's oonstrarnerl lrte a very (,lrtterent rnatrrarchal trgure. the Harnpstearl- dwelling retrrerl actress Evre r‘Julre Waltersl. an eccentrrr: sprnster who rlrrnks. swears. and encourages the shy. poetry-scrrhhlrng teenager to
toiic: the (testates "rs "ear". Looser, case: Jerern. Bro-"ks (3:. exoe're'm‘erz shenaer a .asat working t::' Dante Pegg. Ashtror‘t. t'te Olahril, shot 0 .' rfg Lessow: steers a costl, Dtéfillf‘latiie course. as :erl‘eo‘ as an. the summer that change) rm lrfe' rlrarna Our mrsmatr‘heo riuo. despite therr law of rnotorrng Itcences. hrt the road. Calling In at the Eatrnhurch Festr.ar where Ben rrnplausrhl‘, gets to non hrs Cherry .-.'rth a lrterar‘, PR hane Admrtterll, the 0T7 performances ot Walters and LINK)» prom (tfiltlpl‘, entertarnrng. rnakrng tor a hroarlh Oll]()\,€il)l(3 heart-to heart shown. nan at a natrxrty nla'. rTorh Da‘.‘.*t;r>n I Dorn'nrort. Erirnhurgn from fr 8 Set).
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reputation on the line with this intriguing remake.
Keeping large chunks of Shaffer’s original script intact, Labute works hard to find good reason for Californian motorcycle cop Edward Malus (Nicolas Cage) to be on the remote North Pacific Island of Summersisle, now a kind of women’s commune presided over by (and here’s the twist) Sister Summersisle (Ellen Burstyn), the enigmatic creator of an alternative feminine society (there are shades of Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale in her vision however). Labute certainly has a good grasp of the material and there are enough jumps and thrills and general eeriness to the set up to make you realise that Labute’s goals are genuinely born of admiration and not some mistaken belief that he can make a better film than the extremely un-prolific Robin Hardy.
The trouble is that all the more bonkers incidental pleasures are missing. Gone is Paul Giovanni’s odd, incongruous, euphoric folky score; gone is the deeply symbolic beetle on a string, the frogs in the mouth; gone is the naked fertility dance and gone are the scenes of orgiastic sex on the village green. In its place, unsurprisingly, is violence, and plenty of it, especially to women. Cage makes a good fist of the dislikeable discombobulated officer, so clearly out of his depth, but virgin soil he is not and this greatly undermines the final scenes of the film. To be fair though, Angelo Badalmenti’s score and Paul Sarossy’s excellent (superior to the original film) cinematography help one forget if not totally forgive the liberties taken here. Like Gus van Sant’s Psycho or Alexandre Aja The Hills Have Eyes, this is less a movie than an imprint, a homage, a gift to the cinema gods of yore. (Paul Dale)
I Out now on general release.
Film
Film news and giveaways for beautiful cineaste types
I Congratulations to all the Edinburgh International Film Festival award winners this year. Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s Brothers of the Head (pictured) won the esteemed Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film. Kevin Smith’s Clerks II won the Standard Life Audience Award. The Best Documentary Award went to Jake Clennell for The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief. Plus Paul Andrew Williams took home the Skillset New Directors Award for excellent Brit crime flick London to Brighton.
I The Magic Lantern is a new monthly short film night with 08A sessions with filmmakers. writers. and programmers. These screenings will be held on the second last Wednesday of every month at CCA. Glasgow. The magic lantern is open to submissions of all short films (under 30mins) made in the past two years, from filmmakers working in Scotland and beyond. The launch night is on Wednesday 20 September at 7.30pm. Visit www.themagiclantern.org for more information.
A DVD PlAYEll AND SllENT Hlll ON DVD AND DMD
Rough Cuts has tearnerl up Will) Pathe Drstrrhutron Ltd to offer you the Chance to WI!) 8 JVC DVD player and copies of Sr/ent Hr/l On
DVD UMD. This dark thrrller stars Sean Bean and Radha Mitchell and rs released to buy and rent on DVD on 4 Sep 2006 The DVD also rncludes extensrve extras. To enter. Just send an ernarl to promotrons@lrst.co.uk no later than 20 Sep 2006. USUal LlSl rules apply.
7—2“ Sep 2006 THE LIST 43