For Your Consideration ( (BA) 00 (Christopher Guest. ['S. 2006) Christopher Guest. litigene Levy. Harry Shearer. 86min. Awful ()sc‘at' season satire. Seleeled release. Fort Apache ([7) 0000 (Jolm l-‘ortl. LS. 1948) Henry Fonda. John Wayne. Shirley Temple. Pedro Armendariz. [27mm In the first of Ford's cavalry films. Fonda‘s unswerving officer follows his instinctive belief in duty towards disastrous bloodshed in the wilds of Arizona. Told with characteristic ambivalence about the authenticity of legend. this is a great Western epic. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. Glasgow I'll"! Theatre. Glasgow. The Four Feathers (PG) 0000 (Zoltan Korda. CK. l‘)3‘)) John Cletnents. June Duprez. Ralph Richardson. l30min. Rousing period melodrama about patriotism and cowardice in a time of colonial conqttest (the Battle of ()mduran in the Sudan). This is by far the best version of AliW Masoth much-filmed novel. St Bride ’s Centre. Edinbtajgh. 4:30 ( l5) (Royston Tan. Singapore. 2005) Young-jun Kim. Xiao Li Yuan. 90min. A melancholy tale from the director of 15. focussing on the relationship between an I l- year-old Chinese boy and his family's Korean tenant. Jung. Part of Glasgow Filtn Festival. (‘( ‘A. Glasgow. Ghosts of Cité Soleil ( IS) (Asget' Leth. Denmark/l 'S. 2006) 68min. A Caribbean Cl’ic set around the overtln‘owing of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. The action follows the rivalry of the gang leaders of the Haitian slum of Cite Soleil and their foot soldiers in the aftermath. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. Cinewor/d Rentrew Street. Glasgow. Goal 2: Living the Dream ( IZA) O. (Jautne Collet-Serra. CK. 2007) Kttno Becker. Alessandro Nivola. Anna Friel. l 15min. .Mildly more diverting than its predecessor. Goal 2 follows Santiago Mune/ (Becker) as he goes to play for Real Madrid. General release. * The Good Shepherd ( IS) .000 (Robert De Niro. LS. 2006) Matt Damon. Angelina Jolie. Williatn Hurt. Michael Gambon. l67min. See review. page ~13. General release. Goodbye Lenin! ( )5) .0. (Wolfgang Becker. Germany. 2003) Daniel Brtihl. Katrin Sass. Maria Simon. I2 l min. Charming comedy drama set during the dissolution of GDR. Eilnthouse. Edinburgh. Great Scots! Double Bill (t') (Various. ('K. Various) Various. l20min. Jenny Brown’s The Rugged Island. about a young Shetland couple torn between their duty to ageing parents and a new life in Australia. Harry Watt's Night .llai/ documentary and the screening of an interview with Watt for ST\"s Studio. Part of Glasgow Filtn Festival. Glasgott' I‘ilm Theatre. Glasgow: The Green Butchers ( IS) (Anders Thomas Jensen. Denmark. 2003) Mads Mikkelson. Nikolai Lie Kass. Line Kt'ttse. ()6min. A black comedy about two organic butchers who find the secret of success. Be warned. this is a little unsavoury. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. Glasgott' Eilm Theatre. Glasgow. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (l5) C... (Dito Montiel. ('SA. 2006) Robert Downey Jr. Martin (‘ompston. Rosario Dawson. l03min. Impressively kinetic autobiographical feature following the fortunes of a young boy growing tip on the mean streets of New York. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. ('inett'orld Ren/rew Street. Glasgow: Cameo. Edinburgh. The Hanging Garden (Kuchu Teien) (l8) (Toshiaki Toyoda. Japan. 2005) Kyoko Koi/umi. ltsttji ltao. An Sti/uki. ll-lmin. Sometimes less is more. especially when it comes to sharing secrets with your family. as too much honesty leads to much dysfunction for the Kyobashi clan. Intriguing familial drama. Pat't of Move Over. ()/u season. I'ilniltouse. Edinburgh. Hannibal Rising ( Is) .0 (Peter Webber. France/['K/l 'S. 2007) Gaspard t'lliel. Li Gong. llelena Lia 'l'achovska. l20min. l)reary. overlong and tediously unnecessary prequel to the whole Silenee of the Lambs saga. l'llicl tries his best but the failings are all in Thomas llarris‘ clunky screenplay. General release.
Hard Core Logo ( )5) (Bruce McDonald. Canada. 19%) lltigh Dillon. Calltnn Keith Rennie. Julian Richings. 92min. Behind the scenes documentary about Canada's most famous punk band. The fact that they are fictitious doesn't stop Hard Core Logo from going on the road with a mission to raise money for recently wounded Bucky llaight (Richingsl. Part of North of Hollywood season. Eibnhouse. Edinburgh.
Hidden Flaws (Verborgen Gebreken) ( 12A) (Paula van der ()est. Netherlands/Scotland. 2004) Henny ()rri. Priscilla Knetetnann. Bram van den llooven. ()2min. The ()scar nominated ()est adapts Renate Dorrestein's bestselling novel. A Crying Shame for the big screen. Filmed on location in Scotland. it follows two little children on the rttn from their past. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. Glasgow Eihn Theatre. Glasgow.
Hot Fuzz ( 15) .0. (lidgar Wright. UK. 2007) Simon Pegg. Nick Frost. Bill Bailey. 120mm. See review. page 43 and Answer Machine. page I I2. General release. Hush! ( l5) (Ryosuke llashiguchi. Japan. 2001 ) Reiko Kataoko. Kazuya 'lakahashi. Seiichi 'I‘anabe. l35min. The sacred Japanese institution of family is broached from a gay perspective. Naoyo ('l‘akahashi) is a hit on the scene bttt seeks the stability of a family unit and sets about acquiring a baby with his partner and troubled young woman Asako (Kataoka). Part of Move ()ver. ()/,u season. Eihnhouse. Edinburgh.
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (t') 00. (Carlos Saldanha. LS. 2006) Voices of Ray Romano. John Leguizamo. Denis Leary. Seatm William Scott. 90min. linjoyable sequel. ()deon l-ort Iv'innaird. Edinburgh.
* Into Great Silence (t') .00. (Philip (ironing. l"rance/Swit/erland/(ierniany. 2005) 169mm. See review. page 4 l. Film/louse. Edinburgh. James and The Giant Peach (t') 0... (Henry Selick. ('S. l‘)‘)()) Pattl Terry. Susan Sarandon. Simon Callow. 79min. Colourful adaptation of Roald Dahl's much- loved novel. ('aineo. Edinburgh.
The Jazz Singer(t') oooo (Alan Crosland. l'S. l‘)27) Al Jolson. May McAvoy'. Warner ()land. Myrna Loy. 89min. A cinematic landmark. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. Glasgow I‘ll/II Theatre. Glasgow. Jeremy Thomas ()ne of Britain's most successful filtn producers talks about his latest filtu. East l’ood Nation. Part ofGlasgow Film Festival. Glasgow I’ibn Theatre. Glasgow.
Jour De Fete (L) O... (Jacques Tati. France. l‘HS) Jacques Tati. Guy Decomble. 80min. A rural French postie sees a filtn about the efficiency of the American mail service and decides to smarten up his act. This debut feature by Tati. effortlessly builds visual set- pieces and establishes the amiable duffer of a central role that was later to become the unforgettable M lltilot. I'lllttltoltse. Edinburgh.
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (PG) 0.. (Zacharias Kunttk/Norman Cohn. Canada/l)emnark. 2006) Leah .»\ngutimarik. Pakak lnnuksuk. Neeve lrngattt. l 12min. A dramatisation of the first contact between liuropean explorers and the lnttit in the Arctic Circle in l‘)22. Part of Glasgow Film Festival and North of Hollywood season. GET Glasgow: l'lll)!ll()ll.\'(’. Edinburgh.
Key Largo (PG) 0... (John llttstot). (’S. HHS) Humphrey Bogart. Lauren Bacall. lidward G Robinson. l0lmin. Robinson's gangster boss and his boys hole up in a hotel in the Florida keys. Bogart’s army officer is already there. along with the hotel owner daughter. Bacall. As a storm breaks out the tension rises in lluston's taut drama. Part of lltiston season. l-‘ihnliouse. Edinburgh. Kidnapped (t') 0.0 (Delbert Mann. l'K. l‘l7l ) Michael ('aine. Lawrence Douglas. Vivien lleilbron. l07min. Cheesy btit enjoyable boy 's own version of this familiar highland adventure based on the Robert Louis Stevenson's famous novel. Part of Weans' World and ()ne Book campaign. Eilm/iouse. Edinburgh.
Klimt( )8) 0.00 (Raottl Ruiz. Austria/France/(lermany/l3K. 2006) John Malkov ich. Saffron Burrows. Stephen Dillane. ‘)7min. .Malkov ich attacks with gusto
WAR/EPIC THE 9TH COMPANY (15) 130min CD.
If, as the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini once wrote ‘Blood alone moves
the wheels of history’, then the USSR’s axles were well and truly greased as it made its way towards democratic reform in the early 1990s. The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict, the Soviet forces supporting Afghanistan’s Marxist People’s Democratic Party government and Mujahideen insurgents fighting to overthrow Communist rule. The rebels found support from a variety of sources including the US, Pakistan and other Muslim nations. The conflict, concurrent to the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, was also seminal in the rise of modern militant lslamism in central Asia. The initial Soviet deployment in
Afghanistan began on Christmas Day
1979. The final troop withdrawal
ended on February 15, 1989. The 9th Company, a real detachment of some of the hardest and best gunners, drivers, mechanics and snipers, was sent
on the most complex, sometimes almost impossible missions, the pinnacle
of which was the brutal two-and-a-half day battle for Heights 3234 where
many of them lost their lives. Actor/director and producer Fyodor
Bondarchuk’s (son of the truly
legendary Soviet era thespian Sergei Bondarchuk) gung ho re-imagining of the 9th Company’s adventures is more buddy romp than a serious attempt
to re-evaluate the legacy of the USSR
’8 equivalent of the Wetnam War. The
first hour of what is an unnecessarily long film is excruciating (rough neck rookies bond while sharing vodka). Things do however pick up immeasurably when the platoon enters Afghanistan and the true horror of a desert war begins to dawn on the recruits. The actions scenes are excellent and believable, and as the men are picked off one by one, a profound tragedy, not unlike that at the end of Lewis Milestone’s 1930 film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is evoked. Until a better film comes along about modern hand to hand conflict in Afghanistan, this messy, cheesy, mainstream war film deserves
some attention. (Paul Dale) I Showcase, Glasgow from Fri 76 Feb.
a lavish biopic of the Viennese Painter Gustav Klimt. Beginning with his dying days iii a sanatorium. the filtn aspires to the flamboyance and style of Klimt's own work. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. ('CA. Glasgow.
Lassie (PG) .0 (Charles Sturridge. l'S/lreland. 2005) Samantha Morton. John Lynch. Steve Pemberton. Gregor Fisher. ()Umin. Cack doggy tale. Vue Edinburgh ()eean. Edinbtajg/t.
The Last King of Scotland ( )5) 0... (Kevin Macdonald. l'S/l‘K. 2006) Forest Whitaker. Gillian Anderson. James :‘v‘chvoy. 123mm. ldi Amin (Whitaker) meets Scottish doctor (McAvoy). General release. The Last Kiss ( )5) 0. (Tony Goldwyn. CS. 2006) Zach Braff. Jacinda Barrett. Casey Affieck. Rachel Bilson.
1 15min. Appaling reworking of the 200l Italian filtn [Ill/tibia Baeio. ()deon Eort Kinnaird. Edinburgh.
A Laughing Frog (Warau Kaeru) (PG) (Hideyuki llirayama. Japan. 2002) Ky’olo Nagatsuka. Nene ()tsuka. Jun Kunimura. 96min. When a respectable bank manager is caught embezzling funds he decides to hide otit in his father in law‘s sumtnerhouse. where he finds his estranged wife has started a new life for herself. Gently comic chamber piece. filth/rouse. Edinburgh.
* Letters from Iwo Jima ( )5)
C... (Clint liastwood. CS. 2006) Ken Watanabe. Kazunari Ninomiya. Tsuyoshi lhara. I4 l min. See review. page 4 I. General release.
License to Live (Ningen Gokaku)
( l5) .0. (Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Japan. l‘)‘)‘)) llidetoshi Nishijima. Koji Yakusho, Shun Sugata. l09min. After ten years in a coma Yutaka (Nishijima) wakes up to be taken in by his father's non-conformist friend Flljimori (Yakusho). marking a departure from Kurosawa’s earlier thriller/horror hits. Part of Move ()ver. 0/“ season. Film/louse.
Edinburgh. Lights in the Dusk (Laitakaupungin Valot) ( 12A) 0... (Aki Kaurismaki.
Finland/(iermany/France. 2006) Janne l‘lyytiainen. Maria Jervenhelmi. Maria Heiskanen. 78min. A deadpan comedy about loneliness and discontent from Finnish master Kaurismaki. this is the final part of the trilogy comprising Drifting Clouds and The Man Without a Past. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. ('ineworld Ren/rew Street. Glasgow.
Lindsay Anderson ( 12A) .0000 (Various. l'K. l‘)66/6‘)) 130mm. Karl Magee. archivist of the Lindsay Anderson Collection. introduces a screening of the filmmaker's l966 feature The White Bus and John Fletcher's documentary About the White Bus. A must for fans of Anderson's limited but extraordinary oeuvre. Part of Glasgow Film Festival. Glasgow I-ilnt Theatre. Glasgow. Little Miss Sunshine ( I5) 0000 (Jonathan Dayton. Valerie Faris. US. 2006) Abigail Breslin. Greg Kinnear. Paul Dano. Alan Arkin. Toni Collette. l0lmin. Hilarious dysfunctional family comedy. Vue Edinburgh ()eean. Edinburgh.
15 Feb—f Mar 2007 THE LIST 49