Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Paul Dale
Across 1 10th Street( 18) 0000 (Barry Shear. LS. 1072) Anthony Quinn. Yapliet Kotto. Anthony Franciosa. 102mm. The Bronx in the early l‘)7()s. 'l‘hrce small- time thieves rip off the mafia by stealing 3300.000. But will New York cops l’ope (Kotto) and Mattelli (Quinn) catch them before they start a gang war'.’ Superb blaxploitation critne thriller with an awesome soundtrack by Bobby \Vomack. Part of Six of the Best: They .Might Be (iiants: ()ther Voices of New Atnerican (’inema. l'ilrnhuuse. Edinburgh.
After the Wedding (Efter Bryllupet) ( l5) 0... (Susanne Bier. Denmark. 3000) Maids Mikkclscn. Sidsc Babett Knudsen. Rolf Lassgard. l22min. Charity worker Jacob (Mikkclsen) is coerced into attending a wedding by multi millionaire businessman Jorgen (Lassgard) in return for funding. What Jacob discovers at the wedding about his own past affects his life and that of his hosts in a most unimaginable way. in this highly watchable low budget familial drama. ('umm. Edinburgh.
American Beauty ( Is) 000 (Sam Mendes. l'S. I‘J‘N) Kevin Spacey. Annette Betting. 'l‘hora Birch. 12 l min. Suburban husband and father Lester Burnhatn (Spacey. giving a career best performance) hates his life. but a close encounter with his daughter's gorgeous school friend is the catalyst for big time self improvement: he quits his job. digs out his old rock albums and scores marijuana from the kid next door. And these teenage kicks return to Lester
w hal's been missing from his life for years: pleasure and happiness. Caustic. touching and funny. (irmrenor; (ilusguw; Currier). Edinburgh.
Are We Done Yet?(1’(;) oo
(Stcv L' ('at‘r. LS. 3007) lCC Cube. Nit! Long. Alcisha Allen. ‘) l min. See review. page 40. (ii'lli’l'ill I'i'li’uu'.
’3‘ The Battle of Algiers ( 15) ooooo ((iillo l’ontecorvo. .-\lgeria/ltaly. 1065) Brahim llaggiag. Jean Martin. Yaccf Saadi. chnin. A documentary -style reconstruction of Algeria's struggle for liberation. Brilliantly realistic quite brutally so in the controversial torture sequences this is a
LaBé
textbook example of political cinctna at its most persuasive. (i/usgmi' I’ilm Theatre. (i/usgim‘.
Beijing Bicycle (1’0) 000
(Xiaoshuai Wang. 'l'aiwan/France. 2001 ) Lin (‘ui. Xun Xhon. Yuanyuan (iao. I l lmin. In this modern Chinese update of \‘ittoria De Sicitis classic The Bicycle Thieves. a poor. uneducated young man from the country secures a job in Beijing as a bicycle courier. llis new mountain bike is stolen and he finds himself scouring the city in order to retain the job. As well as superb performances. the film also features gorgeous photography and terrific location work. Part of lidinburgh Bike Week Filtn Festival. I-‘ilmluruse. Edinburgh.
Being John Malkovich ( 15) 0000 (Spike Jon/e. LS. 2000) John (‘usack. (‘ameron Dial. Catherine Keener. John Malkovich. l l2min. Frustrated puppeteer Craig Schwartz (Cusack) takes a job as a filing clerk and discovers a portal into the actor John Malkovich's brain. What could have developed into a one-gag film becomes a gender-bending extravaganza with a era/y network of love triangles. which climaxes with a lesbian relationship between two people of the opposite sex. A bewildering number of possibilities add to the central premise and important questions about personal identity and self-fulfilment are raised. (i/usgnw' I’ll/n 'I'heutr'e. Glasgow;
La Béte (The Beast) ( 18) 0000 (Walerian Borowc/yk. France. l‘)75) Sirpa Lane. Lisbeth llummcl. l’tcrre Benedetti. 08min. An American heiress discovers an lb’th century diary and starts a series of sexual dreams involving a half bear. half wolf. Delightfully scandalous erotic fairy tale from the great Polish auteur Borowc/yk.
which is. as always. served up with plenty of
bestiality and lashings of Freud. Recommended for those who can stomach it. A l’sy chotronic (‘inema presentation. (iluxgmi‘ Film lilti'ull’i'. (iluxgmr; film/muse. Edinburgh.
Beverly Hills Cop ( 15) coo
(Martin Brest. IS. 1985) liddie Murphy. Judge Reinhold. John Ashton. l05min. A downtown. streetw ise Chicago cop is out of his element but never out of his depth investigating a friend's murder in upmarket Los Angcles. Murphy reigns supreme in this well paced slice of entertainment made in the day s before his ego swamped the substance of his film vehicles. (irmi'enm: (ilusgim:
Walerian Borowczyk’s ultra perverse 1975 sex horror may not be to everyone’s taste but it is certainly worth checking
out if brutish carnality and retro erotica are your thing. Though far from being Borowczyk’s best film The Beast still underlines the fact that this wonderful neglected filmmaker is (along with Polanski and Wajda) one of the most fundamental and different voices to come out of postwar Poland. Within a year of making this film Borowczyk was making Emmanuelle ‘77. His journey from auteur to pornographer was complete, not that he cared to differentiate between the two.
I Film/rouse. Edinburgh, Frr 15 Jun; GFT. Glasgow, Wed 20 8 Thu 21 Jun.
B.l.K.E. (Be Inclusive Klll Exclusive) ( 18) (Jacob Septimus/Anthony Howard. (S. 2005) 89min. Politics. dissent. pain. love and bikes collide in the Black Label Bike Club. an exclusive (pedal) biking community. as B.l.K.li. follows the attempt of Anthony lloward toioin. l’lus short lliir’r‘ior's'.‘ The Bike Race. which follows 800 bicyclists in an all-night race through New York. Part of lidinburgh Bike Week Film Festival. I’ilrnhous‘e. Edinburgh.
=i= Black Gold (1') oooo (Nick Francis/Marc Francis. L'K. 2006) 77min. See review. page 42. I-‘ilrnhnuse. Edinburgh. Black Snake Moan ( 15) 000
(Craig Brewer. l.'S. 2006) Samuel L Jackson. Christina Ricci. Justin 'I'imberlakc. 1 15min. Rae (Ricci) ditches her military boyfriend ('I'iinberlakc) for her drug dealer (David Banner) and a drunken spree until La/arUs (Jackson) tries to save her from herself using a guitar. three chords and the truth. An unitsually riveting dissection of race. religion and redemption through the blues . . . until the preposterous narrative begins to break down. ('inew'ur'ld Ren/i'ew' Street. (ililsgim:
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros ( 15) (Auraeus Solilo, Philippines. 2005) Nathan Lopez. Solimna ('rtv. JR Valentin. 100mm. Young Lopez shines in the title role as a 12-year-old budding drag queen in the slums of Manila. While his family is protective of him. Maximo is forced into a dilemma when a handsome. hottest policeman moves into the slums and the boy falls in love. Part of London Lesbian and (iay Film Festival ()1) Tour. See preview. page 58. Hint/muse. Edinburgh.
Blue ( 15) 0... (Derek Jarman. CK. 1903) Voices of Nigel Terry. Tilda Swinton. Derek Jarman. 76min. When you say that this personal reflection on living with AIDS sets a soundtrack of diary extractions. readings and music by Simon Fisher Turner against a blue monochrome screen a film with no images then the skeptics have a
Film
field day. But no one who saw it at its I993 lidinburgh International Film Festival screening. where it won the Powell Award for Best British Feature. failed to be deeply moved. A brave. absorbing cinema experience. Trust us. ACli. Edinburgh.
Bo Kata ( l2A) (Shehzad Afzal. Scotland/Pakistan. 2007) 30min. Documentary investigation into the decline of kite flying duels in the Lahore region of Pakistan after a series of accidents. Bo Kata (meaning ‘hacked‘) is the victory cry when kites are eliminated. ('(‘A. Glasgow. Bobby ( l5) 0.. (Emilio Estevez. LS. 2007) Harry Belafonte. Joy Bryant. Nick Cannon. 1 lbtnin. Writer-director listevez turns his attentions to the assassination of another Kennedy. JFK's little brother. The action takes place at the scene of the crime -- the Ambassador Hotel in LA on 5 June I968 - and folloWs the impact on 22 fictional characters. lt's hit and miss. but does ably mix archive footage with fictional action in what is ultimately a hagiography. Selected release.
Bridge to Terabithia (PG) coo ((iabor (‘supo. L'S. 2007) Josh Hutcherson. Annasophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel. 95min. Artistic kid Jess (llutcherson) is getting bullied at school and at home until outsider Leslie (Robb) moves in next door and the two begin to build an imaginary world in a nearby wood. This faithful adaptation of Katherine Paterson's coming of age children's book is worth a look for adults and kids alike. (r'ener'ul release. Busting ( 18) 0... (Peter Hyams. US. 1974) lilliott (iould. Robert Blake. Allen (iarfield. 92min. Not content with busting small fry criminals. non-bent coppers Vice Detectives Michael Keneely (Gould) and Patrick Farrel (Blake) go after the kingpin. threatening to bring down the hierarchy of corrupt police on their heads. Underrated. near seminal 70s New York policier. Recommended. Part of Six of the Best: They Might Be (iiants: Other Voices of New American Cinema. I-‘ilnihouse. Edinburgh.
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I dark and brooding tale of passion, int and madness in two feuding Scottish fa
NEW PRODUCTION
Directed by John Doyle (Tony Award 2006 - Sweeney Todd)
Edinburgh Festival Theatre
16 | 20 | 22 June
0131 529 6000 scottishoperaorguk
7—21 Jun 2007 THE LIST 45