www.list.co.uk/film
Dark Nature Special Hallowe’en screening of this scary Scottish eco thriller about one family’s not so relaxing holiday to a remote Scottish village. Up and coming producer/director Marc de Launey pulls out all the stops for this very low budget production, much helped by a sinister turn from gifted character actor Niall Greig Fulton and regular List writer Eddie Harrison’s sparse and enigmatic screenplay. ■ Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Fri 30 Oct.
Jerusalema (15) (Ralph Ziman, South Africa, 2008) Rapulana Seiphemo, Ronnie Nyakale, Shelley Meskin. 120min. When a car jacking heist goes wrong, Kunene (Seiphemo) and his childhood friend, Zakes (Nyakale), move to Johannesburg slum Hillbrow, where they build up a powerful empire from dodgy property dealings. A gritty and unwavering look into the criminal underworld of the new South Africa. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Johnny Mad Dog (15) (Jean- Stephane Sauvaire,
Liberia/France/Belgium, 2008) Christopher Minie, Daisy Victoria Vandy, Dagbeh Tweh. 98min. Fiction based on the events of the Liberian civil war, Johnny Mad Dog follows a 15-year-old soldier and his band of youngsters charged with overtaking a city in an attempt to unseat the government. Part of Africa in Motion. See preview, page 48. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Julie & Julia (12A) ●●●●● (Nora Ephron, US, 2009) Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci. 123min. Ephron’s film balances eccentric US chef Julia Child’s awkward start in the cookery business in France with a parallel, modern narrative in which Adams plays a ditzy, self-important blogger. Ephron is an accomplished purveyor of light-as-a-souffle filmmaking, and powered by Steep’s winning portrayal as the earthy but sophisticated Child, this succeeds as a classy chick flick. Dominion, Edinburgh. Just Another Love Story (18) ●●●●● (Ole Bornedal, Denmark, 2007) Anders W Berthelsen, Rebecka Hemse, Nikolaj Lie Kaas. 100min. Bornedal’s tale of confused and adopted identities sees Julia (Hemse) crash into the back of a car driven by the married Jonas (Berthjelsen). When she ends up in a coma and he starts to visit, the partly responsible Jonas may feel guilty but he’s also besotted. Bornedal eventually loses interest in the subtleties of psychology and social milieu and opts for a knowing thriller denouement instead. Cameo, Edinburgh. Katalin Varga (15) ●●●●● (Peter Strickland, Romania/UK/Hungary, 2009) Hilda Péter, Tibor Pálffy, Norbert Tankó. 84min. Filmed in two weeks on a micro budget, Strickland’s debut – a tale of revenge set in Transylvania – is proof of how good independent filmmaking can be. The film’s slowly unfolding narrative, non-didactic approach and blistering central performance from Péter contribute to an utterly breathtaking film. Glasgow Film Theatre; Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Katyn (18) ●●●●● (Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 2007) Artur Zmijewski, Maja Ostaszewska, Andrzej Chyra. 118min. Veteran Polish filmmaker Wajda examines the 1940 Soviet slaughter of thousands of Polish officers and citizens in the Katyn Forest through the eyes of officer Andrzej
(Zmijewski) and his wife Anna (Ostaszewska), with sensitivity and a very particular Polish humanism. Glasgow Film Theatre. Keepers of Memory (15) (Eric Kabera, Rwanda, 2005) 52min. Kabera takes a harrowing journey into the Rwandan genocide, its survivors, and the memorials created in the victim’s honour. This screening will be followed by short Rwandan film, A Love Letter to My Country. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Kinshasa Palace (15) (Zeka Laplaine, Democratic Republic of Congo/France, 2006) 70min. Docu-fiction that deals with the disappearance of the filmmaker’s brother. Videos shot by his brother during trips to Lisbon, Kinshasa and Brussels depict an African man struggling to come to terms with the personal legacy of his homeland’s upheavals. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Law (15) (Idrissa Ouedraogo, Switzerland/UK/France/Burkina Faso/Germany, 1990) Rasmane Ouedraogo, Ina Cisse, Roukietou Barry. 81min. With this tale of an illicit love affair set in a pre- colonial African past, Ouedraogo delicately portrays the complexities of traditional law and customs in a West African village. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Le franc (15) (Djibril Diop Mambety, Senegal/Switzerland/France, 1994)
Dieye Ma Dieye, Aminata Fall, Demba Ba. 44min. The first in a planned, but unfinished, trilogy in which Mambety pays tributes to the poor, Le franc centres on Marigo, a penniless musician whose congoma (a type of guitar) has been stolen by his fearsome landlady. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Like a Man on Earth (15) (Andrea Segre & Dagmawi Year, Italy/Ethiopia, 2008) 60min. Dagmawi Yimer, a law student from Addis Ababa, voices memories of his ordeals faced as a refugee trying to escape violent political oppression. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun (15) (Djibril Diop Mambety,
Senegal/France/Switzerland/Germany, 1999) 45min. A luminous portrait of a young handicapped girl and her determination to be a street vendor of Le Soleil, the national newspaper of Senegal. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Love Happens (12A) (Brandon Camp, US, 2009) Jennifer Aniston, Aaron Eckhart, Sasha Alexander. 108min. Aniston adds more fuel to the fire that she’s a one hit wonder with this muddled, befuddled not very rom and not very com mess with Eckart. General release. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (PG) ●●●●● (Eric Darnell, US, 2008) Voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen. 89min. Alex the lion (voiced by Stiller), Gloria the hippo (Smith),
Melman the giraffe (Schwimmer) and Marty the zebra (Rock) are put on an flight back to their zoo home, only to crash land in Africa. The going native theme is expanded, with good-time fascist lemur (Cohen) getting the best lines and the penguins the best laughs. With clever riffs and unexpected poetry, this is a welcome prospect. Empire, Clydebank. Main Aurr Mrs Khanna (PG) (Prem Soni, India, 2009) Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor. 113min. Bollywood film about the freedoms and constraints of modern marriage. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow; Cineworld Fountainpark, Edinburgh. Metropolitan Opera: AidaVerdi’s epic opera is broadcast live as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. Aida brings to life a glittering, opulent ancient Egypt, in which the military commander Radames must choose between his love for the Ethiopian slave Aida and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. With Violeta Urmana in the title role and Johan Botha as Radames. Daniele Gatti conducts. Cameo, Edinburgh. Michael Jackson’s This is It (PG) ●●●●● (Kenny Ortega, US, 2009) Michael Jackson. 111min. See Also Released, page 51. General release. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (15) ●●●●● (Terry Jones, UK, 1979) Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle. 93min. The Gospel According to Monty Python offended a whole host of religious dominations upon its initial release, which rather obscured the fact that behind the controversy lay their most sustained humour to date. A host of very funny setpieces and smart cameos from all the team climaxes in a rather fetching musical crucifixion. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. Moon (15) ●●●●● (Duncan Jones, UK, 2008) Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott. 97min. With this cleverly conceived, evenly paced and consistently intriguing old-school science fiction piece Jones eschews special effects and action-oriented clatter, instead delivering a cerebral adventure that’s as thought- provoking as it is thrilling. Rockwell plays a mining engineer working for a corporation that’s found a new source of energy for the clapped-out planet Earth, but as he nears the end of his three-year contract, cabin fever begins to take hold. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ Mwalimu: The Legacy of Julius Kambarage Nyerere (15) (Lekoko Piniel Ole Livilal, Tanzania, 2009) 52min. Documentary about Tanzanian leader Julius Kambarage Nyerere, who placed the country at the heart of the Southern Africa liberation struggle. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
✽✽ My Secret Sky (15) (Madoda Ncayiyana, South Africa, 2008) Sobahle Mkhabas, Sibonelo Malinga, Tshepang Mohlomi. 90min. Two orphaned South African siblings venture from their
Index Film homestead to the city in the hope of entering their only possession – a traditional Zulu grass mat – into a craft competition. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. National Lampoons Animal House (15) ●●●●● (John Landis, US, 1978) John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon. 108min. See Also Released, page 51. Selected release from Tue 3 Nov. The Night is Young (Mauvais sang) (15) ●●●●● (Leos Carax, France, 1986) Denis Lavant, Juliette Binoche, Michel Piccoli. 116min. Carax’s tricksy and inspired second film blends sci-fi and film noir in its depiction of a story about teenagers who succumb to a strange and deadly plague. Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh. 9 (12A) ●●●●● (Shane Acker, US, 2009) Voices of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer. 79min. See review, page 49. Selected release. No Time to Die (15) (King Ampaw, Ghana/Germany, 2006) 95min. Examining the acceptance of social rituals, death and funeral traditions in African culture, Ghanan filmmaker Ampaw’s charming romance chronicles the trials of a love struck hearse driver. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Nosferatu (PG) ●●●●● (FW Murnau, Germany, 1922) Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim. 72min. Schreck is a truly terrifying figure as Bram Stoker’s famous vampire, looking more like a skinned bat than a human being. A wonderfully visual movie, with twisted shadows and sexual undercurrents placing it well above the Kinski/Herzog remake. Glasgow Film Theatre. Off Ways (15) (Uli M Schuppel, Germany, 2009) 95min. Documenting a legendary concert as well as the lives of the musicians, Schuppel’s film chronicles cult band Einsturzende Neubauten’s long and convoluted journey from Kreuzberg to the state-owned factory ‘VEB Elektrokohle’, where the Berlin Wall was still in place. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Ong-Bak: The Beginning (15) ●●●●● (Tony Jaa/Panna Rittikrai, UK, 2008) Tony Jaa. 98min. Master martial arts star Jaa shows his chops in considerable style in this action packed tale of an orphan brought up by a gang of thieves who trains to avenge the murder of his parents by a fearsome warlord. Selected release. Our Forbidden Places (15) (Leila Kilani, Morocco, 2008) 80min. Between 2004 and 2007, filmmaker Kilani followed the lives of four families making their way through the Equity and Reconciliation Commission, a Moroccan human rights and truth commission created in order to reconcile victims of human rights abuses and atrocities. Part of Africa in Motion. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Pandorum (15) ●●●●● (Christian Alvart, US/Germany, 2009) Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet. 90min. Two astronauts awaken aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft and can’t remember anything. Interesting if ultimately disappointing low budget space thriller. Showcase Cinema, Coatbridge, Glasgow; Showcase Cinema, Paisley.
UNTIL 22 NOVEMBER
Dean Gallery Belford Road, Edinburgh ADMISSION FREE
Full programme details at www.nationalgalleries.org
22 Oct–5 Nov 2009 THE LIST 55